35

The shuttle settled down outside Haventown. Tethered balloons were banging about in the breeze, and Corporal Jant, one of Rev’s karnans, was dressed as the ugliest clown Rev had ever seen.

Today was a big day. While all of the children had made trips to the surface before, today had been designated as Zero Day, the official start of their lives on Haven.

Jant rushed forward to greet the backpack-laden children as they came down the ramp. More than a few, including Willow, were having none of him. But Aspen, normally the timid one, ran right up to him and took his hand. Rev couldn’t quite hear what she was saying, but she was animated.

Emboldened by her, more of the kids approached, but others warily made their way around him and to their waiting parents.

Teo brought Willow to Rev and Tomiko. She also handed Rev a small container carrying Blue.

“He got loose in the hangar just before we loaded. I thought he was going to be launched on a long trip without us.”

Rev rolled his eyes as he took possession of the gerbil. The idea of his girls melting down over the lost Blue was something he didn’t want to even imagine.

The shuttle took off and crabbed over to the hangar the Po had grown. It was large enough for both shuttles, the Charon, and the Shrike, as well as the associated maintenance and fabrication equipment, but both it and the much smaller housing for the fuel processor seemed to almost be part of the landscape, they were so cleverly designed and positioned.

No one knew for sure how long the craft could be kept operational, but it could be decades with proper care.

With the second-to-last shuttle, the party was in full swing. A feast had been laid out, and booze was flowing. The Po had a hand in that. As with any military since the dawn of time, the sailors knew how to distill shine and various other alcoholic concoctions. And the food fabricators could do a decent job with drinks, too. But while the Po were working on various human food items, Rev and the others discovered that the Po had a love for alcohol as well, and they were quite skilled in its production. Two of their drinks, dis and tonso, had become human favorites—several others made even sailors gag—but for Rev, their cider was amazing. They’d successfully duplicated the human version, then added a slight touch of their own that elevated it to the next level.

About half of the Kanters had returned from their exploration of the island, and, as usual, they congregated around the children. Rev had asked Tiktik why there were no young, and his friend said that they’d essentially turned off their reproductive capability for the duration—Rev didn’t quite understand if that was a mental process or some sort of medical device. But with the expedition over, Tiktik said they were considering reversing that.

As he sipped his cider and watched the human children running around on hyperdrive, the image of baby Kanters bouncing around at three times the velocity was both scary and intriguing.

Mother help us when that happens.

Human kids were handful enough.

“Rev, come get your daughter,” Tomiko said, pulling Willow—or was it Aspen—by the arm to him. “She pushed Moses down, and he hurt his knee.”

“He said a bad word,” his daughter protested.

Rev kneeled so that his head was even with hers.

“You can’t just go pushing people because they say something.”

“But—”

“No buts. You can’t do that.”

When he saw the fire of defiance in her eyes, he knew she was Aspen.

Maybe it isn’t either serial killer or counsel general. She could be both.

“Now go back and apologize to Moses.”

“I don’t wanna.”

“Sometimes, we have to do what we don’t want to. Now you go and apologize.”

She nodded, then went to find him. Rev didn’t bother to watch. When she agreed to something, he knew she’d do it.

“You could have told her to apologize, Miko. It doesn’t always have to be daddy who’s the disciplinarian.”

“She doesn’t always listen to me.”

Because you’re a softy when it comes to them.

He wasn’t going to say that, though.

“Some gathering, huh?” he asked.

“We’re starting a new chapter. We needed to bring it in with a party.”

He pulled her into his side, as they just watched for a few minutes.

“I think we did the right thing, Rev.”

“So do I. You and the girls will be happy here.”

He felt her stiffen.

Not smart. No reason to bring that up now.

He turned to kiss her forehead, and he could see the tear running down her cheek.

“None of that today,” he said, wiping the tear with a forefinger. “This is a celebration.”

“I’m sorry. You’re right.”

With the reminder, Rev searched the crowd until he spotted Randigold. She was deteriorating quickly, much as Bundy had done. At the moment, she was sitting at one of the picnic tables with Cocker and Božič-Mizaki, drinking what looked to be tonso.

Five days ago, he’d taken her off the watch list. It had hurt, but it had to be done. She wasn’t able to function properly as a team leader anymore. Rev had set up a rotating team of eight on duty with at least one IBHU. While the Zfthu hadn’t made any aggressive moves as of yet, that had been true for almost all surprise attacks in history. If the duty team had to spring into action to protect the settlement, then Rev needed a team leader who was fully combat capable.

“Here it comes!” Jellyroll Leek shouted.

Rev joined the others in looking to the sky. The last shuttle was on the way down. The inspection team had been doing one last sweep of the ship to make sure nothing that was usable to the settlement had been left behind. Their final act was to prepare the ship for its final voyages.

All that was needed now was for the order to be transmitted to the ship’s AI.

Rev looked around for Wolf but didn’t immediately spot him. He and Punch had assured Rev that their program was in place, but his nerves were a little on edge about it.

People started to gather where a stage had been built as the shuttle descended. Even some of the children seemed to sense the significance of the situation and came to join their parents.

The shuttle, flown by Nissen, didn’t land at the LZ but went straight to the hangar. A few minutes later, the inspection team emerged and headed to the party.

Hyung waited until they reached them, then took the stage.

“Is this on?” he asked into a microphone, then, “Can everyone gather for this?”

The entire village, minus Tsao’s team, which was on duty, crowded together in front of the stage.

“Are we all having a good time?”

There were shouts of “Yes!” but not as enthusiastically as Rev would have thought. This was a bittersweet moment, though. They were looking forward to their new lives, but they were also saying goodbye to their old. Most of the people had family back home, and they knew they’d never hear from them again.

“This is a special day for us,” Hyung said. “We’ve taken control of our lives, and we’re forging ahead. This has always been part of the human condition. From our earliest ancestors who emerged from the east coast of Africa to populate Mother Earth, to the first Soviet and American astronauts to break the bonds and leave the Mother, to the brave souls of the First Expansion, our race is made of pioneers.

“We’re no different. We joined the expedition for different reasons . . .”

Some of us had no choice.

“. . . but a sense of expanding our knowledge and reach has been a core feature of what we do. And here, on Haven, that isn’t going to stop.”

Hyung was on a roll, but Rev’s mind was wandering. For most of his life, Rev had been a Perseus Union Marine. In a few minutes, that was about to be severed, emotionally, if not in actuality.

He was still going to be “Sergeant Major Pelletier” within the expedition for as long as he was breathing, but he’d abandoned his mission. Was he really a Marine anymore?

As Hyung kept on about how this was an historic occasion, where humanity was going to live and develop with two other races, Rev had a lump in his throat. It was all becoming real now.

Tomiko must have noticed his distress because she asked, “Are you OK, Rev?”

He wasn’t sure he could talk, so he gave her a half smile and a nod.

She didn’t look like she believed him, but she just grabbed his arm and held it tight.

Hyung didn’t talk nearly as long as Rev had expected. He closed his remarks, then motioned for Norton to join him.

“As commanding officer of the Galaxy Explorer, it is appropriate that you give her the command.”

If Rev was emotional, Norton looked devastated. He gravely accepted the pad from Hyung, then looked out over the crowd. He opened his mouth to speak, stopped, then tried again with the same result. Finally, he just shook his head and pressed his thumb on the screen and handed it back to Hyung.

When he didn’t say anything, Hyung took over and shouted, “With the departure of the Explorer, we are now officially cut off, and so I declare that from this moment forward, we are all sovereign citizens of the Free State of Haven.”

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