After the cargo had been offloaded, Steve, Krys, and Cassie headed to dinner. The colony refectory was a large affair, capable of serving as an auditorium for the five hundred personnel serving on Mars at any given time. The food, on the other hand, was still a work in progress. No meat products were available on Mars just yet; the fish stocked in the colony's hydroponic system were there mainly to provide fertilizer for the plants and weren't suitable just yet for eating. Rabbits and pigs were supposedly to be included with next year's appropriation, but they said that last year, too.
"Well, we can have the soy chicken patties, the soy beef patties, or the soy pork patties," Steve said as they read off the menu.
"Anything else?" Krys asked.
"Well, there is the soy Spam, but I don't think you want to go near that."
"You have a point."
The three made their selections, and took a seat at a round table.
Krystina looked at her daughter and noticed that she didn't seem too happy and she wasn't eating with her usual gusto. Usually she was a chatterbox about what her and her best friend Angela were doing, and yet, tonight she was silent.
"Is there something on your mind, Cassie?" she asked.
Cassie looked at her mom and shrugged. "Nothing."
"You don't seem yourself..." Krystina persisted, being the mother she was.
Suddenly, Cassandra let out a big sigh. "Do I have to go with dad for six whole months! I mean, I love dad and I want to see dad, but... All he wants to do is go to the race track and see Nascar and... And I have to leave Angela, and her and I were going to start trying out for the community theater and everything... and... I don't want to leave for six whole month!!"
Cassie put the food down and hung her head. She didn't want to show the tears stinging her green-brown eyes.
Krystina's heart went out to her and she gently reached out to embrace her with and arm. "Honey... I didn't know you felt this way... I don't know if there's anything we can do... Maybe we can talk to your father..."
"He won't listen... He never listens... Not to anybody..." she sniffed.
Krystina sighed and held her daughter to her, not knowing what to say.
Steve had been very careful not to interject in this exchange; since the earliest days of their relationship he had not interfered with the custody arrangements. As much as he disliked John, he still acknowledged the man's right to be a father to his kids. But still, he also felt partly responsible for this state of affairs. He thought as he fiddled with a turnip on his plate.
"I'm wondering if we could see about a three-month rotation. The only problem with that would be that it would interfere with school."
"Why can't I go to school here?" Cassie asked. "We've got all these scientists and people like that; why can't it be done?" Indeed, that was the case -- three or four families who did not have custody issues had brought their children and were educating them themselves.
"That is a thought," Steve said. "Most of your furlough can take place during the summer, and you're still doing most of your schooling on Mars anyway. The argument could be made to keep you here for the school year. When we have line-of-sight transmission with Earth again -- or when that subspace radio ever gets perfected -- I'll send a message to the lawyers to see what they can do about that."
He didn't think there'd be a problem; Cassie was well ahead of her peers in most of her subjects and was even giving Jordan a run for his money these days. The quality of education was obviously not an issue. And there was ample precedent in the law: realistically, the situation was no different than if she had attended a boarding school on Earth.
Krystina smiled as her eyes met Steve's. "I think that's an excellent idea!" she said.
Slowly Cassie's head came up, the tears still there, but not falling. "You mean, I might be able to stay here all the school year and only have to go during the Summer months?" she asked.
Krystina nodded. "Does that sound okay to you?"
Cassie smiled. "Thank you!!" she said, hugging her mom back enthusiastically. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Then she got up and went to Steve and hugged him too. "Thank you!! Wait till I tell Angela I won't be gone all six months!"
Krystina watched as Cassie sat back down and she was just beaming!
After dinner, they went to their residence. Though they were on Mars, Krystina was still ever the packrat and had taken as many mementos as she was allowed to take. She had brought photo albums, baby books, videos. Up on a far shelf were copies of the books she had written and the awards she had received for them. She was surrounded by reminders of her children and her life. Steve had gone to finish some work he had brought home and Cassie had gone to bed, Krystina had put in a special video and sat down to watch. Immediately, images of the Virgo's crew and her with the kids filled the screen. Other images with Steve and herself... And Kat and Jovo and Jenara and Johnny... She smiled as she watched the memories unfold.
"It seems like it was only yesterday," Steve commented as he watched the video. "Have we heard anything from Jordan?" he asked as he saw Jordan at age nine scamper across a holographic beach. Hard to believe he's in college now...
Krystina jumped a bit as she noticed his presence, but immediately smiled. "I haven't heard from him yet... But I haven't checked messages today either. Maybe something filtered in," she said. "It would be nice to find out if he's coming to visit for a little while before college starts up again."
Krystina switched the viewscreen over to the message menu. Solar activity had been exceptionally high this cycle, and opposition had occurred back in February, so messages had been few and far between. She'd gotten out of the habit of checking. Sure enough, there was a message.
Jordan sat at a public message terminal. The boy -- the young man -- was now in excess of six feet tall and wore his hair cropped short. [Hello everyone! It's past opposition, and past finals, so I wanted to send you a message. I'm really loving school even though I haven't seen the outside of Urey Hall or the Geisel Center in months. And I think they're serving the Purple Raspberry Stuff at the cafeteria, but I'm not sure. We need to get it to the lab and analyze it.] Steve and Krys laughed; the few times Jordan had been on Mars he'd had pretty much the same opinion of the infamous dessert as everyone else except Cassie. [I wanted to let you folks know firsthand -- I've been accepted for Space Defense Force ROTC and I start basic training at the end of July! Any chance I can grab a shuttle out your way? Dad's driving me nuts! All during midterms he kept calling me asking me to go to the track with him. And you should see the skank he's dating right now! How Cassie puts up with him for six months I don't know. Anyway, let me know and I'll see if I can't make it out there. Love you!] Jordan waved to the screen as the message terminated.
"We have to send him a message to come out and visit right now!" Krystina smiled. "I have to see my baby!!"
Steve, as the base's administrative officer, had charge of the transportation schedules. He pulled one up. "There's a transport leaving from Santa Barbara on the first; primarily cargo but room for five passengers on space-available. I'll send the information to him." A few keystrokes, and the reservation was made. "We can follow this up with a personal message in the morning; it's the middle of the night where he's at. Why didn't you see him while you were on Earth?" Steve asked, almost certain he knew the answer.
"John..." she said with a deep sigh. That man still managed to bring forth that sound from her. "Jordan was with him and I wasn't about to try to see Jordan while he was with John. You know what happens when John and I see each other, even now. Though I do have to say, its been better over the years since Reno..." she chuckled. She had been told what had transpired with John many years ago during the Virgo visit.
Steve smiled. Thanks to some timely intervention by their new-found NSA allies, John's case was dismissed and all charges were dropped on the condition that he never return to Reno, Nevada. "How's that bioresearch project coming?" Steve asked, hoping to change the subject. Krystina's primary research responsibility was developing advanced medical equipment based upon what they'd gleaned from the Federation and from Eriarti wreckage. Four Eriarti crash sites had now been identified--two on Earth (Roswell in 1948 and the Utah crash in 2001), one on Earth's Moon (now home to a city of over 15,000) and one found just two months ago on Mars. The Mars site was less than 100 kilometers from the base. The crash sites had been the source of a wealth of information, particularly on bioengineering.
Why four crash sites had been identified in such a comparatively small area was unknown. Of the four crashes, only the Utah crash had a definitive, identifiable cause. There was no way to date the lunar crash, but the resident archaeologist on Mars had determined that the crash site there was in the neighborhood of 10,000 years old. The Eriarti were very definitely a threat in this universe. Steve's job (when he wasn't occupied with the logistics of running the base) was to analyze the wreckage and attempt to replicate the Eriarti propulsion technology. Then -- and only then -- would humanity be on anything close to an equal footing with its ancient nemesis.
"Well. we're making progress, but its slow as usual. However, the progress we do make is interesting so its what keeps us going... And we need to keep going as you know," she said.
"Yes, that we do. We're still doing forensic work on the crash site we discovered back in April. Nothing like working on a Martian saucer to get your attention!" Steve said. "The best we can tell about that one -- about any of them -- was that they weren't due to mechanical failure. The Eriarti's tech is just too advanced for that. Either these are ritual suicides or someone else has been gunning for our friends. Which leads to some other unsettling questions: who are these other aliens, and are they allies or enemies? Too much to think about. I just want to get the warp drive working!"
Krystina smiled softly suddenly. "We will... It might take some time, but we will... You know, its funny, but after all this time, even though we didn't really know them all that long, I miss Kat and Jenara... Johnny and Jovo too... and I wonder what happened to them. I wonder if Kat ever was able to get her daughter back... She'd be Cassie's age."
Steve knew what they had written, but he also knew that what actually happened in the RPG universe (and it was still going strong, even if much of the premise had changed) might be significantly different. "Who knows? Maybe one of the wrecks has a functioning Mirror. We might be able to find out one of these days."
"It would be nice to see them again," Krystina said.
"Maybe someday," Steve said as he reached over to take her hand.