Chapter 73

I

TIME: Late September, 2035


Natasha and Darren settled into married life quite easily.

It was the getting there that was not easy.

The plan to get all the former DeepCon employees into protective custody had hit a snag when a sniper showed up at the pier in Norfolk and open fired into a group of the people that CIA was trying to protect. Several of them were hit, including Kylee, but none of the injuries were life threatening. A CIA sniper killed the man who had apparently made it a suicide mission to kill as many of the “traitors” (what he yelled as he discharged his weapons) as possible. Only he ended up dying though.

Those injured were treated, then reunited with their families. Natasha openly shed tears as Kylee was reunited with her husband and children.

It was what she told Darren after the drama was all over that floored him.

They had been laying in bed one night shortly after the DeepCon people had been placed into a protective witness program. Sandrina had moved out and moved in with Alex full time, and Danica was contemplating the same thing because Bryan had asked her to for her own safety. The Dixons liked Bryan, and his friend Cobain Richards, who had returned to Maryland. They thought that Bryan was good for Danica, because he was the first man who made her feel comfortable about herself.

Eventually, Danica did move in with Bryan, leaving Natasha and Darren in the house with the twins, who had started high school.

Natasha turned to Darren that night and told him, “You know when you asked if we could have a little one of our own?”

Darren looked at her and said, “Yes.”

“I want to try to make that happen.”

Darren was speechless. When he’d found his voice, he asked, “You do? Are you sure, Tash?”

She smiled at him and said, “Yes, I’m sure.”

“What changed your mind?”

“Seeing Kylee with her family,” said Natasha; “She’s a little younger than I am, and she’s done okay with it. She gives me hope I can still have a child with you.”

“Tash, her kids are quite a bit older, though,” Darren said; “Wasn’t the boy something like 15, and the girl a little younger than Nikolai and Vixen?”

“Yes, Darren. Kylee said she was about 21 when her son was born,” Natasha said; “She had met Greg after she left BlackOps. He’s older than I am.”

“I see,” Darren said, trying to hide the excitement that Natasha wanted to have his child. “So you want to try to make this happen for us?”

“I said I did, didn’t I?”

“Wow,” Darren said; “I feel like I’m dreaming!”

“Can I pinch you then, so you know you’re not?” asked Natasha playfully.

Instead of answering, Darren rolled over and gave Natasha a deep kiss.

===

Even nearly three months later, David still had trouble wrapping his head around the fact that Niki and Drake had gotten married in secret earlier in the year.

At the dinner that they told him and Jordan what they had done, once David found his voice, told Niki, “You know, I did want to walk my little girl down the aisle.”

“You still can, David,” Drake had said; “We are planning a ceremony for November to renew our vows, if Niki still remains in remission.”

“You’re in remission, Niki?” asked Jordan. “When did this happen?”

“A few weeks ago, but I didn’t want to get my hopes up in case I have to go back for chemo,” Niki said.

David mused silently, then said, “I guess that’s a smart idea.”

“Daddy, I can’t put you and Mom and Drake and everyone through that roller coaster if it turns out that I slip out of remission worse than I was,” Niki explained. “That’s why we waited to say anything.”

David just nodded, all the while thinking, I wanted to walk her down the aisle to her new husband...

But now, with Niki’s prognosis looking good, plans were underway to have the ceremony in November the weekend before Thanksgiving. He was every inch the nervous father of the bride, even though the happy couple had made it official nearly eight months before.

Jordan walked into David’s office and saw him deep in thought. He’d been doing a lot of that of late, she noticed. One daughter was getting ready to give birth, another was making plans to renew her marriage vows.

Yes, David, she thought, they do grow up. Look at the boys, off to college and being responsible for their own lives. We raised them well, so quit worrying, will you?

David got the feeling he was being stared at, so he turned around suddenly to see Jordan standing in the doorway.

“How long have you been standing there?” he asked, smiling.

“Long enough to know that you were deep in thought about God only knows what,” she said.

“All this with Niki, honestly,” David said. “It seems so surreal that her life is turning out like this. She’s a fighter, that one.”

“Agreed,” concurred Jordan, “but she’s not all you’ve been thinking about, I know.”

“No, you’re right, she’s not. I’ve been thinking about all of the kids,” David said. “They’re all grown up now. When did that happen?”

“When we were busy living life, David,” said Jordan. “It just snuck up on us.”

“So it really is just us in this big house, isn’t it?”

“Thinking of us moving someplace smaller?”

“No,” David said; “I can’t leave all the memories we have in this house. It was our refuge after the Occupation was over.”

“Indeed,” Jordan said, wrapping her arms around David’s broad shoulders and kissing him on the cheek. “I’m going to call Kimber in a few minutes to see how she’s doing. Her due date is in just a few weeks. I can’t wait to meet our grandson!”

“I can’t either,” David said. “Tell her the old man says hi.”

“You can tell her yourself,” Jordan said as she dialed Kimber’s number on her secure phone.

===

II

“Grandfather,” Kelly asked when she called home that morning, “can I bring Miri home with me for fall break? She’s never been to upstate New York, and I want to show her where I grew up.”

“I don’t see a problem with that, Kelly Clare,” Eric said; “What does Miri’s family say about that?”

“Julia thought it was a great idea when Miri asked her about it,” Kelly said; “Besides, I’ve seen where Miri grew up. Her little sister Rachel isn’t too keen on the idea, though.”

Eric laughed. “How old is Miri’s sister?”

“Nine.”

“Doesn’t want to let her big sister go, huh?” Eric asked. “As I said, Krysta and I don’t mind. When is fall break?”

“Mid October,” said Kelly. “Miri said she’d come if it was okay with you and Krysta.”

“She’s very considerate, isn’t she?”

“Yes, Grandfather,” Kelly said; “So different from my last roommate. It’s almost like we’re sisters! And her family is so cool and down to earth. You’d never guess that Miri’s mother and uncles were trained assassins with the Disturbed Ones back during the Occupation. They don’t play it up. If anything, they just want to be normal people now.”

“And they know they never will be,” Eric said.

“Exactly.”

“Well, let us know the date you two are arriving and we’ll come pick you up at the airport,” Eric said.

“Okay,” replied Kelly. “I’ll do that. I’ve got to get to class. Miri has a class at eight in the morning. I’m not even up that early!”

Eric laughed, “Okay, Kelly, I’ll let you go. Give our regards to Miri.”

“I will, Grandfather,” Kelly said; “Bye!”

As Eric was hanging up the phone, he thought, we’re going to have Julia Terranova’s daughter as a house guest in a couple of weeks? My, how times have changed! Mother would have never allowed that under her regime! I’m glad the bitch is dead, and I hope it was Julia Terranova who sent her to hell.

Eric Hope had no idea how right he was.

===

Kathryn had noticed the changes in her behavior, and she didn’t like it.

Chastity was trying to come back to the fore. Kathryn was stuffing her alter down at every opportunity, but Chastity seemingly wouldn’t give up.

Kathryn hated that there were two very distinct sides to her personality. What do I have to do to merge them for good? she thought; Nothing that Cameron has tried with me is working, and I’m tired of fighting Chastity off every time I turn around.

Kathryn kept her fears to herself, not even telling Christian about it. Surely he’s noticed, she thought. He’d have said something long before now.

Wanna bet, sister?

Go away! Kathryn yelled at Chastity in her mind; Go away and leave me alone with my family! I’m happy for the first time in ages and you’re just going to mess that up!

Well, too fucking bad, isn’t it?

You are no longer a part of my life! Be gone, Chastity!

It’s not going to be so easy this time, Kathy my dear, Chastity taunted her; I kinda like sleeping with your man, and fooling your precious little brats into thinking I’m you. That older girl is too smart for her own good. I’m going to have to do something about that.


Stop calling me “Kathy”. That’s not my name.

I do it because it bugs the shit out of you.

Go away!

All right, all right, I will for now. But I’ll be back for good soon. Then I’m going to take over your life and make your family’s lives hell.

You wouldn’t dare!

I would. And I shall! Then there was Chastity’s evil laugh. Kathryn hated the very sound of it.

===

Helene knew, just knew there was something really wrong with her mother. She’d seen it before and had been powerless to understand what it really was. This time, she knew.

Mom’s alter is trying to take over Mom’s life again, the 13 year old thought. That’s not going to happen! I’ll fight that bitch if I have to! She’s not taking my mother away from me and my sisters and our dad again!

Helene knew she had to talk to her mother alone about what she felt. Trouble was, Kathryn was almost never alone. She was either with Helene and her sisters, with their father, or with Ms. Chang.

That would change in just a few weeks, though Helene didn’t realize to what extent that would be.

She tried to sweep it from her mind and concentrate on her dancing. Helene was getting a lot of choice roles that usually went to much older and more experienced dancers. It was getting to the point that she’d have to turn down roles because of her schooling, as most of the roles she was being offered were for travelling companies, and Helene couldn’t travel without one of her parents.

And it killed her inside. She was that good, but couldn’t take the roles that her skills demanded.

Helene often wished she was grown up; or at least 16 to travel without her parents.

So she brought up a familiar memory: the night she watched her parents make love in front of the fire, and the passion it inspired in her. The dance only two lovers could share.

Soon, Helene DeWitt glided across the wooden floors of her rehearsal studio with a heart full of passion she didn’t yet understand, but in a way, she did. Her passion was for dancing, and she would work harder than anyone to achieve her dreams, even if they were happening faster than she could grow up.

===

III

The woods near the Summers home on the old compound were devoid of lifeforms that shouldn’t be there. For once, Julia was glad.

It was a hard two months with her, Nik and Jeremiah stalking the woods for the man who had been hiding there. Tripod would always find some evidence of his presence; a piece of clothing, bodily fluids (usually semen or saliva), or even just the man’s scent. Just once, Julia thought, I’d like Tripod to corner the bastard and attack.

A decision was made to pack up the house and make the move to Belvidere before Kimber’s baby arrived, instead of after. Whoever was watching the house knew what was going on, and would probably try to follow the family to the new house.

The new house had a barn where a stranger could quickly piss off the resident bull.

Sarge was docile around those he knew well, such as Julia’s family, and wary of strangers. Strangers with ill intent would really piss him off.

He’d already run off rustlers and hunters, to the amazement of the family of caretakers who worked the barn and the fields. Henry Wickes, the grandfather and patriarch of the family, told Julia that Sarge could run pretty fast “for a big fella.”

“Oh, I’ve seen him do just that on a number of occasions when we were still in Wyoming!” Julia would say. “And yet be gentle enough to pick up my youngest daughter by slipping one of his horns under her shirt and carrying her back to the barn!”

Sarge, who now weighed in at nearly fifteen-hundred pounds, would snort or moo in response, as if he knew he was being talked about.

Rachel would call him silly.

Jaime would be preoccupied by her horses.

Zach wanted to set up a practice area for his archery.

Occasionally, the family would be joined by Miri and her roommate Kelly. Kelly was floored the first time she came to the barn in Belvidere. Then she saw Sarge and said, “Holy cow!”

“That’s a bull, not a cow,” Rachel would tease. “Cows are girls. Bulls are boys.”

Kelly would laugh.

There weren’t too many weekends like that. Miri’s siblings missed their big sister. They thought Kelly was nice. Rachel was bummed when the older girls would talk about spending something called “fall break” in a place called Lakeview, New York.

“Where’s that?” Rachel asked.

“It’s near Buffalo and Syracuse,” Kelly said; “It’s where I grew up. My family has a house on the lake, and it’s very pretty there.”

“Do you get to skate on the lake in the wintertime?” This from Zach.

“Usually not,” Kelly said; “My grandfather wouldn’t have let me if it did.”

“Why not?”

“It’s dangerous, and we’re pretty far from the nearest hospital,” Kelly said.

“Don’t you have a mom and a dad?” asked Rachel.

“Rachel!” Miri said, shocked that her baby sister was so nosy.

“Miri, it’s okay,” said Kelly; to Rachel, she said, “My father didn’t know about me, and my mother was very young when I was born, so it was best that my grandparents raised me. My mom and I have gotten to know each other pretty well now, and I now have three younger sisters.”

“How old are they?” asked Jaime; “Like yours and Miri’s ages?”

“Helene, the oldest, is 13 like you, Jaime;” said Kelly; “Erin is almost 12, and Lili is six.”

“Wow!” Jaime said; “That’s cool!”

But then the weekends would end and Miri and Kelly would go back to Northwestern and go to school.  

Then it would be lessons for the Summers siblings and more packing and moving.

They were almost done, and all they had to do was pack up the Tulsa and drive to Belvidere, leaving their house on the compound for Aunt Kimber and Uncle Jamey and baby Andrew when he arrived the following month.

But babies, especially first babies, have a way of arriving a little earlier than expected.

===

Kimber felt very much like a beached whale. She kept telling herself, only two more weeks and Drew will be here.

It was September 29th. Kimber had no idea that Drew would not make her wait until his October 12th due date.

“Kimber,” Jamey said as he walked into the living room with the phone, “your folks are on the phone.”

“Cool,” she said, taking the phone from him, then, “Hello?”

“How’s the prettiest pregnant lady in Chicago doing?” her father asked.

“She’s impatient,” Kimber replied. “I feel like a beached whale. Drew keeps moving around, poking an elbow here, a shoulder there, a knee somewhere else. I just wish he’d hurry up and get here!”

“It’s not much longer, Kimber,” Jordan said; “When would you like me and Dad to come up?”

“Next week,” said Kimber; “The doctor told me that he probably won’t come before then. Then I remember how early Miri and Rachel came and get all worried.”

“You’ve gone past both of those points, Kimber,” Jordan said. “You may actually deliver on time. I know the anticipation is killing you. You just want your baby to arrive and be healthy.”

“I feel like I’ve got a Dallas Cowboys linebacker in here,” Kimber said. “I hope this boy likes football!”

“He will,” she heard her father say in the background. “But he’ll be a Bears fan!”
“Right, Dad. Whatever you say.”

Kimber and her parents talked a little more, then after telling them she’d see them the following week, she clicked off the line and laid the phone down on the arm of the couch.

“Watch,” she told Jamey; “Drew will beat Mom and Dad here. Just you watch.”

“Well, Julia hasn’t completely moved to Belvidere yet,” Jamey said. “I’m sure she’ll be thrilled to help out!”

“And we get Jaime and Rachel as help. Zach wants nothing to do with dirty diapers and spit up rags.”

“He’s 11, Kimber,” said Jamey; “He’ll just want Drew old enough to talk football and other sports with.”

“Oh. Joy,” was all Kimber said.

===

IV

It had been a weird couple of months in Christine Travis’ life. It started with that trip with Jacob to the Outer Banks, and just got more strange as the weeks went by.

Todd had found her at home one evening after she returned from North Carolina. At first she was hesitant to let him inside, but decided, what the hell, he just wants to talk.

The talking became reminincing, then became intimacy. She realized she still loved Todd, but was confused by her feelings for both him and Jacob. Todd wanted her to “come home” with him, but she still had doubts about where her life was going. Did she want to be alone, with Todd, or with Jacob.


Then she learned she was pregnant and was even more confused. Just who was the father of the life inside her? Todd or Jacob? Worse yet, no one at Walter Reed knew she was dating, so her secret would out her in a few months time.

The morning sickness had been intense, but she hid it well. It was now, in her third month of pregnancy, just starting to subside.

She still saw Jacob on occasion, and the day he called her and asked her to come to see him left her with a sense of dread. What do I tell him? she thought.

It would turn out that she wouldn’t have to tell him anything about what she suspected. It would be something happening to him that would floor her.

As she sat in Jacob’s living room, she wondered why he had asked her over. When he walked into the room, it was apparent that he was not well. He’d lost a considerable amount of his bulk, and Christine knew that it was something serious. How serious it was, she suspected, is what he wanted to tell her in person.

“Jacob!” she gasped as she looked at him. “What’s happening to you?”

“That’s why I asked you here, Christine,” he said. “What I have to tell you isn’t easy for me, but you have a right to know.”

“What is it?”

“Christine, I’m dying,” Jacob began. “I’ve had symptoms of this for several months now, even before we met. I’ve just told my family, and I have a very upset nine year old granddaughter who doesn’t understand why everyone around her has to die.

“My past has caught up with me, and God knows that I should have died years ago. He allowed me to live this long because it was His plan. I’ve had a good life, Christine. I have children, grandchildren, the love of three women during different times of my life, and my service to the country in my various capacities. But now, it’s time to let that life end.”

Christine couldn’t believe what she was hearing. All she could say was, “There’s nothing more that can be done, Jacob? Nothing at all?”

“No, Christine,” he said. “I will not make it to my 60th birthday next year. I’ve already lived longer than people expected me to. My sister died last month. My wife died years ago. I’ve lived 35 years more than the Occupationists bargained for. My injuries and other illnesses have caught up to me. The weight loss is the only obvious sign, but inside, I’ve been dying for years.”

“There must be something that can be done, Jacob!” Christine cried. “Some therapy, surgery, something...”

“My organs are starting to fail, Christine,” Jacob said. “I’ve already lost my one remaining kidney. Other than dialysis, there is nothing more that can be done. Please, my dear, don’t try and save me. I’ve made my peace with death. It will be welcome.”

Christine knew better than to argue. This was Jacob’s last wish, and she recognized it as such.

“What can I do to make this easier for you?” she asked.

“You’ve been doing it, Christine,” Jacob said. “You took me at face value and loved me. Maybe that’s why we got on so well from the beginning. One last chance at love before my life ends.”

“So there is nothing more I can do, is there?”

Jacob only shook his head. “No Christine, you’ve done it. Just know that I do love you and that I thank you for being the beautiful creature you are. You will make Todd a happy man, if you choose to resume life with him.”

“Todd has asked me to come home,” Christine said; “but not yet. I’ve decided to contact my family and let them know where I am. Since the danger is past, we’re not targets any more.”

“That’s good,” said Jacob. “Your family will be pleased. I know they’ve probably missed you terribly.”

Christine almost told him her suspicions, but this wasn’t the time for that. Somehow, he’d know.

They spent the rest of the day together, then Christine left late that evening to return home, knowing in her heart that it would be the last time she ever saw Jacob.

But part of him would live on.

===

Jacob closed the door and watched Christine drive away. You’ll have a good life, my healing angel, he thought.

That night, he went to bed, dreaming of the day very soon that he’d see his love again.

Four days later, Jacob Ross would depart his life and join his Christine, his sister Miranda, and the countless others who had died before him.

He was found by the housekeeper, who called paramedics. Next to him on the bedside table were the phone numbers of those he wanted to be contacted. At the bottom of the note were Jacob Ross’ last thoughts: There are stars whose light only reaches the earth long after they have fallen apart. There are people whose remembrance gives light in this world, long after they have passed away. This light shines in our darkest nights on the road we must follow.

===

As Jacob departed his life, a new one was about to begin. And his parents weren’t expecting him so soon.