CH27 (106)

The Castle clan was meeting Kevin, Ryan, Lanie and Jenny as previously planned after a late lunch.

Alexis and Elena were in school, so it was just Rick, Kate and the girls this time.

Kate had taken Lucy and plugged her into a system for a short time so Lucy could access the new communication network and had spent just over an hour talking to her dad.

Construction on Callisto had slowed due to supply delays though construction on Cyliene was going all out. One or two cargo ships showed up every 2 months. The food cargo ships to Tellus had also slowed a little. But it was too important to stop them altogether.

The Castle's found them sitting inside a small cafe that Kate knew about from years ago. They were all drinking water. "Hi guys, sorry we're late. Emily almost made it out the door with Alexis to follow her to school, so she's a little grumpy."

"Is it always so hot out?" Jenny even inside with the A/C turned down was still fanning herself.

"Yeah, sorry. The next three months are going to be the hottest of the year. I can't imagine what living in a tent must be like." Kate informs them.

"Great!" Javi was dying with her.

"Tent living is something we wanted to talk to you about. Do you know what you'll be doing when you reach Cyliene?" Rick asks them. Getting all of them to look confused and look at each other.

"We have some options we want to go over with you. … We wanted to talk with you first before approaching the council or anyone else." Kate starts off and then pauses.

Noticing she has their attention. "I have a close friend, Madison Queller-Murphy is her name. Whom I've known since we were kids. We lost contact with each other but got back together a few years ago.

She is presently the only doctor on Callisto, but her, her husband and their baby boy, …." Kate is interrupted by Kali.

"Matt, he's the greatest. He's our baby brother." Kali says with conviction.

Rick and Kate get confused looks from everyone. "When Madison and myself were growing up we had another friend, and we did everything together. At the time no couple could have more than one child. Our food shortage was that severe.

We thought of ourselves as sisters and even our parents were the others parents. It was like one giant family. Something no one else on the planet had or ever would have.

My two have caught onto that idea and now they both think Matt, Shawn and Madison's baby boy, especially Kali here, think of him as being their brother. Madison and Shawn are their other parents.

Rick has been teasing me mercilessly that now I'm the parent of when I was a kid and had three sets of parents. We even slept in each other's home when I was young." Kate tries to explain.

"It sounds sweet Kate. A big family when no one else does. Sounds like you had a good childhood." Jenny mentions.

"It was. … It was great for a time." Kate didn't really want to remember what happened next.

"So what happened?" Lanie asks thinking it was simple.

Kate looks at Kali and hesitates. Jenny reaches out to take Kate's hand. "You can tell us later honey." Getting Kate to nod her head.

"Anyway, Madison and Shawn will be moving from Callisto to Athos in a few months. They followed us from Athos to Callisto to help set up the new colony, now they will be going back to stay most likely." Kate picks up where she left off before getting sidetracked.

"Athos is growing, not as fast as Ariel where we will be moving to in a few weeks, after Alexis is out of school. However it will be nice." Kate is convinced it will be nice.

"Athos is a moon around a gas giant that is mostly water except for a single land mass. … Think Australia and that is what you would find. Lots of water, some desert areas, a small tree area, lots and lots of great beaches.

There is one city tower under construction that should be done in a few years. There are plans for a second. There is also a very large dry dock area where our ship is being built. The plan is to go there once every year and sail it around the planet." Rick explains.

"I know you had finished your residency before I hired you and that after I, …. we left you took an ME position with the NYPD. We were thinking you might like to work with my friend Madison on Athos, Lanie." Kate offers. Knowing Madison already likes the idea since Kate had talked real time with her also.

"I'm sure your type of work would be welcome on Cyliene just as readily, but we would get to see you at least yearly if you were on Athos." Kate tries to get her point across.

"Kate told me you were in the military at Desert Storm, Javi. Something about being a sniper. I'm sure you all have heard by now that we know there is an interstellar war coming. … We were thinking you could open a sniper school on Athos and teach our Marines how to use the new weapons that have been developed.

You would need to learn the weapon, but the tactics would still be the same. It's not likely it will be limited to a space battle. Our Marines could use the training." Rick thought of this place as home now. Maybe not Tellus itself, but anyplace that had Kate and his girls was his home.

"I know this is not something you have likely thought about, and will need some time. Just think it over. If you like it we'll look into it for you." Kate tells them, not expecting an immediate answer.

"Keven, Jenny. … We're not entirely certain what we can do for you two." Rick had to admit. Even Alexis had been at a loss.

"We don't have police units like you know them. Not that Tellus and likely the colony planets don't have crime. We're not perfect by any means. We just have a different system. I'm an example of our detective.

I spent years since I was a teenager learning and training. You can easily spot a detective since we all wear one of these." And Kate holds up her arm.

"It's not something for your arm, is it?" Javi had always been curious about that. He had talked with Lanie about it a few times while on the cruise ship.

"No, it's not. Though it is bonded to the bone in my arm. I couldn't take it off if I wanted to. At the time and as far as I know it still is, it's a state of the art weapon. It can fire stun rounds or defender rounds.

Only people that are approved can wield weapons legally on Tellus. Even our military undergo screening. Even Javi will need to undergo the same screening before he can open his school." Kate tells them, praying they're not mad about the lie.

"So being a detective takes what exactly?" Kevin asks since being a cop was all he knew.

"There is training probably just like what you are used to. How to follow leads and how to get them. Examine evidence and apply the laws equally to everyone. Once you complete that training you will be transferred to a school that will teach you hand to hand combat. They will also help you learn to clear your mind. Help you stay focused while everyone around you is panicked.

You will also get a partner that you will take with you everywhere for the rest of your life. The two of you will be selected for each other based on each of your personalities and who trained you." Kate tells him.

"And this training takes how long?" Kevin asks.

"Part of it is about 2 years long. That is the part you would probably not have a problem with. The other will take a minimum of 4 years, sometimes longer.

You are an independent contractor in a way. You do not work for any agency; however the council can assign you projects. Otherwise it is up to you to find your own projects. When we move to Ariel I'll be going back to being a detective.

Rick and I along with Alexis have been setting up colonies for the last few years. Basically since we got here when we left Earth." Kate explains. "And last I knew all of this training only takes place here on Tellus." Which might be a problem depending on how close these 4 were.

Javi decided it was time to ask. "You're from here obviously."

Kate grins, wondering how long it would take them to bring up this topic.

"Yes, I signed onto an explorer ship for 3 years. It was sabotaged and I crashed in what you call upstate New York, just off the border with Canada." Kate starts off with.

"My daughter and I saw her crash and we rescued her and took her to our home on several acres of land. She was injured badly in the crash. However she crashed at a good time. The house was isolated with no neighbors for hours of driving around us.

We had the house set up to be totally self-sufficient which took us a few years. If she had crashed our first year there we would have had trouble." Rick adds on.

"The only bridge in and out was washed out, …." Rick interrupts her.

"Hurricane Sandy." Rick tells them. It gives them a time stamp.

"We were stuck there and I fell in love with them." Kate leans over to give Rick a quick kiss.

"We got a temporary bridge and we went home to New York City. A little later I asked Kate to marry me, and that's about when you three showed up. I got her the needed ID, high school diploma, college. Kate got her own drivers license and we got her into a defensive driving school." Rick supplies.

"Then Captain Montgomery showed up in another Explorer class ship and we made contact and he ordered me to come aboard and go back to Tellus.

But I refused, I wasn't leaving Rick and Alexis behind. I loved them by then way too much to leave them." Kate takes Rick's hand and looks him in his eyes showing she still loved him deeply.

"However Roy was going to a potential colony planet next, which turned out to be Ariel. Kate found out she was pregnant and we decided to stay on the colony planet and help establish a colony on it.

Alexis was a big reason why it succeeded." Rick tells them squeezing Kate's hand.

"Alexis is a genius with plants and as you have noticed Tellus is kinda dry making food a top priority. The colonies help feed Tellus and give us the ability to have bigger families and more natural resources." Kate adds, still proud of Alexis.

"And then Kali came along and now Kate had three daughters and she has handled it perfectly. From none to three in a few short years." Rick was still amazed with her. Kate had changed so much.

"Because of the food shortage we had a tight population control similar to the one China implemented. I never thought I would even have one child. Then suddenly I have Alexis whom I love dearly even if she isn't technically mine. But enough mine that I think of her as being mine.

There was a time when I was sure I'd never have children and I was happy with that. Now I have three and I wouldn't change a thing. I couldn't imagine my life with children and now I can't imagine my life without them.

I'm still working on how I got so lucky. Earth was a big planet and I crash next to Rick and Alexis, and now we're here. Who knows what comes next. But I'm happy now." Kate tells them.

"According to the news China nuked Japan not long after you left or when you left." Javi points out.

"We know, we were on Roy's ship in orbit when it happened. I'm sorry to say I didn't handle the news well." Rick tells them. Getting Kate to squeeze his hand and draw it up to her lips to kiss it.

"Somebody blew up several of our oil refineries and the economy went into the shitter." Kevin tells them.

"It was just recovering when we all found the money you left behind for us." Jenny tells them.

"I hoped it helped." Rick asks.

"Kev and I spent some of it buying farms that went into bankruptcy. We had thousands of acres, maybe hundreds of thousands. Then we bought a few local restaurants that also went into bankruptcy. However we only bought the ones that were not damaged by riots and were still in decent shape." Jenny adds.

"Javi and I didn't know what to do with it so we just hung onto it. Then the airlines started flying again, but we didn't really have anywhere to go. Then these two came up with the idea of taking a cruise.

The one in Hawaii was first because Hawaii lives off of tourists. The airfare was horribly expensive and the cruise itself wasn't much cheaper. We both wanted to wait for the economy to get better and maybe take a cruise in the Caribbean.

It was closer and we didn't have to fly as far. And I didn't want to sit in economy seats for hours on end." Lanie starts to tell them how they got there.

"That was when these two." Javi points out Kevin and Jenny. "Reminded us that we were rich and the last year or more had been difficult and that we should go."

Lanie places a hand on Javi's arm. "We weren't rich Javi, we were stinking rich." Getting Rick to chuckle and Kate to smile.

"We talked them into first class seats all the way that cost us a small fortune, and yet it still barely dented how much money we had. We also booked these 1 bedroom suites on the upper levels. Everyone else had these small little state rooms." Kevin adds.

"It was a really nice ship. It was beautiful and Hawaii was amazing. We found out fast why Hawaii was called paradise. Everyone there was so happy to see us. We spent our money, your money, freely." Jenny tells them. She had always wanted to go.

"We left huge tips and bought stuff we didn't need. The island was hurting with no tourists." Lanie tells them.

"Then the ship captain tells us that since he was ex-military and he had a message from some Admiral that he was going to follow his orders." Lanie tells them.

"He sailed us out into the middle of the Pacific where we found 3 aircraft carriers and a few other ships." Javi tells them still sounding mad at screwing up his expensive vacation.

"Then they tell us that the US had been nuked. …. Then we saw the mushroom clouds rise up into the sky. We found out later that was the end of Japan." Jenny whispers out, still affected by what she saw.

"All three carriers left for several weeks and came back with their flight decks loaded with food and what fuel they could find. They distributed it around and then they left again and came back with still more food and fuel." Javi explains what they were told.

"They did that two more times. Mostly we just sat there floating. Some days the navy would have us all move. All we saw was sunshine. It never rained on us for the next three years." Kevin adds since Javi and he had been keeping track.

"Food soon became a problem, as did getting our bed sheets and clothes cleaned. And the toilet paper." Kevin adds.

"Oh don't get me started bro. Starving was one thing, but using ship brochures as toilet paper?" Javi groaned. Getting nods from Jenny and Lanie.

"What was worse, the women soon ran out of, …." Lanie looks around. "Feminine products." Lanie tries for a diplomatic answer, since Emily and Kali were close. Getting Kate to cringe since she could relate. While Jenny nods her head.

"It was a nightmare." Jenny adds, still remembering what she saw and went thru.

"And then there was the smell." Lanie wanted to pass out remembering.

Seeing Rick and Kate's faces. "The ships would dump their sewage into the sea and to save fuel that we needed badly, we didn't move. It sometimes took days for the ocean to take it away." Kevin explains, remembering watching ships dump their tanks.

"I'm so sorry guys." Kate couldn't believe or truly understand what they went thru.

"It's fine Kate. Your money got us out there in the first place. And if Jenny hadn't dragged us out there, with maybe a little kicking and screaming, we wouldn't be here now." Lanie tells her. "Kev and Jenny could have listened to us and waited to go to the Caribbean instead." Lanie knew they would be dead if they hadn't listened.

Rick had a question and decided to just ask. "You two have rings, but you two don't. Are you together?"

"RICK!" Kate slaps him. Even though she wanted to know too. Just thought there had to be a better way to find out.

Lanie takes one of Javi's hands. "We were together off and on before the cruise. We were dating and seeing each other, and then we would have a fight and not talk for days or weeks. But one of us would always find a way back to the other.

It wasn't until living together for 3 years trapped on a cruise ship that we got used to each other and finally understood each other." Lanie answers getting Javi to grin.

Then Javi gets up and grabs Rick and walks away with him.

From a distance they can see Javi talking to Rick. Rick seems to be nodding his head. Then finally hugs Javi and pats him on the back with both hands and says something to him.

They come back and sit back down. Kate is giving Rick a 'What was that about?'

Rick looks back with 'Later' in his eyes.

Lanie is giving Javi the same look, however Javi keeps quiet and doesn't look at her.

"Dinner? Then we need to get home and put the girls to bed." Kate offers.

Dinner turned out to be something simple to appease the girls.

Rick and Kate had gotten the girls to bed after washing and brushing.

They were sitting on the sofa in their room with Kate leaning her head on Rick's shoulder while she ran her fingers up and down Rick's thigh. "What did Javi want?" Kate wanted an answer.

Rick takes Kate's hand from his thigh and lifts it to his lips and kisses it. "He asked for help to find a jewelry store."

"Jewelry store?" Kate didn't get it. Then she sucked in a breath. "He's going to buy a ring." Kate places her kissed hand over her mouth.

"The custom isn't very popular yet and he hasn't found anything yet. And yes, he plans on popping the question." Rick tells her.

Kate goes back to stroking his thigh with her finger nails. "And you're going to help him." Kate wasn't questioning since she knew he was.

"I plan on using Lucy to find places and take him there before we leave for Ariel. If he finds what he wants, I'll leave it to him." Rick tells her while he shifts since his pants are getting tighter.

Kate lifts up her hand to look at her ring. An Earth ring just like Rick's. Kate had a husband and she loved him with all of her heart.

There was something on her mind they needed to talk about, but at the moment Kate had other plans, since the girls were in a different room. As she moved her hand in closer. "The girls are asleep."

Rick stood up and offered his hands to Kate and allowed Rick to drag her to their bedroom with a grin on her face. Getting just what she wanted.