Last Holiday on Terra

15

I sat up in bed with all three of my animals staring hard at me...why had I awakened them? Last time that happened, my home was about to go up in flames. To his credit, my dog roused himself and walked calmly to the window and looked out toward space. Were we moving at all? I couldn't tell by sight; but was able to hear the engines...they have a very low, quiet pitch that sound what I would describe as powdery.

Then, he huffed. He actually huffed. And I was instantly reminded of my brother, Cee and I quickly rang him up.

"Yes..." he asked sleepily.

"You up?"

"I am now," he replied, utter annoyance clearly evident in his barely there voice.

"I'm sorry," I said feeling defeated.

He sighed. "What's wrong, Ro?"

"I think I need to go back."

I could hear odd shuffling and wondered what was going on with him. Then, I heard the door open. "I hope you're dressed. I thought this ought to be addressed in person."

I looked up at him and patted my hand next to me on the sofa. "Would you like something to drink?"

He shook his head and he too my hands in his. "I'll ask again...what is wrong? What's going on, Ro?"

"I'm not finished with my training."

"Well, you'll have to be."

I shook my head.

"Alright, what is it really?"

"The pods..."

A look of recognition clouded his features. "I thought it might be something like that."

"So I can go?"

"Definitely not!"

I stood abruptly and turned to face him. "Why not!"

"Because the pods have already arrived. They're doing what they were designed to do, albeit quite a bit slower than expected. But the Terrans will take care of that themselves I expect."

"What do you mean?"

"Simply put, nobody tells a Terran what to do."

I huffed and nodded. "Yup."

"And I will remind you that you are not Terran."

"But I am, dear brother. The only thing keeping me here is duty."

"To whom?"

"Everyone apparently."

"Quite right." He looked rather smug.

"And that includes the Terrans."

"Rowan, you can't return. Julia for all intents and purposes, is dead. As is her husband and all the life on that tiny farm of hers."

"A total wash?"

He nodded.

"What if Julia et al wasn't there?"

I watched him lower his head.

"Clearly I can't return as an infant, there's no time for that and what can a baby do anyway?"

"Quite right. Look, I can tell that this is weighing heavily on you and that you've given this a great deal of thought. Let me see what I can do." He rose to stand and towered over me. "Perhaps the doctor or maybe the engineers can think of something..."

"Doc? What can he do?"

"He's a bit of a philosophical genius, wouldn't you say? You're obviously closer to him than I am, but even I can see that he is a man of great conscience."