What the hell? How dare they use my money for that!
It had been six months since they buried his coffin on the moon. Kathy knew he opposed to makingt contact. The Space Elevator was transport, not a friggin’ antenna…
☼
“The George M. Gates Trust is proud to announce a go-date for Earth’s first transmission to the Galactic Federation. We’ve received their signals for twenty-five years and are better for it. Now is the time to let them know we’re here.”
Kathy Gates felt a rush of pride as the ribbon was cut to the brand new communications hub. It wasn’t what George had wanted. He opposed interaction with anything from beyond the solar system. Nobody expected that the unique combination of materials that made the Elevator work would also receive everyday signals from light years away.
The people of Earth weren’t about to ignore the promise of exploration and fresh knowledge. It was better for the Gates Trust to support an unstoppable trend than to resist and allow rivals to get a foothold.
☼
It’s a dangerous mistake. We only know what their media puts out. Never go into a situation without the upper hand.
George raged at the spineless hacks who allowed Kathy to alter the terms of his trust. She hadn’t made that money. He earned it from the countless hours of sweat and blood he put into creating the world’s first operational Space Elevator.
One step at a time—that’s how we should enter the galactic stage. Not on borrowed technology.
☼
Kathy’s innards jiggled worse than Jell-o. Once the blue switch was flipped, there’d be no undoing it. She was confident the GF would see Earth in good terms, especially with the easing of worldwide violence in the past two decades. Learning that humanity was not alone had changed the outlook of the majority of the world’s population.
☼
You’re a fool, Kathy. Did you learn nothing from half a century with me?
☼
Ambassador Vlek’s ship eased down at JFK International Airport. Amanda Gates-Wilder, President of Earth, waited at the nearest terminal to welcome the first official visitors from outside the solar system.
Amanda wished her grandparents could have been present. Her grandfather’s trust had made everything possible. It was the best thing that ever happened to the planet.
Next to Amanda, her young son held onto his father with one hand while sucking the fingers on his other. She usually kept them out of the spotlight, but this was a worthy exception.
The leaders met on the tarmac. Vlek was the former Magistrate of his home world, now turned interstellar diplomat. Amanda cherished the years of communication that had forged their close bond. To meet in person was the culmination of all her dreams.
☼
She’s as impetuous as you, my dear.
She’s nothing like me.
His wife chuckled. The woman had been at his throat from the moment she passed.
She’s everything like you, only more compassionate. She’ll lead Earth to a bright future.
Hmph. We’ll see.
Mostly, though, George watched Amanda’s son, his great-grandson. The boy had a quality to him that softened the heart. When George looked close, it seem as though destiny had marked his little Ion.
☼
“No!” Amanda dropped to her knees.
“I’m sorry,” the pediatrician said. “It’s progressed too far. Viral cancer is incurable. Not even the GF Database has an answer.”
Amanda’s mind tripped in quick time. There had to be a way to save her son.
Hours later, Vlek welcomed her into his cozy Earth-side apartment in D.C.
“Is there anything you can do?” she pleaded.
Vlek touched stubby jade fingers to his emerald lips. His vermillion eyes swirled in thought. Amanda had learned to give him space to think, but urgency stripped her of patience.
“Please, Vlek. He’s my baby.”
Her friend nodded. It was a foreign expression to him when they met, but now it seemed second nature.
“There is an acquaintance who works in the medical fields. She has expressed interest in studying human anatomy and disease processes. If there is to be hope, it lies with her.”
☼
George knew fear for the first time since his death. Ion was the apple of his eye. The little guy early death was unthinkable.
It’s because of their contact with aliens! he raged. His life is over before it’s begun.
No, George. Kathy’s voice no longer irritated him, but her constant contradictions taxed his good nature. He was ill before they arrived. It’s a disease born from simple evolution.
How could you know such a thing? he demanded. If it’s true, why don’t I know it? I’ve been dead longer than you.
Kathy laughed. You do not look at things the way I do.
☼
Ion hated the hospital. Everyone treated him like royalty. Although he almost was, it was annoying.
They promised he’d be done with the treatments soon. He wanted out yesterday. Still, his mom was the best. Even though she couldn’t be there every day, she did her what she could. She’d cried a lot when he first got sick, but now that he was getting better, she smiled more often.
☼
They did it!
George celebrated as he watched Ion get discharged from the treatment program. That alien doctor had succeeded. She’d healed his boy.
Of course she did, Kathy told him. If you’d just look, you would’ve seen so.
He still didn’t understand what she meant, but he did know that destiny pulled at Ion stronger every day.
Go ahead, she encouraged, try it. You’ll see.
Although he felt silly, he tried. He chased that fleeting sensation of fate, touched it. Then he saw.
All his doubts melted away. He was finally at peace.
George Gates smiled, joined his wife’s hand, and finished Crossing.
☼
This story may not be reproduced in any form without express written permission from MJ Twain.
Filed under: FF-Science Fiction | Tagged: aliens, antenna, cancer, crossing, cure illness, curmudgeon, dead, death, doubts, Earth, federation, Flash Fiction, galactic, hospital, life, MJ Twain, science fiction, space elevator, technology, writing
