It's Better This Way

It wasn't many hours before we docked at Crescentia. Although we had only been gone a few days, the feel of solid ground beneath our feet had never felt better. We thanked Captain Monroe and the others on the ship (the other ships had returned to the Naval Base) for their promptness and kindness. After Captains Monroe and Hawkins saluted each other, Jim, Liz, Danny, Morph, and I took the shuttle back to Montressor.

When we got to the house, everyone was inside: the Dopplers (even the four children who, as we later learned, were all at Creasentia and came to visit their parents at the horrible news of our kidnapping), Momma, Sarah, B.E.N., a few neighbors, and an officer from the police station. Among all of our visitors, at least one of them must have had a key to get inside. Sarah and Momma (and, of course, B.E.N.) embraced all of us tightly. We gave as detailed of an account as we could of our "adventure," answering questions along the way.

"So are those creeps as mean-looking as they act?" asked red-headed Grace Doppler.

"Wait," Dexter chimed in, "You're telling me that your only window to the outside universe was not much bigger than a mail slot?"

"How many of them were there?" inquired Margaret, the brunette.

"They're not coming after you again, are they?" asked blonde-haired Diane.

"Oh. Oh. Jimmy, we were so worried about you!" B.E.N. cried, throwing his arms around Jim who returned the hug tolerantly.

The questions and comments continued for about three hours. After that, everyone departed in thankful spirits. We were glad to have such caring friends and family. We thanked Captain Amelia for informing the spaceport about our absence, and she gave a quick word of praise to Morph who had notified her. Jim assured the officer, who was last to leave, that we'd watch out for ourselves, and the officer in return said he would still keep a look out for anything suspicious. Finally, everyone was gone. Only the four of us and Morph remained. It was early in the morning, and we had not slept a wink that night. With barely a word, everyone went up to bed.

I woke up that early that evening and decided that I'd make us a little something to eat. It had been hours since any of us had eaten, and though it wouldn't exactly be their father's cooking, the kids would eat anyway out of hunger. (My food wasn't bad tasting, I might add—Jim just had a special touch, and I, not at all envious, would rather he cooked. After all, Jim was a captain, a mechanic, a cook. What more could a woman ask for in a husband?)

I hadn't gotten far in my preparations when, one by one, the rest of the family came downstairs. I even got Jim to help me a little, so we would all enjoy the meal a little more. Not long after this, Jim and I looked out the kitchen window and noticed a small solar skiff come to our dock. We were not expecting anyone, so this was clearly a surprise. A tall, dark-haired young man jumped out followed by a shorter girl with blonde hair. Because of the distance to the dock, we could not make out who these people were. The man secured the skiff, and both walked toward the house. The man's face could now be distinguished. It was Sam. I knew Liz would want to see him, and because he saved our lives, he deserved our gratitude and hospitality. I went to the front door and opened it as they were coming up the porch steps. Jim came up behind me. We were both smiling at Sam and the young girl and warmly invited them in. Liz and Danny came from the living room to see who it was. Liz gave a cry of excitement and ran into Sam's arms. They embraced for quite some time. I felt no uneasiness, and I don't believe Jim did either. This young man had saved his life. The embrace was finally over.

Sam introduced the young girl to us. She was his sister, Gwen. Her straight, cropped blonde hair contrasted sharply with her brother's unruly near-jet-black hair. However, they shared the same bright green eyes. She wore a loose shirt, a vest, and pants like her brother. What most surprised me were her giant hoop earrings and the cutlass that hung from her belt. She had clearly taken advantage of her life of being a privateer (only a fine line and a license divided privateer life from piracy). She was respectful enough, though quite tough and brash on occasion (as we found that night).

Jim and I made a couple more servings of Pastoid Alfredo for our guests. Sam told us a concise version of his adventure over dinner. He and the young Procyon who had jumped into the second longboat with him on the enemy ship went straight for the main Procyon prison. He had been planning this event with some of his eighteen Procyon friends (who were unofficially called the "secret association" and who would be considered traitors in their homeland) for a few years. As planned, Sam used the right opportunity (like the battle between the Terran and Procyon ships) to escape with an association member (the young Procyon) to the association's secret meeting place near the main prison (which occupied its own planet) in a wilderness area of space. The Procyons of the group hated their empire and knew the risk they were taking. They could be arrested or killed. This did not frighten them however. They would accept whatever came upon them: success or death (if there was one thing Procyons were not afraid of, it was death for a cause). They had achieved other missions before and had eluded royal, government, and military authorities, leaving the results of their missions unexplained to all but the association. This time, Sam was involved, and they were on his side one hundred percent.

Taking with them the most dangerous and portable weapons they had, Sam and the association broke into the prison through tunnels and vents. To make a long story short, Sam rescued his sister, and three of the association members were caught and imprisoned, creating a diversion so the rest could escape. The rest of them (along with Sam and Gwen) sneaked into their solar skiffs and went away from the main prison (not without being followed by four Procyon guards who captured four more of the association; two guards were shot, and apparently they had to return to the prison and send a greater force to search for the escapees). Sam and Gwen headed for Montressor to see us then, escaping thanks to the commotion and the association. When Sam finished the story, we were astonished. I wasn't much in favor of rebellions or radicals, but this was the "enemy species" going against their own people. Eighteen Procyons against the most brutal empire in the Etherium.

Sam sat quietly for a moment and finally said, "I'm sorry so many were captured for our sake, Gwen."

"Yeah," she said softly. "Me too."

"They'll be searching for us for a long time, so we'll have to keep on the move. But eventually they have to give up. After all, their plan with us involved backfired, and they've got other privateers."

We finished dinner and set the dishes aside for washing when our guests were gone. Sam stayed at the kitchen table with Jim to talk over some things. I think Jim really wanted to thank him face to face. Danny, Liz, and I went into the living room and sat down. Gwen soon appeared. She plopped down somewhat roughly on the sofa.

She finally began a conversation with Danny. "So, uh, Dan, how is it—"

"Actually," Danny interrupted, "I'd rather be called Danny."

"Oh, really?" She looked a little annoyed.

"I mean, it's just what I'm comfortable with." Danny sounded nervous as he looked at her.

"So if I called you Dan, would you have a problem?" Her voice was challenging.

"Well, uh—"

"We could take this outside." She stood up, looking down at him with flashing eyes.

"No! No. No problem." He was noticeably trying to avoid a fight.

"Good. I'm glad we understand each other." She gave him a light punch on the shoulder. "Danny." She walked into the kitchen with a smirk on her face.

Danny stared after her. He had an amused look on his face. She had obviously been flirting with him. Liz and I glanced at each other, smiling, after having witnessed this sweet event between a thirteen-year-old girl and a fourteen-year-old boy.

The time had come for the two to leave. We were out on the porch. Morph said good-bye to both with sad little trills.

Jim shook Sam's hand and said, "You have no idea how grateful we are."

"Well," confessed Sam, "I think I've done you more harm than good."

"Sam," I said, "You've redeemed yourself in our eyes."

To this he gave all of us a warm smile. Danny shook hands with Sam (who was once again "cool" to Danny). I gave Sam a quick hug and another thank you. Gwen said a brief good-bye to all of us. She gave Danny another light punch in the shoulder with a smirk. He smiled and waved as she was about to leave.

Gwen said quickly to Sam, "Okay, one minute with Liz. Then we gotta go."

Sam blushed slightly. She undoubtedly had an upper-hand in their sibling relationship. "Five minutes."

"Two."

"Three."

"Done." With this she walked toward the skiff.

"Uh—," Sam said to us uncomfortably.

Liz read his mind. She asked the rest of us, "Could we spend this time alone?"

"Um, sure," I hesitated. However, she was closer to Sam than any of us. I supposed that she needed this time. We said some final good-byes and thank yous. I nudged Jim and Danny inside. I knew Jim was unsure about this by his glances at Liz, but he finally went in. Morph followed.

Once inside, Jim put the lights out in the kitchen and looked out the window at the two on the porch. Danny would have imitated him out of curiosity if I hadn't finally persuaded him to go to bed. I told Jim not to be worried, and after a minute's hesitation, he sighed and went upstairs. I knew I had told Jim to stop spying on them, but I suppose I couldn't resist. I was a little worried about this (as sure as I was of Liz's responsibility). The darkness of the kitchen made it nearly impossible for them to see me through the window. I could hear their voices, muffled through the house walls.

They spoke so softly I could not make out their words. Sam once lightly touched the area of Liz's neck where the dagger had made its mark as if wishing he could take it away. Wishing he could take away the danger he had put her through. All of it. The gash had healed by now because of the Orcus Galacticus mucus, and the bandage was off, but it would leave a scar. They were wrapped in a tight embrace. Suddenly, Liz pressed her lips firmly against his. It was a long kiss that broke on occasion, allowing him to kiss her cheeks and parts of her neck lightly. It had gone a little further than I expected. But I let it continue. It may have been foolish of me, but then this was nothing too serious. But Jim and I hadn't kissed like that until after we were married.

They were both completely wrapped up in the moment. His message was clear: he wanted her, but he couldn't have her. The worlds they lived in were completely different both mentally and physically. Liz, not giving it much thought, had mentioned to me once that Sam had been with other women, and I assumed (though I hoped wrongly) that he used some of his money on spaceport floosies. I didn't want my daughter involved with this man, but as long as these were their last few minutes together, they could spend them as they pleased (although I would go out there right away if things got more intense than this).

Finally, I heard Gwen's voice calling to Sam. It had definitely been longer than three minutes. The embrace was broken.

I could make out Liz saying something like, "You can stay here."

He, gazing longingly at her, said, "No. It's better this way."

Sam went to the skiff, hopped in, and it went off into space.

Liz leaned against the porch post, watching forever in the direction the skiff had traveled and apparently still dazed by her moment with Sam.

To be continued...

Author's Note: Sorry for taking so long to update. It's been pretty busy around here. I hope you enjoyed the battle and the homecoming, but once again, the story is far from over. I want to make this story as kid-friendly as possible with a few "themes" (that's why it's PG). I'll avoid pushing the sensuality any further than this. Thanks for reading!