History Lessen

"AVA," Gary called, pulling on his newly cleaned jacket as he stepped out of the refresher, "keep up a constant scan for temporal energy. Lizard man doesn't strike me as the kamikaze type. They had a plan to get back to their normal time and find everything hunky-dory and Avocato-free. If any temporal worms pop up, they're probably our ticket out of here. Or close enough that it won't matter and we can get back to tracking down dimensional keys." He sighed and gestured. "One half-baked plan after another."

"You've done more with less," she said, surprisingly sympathetic. Perhaps she sensed he was too bushed for her usual sass.

He smiled, anxiously running a hand through his still-damp hair. "Guess so. So, what's the deal with a Death Knell? What makes them so godawful besides the obvious?"

"They were developed by scientists of the former Inci Empire as a means of aggressive colonization." As she spoke, she projected a hologram of a sinister-looking sphere split into sections held together by a central core. It reminded Gary of fish bones. "Their intent was to wipe out indigenous populations to allow the Inci to take over, however they proved too effective at wiping out living organisms and rendered multiple planets completely lifeless and uninhabitable. They were weaponized and used by the Inci for several years until the empire was abruptly taken down by their own weapon. A Death Knell was stolen and used against the Inci home world, effectively wiping out the government and ending the imperial family. It's theorized time travel was a factor in getting the Death Knell past their security measures. Since then, the technology has supposedly been destroyed and they have been banned."

"Except when one pops up from the future."

"Indeed. It's especially interesting considering the Scoti were once proud members of the Inci Empire."

"Great," he mumbled. "Let me know if you find any more savory details."

"Of course. The question remains of what to do with General Avocato," AVA reminded.

"We gotta get him back to wherever he's supposed to be right now." He didn't want to go through another time swap, but it occurred to him that they could always toss their unwelcome Scoti guest onto the time traveler's sacrificial altar.

"The loss of the Kalibar is in my history file. When and how General Avocato returned to active duty is not. The next recorded instance I have for him in my files is dated half a solar year in the future, when his fleet conducted war games in the Rumla Nebula."

"Little Cato might know who to call to get him home. That or Avocato can tell us himself when he wakes up. How is he?"

"His readings are still dangerously low, but he's stable."

"At least one of us is." He paused outside the sickbay. "Keep working on it, AVA. I'll see what I can do on this end. And keep an eye on that Scoti. Nightfall's right – he's no saint and doesn't seem to care who he goes through to reach Avocato."

He entered sickbay to find it mostly picked up and smelling strongly of antiseptic cleaner. Gary was glad to see Little Cato was instantly alert and slow to remove his hand from the blaster he'd borrowed from Avocato's discarded gun belt. He was also glad to see Little Cato had showered and cleaned his clothes. Like Gary, all traces of blood were gone. He smiled to see Gary and relaxed.

"Spider Cat. Where's Fox?"

"Cleaning the loading bay. He said it was a mess. I don't remember, but . . ."

"You were a bit distracted." He peered into the recovery pod at his unconscious friend. "How is he?"

"Same." He gestured to where he'd laid Avocato's uniform coat neatly on the floor. "His uniform will be whole before he is."

"Huh-wha . . . t the heck?"

"Like I said, it's a shocktog. Ventrexian tech. My Uncle Catowba had three made for him. It runs off kinetic and solar energy, so just wearing it powers it. It repairs itself and keeps itself clean, and it'll protect you in fires or if a ship depressurizes. That's how we got him over here without a suit - they have temporary life support. It automatically generates a plasma field that retains heat and atmosphere. It's supposed to last just long enough for you to get out or reach an escape pod. He was on ship, so he wasn't wearing the one that incorporates body armor."

Gary crouched and examined the uniform coat. It felt and looked like fabric, wasn't behaving that way. There were no traces of blood on it and the damage from knives or claws and blaster fire was closing, sealing itself seamlessly. "That's cool. I could've used one of these a time or two on the Galaxy 1."

Little Cato stood beside him, fixated on the coat. "Dad promised my uncle he'd always wear one, just in case."

"Smart." He sparked to this sudden bit of background data. "So, how many uncles do you have?"

"Three. Dad's older brothers are Catomar and Catowba, and mom's brother is Purrshing."

Gary felt himself smile at this bit of family history. He had never heard either Cato talk about any of their family save each other. Gary had noticed the absence, but had never asked, not wanting to pry. "So, your dad's the youngest?"

"Yeah. Youngest and tallest. He used to drive them crazy." He looked up at his adopted father. "How about you? Have you got any aunts or uncles?"

"Dunno. Dad didn't have any family I ever heard of and if anyone's related to my mom, they've never come out and admitted it." He shrugged. "Can't say I blame them."

"Mmmnya," was the mumbled agreement. Little Cato sighed, looking over at the still form in the pod. "Dad doesn't have any family now, either. When the Lord Commander came for him, Dad made his brothers promise to disown him. He knew he'd have to do some awful things, and he didn't want our house to suffer for it."

"Wow. That's . . . so sad. And over-the-top brave."

"That's . . . Dad." He shrugged. "I can go back to Ventrexia – I have a few times - but he can't. I won't go back again without him, so . . ."

"For now," Gary said, not quite sure what he was promising. When was that anything new? Still, it stunk that father and son could never go home. "What do you mean, came for him?"

Little Cato looked mildly surprised. It was plain he expected Gary to know more about Avocato's past than he did. "Gary, my dad was the price Ventrexia paid to keep the Lord Commander from destroying it. I was two. It was just before my mom died. He'd just won a huge victory in the war against Tryvuul and expected the Tryvuulian government to sue for peace when the Lord Commander showed up. He already had a massive fleet and he needed someone capable of commanding it. After hearing about his victory, he decided Dad was the one."

"And he just . . . took Avocato?"

Gary wasn't sure why he hadn't given it any thought before, but it made total sense and explained a great deal about his best friend. Avocato had called himself a master of death. He never thought to ask why Avocato had done all those terrible things.

Swiping at his nose, Little Cato sniffed and nodded. "He wrapped it up pretty and smiled as he asked, but yeah. Dad was trapped. So, he made Uncle Catomar and Uncle Catowba promise to strike him from the family records. They didn't want to, but they finally had to. He doesn't like to talk about it. It was a really bad time for him."

His summary of Avocato's life had been more accurate than he knew. Sad and brave. Tack on lonely, too. Gary reached out to clasp his son's narrow shoulder. "You, too. I didn't know that, Spider Cat. I'm so sorry."

Little Cato looked down, drawing a deep breath as he placed a small hand on the canopy of the pod. "He wasn't always so bitter."

"But he was grumpy?" confirmed Gary with mock worry.

Smiling through his tears at the gentle teasing, Little Cato nodded again, saying, "He wouldn't be my dad otherwise."

Gary pulled him in close to give him a hug and a kiss atop his head. Life had been cruel to the Catos, and where he was able, Gary was determined to provide both of them with whatever little islands of calm and refuge that he could. If he could. If they ever saw Avocato again and figured out how to exorcise the demon that had stolen him away from them. He closed his eyes and held on tighter as skinny arms encircled his waist. Little Cato, as was his habit, leaned his full weight against Gary. For a few minutes they just held on, content in the fact that each had the other. When he looked up finally, Little Cato gave Gary an almost-smile as he asked,

"Where's your helmet?"

"Uh, loading bay, I think. Why?"

"Watch Dad, Dad," called Little Cato, heading for the door. "Watch him! I'll be right back!"

He must have run there and back, because moments later Little Cato burst in with Gary's red helmet in his hands. It occurred to Gary that this helmet and HUE were all that was left of the Galaxy 1, and he felt a sense of nostalgia. As he watched, Little Cato stood on his tip-toes and set Gary's rounded Infinity Guard helmet right next to his angular Ventrexian helmet where it rested atop the clear plastic canopy of the recovery pod.

"What's that for?" asked Gary.

"It's a tradition on Ventrexia. When you visit someone in the hospital, you always bring them something of yours that you need, so when they see it, they'll know you were there and that you have to come back and get it."

Gary grinned. "That's nice. Guaranteed visitors. Of course, Avocato and I aren't friends yet, so my helmet ought to confuse the pants off him."

Little Cato snorted. "You're his friend. He just doesn't know it yet."

"Well, we're not doing another time swap this trip if we can avoid it. The fact that Sammy hasn't popped in and yelled at us kinda supports the idea that what's happening is what's supposed to happen. If not, he can have the Scoti. Ten years is too far back to reasonably stay and I doubt Avocato would want to miss any of it."

"They're not too great years, Gary."

"But they're your lifetime."

Little Cato brightened. "I could have three dads."

"Don't get greedy." He laughed as he elbowed Little Cato in a playful nudge. "Who can we contact to get him? Is there someone on Ventrexia or Tera Con Prime right now that can help?"

Little Cato thought for a few moments. "Let's see . . . I'm four now, so I'm on Tera Con Prime and . . ." He snapped his fingers. "Got it! Uncle Nikos. Not really my uncle, but he's Dad's aide-de-camp and first officer. They were roommates and graduated the academy together. He was the only one my dad would let come with us when we left Ventrexia and he's the only one Dad trusts. He should be at the mansion now. He got exposed to some weird plant spores that nearly killed him, so Dad sent him planetside to recover. It took almost a whole year. Dad fired him when I was ten or so because he wanted to get him away from the Lord Commander. Things were getting really ugly and Dad wanted Nikos safe."

By 'ugly' Gary knew perfectly well that meant a pack of misfits from the future had shown up asking for the Lord Commander's dimensional key. In a leap of faith, General Avocato had let them take it, sparking the long chain of violence and anguish that . . . still hadn't ended. Not really.

"Uncle Nikos wanted to take me with him but, you know . . . stuff happened."

Gary nodded. "That I do know. So, you think this Nikos will help?"

"He'd do anything for Dad."

"How do we contact him?"

"It . . . it might be easiest to wait until Dad wakes up to try. I know they had a lot of issues with people trying to spy on them all the time, so they were super careful with communications. If it comes from me when I'm on Tera Con Prime, I doubt Uncle Nikos would take it well."

"Valid. Okay. We wait." Gary checked the readings on the pod. They were slightly closer to red (which was the equivalent of green in Gary's reckoning). He circled round to stand next to Little Cato and peer inside the pod. With all that fur it was hard to say how Avocato looked, but to Gary's inexpert eye, this version of his friend seemed a touch skinnier than the one he was used to. Definitely more battle damaged. Aloud he asked, "AVA, estimate on when he'll wake up?"

"At least four solar days," replied the ship's AI. "Readings indicate General Avocato suffered massive blood loss, internal injuries, burns, and broken bones."

"Must've been a helluva fight. Can he hear us?"

"Though he's being kept unconscious, it's most likely that he can. It's unlikely he can understand or follow."

Gary shrugged. "So long as he knows he's not alone."

Little Cato leaned against one father while staring at the other. "He's gonna wake up hungry," he observed, sounding inordinately pleased at the prospect.

"And oh-so-cheerful."

"Oh, yeah," he agreed, and smiled. A moment later he was trying to stifle a yawn. Gary gave him a nudge.

"Bed time, Spider Cat."

The relative lack of grumbling let Gary know that his son really was worn out. He should be – it had been a hell of a day both physically and mentally.

"You'll stay with him?"

"Yup."

"And wake me . . . ?"

"If anything happens," promised Gary. "You know it. Get some sleep. I'll be here, so come get me if you have any bad dreams. And brush your teeth!"

As if on cue, they pointed gun fingers at one another in farewell. Their coordination made them both chuckle and Little Cato headed out, twisting to get one last imaginary pew! at Gary as the door closed.

"AVA, who's watching the Scoti?"

"HUE and KVN. And me, of course."

"Please tell me KVN's driving him out of his mind."

"That seems to be the case. If the Scoti starts butting his head against the wall, I won't stop him."

"Sounds like a plan." It occurred to Gary no one had bothered to ask the assassin for his name. It also occurred to him that he genuinely didn't give a damn what the wannabe-kill-meister was called.

There was only one seat in the sickbay, an adjustable yet phenomenally uncomfortable unit built into the wall. Gary unfolded it and took a seat, his attention fixed on Avocato's unconscious form. Shifting until he was as settled as could be expected, he quietly began.

"So, Mr. Whiskers, this is your captain speaking. We meet again for the first time. You know, that line never made any sense until I met you that second time. Now third. I'm sure you've got a lot of questions, but how about I start out by telling you what a totally awesome kid you've got . . ."