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Chapter Eight: Mama's Advice

Lyna and the two kids, Salken and Rixxi, were getting along famously with Marney's mother, Rallen Marne. Marney, on the other hand, was quiet. He was mulling over the offer that he had received from the Calamari Council through his father. He wanted to ask his mother about it, but not in front of Lyna and the two teens. He was afraid that his wife would become angry and say something unfortunate about his father in front of Rallen.

Rallen Marne was a slate-blue northern matron, strong in her nurturing but as tough and sharp as a laser harpoon when she needed to be. She loved her husband, Charcorr, but she was under no illusions as to his tendency to be a 'love-rover' as some of the polar mon calamari males were known. Charcorr had stopped drinking many years ago when he became the mayor of Nystullum, but after he became an officer involved in planetary defense strategies his duties took him on longer missions away from home and he saw less and less of his wife.

You're very quiet, dear," Rallen said to her son, "I love your wife, you know. I've only known her for about three hours and I feel as close to her as if I'd known her for three years. I'm pleased with your choice, and I don't particularly care that she's from another species. Is that what you're worried about?"

"No, Mama," Marney replied, "I knew you'd love Lyna and the two kids. It's not that; it's just that Papa offered me a job, and I'm trying to decide whether or not to take it."

Lyna and the children had gone into the other room to watch the multi-colored fish swim by the blue-and-green-lighted window. Here in the City of Nystullum, everything was underwater including half of the house. Lyna and Rixxi were staying in the upper, air-breathing portion, as they could not go out into the polar waters without a special wet suit for frigid temperatures and scuba gear to help them breathe. Lyna had no interest in getting wet, but Rixxi was excited at the prospect of going out into the water with Salken and her father. She was fascinated by the marine environment and wanted to observe as many fish as she could count.

Marney decided to talk to his mother about the so-called 'spy mission' while his family was thus engaged. He wanted to hear her opinion.

"What kind of a job is it?" Rallen asked suspiciously, "Not a job aboard The Profundity, I hope. That would require you to leave your family behind, and that would not be a good idea for you at the moment, Rad. You need them to keep you swimming in a straight line, if you know what I mean. You've been doing so well with your rescue work—I want you to know that I'm very proud of you, even if your father isn't."

"Thanks, Mama," Raddek replied gratefully, "That means a lot to me to know that I haven't completely disappointed you. But this thing that Papa talked to me about...it was offered to me by the Calamari Council, through Papa. He said that they wanted me to use my position as an Imperial trash-collector in order to do some spy missions on the Empire...it would be dangerous, and Papa said it could end in torture, death, or both."

"Tell him no, Rad," Rallen interjected angrily, "Your Papa should be ashamed of himself for even asking you to do such a thing. The rescues that you do are dangerous enough without getting into stealing secrets from those monsters."

"He told me that it would be a way to earn back some of the respect that I lost after I botched up one of my first commands," Raddek explained, "and he said that much of his anger at me was really about him. I remind him about the lousy parts of himself, I guess. By the way, he told you not to worry about the attack that happened a few days ago...he's got it all under control."

"Yes, I'll bet he does," Rallen responded frostily, "or at least he pretends to have everything under control. But never mind him...why are you even considering this ridiculous offer? Surely you don't want to impress him that badly."

"I don't know, Mama, I'm of two minds," he told her, "One wants to just leave Papa behind in the mud and the other wants to do something to make him proud of me. And besides...I would be making up for the fact that I never came to Mon Cala to help when the battles for our world were going on. Papa says that I was a coward for not helping, and sometimes I think he's right."

"He's not right!" Rallen objected, "He's absolutely wrong. I was so glad that you missed all that enslavement crap, Rad. You would have hated it, and you couldn't have served in the Mon Cala military anyways because Papa drummed you out of it."

"While Mon Cala was being enslaved there was no military," Marney reminded her, "At least not on the planet. Only the rebel forces in outer space, which were based on the city ships of the mass exodus. I could have joined in their rebellion..."

"The rebellion is still going on, throughout the galaxy," Rallen replied, "and you have been doing your part by rescuing peoples' children. So stop tormenting yourself with misplaced guilt, Rad. You had a family to look after, and that was your first obligation. Don't you dare second-guess yourself, just because your father is piling all of his own emotional trash on top of you."

"He isn't really piling it on top of me anymore, Mama," Raddek told her, "he acknowledged his own part in all of it. I think he's been trying to make amends, in his own way. Maybe this spy mission is part of that."

"Don't you go off spying, Rad," she warned him, "It's not worth it. You won't uncover anything new, and the galaxy will lose a good man."

Marney bobbed his head slightly, as if agreeing with his mother. Secretly, however, he was considering the offer...but how would he explain it to Lyna?