Welcome Aboard Air Marineris
Chapter Nineteen:The Prodigal Returns

It was a satisfying hug, and I kissed his cheek. I surprised him. He was expecting a hug, of course, but not a kiss. I am not a kissy person, except with Dini, of course. It does no harm to keep people guessing, a bit.

“How would you like to have some dinner? Did they feed you?” Sᴇaʀch Thᴇ Findɴovel.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

“Not on the ship. Before free fall, you know. They’re not looking for more cleanup jobs. They kept us away from food for six hours. And the trash food in the Junction was no help. Ice cream and cotton candy weren’t exactly a craving then. And what can you say about those greasy semi-hamburgers? I think I’m best off with Esther’s lentil soup and some pita bread. Add some hot coffee so I can pay attention to you, and I’m good.

“You can’t really catch up on your sleep when you’re coming down. And there was only a small contingent of newbies this trip. It’s an off month. I spent a lot of your money. I took quite a bit of the stuff they had in stock from the suppliers, so there’s CubeSats, com stuff, and two drones in the cargo along with a whole bunch of flyeyes and other stuff. Mo, big brother’s a bit of a spendthrift.”

“Don’t I know it. You were a bit cryptic in your letter. It certainly was a surprise, though. You must have felt a bit foolish with the superspy stuff when nobody was interested. Not so sorry about it, though. Maybe we are a bunch of conspiracists.”

“I don’t think so Mo. We did find them spying on us. We didn’t think that was truly criminal, though. A desire to protect what is yours is understandable where they come from. They just went too far on us, and they didn’t keep us in the loop. Then there is all that creepy stuff about stopping scientific research. That’s definitely not in our interest, and keeping it concealed isn’t friendly. That justifies caution, in my mind. After all, we were just making some reasonable inquiries and hooking up with people who share a common interest with us. They are the ones who seem to encourage our competing rather than cooperating. I didn’t feel embarrassed at all. I was delighted that I didn’t need to sneak about, and that they lost interest in killing me.”

“You did imply in your letter that there is still something secret. That guy Abner, the librarian.”

“That’s the really strange thing. I’m going to need to leave that to tomorrow. Klara is entitled to know it. At breakfast. In the meantime, I’d rather tell you about my family. I haven’t seen them for eight years. A lot has happened, and I didn’t even recognize Josh’s boy. His wife Cynthia is as beautiful as ever. Bannion is not little anymore. A young man, rather serious like his father. I got to spend two days with them. We set up their house. I loved that. Hanging pictures and moving furniture with Josh and Bannion. I’m still as incompetent a painter as I ever was. Thank goodness that the walls are all basic white and we only needed to paint accent walls.

“We visited their schools. Josh’s boy Bannion is in the new university, registered for next year. They are looking for students. The teachers they have are amazing. Nobel scholars and the lot. The new departments are all stem subjects right now, but they will be hooking up with the techs there before long. It’s a natural with the science base. A great benefit for us and a great loss for Earth.”

“What’s their house like?”

“It’s a miniature Venetian palazzo. Two stories. Wildly inappropriate, but who wouldn’t want to live in one of those? It’s got a red tile roof. You have your choice of brown or red tile. The walls are all stucco. All the panels are manufactured with that. Right now, they’re asking for all the houses to be the same. Josh is in graphics, and he’s applied for a job in the design department of one of the manufacturers. There’s a lot of those in the spider’s web industrial park alongside the hab. It’s a beautiful place, Mo. It’s like the Earth you half remember from before the Impact. Not much about it almost eighty years later, but enough to know what we lost. There is so much beauty you can’t help but be happy.

“Rebecca and Bertrand look just the same. They don’t seem to change. She’s seen Miriam already and she is going to take her on in their real estate business. Rebecca is just as feisty as ever, and Bertrand is the calming influence. They got a smaller house than Josh and Cyn, but it’s flossier. Rebecca always liked the nice things. Since she had to leave it all behind, she has the fun of replacing them. She’ll need to wait till they have decorating stores there, but they’re starting up a consumer industry. Everyone has some money and is in the same boat. I think all of them will do quite well supplying one another.

“The goodbyes were touchy. It will, in all likelihood, be the last time I see them in person. It’s been eight years already and I’m not getting any younger, am I Mo? It was the last time I will put my arms around them. We all knew it. It’s not the place for family life here yet. No question of them coming here.”

He sat there. His voice cracked and his face caved in. He cried, the tears welling out of his eyes and down his grizzled cheeks. He didn’t try to stop them. He sat there unashamed of the emotion. I loved my connection with a man like him. I put my hand on his. There was no need to say anything. I loved that too.

The autochef bells went off, and we responded to their call. We shared a meal of fresh-made soup and bread. The coffee was hot and strong; the few words passing between us were gentle. We were both in our family home. I had met Bee eager for a briefing on momentous events, but what I got then was much more precious. My mind often casts back to that evening meal with that old man. It takes a lifetime of emotional privation to prepare you to appreciate a night like that. It is almost worth it.

We were up late that night, talking about nothing in particular, really.

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