Gift of Flight

by S. W. Gunn

  “We’ll come back after Hain and Mara get married to pick up our things.” Elyse announced.

  “Okay.”

  They left the Keg and after asking directions was able to find a nearby Galactic Union office that performed the civil ceremony. It was probably the most boring wedding but Hain and Mara just wanted it over with. Once they were done Jarron sent off a message to his mother to let her know he was on the way. As they grabbed their few bags on the Keg Hain was waiting at the hatch for them.

  “Lad I’ll send ya a message once we’re done with the honeymoon. Feligrin will be stayin’ on Terra. I’ve given the lad money to have some fun.”

  “Alright Hain.”

  Elyse set her bags down to give each of them a hug. Once she finished Jarron shook hands with each before they headed off. As they left the Keg Jarron took a moment to glance back at it. He took a deep breath before letting out a long sigh. It was time to move on. Elyse rubbed her hand on his shoulder. He gave her a wide grin before turning to wave down a nearby taxi. Everything was automated on Terra, which made getting places very simple. A taxi rolled up and the door opened. Jarron piled his bags into the cargo compartment on the side before letting Elyse climb in first. He gave instructions to the computer that ran the taxi before sitting back next to Elyse. She snuggled up against him and then rested her head on his shoulder.

  “I can’t wait to meet them.” She stated with what sounded like happiness in her voice.

  “Ya. I haven’t told them about you and I excited to see how they’ll react when they meet you.”

  “I hope I’m pretty enough for them.”

  He laughed. It was a silly thing for her to worry about. Elyse was beautiful, at least to him she was.

  “They’ll love you.” He told her.

  “Thanks.”

  “Of course.”

  They sat there quietly for a while. The area they were entering was very familiar. It was the neighborhood that he grew up in. He spotted the road that he played on as a child and off in the distance he spotted the home his parents had owned since before he was born. Standing outside of it was his mother, sister, and a man that he did not know. He guessed that the man must have been his sister’s husband. He was a tall dark skinned man with tightly cropped black curly hair. He was wearing what appeared to be a very nice suit. Jarron lost track of modern style some time ago.

  Elyse asked, “Is that them?”

  “Yes.”

  She chuckled before saying, “Your sister looks a lot like you.”

  “Ya well, we are fraternal twins.”

  “Your mom is super short.”

  He laughed. That was something that he and his sister used to joke with her about a lot when he was a teenager. His father was much taller so Jarron was thankful that he got his father’s height. His mother looked a bit older with her short black hair now getting white. Her once pristine tan skin was starting to wrinkle and her oval eyes had many more wrinkles around them. She was wearing a form fitting dark blue dress with golden dragon emblazoned on the side. His mother was always obsessed with the culture of the area once known as China. Apparently it was their ancestry on his mother’s side. Jarron was part of a newer generation that saw all of Terra as more of a unified culture than smaller ones within Terra. She must have realized that the taxi he was in was coming there because a big smile crossed her face as she pointed excitedly at them. The taxi stopped in front of his one-time home and as the door opened he could hear his mother and sister screaming in excitement to see him. He stepped out first and was immediately swarmed by them. His mother sobbed heavily as she clung onto his ribcage. Jarron tried to do the best he could to keep himself from crying as well. He missed all of them greatly. Even with the limited communication that he had with the both of them over the years, it just was not the same.

  “Lil paddy I’ve missed you so much!” His mother said.

  He freaking hated that nickname. His father was of Irish descent and that is why his mother called him that. It was a joke between them.

  “Mom.” He said in a warning tone.

  Elyse’s voice cut him off by asking, “Lil paddy?”

  His mother and sister turned to look at Elyse. Their facial expressions shifted from joy to what he could only guess was shock.

  “Jar who is this?” His sister asked before anyone else could say anything.

  Giving a sigh for what was about to come he answered, “This is my wife Elyse.”

  Both immediately screamed out joyfully. They were so excited about his answer that he swore his ears had burst! Jarron could only help but chuckle. His mother let go of his midsection and at the same time as Jasmine swarmed Elyse.

  After a few excited moments his mother said, “Let’s go inside. We’ve got a lot to talk about.”

  Jarron nodded at her and started to follow behind her.

  Jasmine pointed to the man who was standing aside the whole time and announced, “Jar this is my husband Michael.”

  Reaching out Jarron shook his hand before saying, “Its nice to meet you.”

  He nodded back and stated, “Thanks man. Your sister has told me so many tales about you.”

  “Hopefully nothing too crazy.”

  Michael shook his head. As Jarron turned to follow behind them Elyse took his hand.

  She giggled before saying, “They seem very excited.”

  “Its been a long time since I’ve been here and to bring you too probably was more than a little bit of a shock.”

  As they entered his old home he saw that everything was exactly the same as when he left. The living room they walked into from the entryway was a wide open space with a mirrored rear window set to project various Terran landscapes. The light fixtures were golden lantern style, very much like the culture his mother loved. There was several couches that were a light brown color and looked as comfortable as ever. Of course sitting opposite of the smaller couch was his father’s comfy chair. It was older and very well worn compared to the rest of the chairs. His father had fought many times with his mother about that chair but in the end his father won out. That chair was older than Jarron was. As soon as they entered his mother, sister, and Michael immediately took off their shoes. Jarron had forgot all about that little tradition. Years of being a space bum chased that out of him. He stopped to pull off his boots. Elyse was very quick in responding by flipping off her sandals. His mother looked at him before patting on the love seat before sitting on the largest couch right next to where she wanted him to sit. He took a seat and Elyse sat right next to him while leaning into his shoulder. She wrapped her arm around his right arm before putting her feet slightly underneath her. Jasmine and her husband sat down next to his mother.

  “So…” His mother started to speak and after a pause said, “How did you two meet?”

  Jarron looked over at Elyse who responded by saying, “You made me tell my father so this one is all you.”

  Giving a chuckle at her he nodded before turning back to his mother.

  “Ma its complex.”

  “We’ve got until your father comes home in about five hours.”

  Jarron gave a big sigh before finally deciding to just tell them everything.

  “Well, umm… after I left I kinda found myself working as a pilot in a view odd jobs here and there.”

  “Such as?” Jasmine asked.

  “I guess a better way to put it would be that I delivered goods of questionable legality.”

  His mother’s face shifted to what could be described as mortified as she huffily asked, “My son is a criminal?”

  She was kind of right but he really did not want to break her heart.

  Elyse interjected, “More like a delivery service than anything.”

  His mother did not seem satisfied by Elyse’s answer.

  It was very uncomfortable for a moment before Jasmine firmly stated, “Ma what else did you think he’d be doing while being homeless? He had nowhere to go and a skill others would pay for.”
>
  Jarron knew that she would always be on his side. Their relationship was quite close. He knew that she was extremely mad at their father when he kicked Jarron out.

  His mother sighed before saying, “Well he’s home now. Tell us how you met such a beautiful girl.”

  Elyse flushed lightly as her kind words before thanking her. He decided to tell them as much as he could, excluding everything about the Gift. He started by telling them a little about his job before finally telling them how he met Elyse. As he told the whole story he could see the emotional roller coaster his mother was on hearing everything that happened. She was particularly unhappy every time he talked about a dangerous situation that he had found himself in. He tried to limit those parts of the story but the last few weeks had been danger after danger. Once he finished his story his mother looked very solemn. She was clearly thinking about something. After a few moments she stood up and then knelt down next to him by his knees before placing her hands on his knees.

  “Lil paddy I am so sorry. I should have fought your father when he sent you away. It was my duty as your mother to protect you and I failed. You should have never gone through all of that without your family.”

  Jarron felt so bad. He reached out towards his mother and gave her a hug, He honestly doubted that anything she could have said would change his father’s mind. The door of their home buzzed as it opened. Jarron turned to the sound of footsteps coming from the entryway. His father, wearing a suit, entered the room.

  He announced, “You’re back.”

  Chapter 21

  The bottom of Jarron’s stomach dropped when he saw his father. He looked almost exactly the same, minus more peppered gray in his brown hair. His blue eyes were still piercing, even with the extra wrinkling on his light colored skin. Jarron stood up to face him, which caused everyone else in the room to stand up as well. He clenched his jaw. This was going exactly how he thought it would. His father did not seem happy to see him. Suddenly his father firmly walked up to him and then embraced him in a hug.

  Jarron was utterly stunned as his father said, “Son I’ve missed you.”

  He did not know what to say in response. He glanced over at Elyse first. She was grinned madly. Both his mother and sister were smiling as well.

  Finally after a bit of an awkward moment he clumsily replied, “I missed you too dad.”

  He was very unsure what the heck was going on. The last time his father spoke to him it was yelling at him to leave and not come back.

  Taking a step back his father placed his hands on Jarron’s shoulders before stating, “It was wrong of me to push you out of our house. I was mad but I was not understanding.”

  “Well I…” Jarron started to stammer out before his father interrupted him, “No son. It was my job to nurture you and help you find who you are as a person. The whole time I tried to make you into me instead.”

  “Its okay dad.” He told his father.

  Jarron felt very awkward. This was not exactly going how he thought it would and he was unsure how to react.

  “Take a seat.” His father said before sitting down in his old chair.

  Jarron sat back down and everyone else sat back where they were beforehand. Elyse once again pulled herself closely up against him. He felt her hands squeeze his arm several times. As he glanced at her she gave him a smile. He awkwardly grinned back at her.

  Once everyone was sitting his father spoke, “From the day you left I had used my contacts to keep track of what you were doing.”

  Jarron was appalled that his father had spied on him, even more so since he was the one who kicked him out.

  Before Jarron could make an indignant statement his father continued, “I set the Union databases with a facial scan so I could keep up with what you were doing and where you were. I know this may be late but I’m quite proud of you son. You’ve shown yourself to be charismatic and very talented as a pilot. You’ve also collected an interesting group of very influential friends within the Kalan Empire. You would disappear off the Union radar many times but always seemed to come back. I’ve also got contacts within the less than legal realms and the rumors they told me would suggest you and your Kalan friend were the most reliable of smugglers.”

  “Smugglers?” His mother said nervously.

  Jarron interrupted, “I wouldn’t call us smugglers.”

  His father laughed heartily before continuing, “Son what would you call someone who delivers illicit goods outside of the normal transportation routes?”

  “We never did guns, drugs, or slaves. It was just a way to make money and survive. Hain made sure we kept to our rules.”

  “Who is Hain?” Jasmine asked.

  Elyse answered, “He’s the owner of the Keg.”

  Jarron’s father then continued, “It doesn’t matter. Men do what they need to do when it needs to be done sometimes. It was my fault you ended up living like that.”

  He felt a little guilty about his father taking all of the blame. He was not exactly a well behaved teen. Heck most of the time he did things purposely to piss his father off.

  “Dad I have just as much blame as anyone else. I purposely did things to get under your skin.”

  His father laughed once again before saying, “Don’t you think I knew? It only pissed me off even more. I should have been trying to help you find a positive outlet for your energy.”

  Turning to look at Elyse he stated, “Young lady welcome to the family.”

  “Thank you Mr. Moynihan.” Elyse said.

  “Call me dad.” He told her.

  She gave him a slight nod.

  “Now… Son have you told them the whole story about Elyse?”

  Jarron was a bit puzzled. He did not know what his father was talking about.

  “You didn’t.”

  His mother said, “Jacob what are you talking about? He told us how they met.”

  “Right but he didn’t tell you about her.”

  It dawned on Jarron what his father was talking about. He must have found out about the whole thing with the Gift. Jarron had no clue how he did but his knew that his father was one of the most powerful administrators in the Galactic Union with contacts within all five major political parties He personally found politics boring but his father was obsessed with it.

  His mother turned to look at him before saying, “Jarron?”

  “Ma I kinda omitted it for your safety.”

  “Omitted what?” Jasmine asked.

  Her voice sounded a little irritated.

  Elyse then spoke up, “He did it to protect me. We’ve been dealing with a very powerful man who wishes to capture us.”

  “What is it?” His mother asked loudly.

  “This.” Elyse said as her powers flowed through Jarron.

  One of the cases that they brought lifted off of the ground and sat elevated for a bit.

  “What the holy heck!” Michael stated.

  He felt her powers stop working as the case gently set back down.

  “How did you do that?” His mother asked.

  Elyse answered, “Its the Gift.”

  Jasmine responded, “I have worked with people who have the Gift and none of them can come close to doing anything like that.”

  “It isn’t because of me.”

  “It isn’t?” Jasmine asked.

  His father cut in, “Its Jarron.”

  Jarron was utterly stunned. How the heck did his father find out about all of this? He looked at Elyse to see that she was just as surprised as he was.

  After giving a light chuckle his father asked, “You wondering how I found out?”

  He nodded eagerly at his father.

  “Does the name Drusilla Johnston sound familiar?”

  Jarron recognized the name immediately. She was the officer that he and Elyse had encountered on the Lunar Colony a while back.

  “She is a close friend and my personal contact in the GDF. Imagine my surprise when she insisted on a private meeting to talk about
my son. I had already received messages about you bouncing around the galaxy with Elyse here but my information about what was going on was spotty. I had to see the video of her interview with you to believe what she was telling me. A focal point. Its an alien term to most in the galaxy and yet… something very special.”

  His mother interrupted to ask, “What is a focal point?”

  Jarron patiently explained everything, this time leaving out no details. He was not really enthused about telling them but his father forced his hand. He also was not very pleased with his father’s spying on him. The reactions of his mother and sister was initially shock but once they understood what he was telling them he could tell that his sister was already plotting a way to get him into some kind of laboratory. He always had a hard time telling her no. After all she was his twin sister.

  His mother looked quite proud when she stated, “I always told people my lil paddy was special.”

  He groaned.

  “Lil paddy?” Elyse asked.

  “Its a reference to my heritage Elyse.” His father answered.

  She nodded although he could tell she did not fully understand. He would explain it to her later.

  There was a slight pause between them before his father asked, “So what brings you back home son?”

  His mother responded before he could, “Isn’t it obvious Jacob? He’s married and wants to settle down so he’s come home.”

  “Is this true?” His father asked.

  “Yes but I’ve saved up some gold to get started and we’ll be fine on our own.”

  “Don’t be stupid son.”

  Jarron frowned. His father was being so nice and this was a very sudden change back to from before.