Another Chance

Chapter 64

The triple graduation party is going full blast. Through a little bit of planning and a lot of serendipity, Alexis and Kate have both finished law school and Micah's earned a Ph.D. Kate stares at Rick who's thoughtfully sipping a microbrew. "What's wrong Babe?"

"Nothing's wrong. I'm over the moon for you and Alexis and Micah. I was just thinking about Aletha. She'll be starting kindergarten in the fall. I was fine with pre-school. It helped a lot to have a few hours of quietude to get my writing in. But going to real school; it just seems like all of a sudden she's so…"

"Grown up?" Kate finishes. "I know. She types faster than I do and googles faster too. The stuff she knows amazes me sometimes, even as the daughter of the factoid king."

"Factoid king. Thank you for that, I think".

"Yeah, she told me she wants to be like her Uncle Micah and make things with artificial intelligence. At her age, I wouldn't have even thought about something like that."

Rick wiggles his eyebrows. "More likely you would have been picturing yourself as Wonder Woman."

"Batgirl, actually. I liked the motorcycle. But it makes sense that Aletha would be thinking along those lines. She's grown up with every new Thera prototype. By the time she's a teenager she may decide she wants to go in an entirely different direction."

Rick reaches across the table to take Kate's hand. "Going in a new direction, more or less, would be following in her mother's footsteps. Are you excited about being an investigator for the new regional division of the DOJ's Major Fraud Division?"

Kate's eyes go green with excitement. "I am. These are the big cases. Some of them make Bernie Madoff look like a small-time operator. Taking the perpetrators down will save a lot of people a lot of misery, and considering the suicide rate among victims, I'll be saving some lives too."

"And saving your father and me a lot of misery knowing that people are unlikely to be shooting at you."

"I appreciate that too. The weapons these jerks will be using to fight prosecution will more likely be legal briefs and trying to destroy their records. But there's always a trail, always a story. I learned that from you. And didn't you say you have a new one, that you're starting a new series?"

"I've been kicking it around in my head for a while, but I think I'm ready to put pen to paper, or at least fingers to keyboard. With as much cybercrime as there is now, including all the international versions of 'I'm going to hack my way into controlling your country,' I thought that an android detective who could connect directly with the web and kind of swim his way through the data stream, would be cool."

"You mean like Data on Star Trek the Next Generation?"

"No. Data would plug into a computer system and draw out information like anyone else, except faster. Then he'd use his positronic brain to calculate what the facts he gleaned implied. The brain of my character would be able to meld with other systems, trace the bytes as they flowed from place to place. Essentially the mechanical parts of his body could be in a room in the U.S. or anywhere, but his mind would be traveling all over the world, or off-world if our space installations are involved. Then when he traces down the source of the hack, he can call in his human cohorts to take down the operation. But of course, it won't be as easy as all that. There will be all sorts of obstacles in his way. Micah may be helping me figure out what some of those may be as far as the computer world is concerned. The human world will give him its share of grief too. That part I can handle."

"It sounds as much like a movie as a book, with special effects when he's inside the computer systems."

"I know, right? Kind of like the original Tron, the one with Boxleitner and Bridges, only with better graphics. But there won't be some overarching larcenous villain like there was in the film. There'll be many threats from all over the world with human stories on both ends. My android will be the character that connects them all. And if someone decides to make a movie or six, I won't complain. It wouldn't make a bad Netflix series either. We'll both be starting on a new adventure. So will the kids. Micah will be doing development for Thera Inc. full time, and Alexis will be working with B.J. Freeberger, at least until she passes the bar."

Kate sighs. "Yeah. Passing the bar; it's not absolutely necessary for my position as an investigator. I won't be bringing any cases before the court, just acting as a witness. But I'd still like to do it, to prove I learned something."

Rick presses a kiss to her forehead. "I think graduating Columbia law school magna cum laude proves you learned something, but you never know when you'll need a lawyer in the house."

"Uh huh, especially with my father limiting his practice. But I'm glad he's taking some time to enjoy. For a lot of years, he was using his practice to hold off his grief over my mother's death."

Castle squeezes her hand. "Same way you were using being a homicide cop."

"Yeah. But I think both of us have made a kind of peace with it now. Dad can tour baseball fields, and I can enjoy our family more while I work on taking down the leeches that suck the lifeblood from unsuspecting victims."

"And your family can enjoy more of you. "Hey. Look! Lanie and Javi are about to go into their act!"

Sensual music floods the room as Lanie and Esposito demonstrate their award-winning tango. As the applause dies down, Esposito drops to one knee and pulls a tiny box out of his pocket.

Rick presses his hands together and grins. "I'll be damned. I thought he was never going to do it."

"Shush!" Kate hisses. "I want to hear this."

Esposito pulls at his collar. "Lanie, you and I have worked together, danced together and spent too much time wondering what we want. I know what I want, what I've wanted for a long time. I want to be with you. Will you marry me?"

Lanie is finding it hard to close her mouth. After all the ins and outs she and Javi have had, she'd begun to think the only permanent partnership they'd have would be on the dance floor. But the ring is in his hand. She just has to decide if she wants it on her finger. She thinks about who's in the room. Jenny, pregnant with her third child, and Kevin couldn't be happier. Micah and Alexis still look at each other the same way they did on their wedding day. And there's Kate and Rick who made it through more than any couple should ever have to. They look more in love by the day. She's wanted a real life with Javi for a long time. She just wasn't sure that he'd ever be ready. She studies the hope in his dark eyes. "Yes, Javier Esposito, I will marry you."