31

“It looks like they’re coming along,” Tiwari said, lowering his Optisight.

“You should see it close up. It’s both revolting and fascinating at the same time,” Rev replied.

The two were standing on Rev’s command post—which was what the rest of the Marines were calling the battlement.

“Faster than what I thought, na?”

Down on the beach, a huge wall was being erected that delineated the trading enclave. Constructed completely by nanos, it was made by the same method as the castle but without the architectural frills. Close up, the process looked like pus oozing upward and hardening.

“Think the yetis will keep within their enclave?” Per asked.

“As long as we’re here, the dragons think so. And so far, they’ve been keeping their side of the bargain. Look how quickly they left their villages.”

“It’s that ‘as long as we’re here’ thing that worries me, na?”

“We’ll be here a while longer, Per. Norton’s not happy with the cross-training, and he doesn’t want to go until he qualifies everyone in their new job.”

“Qualifies? Does he think the Navy’s coming out to test them? With all the troubles back there?” Tiwari asked.

Communications had been completely cut off for five days now. The comms chief couldn’t tell if that was simply because of bad comms or if they were being ignored. Lieutenant Commander Norton said that if comms were not restored in another ten days, he was going to use one of his last message torps to see what was going on.

Rev wasn’t feeling very positive about the lack of communications. The last information they’d received was that the war was growing in intensity, and more alien races had taken sides. They didn’t get much in the way of details, but the overall impression was that things were getting very serious.

“You know Norton. Everything’s done by the book,” Rev said. “And, to be honest, I’d like to think each squid knows their stuff before we hit bubble space.”

“That entire ship can be controlled by the AI.”

“So why do we have sailors, then? It takes a lot of them to make sure everything’s working, not just navigating. And we’re a long way from rescue if things go wrong.”

“We should just stay here.”

Rev grunted. “Stay here? With the dragons and yetis?”

“Why not? Look at this place. It’s beautiful. And peaceful, now. Bring down some of the equipment, and we could make a settlement. We don’t have to terraform anything, and we’ve even got the ship’s garden to grow here for a touch of home.”

“And our mission?”

“It doesn’t look like they’re paying much attention to our mission back there,” Tiwari said.

Rev winced. He was a Marine, and Marines accomplished their missions. Not that Tiwari was wrong in the support from human space. Rev had the feeling that they were overcome by events, and they were merely an almost forgotten afterthought.

And he was also right in that Tylydina was amazing. He didn’t want to use the word paradise, but if it fit . . .

He’d already been contemplating discussing an extension on the planet with Norton and Dieter Hyung, who’d taken over from Dr. Njuguna after she relinquished her leadership position. Why did they have to leave as soon as Norton was satisfied with the training? Why not stay six months, nine months? Maybe even a year?

Rev could use the island as a training base to hone his Marine’s fighting edge. And a year might give them a chance to develop a long-term solution for the Po/Zfthu problem.

“Here they come,” Tiwari said, pointing to the sky.

Rev had been lost in his thoughts, but with the shuttle arriving, excitement took over.

“Let’s go,” he said, then rushed to the stairs and vaulted down five steps at a time. “They’re coming!” he shouted to the Marines in the courtyard. “Pass the word to the barracks.”

The “barracks” was a series of rooms in the castle that the Po had turned over to the humans. Their hosts had also offered to build them separate quarters, apart from the castle, but for now, the barracks were adequate.

There were some excited Marines waiting, and seven minutes later, the shuttle eased down with the lightness of a feather. Nissen was at the controls, and he waved to Rev as he started the shutdown procedures.

Rev edged to the rear, and when the ramp opened, Tomiko and the girls were the first ones off.

“Daddy!” they screamed, before breaking free of Tomiko’s hands and dashing across the courtyard and into his waiting arms.

“I missed you girls!” he said as he accepted their kisses.

“We went for a ride!” Willow said.

“I know you did, Willie. I bet it was fun.”

“Yes, it was fun. We went zoom!”

“Hey, Aspen,” Rev said as he reached into his cargo pocket. He pulled out a somewhat squished blue unicorn.

“Tina!” she squealed as she grabbed it.

“Tina helped keep me company while I was away from you. Thank you so much for lending her to me.”

She hugged the unicorn and said something to Willow in twin speak, who answered back in the same way.

More children descended. Six Marines, including Tiwari, had reunions. All of the other children had either their parents with them on the ship or, in four cases, were now orphans. Rima (with two), Teo, and Njuguna were holding those children’s hands as they tentatively made their way down the ramp. And among the children, what looked like most of the Kanters ran out, much to Tiktik’s joy. He somersaulted four times before he reached them.

A few of the children seemed a little awed by the blue sky over their heads, but the rest seemed excited to see such a large, open space.

“They’ve been ready to explode since they found out they were coming yesterday. I don’t think they slept a wink,” Tomiko said.

“What about you? Did you get any sleep?”

“What do you think? But it’s OK. This is going to be special.”

Umman was the last person off the shuttle. He was moving slowly, but there was something different about him. It took a moment for Rev to figure it out.

He was smiling.

“Look at him?” Rev told Tomiko. “He looks happy.”

“He was amazing in helping round up the children today. It’s almost like he’s a human being, after all.”

“A miracle.”

It took a while for all the hellos to be done, and the children were already playing in the courtyard. Then there were potty breaks and diaper changes, which had to be done in the barracks. But finally, they were ready.

The gate opened, scaring a few of the children, and the mass of humanity, guarded by eight fully suited IBHU Marines and eight more Marines in PALs—there were no Zfthu on the island, but Rev was taking no chances—stepped out.

The children’s reactions were priceless. A few of them stopped dead, unsure of this strange new world. All of the children had their regular IR time with the open spaces of human planets, but there was a difference between a headset and the real deal.

The rest, though, squealed with delight.

“Come on, Daddy!” Aspen shouted as she took his hand. “Run!”

Rev laughed and ran along with her for ten meters while Willow chased them. He stopped, grabbed them both, and swung them upside down and then onto his shoulders. The girls screamed in mock fear, then held onto his head as he strode down the slope.

For this special occasion, there was only one destination: the swimming hole. Norton had advised caution as this was where so many of the sailors had been killed, but Doc Rima thought that bringing children there could help banish the ghosts. Some of the sailors turned down the opportunity, but eleven of them—six with children of their own—joined the party.

It took a long time. Little people had little legs. And the children were constantly stopping to examine a blade of Tylydinan grass, to watch a Tylydinan bug. And when the breeze kicked up, they raised their hands to try and catch it. But finally, they arrived.

Rev lowered the girls to their feet and let them drink in the sight.

Most of the children were gobsmacked. They’d seen water in the portable wading pool back in the hangar deck. But to see a creek feeding into a large, round pool was something beyond their imagination.

The Kanter’s didn’t wait. With shrill squeaks, they broke into a run and vaulted into the water. They gamboled like otters, their joy obvious.

The children were a mixed bag. Willow wanted to jump in, while Aspen hung on Rev’s leg, not sure she trusted the water.

“Life jackets!” Rev shouted.

The Galaxy Explorer didn’t have a store of children’s life jackets, but they could be made. And now every child, from the newest infants to Willow and Aspen, had to wear one. It took Rev a few moments to figure Willow’s out. There were a lot of straps to connect, all while his daughter was jumping up and down in excitement.

Finally, though, she was ready to go. Rev asked Tomiko if she wanted the honors, but she said she’d take Aspen, who was wary of the pool.

Willow had no hesitation. She followed Rev in, stomping her feet to splash the water. Rev turned over on his back, put her on his chest, then swam out to the middle while Kanters swam circles around him. Willow shrieked with delight.

For the next four hours, the Zfthu and Po and the entire galaxy were forgotten. They could be back on Safe Harbor or any of the others’ home planets, just enjoying the normal life.

Aspen finally got up the courage to get in the water, and soon she and her sister were leading some of the older kids in tag and games Rev didn’t quite understand. The infants were carried into the water by their parents, but for most of the time, they crawled around on the shore, fascinated by dirt and bugs. A few of the parents objected, but Rima insisted this was a good thing, both for their development and in helping their immune systems.

Rev didn’t quite understand that as he understood that most of the pathogens and such on the planet were harmless to humans, but Rima assured him that simply their physical structure could initiate an immune reaction.

As the sun moved into the afternoon, most of the children and more than a few parents started to fade. Only the Kanters seemed to have unflagging energy. Umman took charge of the cleanup, and Rev walked over to his wife and put his arm around her shoulders as she watched Willow and Aspen fill drink cups with dirt, then turn them over to make little castles of their own.

Tomiko reached up with her organic hand and grabbed Rev’s as it draped over her shoulder.

“This has been a good day,” she said.

“One of the best in a long, long time.”

“I could get used to it.”

“I’m going to propose to Norton and Hyung that we stay a year.”

“Do you think they’ll buy it?”

“I’m gonna say that it’s for refresher training, to keep us combat-ready.”

“Is that the real reason?”

“Sure. We can do training.”

“Rev.”

“OK, OK. I just think we can use the break. And who knows when we’ll hit another planet like this.”

“You mean with warring races?” she asked.

“I think we’re safe enough. The yetis won’t do anything as long as we’re here. And we’ll keep a constant alert force.”

The two were silent for a few minutes as they watched their girls before Tomiko said, “I hope they agree. I think I’d like to stay here for a year.”

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