Frozen Assets

No Space for Family [Chapter 18]

After our return to clear space, we had to decide on what to do next and where to navigate. The stars out the front window were a refreshing view compared to endless fields of scrap and the possibility of exploding an abandoned warp core. Dad had left me and mom to work out our next stop.

My mom was scanning through her navigation window before she leaned out of her seat and joined me at the charting station behind. “I thought I recognized this section of the stars,” she said, leaning into me and working the screen with her hand wrapped around my shoulder.

“What’s out here?” I asked, looking up at her chin from below.

“One of my first jobs was out here, back even before you were born, Sola,” she said, dragging her finger across the readout.

“A consultation thing?” I asked.

“That’s right,” she nodded, searching through the index of nearby planets. “I had to lead my firm through a proposal for founding a new colony, right here. Yuzumaru, here in the Haru system. Then after we got the contract, it became our job to plan out the colony footprint to fit the natural layout and available resources.”

“Oh no…” I heard Terren complain from the common room. He poked his head in the door and glanced around mom’s shoulder to the green and yellow planet on the screen. “That’s not where I think it is, right?”

Mom nodded back. “That’s right.”

“What’s right?” I asked.

Mom smiled and stepped back, caressing her stomach. “Well, you’ve heard this story before, but your dad was a simple freight hauler back then, one of the first groups of people to touch down there to start the construction process. We got to know each other and eventually… well, it’s a long story, but I got pregnant with your brother here. We probably weren’t the most responsible we could have been, but we were in love. And honestly, colonies work the best when people are… proliferating.”

“Amelia Elizabeth Ankern,” Grandma hissed at us there in the cockpit. “This is not the story I heard upon meeting your husband here.”

My mom slapped her hand over her mouth. “Ah, well I guess I never told you the specifics of this story, huh, mom? But I’ll have both of my kids here know that I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Dad shuffled his way into the cockpit past Terren, smirking. “The Yuzumaru story, huh?”

“Jefferson Umburter,” Grandma muttered. “You two would best stop these frivolous recounts before your children think less of you.”

Dad sighed and settled into the pilot’s seat before glancing back at me with a nod. “It’s fine. What did I say before, Sola?”

My mind ran through a bunch of random possibilities before I recalled something recent. “Uh, do as you say and not as you do?”

He clicked his tongue and looked up at the ceiling. “Correct. And she does listen at that, Aida. So, we’re near Yuzumaru, are we? After everything we’ve been through, it would be a great place to regather our thoughts. Settle in, everyone.”

Mom went back to her seat and plotted the course. Terren took up his seat behind Dad and leaned forward. “Let’s just hope nobody remembers us.”

“Why? What happened?” I asked, prying a little more.

Mom watched as we went to warp before turning back in her seat. “Nothing crazy, I promise. But the whole pregnancy thing? Well, I stepped down from my lead position at the colonization firm. The job had too much footwork for someone pregnant and bloated and having to pee every thirty minutes. Second reason I stepped away was to get married to your father as is proper. After we had your brother here, we settled down for a bit. Of course, we did want to return to the colony and see how things were going, and how it was developing. When Terren was old enough to not need diapers and all that business, I returned to my firm and got a supporting role.

“The colony was already well settled, with plenty of permanent inhabitants, but all fresh settlements need some help to iron things out for the long run. We called Yuzumaru our home for about sixteen standard months.”

“It’s all old people,” Terren interjected.

“It’s a high-end retirement colony,” mom clarified.

“Sure,” sighed my brother. “And you know why I still remember that place? Well, regardless of race and species, old folks just love little kids and pinching their cheeks and picking them up and giving them kisses. Like I said, hopefully nobody there remembers me.”

“I can’t blame them, my little grandson,” chattered Grandma. “You were indeed very cute. And I don’t think you have to worry about their memories lasting too long.”

“You know, mom,” said my mom. “I talked to you about possibly settling down here a while ago. You barely even let me explain.”

“Out here?” Grandma scoffed. “Too many non-human weirdos.”

I saw a figure in my peripheral vision and I nearly forgot we had a guest aboard. “Hey, family,” Plip interrupted with a grumbling voice. “Speaking of non-human weirdos.”

My mom jerked back. “I’m so sorry, Plip. I guess you’ve learned by now that our AI has quite the… personality. We’re going to land on a nice, peaceful colony where we can let you get to your own business.”

Dad nodded. “That’s right. Now I don’t condone it, but there will be plenty of old folks there that could be tricked out of their credits. Maybe sell them a little bit of travel insurance.”

“And where would these old folks be traveling to?” He inquired impatiently. “Wait, I’m not even a real insurance salesman, you all remember that, right? And more importantly, I’m beginning to think you don’t have any sort of ordinary AI. You’ve called her grandma, she’s called you her family. I don’t know about this computer business, but why would an AI ever be programmed to act so erratically? To pretend like it’s incompetent despite sitting on some huge custom-cooled processor and stacks of memory banks.”

I pursed my lips and stared sheepishly at our guest while he looked back and forth between Mom and Dad in the front seats. They didn’t look back.

Dad shrugged slowly in place. “Are you prepared to sit and listen to a very long story?”

“Honestly, no,” Plip said with a shake of his head.

“Well, good, because I’m not in a mood to tell one.”

Our guest nodded. “Fine. I’ll be happy to depart once we land on this planet.”

It seemed like everyone stopped holding their breath at once when Plip turned back out of the cockpit. Grandma spoke up again to break the silence. “We’ll be in talking distance of a long-range communication relay, right?”

“It makes sense that the Haru system would have one,” Mom acknowledged.

“I still don’t know what we can do for you, Aida,” said Dad, “but we’ll keep taking step at a time.”

Grandma hummed. “Sure, sure. But before that… I should have been done spreading that husband of mine’s ashes back on Greenmire long ago. The lawyer watching over the estate probably is expecting to hear back from me.”

Dad let out a long sigh. “I understand. But we still may have people looking out for us. Sending out a communication directly from the ship might not be wise.”

“What if he thinks I’m dead?”

“He’ll have to wait for proof of that,” shrugged Dad.

“Do you know where the inheritance would go if I, the wife of the deceased, were pronounced dead or missing? It would go to my stepdaughter! And she’s a spoiled brat already!”

“Even more of a reason to take things one step at a time, Mom.”

“That’s right,” said Dad. “We can reach out when we’re on the surface of the planet. And we need to be extra careful so nobody outside of this ship catches on to your… condition.”

“I’m not dead!” Grandma huffed. “My body may be on ice, but my mind has never been better!”

“Some people might not see it that way,” said Dad. “Uh, about your body, of course. I mean, nothing like this has happened before. At least, not in any legitimate records. And I can’t say I’m not worried about the condition of your body, either.”

“Same here,” My mom said. “Hows told us that your body is in a delicate state. It won’t hold up if we don’t keep it under specific conditions. Same to resuscitate it. To resuscitate you, mom. When’s the last time we even checked on it, Jeff?”

Dad glanced back out the door, through the common room and to the back hallway where the lower bedrooms were located. “I programmed the ship’s computer to warn me if the temperature goes above a certain threshold. And it hasn’t. As long as we don’t go through any more binary star systems. But it’s still no medical facility. The cold will inhibit the growth of bacteria, but it’s certainly not sterile and barely humidity controlled in there.”

“I’m not going to get freezer-burnt, am I?” Asked Grandma.

“What about Yuzumaru?” Terren asked suddenly.

“What about it?” Mom responded.

“Plenty of old folks must finish out their days there. They must get returned to their families somehow. And not all cultures cremate their dead.”

“I do think they have something for such a thing,” Mom said, nodding. “Proper cryo preservations. In nice little pods.”

“Those are for dead people!” Grandma hissed at us.

“Better than being freezer burnt,” Dad joked. “Maybe we can work out a deal with them, just grab a pod and don’t tell them what it’s for. Let’s set in a course. Aida, just let us know when we’re in communication range of the planet.”