NINE MONTHS EARLIER …

CHAPTER TWO

“…Birthday, dear Benjamin! Happy birthday to you!”

“Yaaaay!”

“Make a wish, sweetheart.”

Captain Julius Garrick grinned widely, chuckling as he watched his seven-year-old son spring from his chair. The birthday boy wore a sparkling party hat on his curly brown hair, paired with a new olive sweatshirt, beige shorts, and a stylish belt that Julius had sent him a week earlier.

Surrounded by his friends, Benjamin stood on his tiptoes, leaning over the candlelit birthday cake shaped like the number seven. His face beamed as he squeezed his eyes shut, wishing hard. With a deep breath, he opened his eyes, inhaled again, and blew out the candles. They didn’t stand a chance.

“Yaaaay!” the kids cheered, waving their hands excitedly.

Benjamin spun toward the camera, eyes wide. “Daddy—Daddy! Did you see? Did you see that?”

Julius smiled and nodded. “I did, son. Well done.”

Giggling, Benjamin turned back to the table, where he and his friends dove into the cake, grabbing handfuls of frosting and dumping them on paper plates.

“Ah—wait, wait! Slow down, everyone!” called Idajen, Julius' wife, her voice filtering through the vid-panel speakers. She stood just out of frame by the kitchen door that led to the living room.

“Can someone bring me a knife?” Idajen asked. “Nisa, can you get a knife from the drawer? The silicon one…”

Partygoers meandered past the camera feed, a few stopped and waved into the lens. Julius returned the friendly gesture, wishing he were in that living room and not twelve-thousand miles away in some far-off remote sector of the Cloud Passage.

“Hi, Mr. Garrick!” An excited girl waved, clutching a stuffed animal toy. Julius wished he could remember this girl’s name. Her voice, round face and thick blonde hair were familiar, but he’s been away from home for so long he couldn’t—

Elora! Her name’s Elora, one of Patrick’s kids.

“Hello there, Elora,” Julius replied. “Are you having fun?”

Suddenly, the cheerful expression on Elora’s face twisted into a full-blown scowl.

“I’m Elisa. Why does everyone think I’m Elora? I’m the oldest! Why doesn’t anyone know that?”

Julius cringed in his seat, unsure how to respond. “Oh I… uh, I thought,” he stammered. The last thing he wanted on this day was to make a kid upset.

Okay, I take it back. Glad I’m here and not there.

“Elora, let me—I-I mean, Elisa, look at me.”

Tears welted in her eyes, and she sniffled. That mean face of hers was on the verge of bursting into tears. She looked up at the holographic display showing Julius’ face, sniffling.

“I did not mean to hurt your feelings. You and your sister look a lot alike and you’re both beautiful little girls. The reason I get you two mixed up is because I can’t tell who’s the prettiest.”

Yes. That put a smile on her face, albeit a shaky one. But still a smile.

“R-Really?” she said, tucking an errant lock of hair behind her ear.

Julius nodded. “Yes, really.”

“Well, I’m the prettiest. Right?”

Julius nodded again with a tight smile.

“I knew it!” The little girl exclaimed, jumping excitedly. “Thank you, Mr. Garrick. I’m gonna tell Elora that you said I’m the prettiest and that she’s the ugly one!”

Julius’ eyes bolted wide. “What—no, Elisa, I-I didn’t say that…”

She was off, frolicking into the background of kids playing on the living room carpet, littered with giftwrap and popped party balloons.

Julius blew out a breath, leaning back in his chair.

Kids, he thought, rubbing his thumb across his eyebrows.

“Uh-oh. Looks like you got that one real juiced up, huh captain?”

Returning his focus back on the screen, Julius spotted Patrick in the frame. A thin man with pale skin, dark hair, and a thinned mustache, no one would ever think twice of Patrick’s age. The man was in his late fifties, but he looked ten—twenty years his junior. And sometimes he acted like it, too.

“How ya doin’ captain?”

“Patrick, I’m well. Thanks for asking.”

“Your kid’s got a great turnout here, man,” Patrick said, speaking directly into the camera lens instead of just focusing on the holographic monitor displaying Julius’ face.

“It’s gonna be tough topping this one next year.”

Julius shrugged, “we’ll just have to see. Don’t count us out just yet.”

Patrick shook his head, “never, captain. You don’t got any doubts from me.”

“Good to know.”

“Yep. Well, it’s been a pleasure seein’ you again cap’n. One of these days you gotta let me and the guys take you out for a drink. That is unless you ain’t on the opposite side of the Passage doin’ whatever it is you Guildsmen do.”

Julius anchored his elbows on his desktop and steepled his fingers beneath his chin. “I’ll hold you to those drinks, Patrick. Or you can do us both a solid and enlist in the Guild and we’ll both drown in some native brewery in some far-off land.”

Patrick recoiled as if struck by a fist. “Captain, I didn’t know you cracked jokes. That’s so funny I forgot to laugh.”

Julius bit back a smirk. “We have supplementary positions that need filling in our ranks. Not everyone has to be an Aerokin.”

“Yeah, but you draft blowers get all the action!” Patrick exclaimed. “What’s a regular ol’ guy like me gonna do in the Guild besides load cargo or work sanitation?”

Julius shrugged, “pay’s good, from what I’ve been told. Besides, you get to travel the Cloud Passage—for free. Aerokin or not, I’d hop on the next transport and enlist right away.”

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Patrick scoffed, straightening up. “Easy for you to say, captain. Then again, I’m old. Can’t outshine the new blood.”

Julius grinned, something he was told he rarely did by his fellow crewmates. “Perhaps, Patrick. Perhaps.”

“Are you two over here talking about me?”

Idajen entered the camera’s field of view. Julius’ wife was a stunning woman with curly raven black hair she usually kept pinned up in a bun. Her skin was a soft copper that seemed more vibrant each time Julius saw her. She stood beside Patrick with her arms folded in front of her chest. Julius couldn’t help but admire his wife’s figure, wearing a nice black dress that brought out the curves to her body.

Of course, his wife’s appearance and choice of attire wasn’t the only thing he missed. He missed holding her hand as they walked through the city or the park. He yearned the many times they’d spent a full day biking and hiking up Ridge Hill Bay, a place that seemed to grow bigger with each visit.

Those were the days Julius didn’t take for granted.

Especially after what happened to us two years ago. When that madwoman shot me—shot at us in our home.

Julius stifled a grimace from showing on his face. He often thought back to that bleak day. The day an assassin had stalked and followed him home and nearly killed him in front of his wife and children.

Absentmindedly, Julius massaged a hand at his left shoulder, where a fragment of the bullet meant for his head was still lodged.

If Nisa hadn’t tugged on my arm at that exact moment…

Laughter brought Julius’ attention back to the screen. Patrick and his wife looked his way expectedly, thinking he heard whatever it was they were talking about while he spaced out.

“Did you hear what he said, dear?” Idajen asked.

Julius slid a hand down his face. “Sorry, there was a bit of interference on my end.”

“Oh, it was nothing special,” Patrick said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “Just me spouting old tales of our golden days, ‘y’know?”

Idajen scoffed, putting her hands on her hips. “Quit acting like an old man. You still got plenty of days ahead of you.”

“Yeah, I suppose the word of a doctor would carry much weight,” Patrick said.

“Daddy—Daddy!”

One of Patrick’s young kids came waddling over with tears in her eyes. Julius couldn’t help but wonder if it was Elisa, Elora’s spitting image twin sister.

Patrick knelt to one knee and held his sobbing daughter’s hand. “What? what’s the matter, sweetheart?”

“Elisa keeps following me around and…and calling me ugly and she won’t stop!”

Patrick groaned a sigh and picked his daughter up. “All right—All right quick your waterworks. Let’s go find your sister and have a chat with her, yeah?”

Elora rested her head on his shoulder.

Patrick looked back at Julius, “Well, all right then, captain. Looks like I gotta roll. It’s been real good seeing you, Julius man. You make it home and stay safe out there, yeah?”

Julius lifted a hand and nodded. “Will do, Patrick. It was nice catching up with you.”

Patrick and his daughter walked out of the frame, leaving Idajen idling by the feed. His wife grinned at the camera, but it didn’t reach her eyes.

“How you holding up, woman?” Julius asked.

“Tired,” she sighed. “Hosting a kids’ birthday party isn’t exactly my specialty.”

Julius grumbled a laugh. In the corner of his eye, the notification tab on his keyboard blinked.

“So how are things on your end?” Idajen asked.

Focusing his attention back on his wife, Julius rubbed a hand at the back of his shaved head. “Quiet. The Admiralty has had me and my crew in a patrol pattern for the past couple of weeks. Nothing unusual so far.”

That was a lie. Well, not exactly the full truth, anyway.

The truth was that the Admiralty had contacted Julius with peculiar orders to venture out to the Fringes Traverse, a vast and largely unexplored region on the edges of the Cloud Passage. There was nothing but remote settlements and scientific research facilities out there, performing tedious studies on rock and local insect populations. Or so the reports claimed.

In truth, Julius had the slightest clue as to why the Admiralty would charge him to venture to that distant space of uninteresting terrain. He didn’t argue their orders, but he had questions he was forced to bottle up.

“I’m starting a new posting soon,” Idajen said. “I talked with the maternity sanctum, and we’ve worked out a deal for me to take up a post closer to home.”

“That’s what you wanted, right?” Julius asked. He detected disappointment in her tone and it was well understood.

Like Julius himself, Idajen also served in the Kyten. She was a medical officer aboard the Defiant, one of the fastest Guild Class aeroships in the Guild Fleet. She loved her duty and her commitment to the Guild, but she also loved her children.

“It’s what we agreed,” she said. “One of us has to stay behind and watch the kids. Least till they’re grown enough to start getting sick of us being stuck in their faces all the time.”

Julius huffed a dry laugh.

“We’ll make it work,” Idajen went on; her voice vaguely distorted by interference in the feed. “The Guild’s got our backs and we’ll move forward like we always do.”

Julius pressed a fisted hand into his cheek. “We make a great team. One day our kids will appreciate the commitments you’ve done on their behalf.”

Idajen blew out a dramatic sigh. “Hopefully one day soon.”

A new caller notification leaped up onto the display. Julius lifted an eyebrow and removed his hand from his cheek. It was his daughter hailing him.

“What is it?” Idajen asked, seeing the expression on his face.

“Our daughter is calling me.”

Idajen looked puzzled, “now?”

“Yes. Hold on, let me see…”

With the swipe of his hand, Julius slid the vid-chat panel of his wife aside and pulled in the caller screen of his daughter. Nisa’s face filled his display, she must be using her handheld CONET because she also wore her favorite earbuds. She grinned but it wasn’t her usual ecstatic smiles.

“Hi daddy.”

“Nisa.” He noticed the lack of party music and kids babbling in the background. Things on her end were equally quiet as his own. “Nisa where are you? Are you in the house?”

She shook her head. “I’m in the stairwell. Um… can I… can I tell you something, daddy?”

Julius braced himself. He shrugged, “what’s on your mind, sweetheart?”

She gnawed on her lower lip, mimicking the same nervous tick her mother often did. “Now, don’t tell mom. But I’m… I think I want to join the Guild.”

That’s it?

Julius hid the fading shock of relief from showing on his face. Here he thought his seventeen-year-old daughter would mention a boyfriend or ask about sex or a multitude of other things that kept Julius up at night. But this? His baby girl wanted to join the Guild? This he could tolerate.

He shrugged, “okay?”

A bewildered expression crinkled Nisa’s features. “Okay… what?”

Julius smiled thinly, “With you wanting to join the Guild. That’s great news, Nisa. Really, it is.”

A smile wiped the nervous dour off her face. “Really?”

Julius nodded, “Yes. But if I may ask, why the secrecy? What, you thought me and your mother wouldn’t approve?”

“Well, I knew you would approve,” she said. “But mom…” she sighed, brushing a strand of dark hair from her face. “I don’t think Mom wants me to join.”

“Why do you say that?”

“No, it’s just… look, it’s hard to explain, but every time I mention the Guild around Mom, she gives me this look like…” she imitated her mother’s stern glare. And to be honest, it was spot on. “And I’m like: ‘Well, better not tell her that I plan on joining once I turn seventeen.’”

Seventeen was the preferable age when the Guild accepted new inductees to train. There were exceptions, where the Guild admitted initiates at ages as young as twelve. However, those decisions were merited on the initiates’ proficiency with acro-buoyancy, a naturally occurring form of antigravity that Aerokin are attuned with.

“Your mother does run a tight ship,” Julius said. “Then again, you should try explaining your reasoning to her. Remember this, Nisa: certitude is an integral part of being a Guildswoman. Being born an Aerokin gets you halfway.”

She bowed her head. “I know. But what if she disapproves? What if she goes out of her way to make sure the Guild doesn’t pick me up?”

Julius couldn’t halt a snicker. “Oh, you give your mother far too much credit.”

“But what if…”

“She can’t and she won’t. Whatever path you should pursue, your mother and I will be there to support it.”

A skeptical look held Nisa’s face hostage. “Promise?”

Julius nodded. “Promise. Just know that should you follow through with your ambitions of becoming a Guildsman, know that the journey from recruit to board sworn will be a difficult one. You will be tested both mentally and physically. You’re going to be required to work in a team-based environment and learn to trust others. And it gets subsequently tougher from there on out.”

Nisa cracked a grin, “I’m glad it’s hard, otherwise anyone could do it. Plus, I’m not just anyone. I’m a Garrick.”

Julius fended back a smile at his daughter’s show of pride. “You’re Nisa, first and foremost.”

“Right,” she said.

A soft staccato beep resonated from Julius’ personal terminal, accompanied by a flashing green light. He was being hailed from the Operations Room.

“I…I have to go,” Julius said.

“Oh, okay Daddy. Oh—and dad,” she beamed a grin that lit up Julius’ display. “Thanks for listening. I love you!”

“Love you too, sweetie. Give your mother and brother a kiss for me.”

“I will. Stay safe out there, Daddy, please?”

The beeping on Julius’ terminal intensified.

“Yes—Yes, I will, honey. Promise—now I have to go.”

She waved, “bye!” The vid-call window closed on the display, leaving an opaque panel in its immediate wake.

Julius flipped open the lid to his personal terminal and double-clacked the ENTER key on the keyboard.

“Garrick here,” Julius announced.

“Captain,” came the firm voice of Julius’ quartermaster, Anthony Saymon. “Apologies for the interruption, sir, but you are needed in ops. It’s urgent.”

“I’m on my way.”

Standing from his desk, Julius grabbed his senior officer's cap off the desktop and placed it on his clean-shaven head. He shot a quick glimpse of himself in the floor-to-ceiling mirror, inspecting this shipboard uniform before heading for the door.