Talosian Chronicles 1: Olympus (22 page)

“Please tell me you two didn’t
run
here? Do you know what could happen to you in this heat? Sit! Both of you!” Beth said in her best mother’s voice. She went to the replicator and asked for two bottles of water. “Drink this, neither of you are to leave here until you’ve drunk two of those bottles, understood?”

Shocked into obedience, the two miscreants followed her instructions without comment. Beth sat back down where she had been, “Young people!” she said sarcastically.

“My apologies, Doctor, but Tara said she needed us,” Kyle offered by way of explanation. There was no repentance in his voice.

“I understand that, Kyle, but you need to consider your environment. How well would you have been able to help her if you were in one of my treatment rooms with heat stroke?” Beth said.

“I understand, Ma’am,” Kyle said.

Luke cleared his throat. “Kyle, Stephanie, My little girl tells me she has fallen in love with the two of you. I gather from her explanation that she wants to pursue a relationship with the two of you. What I want to know is how do you feel about her?”

“We love her too, sir. Either of us would do anything for her,” Stephanie said.

“I’m a bit concerned about jealousy between Tara and Stephanie. I mean, the three of you won’t always be together, so someone is bound to feel left out.” Lara said.

“It’s true that there will be times when we all can’t be together, but those should be rare,” Kyle admitted. “Before you ask, Stephanie’s folks know all about it, and we have their blessing.” Kyle took Tara’s hand and pulled her over to sit beside him and Stephanie.

“How long have they known about this?” Luke asked.

“Just since last night, sir, I got the impression they’ve known longer, but
we
certainly didn’t tell them,” Kyle replied. “No one was trying to hide anything from either of you; we had planned on telling you tonight.”

Lara turned to her husband. “Remember how we broke the news to our parents? Mine the first night, and yours the next. Ours are only doing the same thing. We can’t fault them for that.”

“Sir, we know this is an unusual situation, but the three of us really think we can make this work,” Stephanie said. “We would like your permission to live together during our training down here. We can still come home to visit, since we aren’t really all that far away.”

“What about children? Have the three of you talked about that yet?” Luke asked calmly.

“Yes, Daddy, we have. Both Stephanie and I are now on birth control since we want to finish flight school at least. We felt it would be a good trial for us, since we would be under the stress of flight school as well as learning to live together,” Tara explained.

“Well, since you really won’t be all that far away, I don’t see why you can’t try it. I’m not convinced that this is the right thing for you, pumpkin, but I do know that you really love these two, and I can see that they love you as well. That counts for a lot, and can get you through a lot of hardship. Never forget the love you have for each other, talk about everything, and you should pull this off. Your mother and I will be here for any of you if you need someone to talk too. If she agrees, I’ll support you in this,” Luke said, surprising everyone.

“Are you sure, honey?” Lara asked her husband. “This could really mess them all up if it fails.”

Luke turned and took his wife’s hands in his own. “Lara, eighteen years ago, we faced the hostility and intolerance of my parents. Tara has been a good kid all her life. She’s smart, never gotten involved with drugs or gotten pregnant. She wants this. I think we should trust her enough now to let her try to be the person we raised. It’s time to start letting her go.”

“You will always be my parents. I’m not really going all that far away. Hell, if I had followed my original plan, I’d be leaving for college in a couple of months, and that’s a lot farther away. I’ll get a better education this way too,” Tara said.

“How so?” Lara asked.

“Sleep teaching. It’s a lot faster than standard methods, and the information stays in the mind longer. I’m sure you’ll learn all about it, Mom,” Tara said, grinning.

Beth handed Luke and Lara the now common contacts and ear-bud then explained their use. When she finished she asked Luke if he was ready to begin his treatment.

“I suppose I am,” Luke replied. He turned to his wife. “Will you be back to have dinner with me? I think maybe Tara might like to have dinner with her...” He snorted. “What the hell do I call you?” He said to Kyle and Stephanie.

“Fiancés will work, but the term that translates from Talosian is ‘potential bond-mates’ or ‘future bond-mates’. The word is a combination of those,” Ian said.

“I think Tara might like to have dinner with her new family,” Luke said smiling at his daughter. “Give me a hug, girls.”

Tara and Lara gave the big man hugs, then he surprised her by pulling Stephanie into a hug as well. When he let her go he held his hand out to Kyle. “I’ve known for a while that you’d most likely be the one Tara picked, so I figured I’d be saying this one day... Welcome to the family.” He smiled at Stephanie as well as Kyle.

“Thank you, sir,” Kyle said with relief. Stephanie just grinned at him.

“We all have been invited to dinner at Stephanie’s house tonight. I guess that means we can start our training tomorrow, then?” Kyle asked his girls.

“Yes, can we stop by my place so I can pick up some clothes and change?” Tara asked.

“Of course, love. We should get moving though, Dad should be getting back soon, and I’m sure mom could use some help with dinner,” Stephanie said.

Tara gave her parents’ one final kiss on their cheeks. “I’ll see you both tomorrow. I love you, and thank you.”

“Take care of each other, and remember we love you,” Lara said.

As the kids left, Beth led Luke into one of the treatment rooms, and Ian walked Lara back toward the elevator.

“I’m not sure what to tell people if they ask where Luke is,” Lara said.

Ian smiled, “When in doubt, blame the boss. Tell them he is doing a special assignment for me. You won’t be lying, and it explains his absence.”

“You’re pretty good at this cloak and dagger stuff,” Lara teased.

“I’m still a teenager, I learned a long time ago the best way to tell a lie is to tell the truth,” Ian replied grinning.

Lara got serious suddenly. “Luke will be alright won’t he? I mean this ‘cure’ isn’t potentially fatal is it?”

“Lara, if there was a risk involved; Beth would have told you about it. If she wasn’t certain she could help him she would have told you. She’s a good doctor, she doesn’t subscribe to that crap about hiding things from patients so they won’t worry. She doesn’t like surprises, so she doesn’t believe her patients would either, not when it comes to their health,” Ian said.

“Tara, Kyle and Stephanie are not the first group marriage here are they? The way your eyes light up when you talk about Beth or any of the women living with you give it away. Though, I didn’t realize it until now. You’re married to all of them aren’t you?” Lara asked.

“Everyone but Talena. They all love each other as well,” Ian said smiling.

“I just can’t imagine anything like that. I think I would kill someone if they tried to join Luke and I. I can’t imagine sharing him with anyone,” Lara said. “But then again, I’ve never been attracted to other girls. I don’t know where Tara got it from.”

“I don’t think it’s something that can be ‘gotten’, I think it’s more of the way a person sees the world. Each of us is different, and each of us has different likes and dislikes. None of us are actually related, but Beth and Cindy are both bisexual; actually, I think Cindy is lesbian with the exception of me, and I know Talena is. Yet, I’ve never been even remotely attracted to another male,” Ian said.

Lara gave that some thought, until finally she asked, “So you believe it’s more the way a person is wired? Like they are born that way?”

It was Ian’s turn to be insightful while he put his next thoughts in order. “I don’t have a psychology degree like Janet Laskar, but from what I’ve seen of the world, the only truly happy people are those that have the freedom to be totally honest with themselves and the world around them. Those that can express themselves the way they truly want to are always happy, and have fewer problems. I feel if more people could be like that, the world would be a much better place.”

“You sound like my old martial arts teacher. He was this wizened old oriental gentleman that seemed to have an answer for just about anything you could ask him. Of course, the answers didn’t always make sense right away, but did give you an answer. I think he might have been one of the wisest men I knew. I sure miss him sometimes,” Lara said as the elevator arrived in the lobby of the office building. Lara looked out one of the large windows into the bright late afternoon sunlight. “I suppose I should go try to find something to do until dinner time.”

“Lara, it’s none of my business, but was there ever anything you wanted to learn to do, or go to school for?” Ian asked.

“I don’t really know. I’ve always just wanted to be a housewife, but there have been things I’ve seen in magazines and on TV shows that I’d like to learn more about. I don’t know if I’d want to go to college over them, but I would like to know more than I do. Why do you ask?”

“One of the benefits of all this futuristic, high-tech, alien technology is a free education in anything you want, to as high a level as you want. It’s fast and comparable, or superior to, most anything offered on this planet. If you find there’s something you would like to study, simply ask for that to be taught to you. You’ll understand better tomorrow morning. Tonight while you sleep, you will be given the whole history, as well as learn most of the Talosian language and cultural structures. As for something to do for the rest of the evening, don’t you have any hobbies?”

“I used to draw, but I don’t have the materials anymore. I guess they either got left behind, or destroyed in the move,” Lara said.

Ian smiled and waved her back into his office. He opened a section of his wall to a machine like the one Beth had in her office.

He motioned her over to stand beside him and he said, “Art supplies, drawing and sketch pads.” He pointed to a small display panel above the inset counter, and drawing pads began to appear. When she selected one, it simply appeared in the small nook below the display.

“Wow, that’s wonderful! What else can I get?” Lara asked.

“What else do you need for drawing?” Ian asked.

As soon as Lara said something, the small display began to show different selections of items until she chose one and it was delivered to the small nook. Once she received something she didn’t want and apologized to Ian. He smiled at her, set the charcoal sticks back in the alcove and said “reclaim objects” The charcoal sticks vanished.

Once she had a good collection of supplies, more than she could carry, Ian laughed as she tried to pick them all up, and asked the replicator for a carry bag for the received items.

Thoroughly delighted, Lara left with her art bag hanging off her shoulder, and a new sun hat on her head. Ian watched her head off in the direction of the picnic area. “Oly, could you set a reminder for Mrs. Belden so she doesn’t forget to join her husband for dinner?”

“Of course, Commander,” said the disembodied voice.

––––––––

T
he next day was a busy one for Ian. He was supposed to meet with Elias to discuss plans to build a research/manufacturing facility for a new type of automobile engine. Many of the current community vehicles were already using the new engine, but the eggheads wanted to get it into production.

What was surprising was that Elias was late. It was almost ten and Ian was about to call him when he stumbled into the office. “I’m really sorry, Ian. I don’t know how you do it; those two almost killed me last night! I was so tired, I slept through the alarm I’d set.”

Ian chuckled. “I take it Andrea was happy to see you?”

“It wasn’t just her! Laura too! I mean they were just as happy to see each other,” Elias said.

“Is Andrea going to call Beth later?” Ian asked.

“Yeah, though she was still sleeping when I left. How’d everything go with Luke Belden?”

“Pretty well actually, you can go down and see him later; I think he’d like a visit. He does seem to be a really nice guy. He just doesn’t seem like the type to develop a drinking problem,” Ian said.

“Normally, I’d agree with you. But after what his family did to him, I’m surprised that was all that was wrong with him,” Elias replied.

“May I ask what that was? I didn’t get to ask him before he started his treatment.” Ian asked.

Elias looked uncomfortable for a minute, then relaxed. “Normally, I’d say it isn’t my story to tell, but I know Luke won’t mind if I tell you. Luke comes from old money. Against his father’s wishes that he join the family business, he insisted he be allowed to make his own way in the world.

“Back when Tara was still in diapers, Luke worked for one of the premier investment companies on Wall Street. He was really good at forecasting and planning investments for his clients. So good, that he’d made hundreds of millions of dollars for their clientele.

“From what I understand, something happened that set up an opportunity for a windfall investment. He told his father about it and got the old man to move their substantial accounts over to Luke’s firm. Following his advice, which to this point had been flawless, almost a billion dollars was invested.

“The deal fell apart, and everyone lost a good portion of their money. Luke was fired by the same company that had been riding his forecasts for over a year, but that wasn’t the worst thing that happened. Luke’s father called him out to the family mansion and formally disowned him after ripping him apart in front of the rest of the family.

“The old bastard even told Luke that a lot of his problem was that he had married too far below his station. Luke, who’d had Lara and baby Tara with him, punched the old fucker in the mouth and left with his family.

“Luke’s family held the mortgage on their house and promptly foreclosed. Lara’s family took them in and helped them get back on their feet. The company Luke had worked for had black-balled him so he couldn’t get work in his field anymore. That’s when Luke started drinking.