by Saxon Andrew
“Leave that up to me. I’ll visit the Facility she lives in and have them give them to her,” Taffy replied.
“Will you make sure that happens and they don’t give them to someone else?”
“If more children there needs clothes, then I’ll take more,” Taffy replied. She turned to Grady, “And you think my saving them was a big wasted effort?!”
“I have a better idea,” Britt interjected. Everyone turned to him. “Get her sizes and purchase her clothes that befits a high school senior. Wearing clothes Sweets wore in the fifth and sixth grade will not really help her avoid ridicule.”
Everyone looked at Taffy and she said, “I’ll handle it.”
• • •
The next day at school, Linda Kay and Sweets were walking to their next class with Cami walking between them. Britt was walking behind them and noticed how Cami’s head kept turning back and forth between them as they talked. A male student walking in the opposite direction pointed at Cami and sneered, “HEY! IT’S THE RUNT!”
Britt was on him in an instant. He grabbed the front of the boy’s shirt and lifted him off the floor with one arm, “Do you have something bad to say about my friend!?!”
The boy was flailing his arms and quickly replied, “NO, NO! I wasn’t talking to her!”
Britt lowered him and slammed him down on his legs, “Good! I’m sorry I misunderstood you.”
Linda Kay looked at Sweets, “That’s my Britt.” Cami stared at the boy as he hurried down the hall and from that day forward, Cami wasn’t picked on again.
• • •
The fall holiday season arrived and on the last day before they left school, Linda Kay and Sweets stopped Cami inside the exit and Sweets said, “Cami, you’re going home with us for the Christmas Holidays.”
Cami’s eyes narrowed slightly, “Christmas?”
“It was a holiday season celebrated on Earth thousands of years ago before the colony ships left. Britannia continued the celebration and my parents have continued the tradition.”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t do that.”
“Why not?” Linda Kay asked.
“Well, I have to stay at the facility, and they won’t allow me to go.”
“My grandmother has already gotten approval for you to come with us.”
Cami ran through objection after objection and each of them was shot down. Finally, Sweets asked, “What’s wrong, Cami. What’s the real reason you don’t want to go?”
Cami lowered her head, “I don’t belong with you. I’m just not…”
“Good enough?!” Linda Kay interrupted. Cami’s head was down, and she nodded.
Sweets raised Cami’s chin and looked into her eyes, “Cami, you will make this Christmas amazing. Please do this as a favor to us.”
Cami stared into Sweet’s eyes and then nodded. Sweets picked her up and swung her around, “Good! My grandmother has gone to the Facility and packed a bag for you. We’ll leave directly from school.” Cami sighed and followed them out to the transport where Britt was waiting.
• • •
Cami entered a new world she never knew existed. Taffy had insisted that she stay with them and Britt made her feel at home. She was amazed by all the technological devices in their home but the things that most captured her attention were Bob and Robby. The two robots were allowed to communicate with her, and she spent hours discussing things with them. Grady had to confess that he was lost in what they were saying. But for the first time, he was seeing Cami smile.
Chapter Two
Christmas Eve arrived and the family passed out gifts before dinner. Cami was given gifts and she put them down on the floor beside her chair unopened. Sweets looked at her and saw she had her head down, “What’s wrong Cami?”
“I don’t have any gifts to give you; I can’t accept them.”
Taffy heard her, walked over, and hugged her, “Cami, you gave us the best gift possible.” Cami looked up at her and Taffy smiled, “Having you here has made this celebration special. It’s allowed all of us to tell you everything that’s happened in the past and relive those memories.”
Cami stared at her and Grady smiled, “It’s not the price or size of the gift, Cami. It’s the spirit in which it’s given. Thank you for agreeing to be here with us.”
Cami stared at them and picked up one of her gifts. Sweets sat with her and smiled, “When you’re rich and famous, you can buy me a huge gift.”
Cami giggled and Linda Kay shouted from across the living room, “Count me in on that deal!”
• • •
Dinner was served and everyone enjoyed the gathering. Abby and Rory Dunhan sat with Linda Kay. RJ and Candy sat with Sweets and Cami sat next to her. Cami noticed that Taffy, Candy, and Sweets all had the same cinnamon colored hair. Cami looked at Sweets and saw that her eyes were blue like her father’s but the three of them were clearly from the same family; they were all beautiful.
Britt was sitting with Grady and Taffy and the back and forth was fun. Abby poked fun at Taffy for starting the Robot building facility without telling Grady what was going on.
Taffy chuckled and smiled, “How about the time you told Rory he was nothing but a pretty boy in love with himself and Grady threw him out of the restaurant.”
Rory laughed and Abby smiled, “Touché!”
Abby looked at Cami and said, “The day Taffy met her new granddaughter, Britt and Linda Kay were barely walking and they ran head-on into each other, they fell back laughing.”
Cami looked at Linda Kay, “You’ve known him that long?”
Linda Kay glanced at Britt and nodded, “And I intend to know him a lot longer.”
Britt’s face turned red and Grady raised his hands, “I have an announcement.” Everyone turned to him and he looked at Taffy, “I made a promise to Taffy after we won the war against the Core Aliens; I promised her that we would one day go back to Britannia.” Taffy’s hand went to her mouth and Grady smiled, “That time has arrived; we’re going home. Our children will graduate shortly and it’s time.”
Taffy wrapped her arms around Grady’s neck and the three younger adults all looked at each other wondering what this meant for them. Rory spoke up, “Grady, there are two aggressive civilizations that still exist on the other side of the core. Britannia isn’t that far from them.”
Grady released Taffy and waved a hand at him, “We’ve kept our scouts inside their territory keeping an eye on them. They started attacking each other for a while but then they stopped and have stayed inside their territories. If push comes to shove, we can handle them.”
“How are you going to make this happen?” Abby asked.
“I’m making an announcement to New Britannia telling everyone that we’re going to resettle Britannia and ask for volunteers that want to go back with us.”
Rory shrugged, “You can also let the Britannia Colony know that you’re going back, and they may join you.”
Grady smiled, “I suspect many of them will choose to join us.”
Grady saw RJ was frowning slightly as he stared at Taffy. “Do you have a problem with this, RJ?” Grady asked.
RJ was startled and he turned to Grady, “I remember talking with Taffy during the final fight with the Core Aliens and she said something that bothered me then; I’ve just remembered it.”
Taffy was still smiling as she asked, “What was that, RJ?”
“I told you that I was thankful that our children wouldn’t have to be warriors like us and would live in peace. Do you remember what you said?”
Taffy’s smile disappeared, “Vaguely; refresh my memory.”
“You told me that our children and their children would always be warriors. The universe was filled with dangerous civilizations and humanity would always have to be prepared for anything the universe threw at us.”
Taffy nodded, “I remember.”
“But you said something else as well, Taffy.”
“What was that?”
“You said
that the two remaining aggressive civilizations were not the only ones we’d have to face.”
Grady was staring at Taffy and she said, “It was nothing.”
RJ shook his head, “Taffy, you were making a point and I saw you meant it. There was another civilization you were thinking about when you said that.”
Taffy saw Grady staring at her and she waved a hand, “It wasn’t anything. It’s not an issue.”
“What exactly is not an issue?” Grady asked.
“Grady, I’m serious. It’s no longer a problem.”
“Then you won’t mind telling me what it is.”
Taffy stared at Grady and sighed, “Ok. Let’s clean up the table and I’ll tell you then.”
Grady looked at the robot against the wall and ordered, “Bob, you and Robby clean up the table.” Taffy stared at him, stood up, and went to the huge sofa in the living room. The family followed her, and the six adults sat down on the sofa. The teens pulled up chairs and sat down in front of them. Cami sat down on the floor in front of Sweets chair. Grady looked at Taffy, “What’s no longer an issue?”
Taffy shook her head slightly, “Do you remember when you confronted the last alien Planet Killer with the commander whose fleet attacked Britannia?” Grady nodded. “Well, Admiral Horton contacted me while you were communicating with that Alien and sent me some data collected from her scouts that followed the Core Aliens’ fleets out to the Stealth Civilization.”
Grady stared at Taffy and said, “Go on.”
“Grady, it’s no longer an issue. The Stealth Civilization has left our galaxy and is now in Andromeda. They’re not a problem anymore.”
“That’s who you were referring to in your conversation with RJ?” Taffy nodded. Grady hesitated and asked, “What did the scouts’ report?”
Taffy shrugged, “Grady, it’s not important!”
“TAFFY!!” Grady said harshly.
The rest of the room grew silent; Taffy took a deep breath and slowly blew it out. “The scouts went to most of the planets the stealth Aliens inhabited before they left for Andromeda.”
“And?!” Grady prodded.
“They found most of the planets had ruins from cities that were destroyed long ago in the past.”
“Do you still have the scouts’ recordings?”
Taffy shrugged, “They’re in the King Hare’s database.”
Grady turned to Bob, “Find those recordings and show them on the monitor.”
“Grady!!”
“Be quiet Taffy!” The huge entertainment monitor activated, and images of planets began appearing. The first image showed ancient ruins of a giant city that had been destroyed by nuclear weapons. Then images of planets began appearing every ten seconds and every planet had ruins of destroyed cities. Grady glared at the images and after thirty minutes, he said, “That’s enough Bob.”
Grady glared at the monitor in silence and Taffy finally broke the silence, “Grady, that civilization has left the Milky Way and doesn’t pose a problem. This was just a small omission.”
Grady looked at her, “Why didn’t you show me this?”
Taffy raised her shoulders, “I don’t know…Candy was about to have her baby…we were wrapping up the war against the Core Aliens…it just didn’t seem important.”
Grady’s eyes narrowed and Taffy wilted. “Taffy, we assisted a highly aggressive civilization to escape to another galaxy.”
Taffy started shaking her head, “Most of them had already left for Andromeda, Grady!” Grady started shaking his head slowly and Taffy asked, “What’s wrong?!”
RJ looked at Grady and said, “There’s no way we can find out.” Grady nodded.
“FIND OUT WHAT?!” Taffy asked. Grady kept shaking his head and Taffy turned to RJ, “What are you talking about?!”
RJ shrugged, “We allowed a highly aggressive civilization to escape to Andromeda basically unharmed. What do you think they did when they arrived in Andromeda?”
Taffy was silent a moment and said, “They began looking for other planets to settle.”
“And judging by what they did in the past, what planets did they choose to settle?”
Taffy was silent and Grady said, “And they’ve had close to two decades to consolidate their positions.”
Taffy was shaking her head again, “Let the civilizations in Andromeda handle them! They are no longer an issue for us.”
Grady sighed, “Do you remember when Britannia was attacked by the Core Aliens?” Taffy nodded. “What did we immediately do?” Taffy was silent and Grady continued, “We went to Earth to try and get them to assist Britannia and were lucky to escape with our lives. Then we went to Melbourne and convinced them that they must start preparing to confront the Core Aliens and quickly before they grew to the point where they couldn’t be stopped.”
“What does this have to do with us?”
RJ spoke up, “Do you remember when I was contacted telepathically by one of those aliens?” Taffy nodded. “I told him that we were attacking the Core Aliens because they were an aggressive civilization. I further told him that we weren’t an aggressive civilization and his civilization was safe from us.”
Grady looked at Taffy, “That alien we communicated with knew that one day we would go out to the planets they were leaving and discover that his civilization was also an aggressive civilization. What do you think that civilization will think is going to happen after we make that discovery?”
“Surely they won’t believe we’ll go to another galaxy to attack them,” Taffy replied.
“And you know this because…” RJ asked.
Taffy was shaking her head slightly and Grady added, “I’m sure they left some scouts to see how our war against the Core Aliens turned out. Their fear of us will be greater knowing we defeated a civilization that three other civilizations couldn’t win against and they know we’ll discover they are an aggressive civilization. We represent their greatest danger.”
“Grady, it was just a small omission.”
“That has given the Stealth Civilization eighteen years to prepare to take us on,” RJ commented. “And I suspect they won’t wait for us to attack them; they’ll act first.”
Grady nodded, “It’s what I’d do if I were in their place. I’m certain they’ve been scouting us that entire time trying to steal our technology.”
Grady looked around the room and said, “The move back to Britannia is off the table until we can confirm our suspicions.”
“Grady,” Taffy said softly.
“Taffy, we’re late into this game. We must find out where we stand against them.”
RJ spoke up, “There is some good news in this.”
“What is that?” Grady asked.
“I don’t believe they left scouts in the warzone at the core. I think they left scouts in their territory to see if we discover their true nature.”
“How will they know that? Our ships can’t be detected,” Taffy quickly said.
“They don’t have to detect us, Taffy. All they need do is hear the thoughts of our scout pilots,” RJ answered.
Grady turned to RJ, “Why do you say their not being in the warzone is good news?”
“They never had the opportunity to see the Defense Platforms from Earth,” RJ answered. “They probably never went around to the other side of the black hole.”
“We must find out if they’re scouting us.”
RJ shook his head, “They’ll hear the thoughts from our ships before they can move into scanning range. I see no way we can find them if they are.”
“I’ll have to talk with Joshua and see if he can’t come up with something.” Grady looked around the room and saw the children staring at him. “I’m sorry for this downer but I wasn’t prepared for what was coming. Please don’t worry about this and we’ll handle it. We should continue our celebration.” Everyone stood up and though they tried to act joyful, it was clear something had changed.
• • •
Early the next morning
Grady came out of the bedroom and looked at Taffy, “I’m going to see Joshua.”
“Grady, I’m so sorry! I just didn’t know…”
Grady put his fingers on Taffy’s lips, “It’s done, and I know you’re sorry for not telling me. Just don’t omit anything else you know; is there anything else?”
“No, nothing I remember.”
“If you think of anything tell me.”
“I will.”
Cami had gotten up early and was sitting at the kitchen counter. She listened to them and asked, “Are you talking about Dr. Goldman?”
Grady smiled, “Yes. Why do you ask?”
“I’ve always wanted to meet him! He’s so incredibly smart!”
Grady smiled, “Then come with me. We should be back in time for breakfast.” Cami jumped down from her stool and followed Grady to the roof.
• • •
They arrived at the Science Center and Grady led Cami to Joshua’s office. He gave her a short tour of the building and Cami’s eyes were wide open the entire time. Finally they arrived at Joshua’s office and knocked on the door. “Come in.” They entered and Joshua jumped out of his chair and rushed forward. He hugged Grady, “What brings you here?”
Grady returned his hug and pulled Cami in front of him, “This is Cami and she wanted to come and meet you. She thinks that you are the bomb!”
Cami’s shoulders were up, and Joshua stuck out his hand, “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Cami is one of the smartest students in her school, Josh.”
Cami shook his hand and he smiled, “Maybe you’ll come to work with me!”
Cami’s smile was huge, “That would be wonderful!”
Joshua released her hand and turned back to Grady, “I know that expression. What’s going on?” Grady told him about the revelations from the previous evening and Joshua’s eyes narrowed. “Did you come here to find a way to either find them or block the thoughts of our pilots?”
“Something like that.” Grady replied.
“No way.”
“Why not!”
Joshua sighed and shook his head, “Just how would we know if it works?”
