Surprise
908 Words
I turn, shocked to hear my mom's nickname for me coming from such a deep voice. Suddenly my eyes lock onto the familiar form of my brother, Skit. I drop my bags, and rush over to give him a hug. He's a little stiff, but he embraces me back. Then he looks behind me. "That can't be little Jorman."
I laugh. "He's not so little anymore. He's done a lot of growing in the last space year."
Skit's face is serious as we release each other, and he grabs Jorman's hand. "I saw Celka at the beginning of the line. She was in too much of a rush to notice me. I figured she got out like I did, but with you two here as well..."
I smile weakly. "We need to have a private conversation."
Skit grabs my larger bag and states, "Follow me to my quarters."
Jorman and I grab the rest of our stuff and follow him. I constantly scan over our surroundings, noting what leads where. It isn't long until we're entering a rather large quarters.
"What do you do here?" Jorman asks in amazement.
Skit replies, "A little bit of everything."
I ask, "How does an Odd-man get this kind of quarters?"
"I'm afraid the quarters are my fault." A feminine voice exclaims.
A woman shorter than me, with long brown hair and soft brown eyes walks into the room. I immediately spot my grandma's ring, the one Skit took with him, on her hand.
"I think we all have some sharing to do." I state with a smile.
Skit announces, "I would like you both to meet my fiancée, Kiki. She's the daughter of the space dock captain, but I couldn't let that stop me from falling in love with her."
"Nice to meet you." Jorman and I say together.
Skit turns to her and declares, "I'd like you to meet my older sister, Vronca, and our baby brother, Jorman."
Kiki's eyes open wide. "How did you get visitor permission so quickly? And where is your mom and other sister?"
I sigh. "Mom died last month, and Celka is somewhere on this space dock, looking for her new home."
"I'm sorry for your loss." Kiki states as she lowers her eyes.
I admit, "I'm not. Now I'm free to make my own choices; including being here."
I pull the painting I grabbed for Skit out of my small bag. "She always wanted you to have this."
He takes it from me. "I'll find somewhere to display it."
Kiki gently grabs the painting, and stares at the odd figure.
Jorman explains, "It's his favorite character from a show he watched as a child."
Kiki nods her head and walks over to the far wall. "I think it will look perfect over here."
The three of us silently nod.
I nudge Skit. "Mom would be upset that you ignored her warning. Personally, I'm proud of you."
"What warning?" Kiki asks as she turns around.
Jorman answers, "Mom always claimed that a captain, or their children, was the worst person you could pair with."
I shrug my shoulders and add, "Apparently, the man who helped make me was a captain's son, and only cared about getting the next generation of power."
Kiki nods her head solemnly. "Some ships, or species, run that way. To them blood matters more than skill."
"Here the captain is promoted by a higher chain of command." Skit informs us, "And they have to earn it. Prove they're the best for the job."
"Doubt that would matter to mom." Jorman blurts out.
Skit and I laugh.
Kiki looks at us in disbelief.
I roll my eyes. Some things you can't explain to someone who hasn't been there.
"So, you were at the docking port to get visitors permission?" I say to Skit.
He nods his head. "We're having our marriage ceremony in a few days, when I saw the Phennox was on the docking list, I figured it was fate, and decided to request the presence of the whole family for the ceremony."
"You'll have to find Celka to ask her." I state, "But Jorman and I will be glad to attend."
Jorman quickly agrees.
Skit and Kiki nod their heads. Skit declares, "Then the ones who matter will be there."
"So, are you going to tell us how you got from the small space dock you left the Phennox at, to this large space dock?" I ask my brother with a playful glare.
"When the Phennox left Sma Tra Space Dock I hadn't chosen a ship to join, and couldn't bring myself to go back to the Phennox, and mom." Skit explains, "Fortunately, it left me available to choose any path I desired. I worked there for a few space months, doing whatever odd jobs I chose. Then: a small, but fast, ship needed a mechanic, as they had recently lost there's, and they were headed here."
"You're not a mechanic." Jorman points out.
Skit nods his head. "However, Sma Tra Space Dock didn't have any spare mechanics, and I had proven my skills enough to be recommended as a temporary mechanic to get them here, and obviously I succeeded."
"And as you can see, once he found me he decided to never leave." Kiki claims.
Skit laughs. "I wouldn't say never. We might decide to move somewhere, sometime in the future, but for now we're happy where we are."
- Writer
