He Who Dares: Book Two (The Gray Chronicals 2) (68 page)

“The answer to your question, Mike,”  as if his Grandfather could read his mind, “it is sitting on your shoulder.”

“Pardon?”

“In the hundred and fifty odd years we’ve been here, there have been three attempts to learn that secret, and one attempt to kidnap a family member.”

“Good lord!”

“All the attempts except one failed because of that little green lizard sitting on your shoulder.”

“Him?”

“Well, not just him, but his whole family, or group, whatever they call themselves.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Few do.  One of our foremost leading authorities on the subject of our friends put forward the theory that somehow, for reasons unknown, they have accepted us humans as part of their family, so to speak.  That they communicate with each other is clear.  How we aren’t sure, probably telepathy.  But the assault group that came in and tried to get in here all died, horribly I might add.”

“I know their poison is lethal, but I thought they only used it in self defense.”

“Or defense of their family.”

“Oh, I see. We being considered part of the family.”

“Right.”

“I seems as if part of my education is lacking.”  Mike murmured.

“No, you didn’t really need to know, until now.”

“Thanks for telling me, sir… and the time they failed?”  The moment he said it, Mike knew the answer.  He also understood that this was at the heart of his Great Grandfather’s attitude towards him.  This was dangerous ground, but like San Tzu said, ‘on dangerous ground, fight…’

“My parents died, didn’t they?”

Max shot to his feet, and Mike tensed himself for an attack.  Instead Max stomped around the study for a moment before going to stare out the picture window.   Mike sipped the potent brew and savored the smoky taste and waited for an answer.

“I suppose you want to know why?”  Max said ay last, without specifying what.  He didn’t need to, it sat there between them like a granite wall.

“Tell me or don’t tell me… I don’t care… you… the family treated me like was a pariah since the day I was born.”  He saw Max nod and say something.

“What!  Spit it out old man.”  Max turned and took a step towards him.

“I said it was my fault!”  He bellowed.

“Tell me something I don’t know already!”  Mike surged to his feet, fist clenched, ready to fight.

“Bet you’d love to beat the crap out of me, wouldn’t you Michael.”

“I’m thinking about it, yes.”

“Wouldn’t blame you if you did, but it wouldn’t alter or put right all the wrongs you think were done to you.”

“You stupid old fart!  I don’t give a tinker's damn about what was done to me!”  Max blinked and pulled his head back.

“What?”

“I give a damn about all the misery that was heaped on Gramps head, all the wrongs you are the family did him.”

“Well, I’d be damned… So that’s what’s got your knickers in a twist.”

“To hell with you Max, I’m leaving!  Grabbing his jacket, Mike started towards the door.

“You were a freak when you were born, and I threw up the first time I saw you.”  Mike stumbled to a halt.  “I tried to get the doctor to give you a lethal injection… he wouldn’t… so I tried to strangle you myself…”

“You what?”  It hit Mike like a hammer blow, and for a moment he couldn’t understand what the old man was talking about.  Max let out a sigh as he slumped back into the easy chair and picked up his drink.

“On the trip back on their honeymoon,”  Max spoke in a whisper and involuntarily, Mike took a step closer so he could hear, “unbeknownst to them, there was a micro leak in the reactor.  It was so small that none of the ship's on-board systems detected it.”

Like finding the missing piece to a jigsaw puzzle, Max’s words made the whole picture come into view.  The cabin in line with the micro leak, a pregnant woman in its path, massive genetic damage to the fetus, and on a new growing world, a busy schedule, missed doctor’s appointments to pick up on the abnormality until the day of the birth.

“But… but…”  There was still a few bits of the puzzle missing.

“After my one attempt to…   your parents knew, and wouldn’t see the light of reason.  They ran away, to south continent the first moment they were able, but on their way, their air car crashed.”  Mike looked up to see tears running down Max’s face.

“So help me God, when I heard the news I was glad… hoping you were dead… it wasn’t until later we found out it was your parents that died, not you.”  Max let out a sob.

“On no, not you, you lived and they died, but when you came back…  when they found you three months later, you weren’t the same.”

“What!”

“I told you, you were so deformed when you were born it was hard to recognize you as a baby, let alone human.”

“So what happened?”  Max shrugged.

“I don’t know, no one knows.  You came back to use whole and healthy, and the doctor’s kept insisting that there was nothing wrong with you.”

“There isn’t.  I’m a normal healthy human from Avalon with all the normal genetic modifications Avalon’s health department insists on, nothing more.”

“That’s right, you are.  I have a copy of every medical exam, you ever had, and everyone of them tells me you are a normal human male.”

“So why are you so pissed off at me then?”  Mike snapped.

“Because you should be dead!  Babies don’t fall out of the sky from 10,000 feet and survive… hell you shouldn’t have even survived all the genetic mutations inside you, but you did.  You survived when Carroll died…”

“And you can’t forgive me for that, can you?”  Max shook his head.

“I thought I couldn’t… but seeing you… God!  You look so much like your mother it hurts, and I could do nothing to hurt her.”

There it was, out in the open for him to see.  Gramps always told him that human motivations were never simple.  They were all wrapped up in contradictions and conflicting emotions.  Even knowing that, Mike felt at a loss to know what to say or do.  What did Max want from him, if anything.  To say he was sorry that he was alive?

“In some twisted way, I understand, sir.  I might not agree or like it, but is makes sense now.”

“But are you human?”

“What?”

“Something happened out there in the jungle in those three months before they found you, but we have never been able to find out what.”

“How should I know?”

“He knows.”  Max said, nodding towards the lizard on Mike’s shoulder.

“Him?”  Why should he know?”

“They were the ones they led the search party looking for the wreckage, and to you.” Mike reached up and stroked the lizard’s crest.

“What makes you think they had anything to do with it?”

“Because they have a secret, one they won’t tell us about.”

“That’s daft.  They don’t talk.”  In answer Max just smiled at him.

“Right, of course they don’t.  But they seemed to know we wanted to find the wreck, and they led us to it.”

“What caused the crash?”

“Someone tampered with the power cell and caused it to short out after the air car reached cruising altitude.”

“Did you find out who?”

“Oh yes, and put him under TD-P.  It all came out, the who, the what, and the why.”  Max smiled then, but it wasn’t pretty.  “It led back to the Sirrien of course, but only to a bunch of greedy corporation heads trying to get a monopoly of Ag technology.”

“I take it they are no longer breathing.”

“You can be assured of that.  I think it went higher, all the way up to their Royal family, but I couldn’t prove it.”

“And without proof, you couldn’t take your revenge.”

“Revenge!  Justice you mean, but no, not without proof I couldn’t.”

“I’m surprised they managed to find someone on the planet that would do their dirty work.”

“So were we, and it’s one of the reasons we only let a limited number of off-worlder visit Avalon, and then only under strict supervision.

“That leaves Christchurch.”

“Domestic surveillance?”

“After the assassination, yes, and you’d be surprised at who our spies are.”  Max nodded towards Mike friend.

“Well, I’ll be dammed.”

“Don’t ask how they tell us who is friendly or not, just take it on faith they are never wrong.”  Mike turned his head and looked his little green friend in the eyes.

“So, you’ve been spying on me all this time, huh.  And here I was thinking you were my friend.”  In answer the lizard snuggled closer and put his head under Mike’s chin.

“If he’s been spying on you, neither I, nor that misbegotten human who thinks she rules the bloody planet knows anything about it.”  Mike had to smile.  Knowing his Aunt, it was a sure bet she and Max had some knockdown, drag out fights over the years.

“So, where does that leave us, Max?”  Max looked at him a moment, weighing his thoughts.

“Let’s just say we declare a truce, and leave it at that for the moment.”

“Fair enough.”

“We can talk about forgiveness later, now drink, sailor!”

“Aye-aye, Sir.”  He answered, raising his glass.

“I hear you are going to take Conner sailing.”

“Yes, sir.  Tomorrow, if we can get away.”

“Good, sounds like a great idea.”

“Would you like to come along?”

“No, too much to do to get your ships built in time.  You and Conner enjoy yourselves.”

As he suspected, he woke up the next morning with a big bass drum beating on the inside of his head.  The one thing he was grateful for, was that they called a halt to the drinking after neither of them slid under the table after the second bottle.  Conner and he did take two days off and go sailing, but all too quickly the vacation was over.  The moment he arrived back, the PM made it clear he should get back to Earth as soon as possible with his reply.  Mike hadn’t mentioned the rest of his mission, but he was right.  Time was running out, and the sooner he got underway the better.  Reluctantly, he sent out the recall message, and with the PM return message safely locked in his safe, they left Avalon with little fanfare and headed back to the stars. 

*  *  *  *  *  *

After passing back through the Rift, the Nemesis headed back along its outbound route towards the last unmapped warp point.  This was prompted by Ensign Cooper, who, instead of going ashore, spent most of her time reviewing the sensor logs.  She reported that one of the faint spectral analyses readings corresponded to a binary star system, but she couldn’t tell from the data if it was the right one.  Janice reviewed the same material and shrugged, and on a hunch Mike went with Cooper’s assessment.

“We have to start somewhere, Janice.”

“True, sir, no one has ever reported seeing a binary anywhere near the same spectral reading as those at Enright’s folly.  Oops, sorry sir, Enright’s warp point.”  Mike smiled at her use of the common name for the WP.