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Journey
Year: 2192
Setting: Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
Mark tapped his foot on the hospital floor. The sharp sound grated on the other occupants' ears and they stared at him. He tried to stop, but every time he thought about something else, his foot went right back to tapping.
He was going to be a big brother.
The clock moved so slowly. He and his parents arrived five hours ago, and so far, his dad hadn't come back out to tell him anything. He didn't have any relatives living nearby who could take him back home, so he was stuck waiting in the company of strangers.
"Whatcha hear for?" Another kid plopped down beside Mark.
"My mom's having a baby," he replied, looking over to see a short, thin boy, around his own twelve years of age. The boy's skin was much darker than Mark's. His black hair was short, and his deep, brown eyes shone happily.
"I'm Timothy." The other boy stuck out his hand. "Timothy Alori*."
Mark stared at the offered hand, then shook it. "Mark Venture. Do you go by 'Tim'? Or 'Timothy'?"
"Definitely 'Timothy,'" the boy replied. "So, you gettin' a little sister? Or a brother?"
"Brother," Mark replied. "His name's Jordan, but we're going to call him 'Jordy.'"
"I'm gettin' a sister," Timothy announced. "Mama got here last night. I've been waitin' here ever since."
"Is your dad back with her?" Mark asked, looking around the room, trying to spot the boy's other parent.
"Nah," Timothy hung his head. "Daddy… died in one of the bombings a couple months ago. Since then it's just been me an' Mama. Now I'm gonna have Lily to look out for too."
"You want to go get something to eat downstairs?" Mark asked as his stomach grumbled.
Timothy eyed the door to the waiting room, "I dunno. Mama might call me back. I wanna be here when she does."
"Okay." Mark looked around the room again. "You want something from the vending machine? Dad gave me the food card in case I got hungry."
Timothy gave the lines of sandwiches and snacks a long look but shook his head. "Nah, I'd better not. Our food money doesn't get loaded until tomorrow, and we've only got a few dollars left right now. Our amount got cut pretty bad when Daddy died."
"Come on." Mark stood up and beckoned the other boy over to the machine. "I'm buying. Pick what you want."
"I couldn't do that. It's your money," Timothy protested as he went over to Mark.
"Mom and Dad add extra every month just in case. We never need all of it. Come on. Please? I hate eating all by myself." Mark tapped the card against the front of the machine and picked a peanut butter sandwich and some dried bananas.
"You sure about this? I don't wanna get you in trouble or anything."
"You're not going to get me in trouble," Mark replied. "Now pick something so we can get back to our seats. I don't want anyone else taking them."
Timothy glanced back over his shoulder at the chairs they'd been sitting in. They were perfectly situated out of the way of incoming traffic, and from them you could see everything going on in the waiting room. Timothy sighed and made his selections – a ham and Swiss with some crackers.
Both boys got water from the dispenser on the other side of the room and trekked back to their seats.
They talked as they ate, discovering they had a lot in common.
"You wanna go to the Academy? Really? I do too!" Timothy exclaimed around a cracker. "What division you thinkin' about?"
"I dunno," Mark took another bite of his sandwich. "Maybe engineering, but I'm not really excited about that. Or I might do navigation. That sounds really interesting. What about you?"
"Gunnery – definitely. Mama says I shouldn't look too far ahead, but I can't help it. I mean, I'm almost thirteen. It would be so great to be able to go! I just know that's what I'm supposed to do. Don't you ever sit down and then somethin' hits you – like, you realize somethin' really important?"
Mark shook his head. "Can't say I do."
"Well, I do," Timothy replied. "It just – you know – I know what I've gotta do. Daddy was like that – always sure of himself. He was a supervisor for one of the construction crews working on the underground cities. He always looked at me and said, 'Now, listen here, Timothy. People need a place to live, and I'm gonna build them the safest place you can imagine.' He got asked to head up projects a lot, so he wasn't home much, but he was just doin' his best for me and Mama. Can't fault a man for that."
Mark nodded. "Yeah, Mom used to be gone a lot too. She worked for one of the transit lines."
"Like a stewardess?" Timothy asked.
"No. She was one of the managers – made sure all the lines stayed running on time, sent out mechanics to fix the broken ones – all that stuff. Everybody sent us cards and e-mails when she left."
"That's really cool," Timothy said. "What's your Pop do?"
"Dad? He does something with money – I don't really know. He doesn't talk about it much, just goes to work every day and comes home looking sad," Mark replied. "He was really happy today though. Since we're here he doesn't have to go to work."
"I don't wanna hate my job," Timothy mused as he finished his food. "I wanna be able to go do something I love. That's why I'm goin' to the Academy."
"Yeah…" Mark said thoughtfully. "Me too."
"Marcus Venture?" The door with the big "Do not enter" sign on it opened and a nurse stepped out. "Marcus Venture?" she called again.
"Gotta go," Mark gave Timothy a fist-bump. "Thanks for eating with me."
"Thanks for buying." The other boy grinned. "Hope you like your brother."
Mark waved to Timothy as he followed the nurse through the door and up to his mother's room. The second he stepped in, he saw Jordy.
"He's teeny," Mark said, coming over and tapping the baby's nose.
"He won't stay that way for long," his mother said. "And I know he's going to adore you."
"Really?" Mark asked. "How do you know that?"
His mother smiled and pulled him in close. "Because the moment I met you, I adored you too."
"Mooom!" Mark blushed and pulled out of her hug but didn't step away. He looked at his dad, sitting in a chair on the other side of the bed. Mark saw the worry lines in his face and the white streaks starting to invade his hair. Today he looked much more relaxed than usual, but there was still that edge in his eyes – the dread of having to walk into work tomorrow and battle through one more day doing something he hated.
He looked at his mother's face. She wore marks like his father's – lines and wrinkles that shouldn't have been there. Then he watched Jordy, asleep. The baby's face was so peaceful. He didn't have any cares at all; he didn't even know what kind of world he'd been born into.
Mark thought about all the other kids dealing with losing family and friends. He'd known several people who lost their lives in the bombings, but at least none of them were his family.
"Mom…?" Mark whispered.
"Yes, dear?" she replied.
"Do you think that… maybe one day… everything will be back to the way it was? I mean – maybe in the future, we can fix all the problems the bombs are causing – or even stop them from falling. Maybe we can –"
His mother laid a finger over his lips. "I don't know, sweetheart." She shook her head. "But, for now, just be happy with what we have." She turned her attention back to Jordy.
Mark nodded. "Okay…" But as he looked down at his little brother, he couldn't help but feel the weight of responsibility.
He wanted Jordy to be able to walk around the park without wondering if a bomb was going to fall nearby; wanted him to have friends he didn't have to be afraid would die; wanted him to know what it felt like to be safe.
Mark imagined everything the way it used to be, and his lip trembled as he held back tears. The world was broken. He had to fix it – for Jordy.
Year: 2200
Setting: Scottsbluff, Nebraska, U.S.A.
Mark held his breath as he watched Sandor activate the Iscandari machine. The whole science team clustered around the officer, blocking Mark's view of the activation sequence.
He closed his eyes, whispering under his breath, hoping the machine would do what Queen Starsha promised – set the world right again.
He wanted so badly to see the grass growing green again instead of the toxic, red clay that now blanketed the Earth. A commotion came over the radio and he opened his eyes. Sandor was standing next to the machine with his helmet off.
Mark was taken aback. Exposure to the high radiation usually meant a quick death. Then he saw something else. Right next to Sandor's foot was a tiny green sprout. It didn't wilt or fade, but slowly grew, reaching up toward the sky.
Mark looked up. Dark clouds formed above them, and he heard thunder through the mic. Several of the science team unfastened their helmets and slid them off. Mark released his helmet's seal and heard the air seep out. He set it on the ground.
Seconds later, the patter of rain settled around him. It was the first rain he'd seen on Earth in over three years. Tears of joy mixed with the rain drops and streamed down his face.
Mark sank to his knees in disbelief as he watched the dead soil teem with life. Grass crawled up through the cracks in the ground and flowers poked their heads into view. He caught a flash of blue and spied a flower much like the ones that dotted Iscandar's pristine landscapes.
From inside his pocket, the shard of Iscandarium Starsha gave him poked at his leg and Mark took it out. He held up the keepsake, staring at it intently for several minutes. The Queen had given it to him when Mark told her about his little brother, still back on Earth.
"He has great faith, your brother. This is for him," she'd said. "So he'll always remember the journey you made to help save your world."
The piece's blue and green tones swirled together, almost as if the colors were moving within the stone. Sparkling, golden streaks stared back at him.
He tucked the shard away again, so he wouldn't lose it. He didn't know when he'd get home. Injured crew members needed to get to Central Hospital, near EDF headquarters, but after that… What were they going to do? Their mission was over.
Mark stood up and turned a full circle, taking in the quickly changing scenery. The overwhelming urge to shout for joy took him and he let out a whoop. It echoed across the open area as others took it up, pumping triumphant fists in the air.
Miki Saijo, Nova's fill-in for the radar station, fell to her knees near Mark and sobbed. He couldn't tell what she was saying as she slipped into Japanese, but he caught her husband's and son's names.
More crew piled out of the ship, streaming into the field as the rain continued to softly fall.
"You can see the difference already," Derek said, coming up behind Mark. "It even smells more like home now."
Mark sucked in a deep breath. Just as his friend said, the familiar smells of rain and grass came to him – smells he remembered from when he was a kid. "I can't believe how much I missed this…" he breathed.
"Yeah… me too," Derek echoed. "Well, you wanna go jump in some mud puddles or something? We've all got a lot of experiences to catch up on now that we've got Earth back. She'll take some time to heal completely, but… at least the nightmare's over now."
Mark smiled. "I think I'll skip the mud, but I wouldn't mind a long walk around the field. Think Nova would want to come?"
"I'll go get her." Derek disappeared.
Mark stared up into the stormy sky again and closed his eyes as another wave of relief washed over him.
They were safe now. No more bombs, no more attacks from Gamilon. Everything was as it should be.
His little brother's face appeared in his mind's eye and he whispered to the phantom, "Don't ever take this for granted, Jordy. Live every day like it's your last…"
"You ready?" Derek tapped Mark's shoulder. "Who you talking too?"
"Oh…" Mark opened his eyes. "No one. Just thinking."
"Let's go see what's over there." Nova pointed to a cluster of saplings on the other side of the field. They hadn't been there a few minutes ago.
The three set off, a new lightness in their step that Mark hoped would never go away again.
* Alori – pronounced Al'-orh-eye