The Betwixt Book One (27 page)

The Doctor's face was so clearly alive; her mouth forming
every word with passion, her eyes narrowed and blazing.

‘
He's a lot like you,’ I said off-hand, only realizing
afterwards that this might insult the Doctor. After all, if she
thought her son always made things hard for himself, always muddled
things up – then she wasn't going to be pleased if I pointed right
back at her and told her she did exactly the same.

But the Doctor just shrugged. ‘I know, and his father
too.’

‘
His father? Who was he?’

The Doctor swallowed, and obviously didn't try to hide it.
‘Michael was a GAM, just like Jason. Except, unlike Jason, he
didn't always know the difference between right and wrong. Hell,
Michael probably knew, but just didn't always do. I loved his
passion, his enthusiasm, his rebellious streak – but his life was
always going to catch up with him.’

‘
What do you mean?’ I didn't want to interrogate Doctor Cole,
but I couldn't let go of this opportunity either. I was finding out
more about the Commander in several minutes than I could hope to
find out in a hundred conversations with the man himself. And the
more I heard, the more I realized I wanted to know about Jason. The
Commander, the enigma.

‘
Michael twisted the law – changed the rules to suit himself,
even added pretend ones to justify his more outlandish schemes. It
came from a good place, I think. Or at least it did to begin with.
But you can't go through the galaxy operating from your own liberal
interpretations of the rules and expect to succeed – well, not if
you are a GAM. It works wonders for mercs, gun runners, pirates,
riffraff – practically everyone else – just not GAMs.’

‘
He was—’ I began.

‘
Corrupt,’ Doctor Cole got there first. ‘Rotten as a chunk of
that fish Crags like to eat so much. Bad to the bone. Michael would
make money on the side, deal out justice as he saw
fit . . . like I said, I'm pretty sure it came from
a good place . . . to begin with. But it all caught
up to him – as it was bound to do.’ The Doctor sighed so heavily, I
actually saw her chest heave up and down under her plain, brown
vest. ‘And that may be why Jason is the way he is today.
Overcompensating for a crooked past.’

Commander Jason Cole had a corrupt father . . .
wow. It was hard to believe, yet made so much intuitive sense at
the same time. Jason was by the book, almost to a fault – and what
better reason to be that way, than to avoid all the stigma of a
rotten lineage? 'But, but why did Jason join the GAM
then?’

Doctor Cole laughed briefly. ‘Oh, you couldn't stop Jason from
donning the Galactic badge, grabbing a gun, and going out to save
the needy. It was in,’ she chuckled again, ‘his blood. No, he
wasn't going to let his father ruin his dream. And it wasn't easy
for Jason, it was never going to be easy. Michael was a Colonel – a
high a rank, the kind of lofty position where, when word gets out
of corruption, it tends to stick. Jason had to prove himself from
the moment he enlisted, and he hasn't stopped proving himself
since.’

‘
So, where is his dad now – where's Colonel Michael
Cole?’

‘
Prison Alpha 12. Oh yeah, he's still alive, still hanging over
the family name like a laden cloud ready to drown us at any moment.
It wasn't easy for Jason growing up, and it wasn't easy for me to
continue my work either . . . ‘

I watched in silence, a bare conciliatory smile at my
lips.

‘
But it wasn't Jason's mistake – it was my choice to bring
Michael into my life. But Jason is the one who has had to
pay . . . ‘ the Doctor became silent for a moment,
rubbed a hand across her brow in a very Commander-esque move. ‘And
that's . . . well, that's why our relationship is as
complicated as it is. I know, well I think, Jason doesn't blame me.
And it doesn't help that my work is what it is. I know most of the
galaxy thinks I'm crazy. My work is controversial, considered
insane and a waste of credits and time.’ The Doctor relaxed back
into her chair, though slump might have been a more appropriate
word – her shoulders just seemed to collapse in on themselves. ‘So
Jason's had to distance himself from his father and me. It was the
only way he was going to be accepted amongst his
peers . . . ‘

I wanted to rush over and give the Doctor a hung, though she
didn't seem to be the type to respond to random acts of tactile
compassion. I could see the deep furrows in her brow, the drop to
her chin – the emotion held in check only by her iron-cast will. It
was clear she loved her son, was proud of his decisions – but
blamed herself for his mistakes, for his hardships.

‘
Jason has to distance himself,’ she repeated, ‘I understand
why. But that doesn't mean . . . that doesn't mean
he has to be so stupid about it. Anyone else wouldn't require such
lengthy and exotic evidence to make them believe in the Twixts.
Hell, he saw one twice if he was in the engineering core with you.
But I'm afraid that that's the way it's going to be. Jason is going
to distrust this whole thing until we find a way to shove the
uncomfortable truth down his throat. If it were anyone else, this
wouldn't be so hard. But wrapped up in Jason's psychology is the
need to believe I'm wrong – the need to physically, emotionally.
and mentally distance himself from me. Otherwise he wouldn't
survive in the GAM, and he really lives only for them.’

I nodded in perfect silence. I didn't want to add a word to
that, didn't want to state my opinion, didn't want to try and make
her expand on what she had already said. The Doctor had obviously
just poured out her soul to me, and I had little right to ask for
more.

So, that was why Jason seemed so hell bent on not believing
me. In his mind, he was either a capable GAM commander, or he was
the son of a corrupt Colonel and crackpot academic. His whole
identity was wrapped up in this situation in ways I couldn't begin
to fathom.

‘
It's going to take a lot to make Jason believe you, or believe
in you,’ Doctor Cole held my gaze evenly, ‘but if you do manage to
swing him around to your side – there will be no other ally like
him. He'll fight for you right up until the end, and knowing his
tenacity, even further. But it's not going to be easy and, trust
me, it's going to be frustrating as hell watching him make up all
sorts of reasons why the Twist in front of him is anything but. But
I have a feeling you can do it,’ the Doctor smiled, ‘you've already
convinced him to seek out the Rain Man.’

‘
But he . . . chose to do that
himself.’

‘
Voluntarily seek out a member of one of the most elusive races
in the galaxy, divert his ship, explain to his superiors why he
appears to be going on a wild goose chase – you honestly think
these are things Jason would usually do? No way, trust me on this,
Jason did those things because deep down he believes in you. Or
something like that,’ the Doctor smiled again, and I realized she
wasn't directing it at me – this was far more personal. ‘But
inch-by-inch he's putting his neck on the line for us, for you. And
that's a start.’

‘
But, but I don't want him to get in trouble—’ I
began.

‘
Not your problem. Your problem is bigger than me, than Jason –
just about as big as this whole galaxy. You have to concentrate on
the Twixts – it's why you're here, why you're now. Jason can look
after himself.’

‘
He shouldn't have to give up the GAM though – he shouldn't
have to—’

‘
Inter-dimensional beings made of twisted light shouldn't be
planning to destroy our entire galaxy, I shouldn't have married a
corrupt know-it-all, Jason should lighten up. If you get bogged
down in shouldn't-have-been's and should-be's – you never get
anything done.’

I didn't open my mouth to protest, even though the words were
there. I didn't want to bring people into this, didn't want to
unnecessarily complicate the lives of others.

‘
Now I'm no expert on this, but I imagine saving the galaxy is
supposed to get complicated. If you expect smooth sailing – then
you're either going to be mortally sorry, or turn crazy by the end.
All you have to do is concentrate on our goal – to win, to repel
the Twixts, to bring hope to the galaxy again. That's the only way
to make this twisted situation seem simple.’

After that, the Doctor went back to her work, distracting
herself with her mound of datapads. I went back to staring out the
window, albeit with a lot more to think about now.

So, Jason was just as complicated as I'd always expected,
maybe even more. So, there was a reason behind his concerted
disbelief in the Twixts, and an understandable one. And so, things
were bound to get more complicated from here on
out . . . 

Great, just great.

Chapter 15

It took just over a week to locate and organize a rendezvous
with the Rain Man. But it took just over a half-minute for the
Commander to well and truly dash all of our hopes.

He'd called us into the meeting room to discuss something,
just as our ship was drawing into a planet-dock in some system I'd
never even heard of. Od was practically wriggling out of his skin,
whirling around with the excitement of our impending meet with the
illusive Rain Man. Even Crag'tal looked lighter, looked ready to
stretch his feet on the planet below and intimidate anyone who got
in our way.

But the Commander, the Commander had a different
idea.

‘
When I meet with our Rain Man,’ he said, ‘I'll ask for
clarification of this situation – see if he can provide me with
enough, or any, information to corroborate your
stories.’

‘
When you meet with the Rain Man?’ Doctor Cole crossed her
arms, just like her son, and stared up at him. ‘When we meet the
Rain Man, I think you mean.’

‘
I know what I mean. You will stay – you will all – stay here.
I may have given you enough benefit of the doubt to not throw you
in the brig thus far – but do you really think I'm about to let you
go roaming around on the planet, free as a shooting
comet?’

Doctor Cole rolled her eyes, slowly enough that I could see
the balls shift against the skin of her eyelids. ‘I should have
known.’

‘
Yes, you should have. I'm going out on a limb even meeting the
Rain Man, do you think I'm going to jump all the way off the tree
and let you loose? Do you think my superiors would be happy with
that?’

‘
Jason, you're so—’ Doctor Cole began.

But I didn't want things to degenerate, again. ‘Okay, I guess
that makes sense,’ I said quickly, trying to show the Commander
that at least one of us could cooperate. He was right, after
all . . . we were idiots for thinking he would let
us come along.

I swallowed my disappointment, and tried to give as genuine a
smile as I could muster.

‘
Not you,’ the Commander returned the smile in a half/half kind
of way. ‘You're coming along.’

I blinked hard, not about to hide my confusion. ‘But you just
said—’

‘
That was them, this is you. Not my choice – but the Rain Man
would only agree to meet us, if you were there.’

I scratched my wrist, trying to fidget away the awkwardness.
‘Really, why?’

‘
You can ask him that yourself – right after I remind him that
GAM orders don't come with strings attached.’ Jason sighed, but his
smile crept just a touch further up his lips.

‘
But why . . . ?’ I realized I was about to
shoot myself in the foot here, but something didn't fit, ‘why take
me along, now that you know he's on this planet?’

In a quick flash Jason's smile was all there – both sides of
his jaw, both cheeks, both eyes. But it dwindled as fast as it had
come. ‘I thought you wanted to go—’

‘
Of course I do, but—’

‘
But you don't think this makes sense? Well I'll tell you
something, I didn't want to make things hard for myself, well,
harder than they already are. Making this Rain Man agree to the
meet was practically impossible, and I didn't really want to call
through to my superiors to get the higher ups to put the heavy on
him. The top brass tend to avoid diplomatic incidents like my
mother avoids making sense.’

Doctor Cole snorted, but didn't interrupt.

‘
But when I let slipped in that you were on board – the Rain
Man became more helpful than a thousand battle mechs. He agreed to
rendezvous on this planet, agreed to divert his whole ship and meet
us here in planet-dock.’

I didn't know what to say. I mean, how do you reply to that?
'But—’ I began.

‘
But nothing. There's another reason to have you there. Rain
Men are usually as quiet and dead as deep space. They're
notoriously hard to question – to get any information out of. They
retain data, hold and save books – but requesting any information
from them is like squeezing gold out of standard moon rock.’ Jason
kept shifting his eyes to the door as he spoke, obviously eager to
get this over with. ‘That is, unless they're excited.’

‘
Ah, yes,’ Od nodded sagely. He looked calm and collected again
– his dance of wonder at the possibility of meeting the Rain Man
having given way to stoicism. ‘This is a very good
plan.’