“What’s this?” Josh asked.

For the first time that Josh could recall, Sen seemed… shyly hesitant. The short man was holding out a bag with an apologetic and vaguely sheepish expression.

“A gift– I believe that it is customary among humans to share them with those who are meaningful in their lives…” Sen trailed off and Josh nodded minutely to confirm. Then Sen jumped in and continued in explanation. “—It never quite sat well with me that your weapon during the initial fight against Hantal was lost. As you know, your actions have helped return a small but very important part of what was taken from me… So I wanted to do the same for you–” Sen stood straight at attention with the largish wrapping supported in both his hands as if it was a time of great ceremony. “-- I also wanted to return something to you that you clearly valued…”

Josh’s eyebrows rose. Weapon? What weapon? All I had in the elevator was my beat-up…

“I’ve studied your people for some time, Joshua.” Sen shook his head, clearly baffled. “I’m not sure I’ll ever understand them, or your strange fascination with–” In a quick flourish Sen pulled the colorful paper off in one move. “— A Cases of Briefs.”

Supported in Sen’s arms was an exact replica of the briefcase Josh had used to keep Sadie’s possessed-antique body from turning him into a kids-craft project. He watched as Sen snapped the fasteners free and opened the briefcase towards him.

“--Nor will I ever pretend to understand why your people would feel the need to carry so much male underwear around with them– But clearly, such things are what our Bond and brotherhood have been built upon. So, I gladly accept them.” Sen’s baffled and slightly disturbed look turned to a bright smile as he looked from inside of the case’s contents back to Josh. “… There must have been hundreds of millions of humans carrying these things around, but I told myself I will not judge what is clearly a cultural or religiously significant part of your world’s underpinnings… and now part of mine.” Sen extended over the open case.

—And it was full of briefs. Elastic banded men’s boxers, to be precise.

Josh doubled over, quietly laughing. Days of fear and anxiety seemed to melt away under the simple humanity of Sen’s misunderstanding. No matter how far you go…or what you do… people are still people! And Josh knew people. And Josh could deal with people with the best of them.

That thought gave Josh an amazing amount of hope. Hope that he could deal with all of the insanity that had taken the place of his suburban minivan life… That the chance of getting back to Sophie for the first time seemed like a real possibility… No matter what came up against him– No…them. Sen was a part of Josh’s life now. Somehow, this Case of Briefs confirmed that more than anything else in the universe ever could. What a pair of jamokes we are!

Sen stood there with the cheerful expression on his face holding the brief case full of small cloths. Finally, Josh was able to straighten and wipe the tears that had found their way into his eyes. Josh reached out and took the briefcase from Sen, chuckling as he lifted his brows at the dozens of pairs of underwear inside it.

A shadow of doubt passed over Sen’s features. “...Did I misunderstand your customs–”

Josh shook his head as he held up his free hand to stop Sen. “No brother, I can’t think of anything that more accurately sums up what we have been through than this… very thoughtful gift.”

Josh closed up the briefcase and bowed at the waist to Sen. Rising, the tall man put his arm around Sen’s shoulders and spoke under his breath, “I don’t think you know how much I needed this man.”

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Case of Briefs in hand, Josh moved on and waved for Sen to follow him as he turned toward the med bay.

“Come on, we should check on the girl. I’m guessing both her and her dad are going to want some answers.”

Josh patted the briefcase as he walked down the hallway, a grin still splitting his face.

Well, at least I’ll have plenty of utts for whatever the future is going to throw at us...

* * * * *

“BÀBA, I’M fine. I need to get out of here and—”

“Nǚ’ér! You are the farthest thing from fine right now! The only thing you are going to do is rest in this place until both med bots and the attending spirit-being clears you for duty. That is an order, Lieutenant!”

Josh and Sen rounded the corner in the med bay that Alysa Nang had been brought to, inadvertently stumbling upon the father-daughter confrontation mounting up to OK-Corral-Earps-vs-Clanton levels. Each was resolutely staring steely-eyed at the other.

Like father, like daughter.

The thought struck him like a gut punch as he watched the two, making him painfully aware of the gaping Sophie-shaped hole that existed in his chest.

Both he and Sen reflexively shifted a step back as the tension mounted. Josh wouldn’t have wanted to go up against either one of them at the moment... but his money was on Symbal in this fight, if only because he could see how much, hidden behind that flinty glare the woman cared for the old war dog.

A full ten seconds later, Alysa relaxed back into a reclining position, mumbling under her breath. “It’s the same order I’d have given to my own marines.”

But Alysa was far from defeated as she seemed to marshal her strength to pick a fight she knew she could win.

Josh got a worried feeling all the sudden.

The young space marine’s sharp eyes focused on Josh and Sen as a predatory look sprang from them.

Yep. Josh winced. Here it comes…

“Well, gentlemen. No more senior chiefs to save you from me. I’ll have my explanations about who you are and what you did to me. And I’ll have them right now.”

There it is, Josh sighed.

Symbal’s brows narrowed at her words. The man locked eyes with his daughter for a moment as they gave each other a grudging nod that spoke to putting aside their own differences while they dealt with a common… problem, and he shifted the gravitas of his stare to them as well.

Confronted with what felt like two tigers about to pounce, Josh’s brain accelerated into defensive mode, and a million-watt smile split his face.

“Ahh... yeah... Ahem… Well, what had happened was...”

* * * * *

None of the scans run by the med bots showed the presence of either her core or her meridians. But Alysa had immediately accepted what the men had said about being cultivators and needing to awaken her own cultivation to save her from the Stargen Conduit’s radiation as true. But she was not aware that such a thing was even possible.

For one thing, Alysa remembered what condition she had been in—not only her own but that of her team. They had all been lost to the parasites, and she had survived. She knew that each and every one of her team had fought for the others. They would not only want her to carry on to enjoy the continued life that they had died to save and protect others as they had done for her.

To her original thought, Alysa knew that back in the Star Gen conduits maintenance area she had been in very bad shape. In fact, she knew that she had been beyond saving, and yet here she was. For another, she could feel her core and the Essence set in motion by Josh. Her meridians were brimming with it as it spun through her. Only now, hours later, and all Alysa’s injuries had been healed, had the Essence started to slow down.

Symbal’s acceptance, however, had been a different matter. He had shot some very calculating glances at Josh and Sen as they explained what cultivation was and how Josh and Sen had given her their Essence to keep her alive.

In Alysa’s assessment, Josh and Sen had been patient with her “BÀBA”. Obviously, desiring his acceptance as well. They repeated themselves several times and even gave visual demonstrations. Alysa felt her father was being overly protective... which was… not an unusual occurrence. However, Symbal’s hesitance was understandable.

After all, how quickly was a father supposed to accept that a strange man had infused part of his soul into his unconscious daughter when she was on the brink of death?

Alysa figuratively stepped in–her father gave her a stern glare when she threw back the covers of her recovery bed to attempt to get up–and diffused the situation when she saw that things were headed toward a confrontation, one that she was surprised to realize she wasn’t confident her father would win. She could never recall a time that she had ever felt such a thing. Her father had always been larger than life and with more personal power than most. And yet, somehow, she knew that the man she respected more than all others might have met his match here. Taking hold of his hand with hers, Alysa looked into her father’s eyes. “Bàba. It was the only way. I was dying–perhaps had even already died, I think. Without what they’ve done, I wouldn’t have survived even one more minute... of that, I’m sure...” She embraced him and put her head against his chest.

With only the briefest of hesitation, her father held her tightly back for a long moment. He then looked deeply into her eyes. Seeing that she had spoken nothing but the truth, he had turned and bowed deeply at the waist to Sen and Josh.

“... I am forever in your debt. Whatever is in my power is yours, anytime, anywhere.” He continued to bow for several long moments and then stood with tears running silently down his cheeks to his smiling lips. “Thank you!” he harshly whispered as he turned back to Alysa.

Briefly mentioning they would be back in a few hours to continue explaining things, Josh and Sen had slipped quietly away and let her have a few quiet minutes of reunion.

* * * * *