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There were plenty of things Mason Leveque liked about Planet First Assignments. They were interesting, in that ‘you are lucky to be out there forging new territory’ way. They were good for one’s promotion opportunities, in the ‘lucky to stay alive’ way. The friendships developed there were battle tested, you never quite stopped caring about someone who had saved your life. But living under grey flexplas domes and the always present need for caution were not his favorites. A tame planet had its charm too.
Right now, he was on one of those tame planets. If ever there was a planet least likely to have some sort of environmental disaster, this was it. Academy had been the home of the teaching arm of the military for years. Other than cadets getting themselves into trouble, this planet was safe.
That was why he wasn’t too terribly concerned that his four year old had evaded his view and was currently out of his sight. There wasn’t that much that Casey could get into. He put away his lookup and stood from the park bench he had been sitting on while catching up on his reading.
He looked at the swings. She wasn’t there. He looked at the sand pit. She wasn’t there either. He looked at the climbing structure. She wasn’t there either. He was about to call when...
“Daddy, look at me!”
He turned to discover his daughter at the top of a climbing wall designed for children twice her age. A sudden rush of adrenaline fueled his movements and he hurried to where she was playing.
“How did you get up there, Casey?”
“I climbed, Daddy.”
“Can you come down, kiddo? It is time to go.”
“Are we going to go see Mommy?”
“Yes, and then get some food.”
He watched in awe as his little girl deftly made her way back to the ground. He didn’t know where she got the climbing ability from, maybe her mother. He would have given his mother a heart attack if he had done that at four. No, he would have given his mother a heart attack if he had done that ever. She was a Threat Analyst through and through and understood all of the problems her daredevil son could get into. It didn’t help that he had been prone to tripping over his own feet until the surgery to correct his eyesight when he was six, and then again at twelve. He had always wanted to be in on the fun even when it was a blur, but it had been much safer after he could see.
“Okay, Daddy, let’s go!”
“Not so fast. We need to empty the sand out of your shoes,” he said, picking up his little girl and carrying her over to a bench. The first time they had gone to the park before going to visit Mom they had neglected to empty the sand. The hospital staff had not been happy to have to clean up little piles of sand in a critical care maternity ward. He had learned. There was no sense in making medical staff annoyed, especially not twice. A few minutes later, sand returned to the sandpit and shoes returned to the feet, they were off.
“Is Mommy coming home today?”
“Not today, Casey. After your little brothers are born then everyone will be together.”
And that was the real reason he was here on Academy. While medical science was outstandingly good at many things, it was not capable of gestating little bitty babies and mother nature was having a hard time of it, too. The pregnancy complications had begun at 14 weeks. Nia had been placed on medical leave, and then admitted when that proved insufficient. When the decision had been made that she was going to need specialized care until the twins were born, the only question was where. There had been several sites capable of meeting her needs, but here on Academy was the best one for meeting his and Casey’s needs as well.
Nia was holed up in the long term case ward, while he was teaching a special topics course in Threat Assessment and Casey was in preschool. It ticked all the boxes. And that was good because they might be here a while. If all went extraordinarily well it would only be six months, but the possibility of a year or more existed too. It all depended on how long the twins could stay put and how healthy they were when they were born. It had already been almost three months and things were looking good. They had made it to nearly 26 weeks and that was amazing already. But every day that the twins stayed put and Nia stayed healthy was another good day. He desperately wanted as many good days as possible.
The sand left in the sandpit, he took his daughter’s hand and headed to the portal near the park entrance. This little pocket held just the park, a few shops and a small museum dedicated to the study of Threat Assessment. That was how he had originally found the place. As part of an assignment, he sent his students to the museum, and he had wanted to see it for himself before sending them. With Nia in the hospital and baby sitters hard to come by, he had taken Casey along on the visit. The museum hadn’t been such a hit, but the store selling ice cream and the park had.
“Daddy, where does that path go?”
He looked at a neatly paved path that seemed to go on forever. “I don’t know, sweetheart.”
“Does it go to see Mommy?”
He pulled out his lookup. It would be easier to find the answer than it would be to change the subject. Seconds later he was looking at a map. He was stunned to see that the path did in fact go all the way to the hospital. It actually looped all the way from the main accommodation domes to the education domes and then to the administration where the hospital was located. “It does.” He knelt to show her the map on his lookup. “We are here,” he pointed. “The hospital is here.”
Casey nodded and pointed, “And this is where we live!”
He was always surprised by the things that his little girl picked up. He didn’t know when she had learned to read or count. He was sure it hadn’t been in preschool. They had been just as stunned as he had. He had dreaded opening the message from her teachers with the subject, “Conference required.” In his experience in military schools, there was rarely anything good that came in those kinds of messages. This time though was different. “Did you know your child could read?” was not the same as “Your child has dumped red paint all over a classmate. Again.” Casey had been moved to a different class, one with older kids. She was happy although it seemed she was more excited by the taller play structures than she was the new classroom material.
“Yes. We live here.” He pointed. “And the park is here,” he pointed to a location about a third of the way along the path. “Your school is here. And my school is here and the hospital is here.” He pointed to various points along the silver line marked on the map. “But we aren’t going to take the path because it would take far too long to walk. That is why we are going to use the portal.”
He put away the lookup and typed the portal code for the atrium of the hospital. They could walk from there.
“Can I push the button?”
He lifted her up to the panel and seconds later the portal activated. “This is a portal to the hospital atrium. If you are having an emergency please cancel this trip and use the emergency portal code.”
They walked through and were transported to the atrium.
“Mommy!” Casey let go of his hand and raced from the portal platform and across a small bridge to her mother.
It must be a good day, he thought. The doctors are letting her out of the room and off the constant monitoring. He smiled and followed.
“Hi, sweetheart,” said Nia. “It is good to see you too.”
He leaned over and gave his wife a kiss which she happily returned. Her motorized chair was conveniently next to a bench and overlooking a pond with colorful fish. He sat down and listened as Casey chattered.
“Today I climbed to the top of the castle. Stefan said that I couldn’t do it because I was too little, but Stefan doesn’t know anything. Because I did do it. And then he got scared and didn’t want to climb himself and he cried and the teacher had to come get him. Stefan is bigger than me but he isn’t braver than me.”
His wife looked at him, “She is your child.”
“My child? You are the one who flies around in fighters. I stay safely inside a dome and try to keep you out of harm's way.”
Casey looked from one to the other, “I thought I was both your child. Like you explained about the twins...”
They both laughed. He recovered first, “You are, kiddo, it is a joke. When you do something very much like your mom I say that you are her child and when you do something like me, she says you are mine.”
Casey looked confused. “Grown ups are weird. Can I go look at the fish?”
Nia laughed again. “Yes, just don’t fall in.”
“I won’t,” said Casey and she went to stand on the bridge. Soon a helpful docent was pointing out the fish and distributing pellets to feed them.
“So, a good day?” he asked. “You are over here instead of under a scanner or in your room.”
“Not really. The doctors are running out of options. They are concerned it might be very soon.” She watched Casey laugh as a huge fish jumped out of the water and sent droplets flying.
He was concerned, “So why are you here?” They had talked with the doctors earlier. This was a waiting game. Waiting long enough for the twins to survive and not so long as to endanger her life.
“Because I wanted to see Casey happy and playing one more time before...”
He looked at his wife, really looked this time. She was terrified under the brave face she was putting on in front of Casey. “It will be alright. The doctors will do everything possible.”
“I know. I also know that they want the twins born today. They say it is time. They say waiting any longer won’t help them and is dangerous to me.”
“When did you get the news?”
“About an hour ago. I knew you were at the park together and would be by soon.”
“You could have sent a message.”
“I could have. But I didn’t want to disrupt your park time. I know how much Casey enjoys it and you enjoy watching her.”
“You are important, too.”
“When do they want to...”
“They wanted to an hour ago. I said that I wanted to see you first.”
“And then you didn’t call!” he said angrily.
Casey looked back at them, confused at the raised voices. Mason didn’t usually let his emotions get away from him.
“Don’t make the last thing she sees her parents do is have a fight, Mason.”
He reigned in his temper. Last thing?! What more was he not being told? “It’s okay, Casey. Enjoy the fish for a few more minutes and then we will head home.”
“Okay,” said Casey as another fish jumped out of the water with a spectacular splash.
He turned his attention to his wife. This was not normal behavior. “I will take Casey home, call the sitter and be back.”
Nia nodded.
“And then I will sit with you and chase all those horrible thoughts out of your head!” he said.
“I think they will gang up on you and chase you away.”
“There is no amount of horrible thoughts that will make me leave.”
“You need to be there for the twins.”
“I will be there for all of you.”
“But, promise me, you will be there for Casey and the twins if something does happen to me.”
“I will be there for Casey and the twins if something happens to you. But nothing is going to happen. You will get the best care possible and three weeks from now you will wonder what you were so worried about.”
“Thank you,” said Nia, still watching Casey and the fish.
“Now, when do they want to deliver the twins?” asked Mason. “Other than an hour ago.”
“They started prepping the tanks before I came down. The preparations should be done in another half hour or so. Then it is just waiting until I give permission.”
“Nia, give them permission! I will be back. I will be there for all of you. But you need to let them do their job.”
She smiled. “I just wanted to see you and her one more time.”
He consciously controlled his emotions. “You will see both of us and the twins for a long long time. But let them do what they need to do.”
A muffled beeping came from the lookup carefully placed in the carry pouch attached to the motorized chair. Mason reached into it and dislodged a pillow stuffed into the pouch. The noise grew louder and more insistent. “Aren’t you going to answer it?”
“I know what it says.”
He removed the lookup from the pouch and read the lines of text labelled emergency and hastily tossed it back into the pouch. “Casey! We need to go.” He released the brakes on the chair and began pushing it towards the atrium portal.
Nia shoved the pillow back over the beeping lookup and declined to comment.
“We will talk about this later,” said Mason. “You are important, too!”
Casey arrived smiling and happy, “There are forty two fish in the pond and they like to eat bugs.”
The docent watched to be sure all was well.
“Give Mommy a hug, kiddo, we need to go.”
“Okay, Daddy. Can we have waffles for dinner?”
“I’ll think about it,” said Mason. He caught the eye of the docent who quickly came over.
“Do you need something, sir?”
“My wife needs to get back to her room,” said Mason. “Urgently.”
The docent looked from Casey to Nia and back to Mason. The beeping of the lookup could be heard faintly from beneath the pillow.
“Can you make sure she gets there safely?”
“Of course, sir”
“Mason, it isn’t necessary. I am going,” said Nia and she input the code into the atrium portal. It flared to life and Nia and the docent went through.
“We will talk later,” Mason called. He input the portal code for the housing block. “Come on, Casey, let’s get you home.”
A few minutes later they were at home. Casey made a beeline for her room and the toys therein. Mason pulled out his lookup and called a colleague, Major Triton Vorn. Casey didn’t like him very much but he had offered to watch Casey and his was the first contact to appear on the lookup.
A man with a loud voice answered the call. “What’s up, Mason?”
Mason winced. This might be part of the reason Casey didn’t like him. Major Vorn was loud. Very very loud. “Can you watch Casey?”
“Now?”
“Now,” said Mason. “The twins are going to be born today. I need to get back soon or I won’t get to be with Nia before she goes into a tank.”
“I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
“Thank you.”
“NO! DADDY I DON’T LIKE HIM!” said Casey as she had come out of her room and heard the end of the conversation.
“Casey, I have to go back. Mommy needs me. Your brothers need me. It won’t be for very long.”
“I NEED YOU!” screamed Casey. “I DON’T LIKE HIM!”
“I’m sorry, kiddo. Major Vorn was available.”
“I DON’T WANT YOU TO GO!”
Mason was torn. He could not be in two places at once. Casey would be alright. Major Vorn could watch her even if she was angry. He needed to be back at the hospital already.
She ran sobbing and angry back to her room and slammed the door shut with enough force to make the pictures bounce on the walls.
He could hear her through the wall.
The door chimed. Triton had arrived. Mason took a deep breath and answered the door.
“Everything alright?”
No, everything was not alright. His daughter was sobbing and slamming doors. His wife was soon to be in surgery. His twin boys were about to be born far too early. He was being pulled in far too many directions at once.
“It’s okay. I got Casey. Go see your wife,” said Triton.
“I said that she could have waffles for dinner before. She likes watching Princess Panda before bed.”
“Go, Mason. Casey and I will figure it out.”
With one more glance at Casey’s room and the pictures askew on the wall, he made a decision. “Thank you.”
“Go,” said Triton.
Finally he left. And sprinted back to the portal, hastily typed in the code and waited for the activation sequence to complete. And then he was back at the hospital. He knew where he was going. Nia’s room was at the end of the hallway closest to the small family room. Casey had thought the toys there were for babies. That was why they usually met in the atrium, and looked at the fish instead.
He opened the door and it was empty. He was too late. He crumpled into a grey flexplas chair. He hadn’t made it back on time. He looked at his lookup. Maybe a message? It was there. With a sense of foreboding he tapped the play button.
“Mason. I know I told you that you had time. The doctors say that the boys need to be out now. So I am listening to you for once and doing what you said to do. You said to listen to the doctors and let them do their job.”
Why is it that this is the time she decided to do what he asked and not any of the other times? He only needed a few more minutes.
“By the time you see this I will be in surgery and then you will be the proud Daddy of three little people. Tell Casey I love her. Tell the boys too. And remember that I love you always.”
He could see the doctors behind her and then the message stopped. And he was alone.
Alone. So completely alone. How was he going to get through this? Breathe, Mason. There are too many people depending on you. Use all that training. What is the proximate problem? What can you do about that?
His lookup chimed. “A person who has you registered as next of kin has been admitted to Academy Hospital Neonatal Ward.” One of the twins was here. And then it chimed again. A duplicate message appeared. The other twin was here. He rubbed his eyes, collected himself and headed back to the nearest portal. He was going to meet his twin boys.
For all the chaos surrounding their birth the first thing he noticed about the room that his twins were in was how quiet it was. There were plenty of monitors and plenty of people but the atmosphere was entirely subdued. Even the room was kept in a kind of semi darkness, certainly he could see where everything was and there was no danger of walking into anything, but it looked like no other hospital room he had ever been in.
He had done nothing more than cross the threshold before he was approached by someone with the red armband signifying medical personnel and the yellow one that read IN TRAINING.
“Major Leveque?”
“Yes,” he replied.
“This way.”
He numbly followed. The next room held one strangely sized rejuvenation tank. It was far too small for anyone bigger than an infant, but far too wide to be practical for that purpose. As he got closer he realized that both the twins were together. They were tiny. Casey had been small. The problems that had plagued this pregnancy had been evident then too. But the problems had started earlier this time and had gotten progressively worse as the pregnancy had progressed.
“Major?” A new voice interrupted his thoughts.
“Yes?” he replied, looking up to see a group of people looking at him.
One motioned him closer. “Come see your children. They are doing quite well, all things considered.”
Once upon a time he had known all these people’s names. He had met them with Nia several weeks ago when various plans had been discussed. Whatever he had learned that day had dribbled out of his head and was now a puddle on the floor. He could see no further than the tiny infants in front of him.
He took the steps and crossed the room. They were even smaller close up. There was a notable lack of tubes. Only the one in each child through the navel, where up until very recently they had been connected to their mother.
“Daphne, can you get him a chair before he falls over?”
“Of course,” said someone who must be Daphne.
He felt a chair beside him and gratefully sat down, still not noticing much beyond the incubator.
“Do they have names, Major?”
“Nathan and Nolan,” he replied. “Nia wanted to get them names that reminded her of her sister. We settled on Nathan and Nolan.”
“Who is who?”
“Since I didn’t get so much input in the choice of names, she said that I could choose who got which one. Did she get to see them?”
“No. She was under anesthesia at the time and was whisked away as soon as the babies were born.”
“Maybe I should wait and let her decide.”
“When I talked to her last she said that you were the one to decide on the names. She didn’t even want to tell me what they were.”
“No. It is a superstition. She didn’t want to call them by name until after they were born because it was bad luck.”
“Then maybe it will be good luck for you to name them.”
“Who was first?”
A hand pointed at one of the infants who was at that moment kicking his feet and working to grab his twin's hair. “This little one. He is the more assertive of the two. We considered separating them, but the other one missed him despite the attempts at hair pulling.”
Mason smiled. “Nathan. That one should be Nathan. And the one who is putting up with all the antics is Nolan.”
“Sounds good.” Somewhere across the room a machine hummed and soon the boys were wearing individual bracelets with their names.
“Major?”
He finally seemed to notice the people in the room other than the newborns. “I’m sorry. I guess I haven’t been paying attention.”
“That’s alright. At least you didn’t pass out or puke.”
“What?”
“Passing out and puking are the events we try really hard to avoid. Missing the conversation is not so bad.”
“Does it really happen?”
“All too often. More often the passing out up here. The puking is usually limited to the emergency wards.”
Back in his own head again, Mason laughed. “I don’t think I am going to do either.”
“Of course, especially now that you are sitting down and have nowhere to fall.”
Mason’s face turned red as he realized that he had been about to be another statistic. “Thank you for the chair.”
“No problem. Now, about your boys...”
Mason spent the next half hour listening to doctors talk about his newest children. Casey would have to wait to visit. No visitors other than parents until they had gained some weight and gotten stronger. He could take as many pictures as he would like though and there was space on the tank to attach cards and other well wishes if Casey wanted to draw a picture for them.
Mason sent off pictures to his students, family and friends. Despite the time differences he got several congratulatory messages. He sent a special note to Casey but she didn’t respond. Was she still angry that he had left? That was unlike her, but there had been no helping it.
He sat back in his chair and watched the little boys breathe in and out and waited for the message that Nia was out of surgery and he could go sit with her and tell her all about the twins. She wouldn’t hear any of it, of course, being in a tank herself while she recovered. But he would tell her anyway. But that couldn’t happen yet and so he sat and watched the antics of the hair pulling Nathan and Nolan who didn’t try to get away.
*****
It was midnight. Nia had been in a rejuvenation tank for almost two hours. He had spent much of that time talking to her through its walls. She couldn’t hear him. He knew that. He had things he needed to say anyway. There had been countless I love yous. He had shown her pictures of Nathan and Nolan. He had told her that she was the most beautiful woman in the world. She would have laughed in his face if she had actually heard that one. No one, no one at all, was beautiful while in a rejuvenation tank hooked up to tubes and wires. No one except her.
He had returned to the nursery to look at his sons and marvel at their tiny hands and tiny feet. He could go home now. The nursery staff would look after the boys. Nia had her own doctors looking after her. But he didn’t want to leave. Casey would be asleep and he didn’t want to wake her. And here he could channel some of the excess adrenaline to watching monitors and listening for buzzers.
He sat in his chair. The same one from a lifetime ago when the boys were totally brand new and he watched them breathe. They were asleep. Aside from the machines doing their continuous scanning there was little noise. The chair wasn’t particularly comfortable, but that didn’t seem to matter, and he dozed off.
He wasn’t sure how long he had been asleep when the door to the hallway opened and the brighter light illuminated the room causing him to stir.
“He is right over there,” said one of the nursery staff showing a tall dark haired woman into the room.
“Thank you. Is there a place we could talk?” said the woman motioning to him.
“There is a family room across the hall. I don’t think anyone else is using it tonight,” said the nursery attendant.
“That would be fine.” She walked to where he was blearily waking up.
“Major Leveque?”
“Yes?” he replied. Now fully awake, he recognized the woman in front of him. She was the head of Security for Academy - not the teaching section he was involved with, but planetwide. She had come to his Threat Assessment class to talk about how security and command worked together. What was she doing here? Now?
“Can we talk in the other room? I don’t want to disturb...”
“Of course.” He followed her across the hall and into the family room.
“My name is Major Winifred Tar Evan. I work in Security. Major Leveque, when was the last time you saw your daughter?”
Mason’s heart fell to his feet. “Several hours ago, when I left her with Triton and came here. The twins were going to be born. Nia was going into surgery. Casey was angry that she couldn’t come.”
“And you haven’t seen her since?”
“No. What is going on? Where is Casey?”
The woman looked at a device she had concealed in her palm, nodded and continued. “I don’t know. Right at this moment neither does anyone else.”
He crumpled into a chair and she sat beside him. “But Triton was watching her.”
“Major Vorn checked on her and she wasn’t in her room. Do you have any idea where she might go?”
“Here. She wanted to come with me. I told her no and she didn’t take it well.”
“The last time she used a portal was around five this evening.”
“That was when we headed home from visiting Nia.”
“She hasn’t used one since.”
“No, she isn’t tall enough to reach the activation panel alone. I had to lift her so that she could press the button when we went home.”
“Is there any place else she would want to go? A friend’s house? A favorite place?”
“She moved to a new class recently. She hasn’t made many friends yet. She talked about a child named Stefan today, but I don’t think she would want to go there.”
“Anything else?”
“We usually go to a park after I pick her up at school. She really likes it. And the ice cream shop nearby.”
“Which park?”
“I don’t know. It is the one with the Threat Assessment museum. Today she was really interested in a map she found. She wanted to know where all the paths out of the park led.”
“And?”
“We figured out that one way from the park led here, to the hospital, and another way led home.”
“And you think she may have tried to walk from your accommodation dome to the hospital?”
“She might have.”
Major Evan pulled out her lookup. And found the map. “This map?”
“That is the one.”
“The path would be over 14 miles.”
“It looks shorter on the map.”
“Most four year olds....”
“Casey isn’t a typical four year old.”
Major Tar Evan looked at the map again. “Does Casey know how to swim?”
“Poorly. She was starting lessons when we moved three months ago, but we didn’t restart them here. It wasn’t a super high priority at the time.”
“I understand. You were dealing with other things.”
Another person walked into the room. Mason didn’t recognize her, but it was obvious that Major Tar Evan did.
“Major Tar Evan. Major Leveque.”
“Do you have any enemies? Anyone that would want to hurt you or your wife?” Major Tar Evan continued.
“No. Nothing particularly controversial happened at our last post. It was very routine. If ever scouting the edge of known space could be called routine.”
“What about Casey? I know she is four, but would anyone want to hurt her? Does she have enemies?”
Mason paused. “There were some parents in the class she was previously in that didn’t like that she was doing things that their children weren’t. It was part of the reason for changing classes. As far as I know the children got along well enough, but I don’t know what the parents might have said or done. Because it was my child involved I was specifically not given any information.”
“So you don’t know which parents were causing the issues?”
“No. Casey’s old teachers would know and so would the administrator that authorized the move to the new class.”
“I will talk to them. How are your relationships with your relatives? Could any of them be involved?”
“I don’t think so. Nia’s parents are on a diplomatic posting in Gamma sector. My parents are on a Planet First mission in Kappa. My brother is undercover somewhere, but I don’t know where. None of them have any reason to hurt Casey. Or me. Or Nia.” Thinking of the possibility that someone would deliberately harm a child, any child, but especially his child, turned his stomach and he was glad to be sitting down. He was going to have to tell his parents. He was going to have to tell Nia’s parents. After the news earlier of the twin’s birth and Nia being in a tank, this was going to be quite the day.
“If you come up with any other ideas you can contact me at this number,” said Major Tar Evan. Mason’s lookup beeped with the incoming message. “I have a search to coordinate,” she continued. And suddenly she was gone.
“My name is Joanna Greene. I work in counseling services.”
Mason just nodded. Casey was missing. He had no idea what he would do next. What was he going to tell Nia? His lookup pinged and he answered the call. Maybe it was someone with some good news.
A familiar face looked back at him. What was his supervisor doing calling at midnight?
“How are you doing, Mason?”
“I’ve had better days, sir.”
“I bet. Major Tar Evan is coordinating from her end. Is someone with you at the hospital?”
Mason looked at the newest person in the room. “Yes. Just before Major Tar Evan left.”
“Good. Everyone in the class is doing their best to find Casey, Mason.”
“Thank you, sir”
“I’ll make sure you get updates as we know more.”
“Thank you, sir.”
And the call ended.
“Your classmates seem like a nice bunch,” said Major Greene.
For the first time Mason looked up and really paid attention to the woman in front of him. She was a Major. Someone had woken up a Major to sit with him?
“They are,” said Mason. “I am sorry that you got woken up to deal with this.”
“Major, this isn’t your fault. It is part of the job.”
“What were you doing here in the first place? Typically parents of missing children are not hanging around a hospital ward.”
“My wife gave birth to twin boys earlier today. Or maybe it was yesterday. It is late. They are early. Really early. And Nia is in a tank recovering from the birth and being pregnant.”
“So you have had quite a day.” She tapped at her look up and continued making small talk.
“I guess so.”
“What class are you teaching?”
“A specialized Threat Coordinator course. It was what was available when Nia got sick and we needed to move. ”
“Does that mean you know what is going on out there? You know what they are doing to find your daughter?”
“Yes. Part of me wishes I didn’t know, but yes. I do.”
“Then you know that the very best people are doing the very best they can right now.”
“Yes.”
His lookup pinged. Most of the time parents in a lost child situation would not get updates as search operations started but only after they had completed. Colonel Reese was sending him the same feed that his classmates were getting, the same one that the security teams were using.
“What was that?” asked Major Greene.
“A specialist survey aircraft came through the orbital portal.”
“Why?”
“It has heat sensors that might be able to spot her from the air and limit the search radius.”
“Is that normal?”
“Sort of. Because it is night and most people are not outside, it is one of the first things to try. If it were day time and there were lots of people outside then it wouldn’t be as effective and it would be lower on the list of things to try.”
“So it is a good thing.”
“It could be. If Casey is outside it should find her.”
“You sound surprised about it being here so quickly.”
“They are used mostly on Planet First missions. There are only a limited number of them and most of them are in use. I am surprised that one was available so quickly.”
“Pilots have children, too. So do commanders of Planet First missions. Where are your parents posted?”
“The planet is called KP061921.”
“And that would explain the aircraft.”
“Why?”
“Did you look at where it came from?”
Mason looked again at the transit information. He had noticed the origination point looked familiar, but he had been to many planets in his years in the Military. “That is the code for the planet my parents are on.”
“It is.”
“The request doesn’t give details like the child’s name, but... My mother has a soft spot for all children. I should call her.”
“I’ll give you some space. If you need anything I will be just outside.”
She moved to the other side of the room. Suddenly, the room seemed to grow both far too empty and far too crowded. Mason typed the code for his mother and waited for it to connect.
“Mason, what is wrong?”
He could never have hidden that there was a problem. Not only was she his mother, she had had all the same training he had and many many more years to practice. She was in a dining hall. He paused to check the local time, mid afternoon. At least he wasn’t waking anyone up in the middle of the night.
“Mason!”
He looked back to the screen.
“Mason, what is wrong? Something with the twins? Something with Nia?”
“No, Mom. They are fine. Or at least as fine as they were before.”
“Then what is wrong? You haven’t called twice in one day since that time you got in trouble with your C.O. You didn’t get in trouble with your C.O., did you?”
“No, the class is going fine.”
“Then what?”
“Casey is missing.”
His mother had been eating something and suddenly stopped. “Missing how?”
“I don’t know. I left her with Major Vorn when I went to the hospital and now she isn’t there.”
“Mason. It will be alright.”
He didn’t know that he was ready to believe that. “Did you send the plane?”
“What plane? I have been in meetings and then at lunch. Colonel Thomkins has been running everything.”
“The survey plane. The one that arrived a few minutes ago from the planet you are on.”
“It wasn’t me, Mason. I would have done it if I had been there, but it wasn’t me.”
“Someone from security will probably want to talk to you. They asked me about my relatives.”
“That’s procedure. They are following a checklist.”
“I know but it is different when you are on the other side.”
She laughed. “Of course, it is. And you will come out the other side of this with more understanding of the other side than if you hadn’t experienced it.”
“I could do without the experience.”
“Do you want me to quote you the percentages? It is far more likely that there will be a happy ending.”
“Can we just skip to the happy ending part?”
“Sorry, no,” his mother said. “But you are reacting normally. Most people feel that way. No one wants to be facing the pointy end of the stick.”
“You are using the calming techniques on me. The no-panic reassurance that we have been taught.”
“Yes. The techniques work even if you know what is going on. It is psychology and science.”
“I don’t know that I like being handled,” complained Mason.
“It is better than the alternative,” she replied
“What is that?” he asked.
“I could be screaming and crying, or you could,” replied his mother.
“That would not help anything.”
“No. And that is why you called me. I will tell your father.”
“Thank you.”
His mother looked away. “I need to take this call. I think the security teams have gotten to this point on their list. Call again if you need to.”
And she was gone.
The call to Nia’s parents was anticlimactic after that. They didn’t answer and he decided not to leave a message. “Hi. Your granddaughter is missing,” didn’t work.
After nearly two hours, the survey aircraft found several native species and two sets of cadets looking for some privacy, but not Casey. For once he was glad to not have to be the bearer of bad news. That pilot was returning to Kappa sector to tell his mother that Casey had not been found.
It had been a fitful night. There were three ponds within the search radius. All three had been dredged by the time the sun came up. Many shoes. Many broken toy boats. Many other things. But no Casey. Mason was for once happy that she hadn’t been found. The pond would have been a nightmare. It was already a nightmare. The pond would have been worse.
The twins pulled each other’s hair and forgot how to breathe. Nia struggled to regain the hormone and chemical balance she had had before becoming pregnant. And Mason paced. And tried to sleep. And paced some more. There was not much sleep happening.
As the sun came up Mason looked out the window and wondered how the world kept going even as his world was crashing around him. Nothing was right. How could those people continue going on about their lives when his life was in such a mess?
He remembered watching his mother go from normal person eating with family to impartial professional officer before his eyes after getting messages when he had been a child. It had been like watching a different person inhabit her body. He would have to learn to do that too if he was going to be able to give unbiased recommendations in the future. But now he would have to figure out how to not give in to the emotions just to get through the day. He had been teaching, giving multiple opposing alternatives and not taking sides in class. They had only been moderately successful. Some of his students hid their true feelings much better than he did right now.
Today he wasn’t attempting to put on an unemotional face to prevent accidentally influencing a decision in the field. Today he was putting on an unemotional face to prevent showing the world how emotional he really was. This wasn’t a test in a classroom. This was happening real time involving real people. And he was at the center of it.
He picked up his lookup and scanned it again for new information. There was nothing. This morning there would be search teams out looking. He wanted to be out there. But that wasn’t going to happen. No one truly believed that he was unaffected by the emotions of the moment. No one wanted him out there if...
“Major...”
Mason looked away from the lookup and at Major Greene. She looked as well put together as she had late last night. He wondered how she could do that. He looked at his clothes and realized he looked like he had spent the night half sleeping and half walking the halls worrying, which was, of course, the truth.
“You should set your lookup to personal messages and emergency calls only and then put the lookup down and go check on your newborns for a while.” She was trying to protect him from what they might find. As his mother would say, he was being handled.
Reluctantly he did as he was told. The alternative was she would either take the lookup altogether or get him removed from the message list. Neither was a good option.
“You will be kept informed of anything essential that happens.”
He had to believe her. The only other option was to not believe her and that was much worse. He stepped into the room where his small and helpless newborns lay in their protective tank. They were tiny. They had no idea of the furious activity going on outside that their older sister was causing. Last time he had seen them they had been both facing the same way. Now one of them had been rotated to face the other way.
A nurse walked over to him. “They are doing fine. We turned Nathan around to give Nolan’s hair a break. Nathan is now trying to find Nolan’s feet. So far without success, but he hasn’t stopped trying.”
Mason watched as the little foot evaded the grasp of an inquisitive hand.
“I don’t think Nolan has enough muscle control to actually try to avoid Nathan’s hand, but feet do move a lot more than hair does.”
Nolan reached out with a hand and grabbed Nathan’s foot in a sudden show of spatial awareness that made Mason smile. “Maybe the hunter has just turned into the prey.”
The nurse laughed. “Maybe. They have been grabbing for each other all night. Nathan is more active and bumps more often. But Nolan is more patient and connects more.”
“So much personality in such little bitty bodies.”
“Oh, yes. Just because they are small doesn’t mean they lack big emotions. They have opinions already.”
“Casey had opinions too. Even when she was very little she wanted to see everything and loved being around lots of people and activity. She still does. She wants to know everything all the time.”
“Sounds like she will be a good role model for them. She can show them all the interesting things in the big world.”
Mason reached for his lookup and changed his mind. There was nothing useful going to be there. It would ping if there was something he needed to know. The sun crested the top of the building across the way and shone into the room. There were people out there looking. Lots of people looking in lots of places. He had to wait. He had to be patient. He didn’t like waiting or being patient today.
He watched the little boys and their antics and thought about going for a walk to see Nia. He would rather explain the circumstances to her while she was in the tank. If there was anything good about the situation, it was that she didn’t have to experience the waiting and worrying. By the time she was out of the tank and he had to explain, it would be either another story of the crazy things Casey had done or .... He didn’t want to think about that.
He sat for what felt like hours and promised anything and everything to any deity that would listen if only his little girl was found safely. It seemed none were listening.
Major Greene walked into the room, putting away her lookup, and he looked over. She was talking to the nurse about something. For all he knew it was about him. He wouldn’t be surprised. At this point he was pretty sure that they considered him an unofficial patient and were treating him as such.
His lookup still had not buzzed, pinged or made any noise at all in hours. He was beginning to wonder if Major Greene had gotten his calls, even the personal and emergency ones, silenced. She could do that. Despite the fact she was not running the investigation, she would have the authority to limit his information. He wondered if she had done this before...
Shel paused and removed her lookup from its pocket. It must have been set to vibrate because he didn’t hear anything. She looked at him and motioned to the door. Something had happened. His lookup continued to be silent. Was that a sign that this was bad news? Was that the reason he wasn’t being notified? He walked out the door and followed her into the family room he had spent the night in.
“Casey has been found.”
His heart sunk.
“Alive and hungry.”
He collapsed into a chair, sobbing. “Where?”
“A park, on the path you thought she would be on. She spent the night in a playhouse in a grove of trees.”
He nodded. “I remember that park. There was a duck pond on the far side. She liked some of the other parks better because they had ice cream shops and that one didn’t. She thought I didn’t notice that she preferred the ones where she could try to get me to buy her a treat.”
“She apparently walked out of the playhouse and up to one of the searchers and asked if they could take her to her Daddy.”
“So much for finding her. She found them.”
“Pediatrics has run their scans and other than being hungry and needing a bath, she is fine. She should be here in a few minutes.”
“Thank you.”
“It is part of the job, Major. Someday when you are on the other side of a situation like this one, remember how you felt. It will make you a better Threat Coordinator. And a better human being.”
“I don’t think I will ever forget this experience.”
“No, probably not.”
Mason looked anxiously at the door.
“Speaking of that. I think that you and your wife, when she is well of course, might benefit from a parenting group. It is specifically for parents of children who are more intense than typical. And perhaps some individual sessions too. This whole experience of being a virtual single parent and all that entails has left you rather exhausted.”
“I don’t think I am ready to leave Casey with another babysitter for a long time.”
She laughed. “Childcare is provided for the parenting group. The kids are in their own class with one of the child counselors and half a dozen of the trainees. They usually play an elaborate role playing game, complete with foam weapons and lots of activity. There are parents who come to the group to act as mentors because their children have outgrown most of the parenting material, but the children don’t want to leave.”
“Oh.”
“It is a place where the children can all be intense together.”
“That sounds like it is as much a class for the kids as it is for the adults.”
She smiled. “Maybe. Maybe children learn better when they are running around in circles with foam weapons than while sitting in chairs facing the teacher. It is run by counseling services... I will send you the information. I really do think it would be helpful. For you and for Casey.”
His lookup beeped as the message arrived. “Thank you.”
“And you wouldn’t be the first to have a child decide to go on walkabout. Yours at least wasn’t running away because they were angry.”
“Oh.”
The portal at the end of the hall completed its shut down sequence. Footsteps and the high pitched voice of a small child were coming nearer.
“I want to see my Daddy.”
“He is in that room.”
Casey walked in wearing her pajamas and splattered with mud, carrying a backpack with Princess Panda on it. Amazingly she was wearing her sneakers, on the wrong feet, and not barefoot. As she entered the room and her eyes locked on Mason she squealed and ran the last few steps to where he was standing. He picked her up and held her tight.
“Daddy, you are squishing me!”
He loosened his hug a bit and sat down putting Casey on his lap.
“Hi, Daddy. You are crying. Why are you sad?”
“You were missing, kiddo. That made me sad.”
“But, now I am here. Are you happy now?”
“Yes, Casey. I am doing much much better.”
“Can I see my brothers and Mommy and have waffles for breakfast? I didn’t get to eat them last night and I am hungry.”
“You can have the waffles, but you are going to need to wait to see Nathan and Nolan. They are very very small and very fragile. I can show you pictures, though.” He pulled out his lookup and opened it to the pictures he had taken the night before.
“They are little. I bought a picture for them too.” She opened her backpack and pulled out two colorful pictures covered in glitter and sparkles. “I made two so they didn’t have to share. Do you think they will like them?”
“I am sure they will. There are places for cards on the tank they are in.”
“When can I see Mommy?”
“Not for a while. She is recovering from carrying Nathan and Nolan and her body needs time to heal.”
“Is she in a tank?”
“Yes.”
Mason looked around the room. The security people who had returned Casey had left but Major Tar Evan had somehow appeared. Major Greene was talking to her over in a corner.
“Major?” asked Major Tar Evan
Mason took a deep breath. “Yes.”
“Your supervisor told me to tell you to go home. Take the rest of the day off and don’t even think about doing anything else. Spend the day with your little girl and he would cover your class until you are ready to be back,” she continued.
“I concur,” said Major Greene. “We can deliver the pictures to the twins. Your wife’s condition is unchanged. Go home. Get some rest. Eat some waffles.”
Mason handed the pictures to Major Greene, picked up his little girl and walked to the portal. They were going home together. He could message his parents while Casey was in the bath. He wasn’t looking forward to explaining this to Nia, but that would wait for another day. Right now, he was going to go home and enjoy his family being safe. Not together, but safe, and that was good enough.