Scott was starting to get worried. What if everything fell apart at the end? What if his mom interfered? What if his grandfather would rather die than yield? What if he called Scott's bluff? What if..? He shook his head and admonished himself. Yeah, all that and more could go wrong, but it was a little late to start worrying about it now. He'd considered all that and more and did his best to plan around it. Now, it was time to trust in his plan and his allies.

Some of Drake's assistants "helped" Scott get ready. He had to admit he appreciated the medical attention. He'd told Cleo to hit him for real, to make it look good, but he hadn't anticipated the concussion, making it hard to focus on anything. Thankfully, unlike on his ship or back on the forest planet, he now had access to actual medical attention, and after a bit of poking and prodding, he was starting to feel normal once more.

Scott was less appreciative of the people who came after, who all but stripped him down to clean and prepare him for the gathering. He was very glad he'd decided not to carry any of Charlotte's appendages on his person, choosing to leave that up to Cleo instead. She'd accused him of just not wanting to experience a dozen spiders crawling under his clothes, and while she wasn't entirely wrong, he now felt vindicated in his choice. Thankfully, she'd been allowed in the room with him, and apparently, no one had noticed the smaller "stealth" Charlottes that had been distributed to several others in the room.

Once he was ready, two mercenaries from before escorted him through the ship's halls toward his destination. Even without their helmets, they both looked positively lethal, and Scott was suddenly glad he'd chosen not to stage a direct assault to rescue his parents. The halls ended at what looked like an impressive set of ornate doors that would be more at home in some stately manner than on a spaceship. Scott took a deep breath, pushed the doors open, and stepped inside.

The room was definitely impressive. There was a large central area, and everywhere you looked, there was a display full of artwork or trophies, many of which he suspected had stories his grandfather would love to regale him about. However, what drew his immediate attention was his mom and John, who were waiting near a rather ornate-looking table.

It was without shame that he rushed to his mom's side to embrace her, and afterward, he turned to John. Suddenly feeling awkward, he said the only thing that came to mind. "Now's not the time to get into it, but I just wanted you to know...I'm...sorry for how I've treated you over the years."

John simply smiled and shook his head. "Don't worry about it. Life is overwhelming to kids, and they lash out, but it looks like you've grown a lot in the last few months. I'm just sorry it had to happen in such a...forced manner."

Before Scott could think of how to respond, their host, Scott's grandfather, Captain Drake, spoke up from where he was sitting on the other side of the table. "Well now, isn't this splendid? A family reunited! A child growing up and seeing the world for what it is! A parent forgiving them for their indiscretions! All as it should be! This is what I've wanted from the very beginning!"

The moment was ruined, Scott sighed and turned to his grandfather. For a moment, he felt a flare of anger that made him want to shout at the old man who'd caused his family so much trauma, but instead, he spoke calmly. "Charlotte, will you please shut him up?"

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Captain Drake started to exclaim something but stopped as his eyes bulged, and he sat still in his chair. A moment later, two loud crashing sounds indicated that the guards by the door had collapsed, as Scott explained. "Don't worry. It won't kill you. It's just a paralysis agent that will keep you still and quiet. Originally, I was going to only use it as a last resort, but you've just shown that you're incapable of not being the center of attention for more than five minutes, and I need you to shut up and listen for a bit."

Scott stopped and thought for a moment, then shook his head, slowly walking around the table toward Drake as he spoke. "You know, I imagined this moment for a while now. The moment when I'd finally confront the monster who hurt my family and myself so much. The man who chased us all around the galaxy. The shadowy figure who pulled all the strings and made his puppets dance. I thought you'd be imposing. I worried you'd see through my plans and be one step ahead of me the whole time. Yet all I see before me is an old man, sitting on top of an empire that only exists to get bigger, who, now that he's past his prime, has realized all the money, wealth, and power means nothing in the end, and decided he wanted to give it value by sharing it with the family he never appreciated before. The thing is, family is not just the people you share blood with."

Stopping for a moment, Scott turned back and looked at his mom. "It's the people who fight for you." Looking at John, he added, "It's the people who support you," having reached Drake's side, he reached out, and the small spider appendage Charlotte had used to incapacitate Captain Drake walked out onto his palm, which he raised up to look at as he smiled. "It's people who seek to understand you, no matter how strange or incomprehensible you are to them."

As Charlotte climbed onto Scott's shoulder, he turned back to Drake. "To you, family are just more people to be told where to go, what to do, and how to do it. That's not a family. Those are servants."

Scott stepped back and looked around. "We can't be collected and shown off to the world like some art exhibit. You can't force love or loyalty when it's convenient for you. Those grow with time and patience. Instead of beginning this manhunt to bring us to you, you could have come to us, not as 'Captain Drake' head of a pirate armada, but as a father and grandfather, seeking to find a place that you could fit into our family."

Scott turned to the man, who now seemed so small and frail, and smiled sadly. "But it's too late for that now."

Taking a deep breath, Scott took a more upbeat tone. "However, I do have some good news for you. I think we will be taking you up on your offer! Just...not on your terms or for the reasons you may assume. You see, just like my mother, it's time for this empire of yours to end its days of piracy and become a productive part of society."

At that point, a console near Drake beeped, and Scott nodded toward it. "The paralysis should be wearing off enough for you to speak and move a bit...you might want to get that."

With noticeable effort, Captain Drake reached up and activated the console, and a person appeared on the screen who immediately started speaking. "Captain, I know you're in an important meeting, but you might want to see this!"

Drake nodded. "What...is it?"

If the person on the other end of the line noticed any clumsiness on the captain's part, they didn't acknowledge it. "Sir, we've got incoming. I can make out at least one battleship, but behind it is something I've never seen before. It's almost like a huge shadow moving at FTL speeds, but it doesn't have any of the signatures of a warp drive in function..."

Slowly regaining full function, Drake suddenly looked serious. "Have all ships in range report to this location immediately! We need to be ready for anything!"

Scott, who was out of sight of the screen, added, "You might want to tell them to be on their best behavior. You're about to receive some guests, and it would be best for everyone if we all got along."