No Space For Family [Chapter 31 – Final]
Grandma barely looked any different than before the accident had occurred. She even gave her famous eye squint as Dad described what went wrong, followed by a slightly modified version of how we saved her and ended up where we were. She was even able to get up on her feet (with a bit of help). After getting out of the hospital clothes, we wheeled her over to meet with Sakura in the administration building for a meal.
“So, where next, family?” Asked the Overseer over lunch.
Grandma, of course, was the first to answer. “Greenmire. My business still stands.”
“Worried about the lawyer?” asked Mom.
Grandma scoffed. “Yes. How did you…?”
Dad chuckled. “I mean, our business there is long overdue, after all. Luckily, I’ve already contacted the colony there and gotten a flight path planned out so we can avoid overheating again. Not that we have any extraordinary cargo to keep cool this time around.”
“A shame, that is,” Grandma sighed. “You’re sure that your client isn’t going to be mad about losing the goods, Jefferson?”
Dad bit his lip to avoid laughing, disguising the lapse of conduct behind his napkin. “No, we’ve already… worked out an exchange during the time you were recovering. Worry not.”
“Well, that’s all good, then.”
“Jefferson has always been quite reliable,” commented Sakura. “Your daughter is in good hands, Mrs. Ankern.”
Grandma rolled her eyes. “After all this time and two kids in, I hope I won’t discover otherwise.”
“Mom,” my mom spoke up. “Since we’re here and you’ve had a chance to see it, we might see about this being a place for you. In the future.”
Grandma eyed Mom and Sakura. “I see how it is. Even being an old… friend, it seemed a bit strange for the colony’s overseer to invite us to an exclusive lunch. Amelia, did you set this up? Ms. Ishii, while this is a lovely place, it’s a little… out there. And on top of that, I’m not quite ready to settle down, either.”
Sakura chuckled. “Of course. As Amelia said, it could be a prospect for the future. Nothing is set in stone.”
Grandma wagged her fork at us. “I’m a third-time widow, you know. I figured that I deserve to spend this time of my life not tied down to anyone or anything. And assuming my lawyer back on Chandra hasn’t run off with my money, I can afford a little bit of luxury.”
“We’ll call that lawyer of yours once a route to Greenmire has been set,” Dad said.
“Perfect. In a decade or two,” shrugged Grandma in Sakura’s direction. “I may have changed my mind by then. If all the stress of this whole adventure hasn’t put me on the fast lane to my twilight years.”
Sakura lifted her glass to the air. “Let’s hope not. A toast to taking it slow and easy.”
“Cheers,” Dad reciprocated. “Though we are lifting off bright and early tomorrow morning.”
Dr. Pois met us out on the tarmac that following morning. “I’ll be remaining here,” she told us. “I’ve found it significantly more peaceful here than my previous station. And I’ll actually be able to help people directly.”
After goodbyes from the doctor and the Overseer, we climbed the back hatch and into the Ora. Grandma was still a little bit shaky on her feet, so Dad had to pull her up the stairs while Mom followed behind her, almost having to hold her up by the butt. Just as we were about to follow her in, Grandma let out a short scream.
Terren and I rushed up to make sure she hadn’t fallen over in the boarding process. She was still on her feet, but stuck in the hallway door, recoiling.
“Welcome back, family,” said Plip, lounging between two of our chairs in the common room. “I hope you don’t mind me sticking around for a bit longer.”
I heard Grandma hissing at Dad while she tugged on his sleeve. “You didn’t tell me about picking up some hitchhiker.”
“Ah, hitchhiker, no,” Dad said with a shake of his head. “Plip here is… an assessor for the insurance company.”
Our whiskered guest grimaced for a moment before jerking himself out of the chair with a fake smile. “Right he is. Plip’s the name. I’m an associate with Cycles ‘Go Round. Yes, the… damage to the ship here, as well as the loss of property, was quite unfortunate, but Mr. Umburter has a wonderful policy with us. I’ve been riding along to make sure he and his business get everything they need to be back to well, uh… business.”
Grandma nodded while Mom and Dad ushered her to another chair. “Well, that’s fine, I guess. Just as long as I don’t have to see you constantly. Jefferson, where’s he sleeping?”
Dad sucked in a low breath. “Ah, right. Sleeping arrangements. Family, we’ll have to have a talk after we jump to warp…”
I’m not sure if our sleeping arrangements were better or worse than before. Grandma was offered Terren’s room. You know, the room that my brother and I had been using together? Yeah, that one. I guess the lingering odor of teenager wasn’t as much of a deal breaker as Grandma getting her privacy.
Terren got to sleep on the floor of the common room, not far from Plip, who probably couldn’t have asked for more. I myself ended up joining my parents in the loft up the ladder above the common room. Grandma actually had invited me to sleep on a cot with her, but my parents were probably worried about me getting any unfiltered gossip from her. After all, the real version of her was probably on the verge of oversharing sooner or later.
It wasn’t too bad up in the loft as my parents often traded out shifts in the cockpit. I think at a certain age most kids stop sleeping with their parents, and I definitely didn’t remember the last time I had done so. All I’ll say is that I’m torn a little between the feeling of drifting off while being hugged by my mom and being awoken by my dad’s snoring.
The challenges in dealing with all these people while having less overall space made the days fly by. It wasn’t long before the bright glow of Greenmire’s two suns was upon us once more.
“Amelia,” said Dad, inviting my mom to the cockpit. “Let’s run those calculations we talked about.”
“I’m on it,” said Mom, settling into the seat across from him.
“What calculations?” I asked. “Is landing going to be trouble?”
Grandma hobbled up to the cockpit door, supported gently by my brother. “So we’re there, are we?”
Dad glanced back. “We have Greenmire in our sights. And no, unfortunately, we won’t be landing.”
I was confused, but Grandma spoke first. “I’m still not sure if this will match the exact terms my late husband wanted.”
“About sprinkling the ashes down to the planet?” I asked. “How can we do that if we aren’t going to land?”
Mom shifted back and matched eyes with all of us. “As long as none of us tell your lawyer otherwise, we’ll have done everything asked of us.”
“Fine,” sighed Grandma. “I do want to get home sooner rather than later.”
“Amelia,” Dad said. “We’re catching gravity here. Do you have the needed trajectory?”
Mom settled back in and stared at her screen. “Pitch it down… four degrees. That’s it. Ready to launch.”
Dad reached up to the controls above the seat and held his finger against one of the buttons. “Any last words, Aida?”
Grandma took a sole step forward. “Let’s see… may any further adventures of mine be as eventful as your life was. Farewell.”
“Good enough for me,” said Dad, pressing the button. With a low pop, one of the front thrusters fired with a puff of condensation, sending off a cylinder in the direction of Greenmire’s verdant horizon.
“Was that…?” I stammered.
“My third husband.”
Mom chuckled. “The canister will be able to sail through the atmosphere at a shallow enough angle to delay it burning up entirely. Or not. These sorts of calculations aren’t my forte. I’m no AI after all. But his remains will return to this planet, just as he wished.”
Grandma sighed and waddled back around. “Good enough. It will save these wobbly legs of mine for a little while longer. I can already hear the condo back in Chandra calling my name.”
“Setting course right now, Mom.”
“Chandra, is it?” Plip said, sauntering around Grandma and up to the edge of the cockpit door. “Never been there myself.”
“Yes,” said Dad with a glance. “I think we’ll stay there for a bit, actually. Repairs, refits… meeting up with the local branch of Cycles Go ‘Round there. But it is a place with plenty of other opportunities.”
“Alas,” sighed Plip, swinging himself around on the door’s metal molding. “That means I must depart upon our landing there. As much fun as it’s been.”
“So much fun, Plip,” said Terren, patting him on the shoulder.
Grandma was settling down in one of the chairs at the common room table. I ran up to join her. “What did your husband do… before… you know?”
Grandma smiled at me and put my palm in hers. “Well, he grew up a farmer here on Greenmire. But he climbed the ranks down there until he started managing their exports. I met him on Chandra, of course, as he was building a name for himself in interplanetary agricultural trade. You might call his life a tale of rags to riches.”
“Does a tale like that also have adventure? Like you said about your further adventures?”
Grandma smirked. “Let’s just say the word ‘adventure’ is a stretch. I’ll leave those sorts of things to you and your family.”
“Jumping to warp, family,” called out Dad from the cockpit. “Grab a hold of something, cause we’re out of here.”
END
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