Chapter 2: Blackacre
Two weeks earlier
Earth may not have been the largest or most populous planet in Galactic Federation territory, but it was one of the most heavily protected and treasured for the simple fact that it was where all human life had originated. While humans were by no means the most prolific species in the Federation, they had been essential to its founding and held many key roles in its government. So it was no surprise that humanity's birthplace had always received favorable treatment, particularly during the Space Pirate War, during which the Federation had refused to let it fall at all costs.
But the war had been over for nearly five years now, and despite the quiet peace that had settled through space in its wake, Earth was still a heavily guarded planet. And for any sentient being not of purely human origin, it could be almost impossible to access. Semi-humans, or human-alien hybrids, were very common throughout space. Many were born to parents of different species, but others were genetically enhanced for one reason or another. The origin and particular genetic mixture of anyone not purely human played a large part in whether they could be granted so much as a visa to visit Earth. A lot of people who had lived their whole lives on the planet still feared integrating with beings from other worlds.
That fact had never been lost on Samus Aran, and from the day she had arrived on the planet four and a half years earlier, she knew that she would never be fully accepted by its people. With her muscular build, striking eyes, and long blonde hair, Samus could have been considered very attractive by human standards. At least, she might have been had she lived a more gentle life. Black vein-like markings ran down the right side of her face and continued all over her body under her clothes. Her blue-green eyes, while a brilliant color, were distinctly inhuman, and her fingernails were a dark gray that seemed to shimmer with an iridescent green tinge. Her nails, however, were the least of her worries.
A human by birth, hybrid by design, and mercenary by profession, Samus was a tough-looking woman. There was no hiding her semi-human status from anyone she might meet. Even if her appearance didn't give it away, if she got so much as a paper cut, there would be no way to hide the fact that her blood was highly acidic and could burn through most materials. The only reason she had been granted a visa to visit Earth the first time was because she had a prominent General vouch for her and agree to accompany her to the planet. The only reason she had been allowed to stay and purchase property was because she had finally been able to locate her long-lost birth certificate, proving that she had been a full human at the time of her birth on K-2L, a colony of Earth. Natural born citizens of Earth's colonies had, at that time, automatically been granted citizenship to Earth. That law had changed in the years since the end of the war in response to the growing number of hybrids being born in the colonies.
For once, neither her genetic status nor the Space Pirate War was on Samus's mind as she walked across the grassy hills of what appeared to be a very large estate. She was wearing an old pair of jeans, her favorite leather jacket, and a pair of combat boots as her long blonde hair blew behind her in a gentle breeze. The sun was just starting to set, casting the slightest wisps of golden light over the green hills and the evergreen trees of the surrounding forests. It was a cool autumn evening, and the chill in the air suggested it would drop below freezing before morning. Samus did not seem to care about the cold. She was indifferent to most temperatures that humans could survive and even some that they couldn't
There was only one thing that concerned her, and as she got to the top of one of the hills, she looked down to the small stream flowing on the other side. Halfway down, sitting and watching the sunset, was a very old woman. She looked to be a tall, stately woman wearing a long black coat. Her silver hair was nearly as long as Samus's, and a dark wooden cane rested by her side. As the mercenary approached the woman, she half smiled and took a seat by her side. Together, they sat quietly for a few moments until Samus turned to her companion.
"Morrigan," the mercenary said in her deep voice, "you shouldn't be sitting out here when it's this cold out. You know that's not good for you."
The old woman looked over to Samus and smiled. "I've been coming out here to watch the sunset my entire life. I'm not giving that up now. Besides, I knew you would never let me stay out here long enough to catch my death."
"Hmph." Samus grunted lightly as she unzipped her jacket, took it off, and threw it around the old woman's shoulders. "You better not."
They returned to sitting in silence for a while, just enjoying one another's company. They were on the lands of Blackacre, an estate that had been in Morrigan Sinclaire's family for roughly two hundred years. At ninety-four years old, she rarely left the grounds anymore, but every once in a while she would be pleasantly surprised to find that Samus had come by to visit her. While the estate was not particularly close to the house Samus owned in the Adirondacks, it was less than a day's drive away, and the mercenary had been visiting more frequently now that the summer had ended. Her son was back at school now, and Morrigan knew that aside from the boy, there was very little tying her to Earth. Samus had always had something of a restless spirit, and she had a hard time staying in one place very long, much to the constant frustration of her domestic partner.
"How's Hector doing?" Morrigan asked after a while. She had not seen the boy in months, but Samus had brought him with her a few times over the years. A few years back, Morrigan had sought Samus out for some private security after discovering that the mercenary was her biological granddaughter. It was at that time she had learned of Samus's estranged son, her first great grandchild.
"He's doing good," Samus said with a sad smile. "He's back at school now, so I don't really hear from him like I used to, but I guess that's how it is. He just started his third year of college, so I guess I can't expect that I'm at the forefront of his mind."
Morrigan knew the separation was difficult for Samus, even if the mercenary would not admit to it. She had settled on Earth just over four years ago so that she could be closer to her boy, and he had left for college only two years later. It had been a surprise to the mercenary. Having never been to college or any type of formal schooling, Samus did not have a clear concept of how it worked. She had not even met her son until he was finishing up his sophomore year of high school, having left him with his father since birth to shield him from the violent life she had lived during the Space Pirate War.
"If you miss him, Samus," Morrigan said, placing a hand gently on her forearm, "why not go up to his school and visit?"
Samus shook her head. This question had come up dozens of times, and her answer was always the same. "I don't want to cause any problems. If people see me, they'll know I'm not human, and then they might start to think he's not fully human. He's on the track team. He's got a partial sports scholarship and they'll take that away from him if they think he has any alien genetics."
As it was, Samus was fairly certain the boy had some alien qualities to him, but he had tested fully human, and he looked fully human, so she never pressed the issue. For what few alien traits he may have possessed, it was not worth it to do anything that could change his genetic classification, especially not if he was planning to stay on Earth for the foreseeable future.
Realizing she was not going to get Samus to change her mind, Morrigan decided to change the subject. "Abby Malkovich should be graduating at the end of this school year, yes?"
Staring out at the stream, Samus nodded. "Yeah. I can't believe it. Adam would have been so proud. And Evianna just started her first year. She's training to be a nurse like her mom."
"You did a good job, Samus," the old woman said with a smile. "General Malkovich would have been very grateful for how you've been there for them."
The mercenary looked over to Morrigan and smiled. "Yeah, well, I told him I'd be there for them like they were my own, and I figure after all he did for me, sending his girls to college was the least I could do." After years of taking deadly high-profile missions, Samus had amassed a small fortune of wealth. Sending the three kids through college was not exactly cheap, but she was glad to be able to do it for them. Her missions were nowhere near as dangerous or high paying as they used to be, but she still lived comfortably.
"Damn," Samus said after a minute. "My kid's almost done with college. Makes me feel old…"
"You're not old," Morrigan snapped, lightly slapping her granddaughter on the wrist.
"Hey." Samus raised an eyebrow. "What was that for?"
"You're not old," she repeated, staring reproachfully at the mercenary. "I'm old, so you can't be. Otherwise that means I'm ancient. Besides, you don't look a day older than when I met you, so I don't know what you have to complain about."
It was mostly true. Aside from some slight lines at the corners of her eyes, Samus did not look like she had aged at all in the past five years. Not even her hair had started to show any signs of gray. More importantly, her body did not feel like it had aged either. She had put on a little weight since the war ended, but that only made her look healthier than before. While it was something she tried to avoid thinking about, she had long since suspected that her unique genetic make-up meant she would not age the same way a human would. Then again, if Morrigan was any indication, longevity seemed to run in her human genes as well.
The sun was getting lower and the chill in the air bit at the two women. Night was quickly approaching, and though neither wanted to get up, Samus knew it was time to get the old woman inside the house.
Standing up, the mercenary bent down and extended her hand to her grandmother. "We should head in. It's supposed to drop well below freezing tonight."
Morrigan finally gave in and took her granddaughter's hand. It was a slow process helping the old woman to her feet, but Samus was patient and let her take her time. Once Morrigan was upright, Samus retrieved her cane from the ground and handed it to her. Still, she allowed Morrigan to hold onto her forearm as they walked toward the ornate, black house at the top of the hill.
While she had always been very healthy and physically capable for her age, Morrigan had definitely slowed down in the past few years. It bothered Samus on some level to see the effects of aging on someone she had grown close to. The mercenary had always been all too aware of human mortality, having lost nearly everyone she had ever been close to. But they had all died violent deaths. It was strange to see nature slowly taking its course on a person. That was not to say she thought Morrigan would pass on any time soon. The old woman was still healthy and mobile, but she was slower.
Samus could accept that. She didn't mind slowing her pace or letting Morrigan hold onto her. These days, she wasn't in a rush to get anywhere. As they got into the house, she helped Morrigan into the living room and then headed into the kitchen. As the old woman settled herself in a cozy red chair by the fire, Samus prepared two cups of tea and brought them into the living room to share. She took a seat on the couch, leaning back and enjoying the warmth. Even if the cold didn't hurt her, it was still nice to be inside and warm again.
They sipped their tea quietly for a while, watching the fire. The living room was a dark but warm place, and its formal style was heavily inspired by homes of the Victorian Era. Samus had always thought visiting Blackacre and its quaint little town was like stepping back in time. There were two other occupants of the large house, Morrigan's other granddaughter Maggie and her young son, but they were upstairs in their own area for now.
"I should be going," Samus said after a while. "I promised Elisa I would come home tonight."
Morrigan looked over to her granddaughter. "This was a short visit."
"Yeah," the mercenary agreed reluctantly, setting her teacup and saucer on the dark wooden coffee table. "But I ship out again in a few days."
"Again? But you just got back to Earth last week…"
Samus nodded and stretched as she stood up. "Yeah, Biologic's been calling me out a lot lately. I think they're finally finishing up that space lab they were working on. They want me to help them capture a few live specimens for some of their ecosystems or something."
Morrigan paused, a look of concern on her face. "The way things have been going lately, I have to wonder what that will be used for in the future."
"Yeah…" Samus was not sure what to say. The thought had crossed her mind more than once. Since the Federation Council had repealed parts of the bioweapons research ban, it had put her on edge to accept any kind of mission that involved fauna collection. But those were the sorts of jobs she seemed to get nowadays. There were no more hostile planets threatening the Federation. If anything, lifting the bioweapons ban would mean the Federation was more of a threat to itself. "Not much I can do about that though. It's not like I'm a Council Woman or anything."
"No," Morrigan said slowly, as thought trying to figure out how to phrase what she wanted to say, "but you are a powerful figure. There are ways you could try to get that ban back in place or at least not facilitate anyone trying to bioweapons research."
Samus looked like she had just bitten into something sour, clearly not wanting to take this conversation in the direction it was going. "I have no reason to believe Biologic is doing any weapons research on board. I've been contracting with them since before the ban was lifted, and all I've seen them do is medical research."
Morrigan nodded passively. Though there was more she wanted to say, she didn't want to press the issue right now. "I trust your judgment, Samus. Just do take care of yourself."
The mercenary smiled. "Heh. I'll try to. I know Elisa won't be happy if I go and get myself killed, but this isn't exactly a dangerous job as far as what I do goes. I'm just heading out to SR-388. Now that the Metroids are gone, there's not much there aside from the occasional horntoad."
She drained the remainder of tea from her cup and bent down to hug her grandmother goodbye, planting a quick kiss on her forehead as she did so. It was going to be a long drive back home, but she knew she had to do it tonight. As it was, she had been spending a lot of time away from home lately, and it was not all work related. Elisa had more patience with her restlessness than anyone she had ever known save for Adam Malkovich, but she did not want to push her partner's patience further than she had to. She knew the other woman got lonely when she was away, and she didn't want her to have to spend another night by herself.
Not that Elisa was ever truly alone, Samus thought as she headed out of the house and walked along the long driveway to her hover car. Even when Samus was not around, she still had their dogs to keep her company. But Samus was anxious to get home and see her and the animals again, and she was hoping to get some quality time with them before having to head out again to her next mission on SR-388.
