Chapter 2
(Lost Chances)

“Hey Vathion!” Mirith called as they got off the bus, “Quit ignoring me!” she demanded, catching up to him. Stopping, he looked towards her, then glanced behind her as the bus started off again, leaving them alone on the corner of the street. Mirith, his best Gilon friend, and all in a class of her own when it came to females of his species... “What’s wrong with you? After the play, you ran off before I could talk to you, and today your improv’ in class was terrible, you didn’t say a word to me at lunch, and now on the bus, you just sat there staring off into space like there’s somewhere else you’d rather be. C’mon! Lighten up! It’s nearly summer and Mom and Dad are planning another trip to the mountains. You’re invited of course.”

Vathion took a breath and summoned a smile for his best friend. She was shorter than he - but then, most people were. Her large brown eyes were currently pinched at the corners as she stood leaning towards him, fists on her hips. The way her backpack hung from the straps over her shoulders made her shirt pull tighter across her breasts. As for the rest of her body, it was a fine shape - she did not overeat and did interesting things with flowers to enhance her natural scent, which the other young men in her grade had noticed.

“Sorry, got something on my mind,” he said, deciding to tell part of the truth. It had been a long day at school. But at least it was the last day of classes for the year before summer break... and the last day of classes for him at all. Tomorrow, he would be leaving Larena, flying to Ika Station, then heading to the Serfocile-owned Baelton Station where the Natan Fleet was currently parked, and finally meeting his father.

“Oh come on! I’m your best friend! If you could tell anyone other than Jathas about something bothering you, I’d hope it would be me,” Mirith dropped her head to the side, her hair falling across her shoulder. She'd dyed it blonde some time back but was letting her natural green return. She was right for the most part. However, he still had secrets from even her - such as who his father was and what he really did with his spare time. Today, it had been those multitudes of things she did not know that had been weighing on his mind. It had been the realization that he was leaving and probably never coming back that had distracted him so terribly. Now, he was nearly depressed about the prospect of finally getting to meet his father. It meant giving up everything he had grown up with... including Mirith. Out of all of his friends, he would only be able to bring Jathas. He might see some of the spacers that hung out in the Café, but they were adults and not the same. Those he went to school with would completely freak when they found out who his father really was and that would be the end to his attempts to be normal. No one would ever treat him the same again.

It was Mirith’s opinion he was really worried about.

She had been his best friend since he started school. Very much a tomboy, she held a firm belief in justice and standing up for the weak. As a result, she had been his protector when he was little. By the time he’d started standing up for himself, she had hit puberty and had started hitting on him in very obvious attempts to get in his pants. Unfortunately, despite being of the proper age now, Vathion had not developed the hormones to allow him to be the least bit interested in her. Though he knew that was a lie, he was a little interested, but any thoughts of such things were quashed as quickly as possible. Those kinds of scents were dangerous in his house. If his mother died, it would be his fault... because he’d grown up.

At least, once they met his father, Hasabi would be safe from Vathion’s oncoming adulthood. Then, if Mirith were still interested, he would make a move on her. That was his plan anyway.

Taking a breath, Vathion shook his head, then looked up at the sky in an effort to keep his cool and not get choked up, “Dean Farlis called me into his office today,” he admitted, “Gave me my diploma.” ‘And thanked me for not being like my father. Makes me wonder what the hell Dad DID to the man...’

“What?” Mirith demanded, stepping forward as her hands went to his shoulders, “But why?”

Vathion managed another smile, “I’ve got all the credits I need to graduate."

“Two years early!” Mirith said, “Why didn’t you say something about this earlier? This is great news! We're going to graduate together now!”

He shrugged. Mirith was only a year older than he, seventeen, but she was brilliant in a school full of overachievers and geniuses. Of course Natan would never have his only son in a school that did not give the best education available anywhere in the Gilon Empire.

“You should be jumping for joy! Not looking like - like someone kicked your pet!” She bounced on her toes.

Drawing himself up, Vathion snorted, “I don’t have a pet,” he said haughtily. “I just didn’t get much sleep last night.”

Mirith shoved her hands into her hair - which made her breasts look like they were going to pop out of the flattering square neckline of her shirt, “You! You - don’t make me tickle you! I’ll find out what’s wrong! Sooner or later, you know that, don’t you?” Mirith shook a finger at him. “Possibly over cookies?”

“Cookies?” Vathion mewed. Mirith’s cookies were even better than Vathion’s mother’s and it was difficult to resist.

#Would it really be that bad if you did tell her?# Jathas suggested, having been silent for most of the day.

Vathion shifted his book bag on his shoulder, hoisting it up higher. He’d cleaned out his locker, so the bag was uncommonly heavy.

“If you tell me what's wrong?” Mirith begged, hazel brown eyes widening even further as she leaned in towards him. He suspected that she’d noticed his occasional glances towards her breasts and was now trying to use her limited leverage to get him to agree.

Finally, he shuffled a foot and looked aside, “...All right.”

Sly grin breaking across her features, Mirith looped her arm with his and latched on, heading him towards her house. “So, did you see the latest episode of the Fleet Show?” she asked conversationally.

Vathion rolled his eyes. “Filler,” he said.

“Yeah. Still funny though!” Turning her head, she peered up at him as she continued, “What with his saying he named one of his ships after a squished pet fish?”

Pulling a face, Vathion declined to comment - as he had plenty to say about that episode, but since Mirith did not know, and possibly would not believe him without proof of some sort, there was no point. Especially considering that the only form of proof she would accept was his calling up Ha’Natan personally and introducing them.

Since the rest of Natan's fleet were named after his zodiac and people in his family, the names of his two ships Hasabi and Vathion were a subject of much debate; only exacerbated by the previous night's Natan Fleet Show episode where Natan's actor, Mayban, had claimed that Hasabi was his mother's Hyphokos and Vathion was a pet fish he'd had as a child and accidentally killed. There had been speculation on the news for years that Ha’Natan had hidden his child somewhere - as well as speculation for how he'd managed to do it. This was considered a very crackpot theory, though, even if a few scientists had gotten together and studied the possibility of such an occurrence. Their conclusion had been that Natan had to have artificially inseminated a woman in order to avoid contact with her scent. They had expressed extreme pity for a child born of such a union. So of course there were nutcase fans scouring every planet in the Empire for him or her. Interstellar News had not been called about Vathion, yet though a few other candidates had been offered. However, after background checks, they had been tossed out. Vathion's identity was safe enough, since no one knew Natan’s last name. All the information on Natan’s family had been “lost” by the Imperial government some time ago. Not even Vathion knew his paternal last name. Instead he and Hasabi used his mother's maiden name; Mayles.

He missed catching Mirith’s sly glance at him. She knew he had a slight dislike for the show. She even teased him about it sometimes, saying his railing against it sounded like jealousy.

“Besides, what was with that girl?” Mirith continued.

“Oh, the Six, Gold, Doughnuts, and Alcohol?” Vathion said, using the woman’s stats, since he did not remember what the character’s name had been. She was a one-shot, probably looking for her start in show business, and playing a partying, egotistical bimbo on the Natan Fleet Show was as good a start as any.

Mirith snorted. “Reminded me a lot of Lisha,” she said. “What with her whole ‘KISS me, Ha’Natan!’” Mirith spun away abruptly to face him and he stopped, watching as she flung her arms up into the air gleefully.

Finally breaking into a laugh, Vathion shook his head. Mirith, overbalanced on her toes, swayed forward and landed against his chest. Lifting his hands, he caught her.

“You did really great in the play, you know?”

Startled by her tone and the nearness, her body pressed against his as she stepped closer, Vathion stared into her eyes. “Promise me...” he said, the words slipping free before he could stop them.

She stared up at him, waiting for him to continue.

“Promise... you’ll always be my friend, above everything else?”

Her own expression sobering, Mirith’s lips curved into a gentle smile. “Of course."

On impulse, Vathion leaned down, pressing his lisps to hers in an awkward and unpracticed kiss. Mirith melted against him in a way that made his heart beat faster.

#Maybe...it’ll be all right to give in just a little bit?# he reasoned to Jathas, then realized that his Bond was cheering in the back of his mind and trying to be quiet about it.

A passing car honked at them, and Vathion, flushing to the roots of his violet hair, pulled back to stare wide-eyed at the vehicle as it continued down the road. Mirith remained where she was - grinning like she just got first prize. Staring down at her in confusion, Vathion wondered if it was possible to be any more embarrassed - and found out when she stood on her toes to whisper into his triangle-shaped ear, “I got you horny!”

Realizing she was right, he could do little but stumble after her as she stepped away and dragged him down the street towards her house. #But I can’t! Not yet! Have to meet Dad first! Then Mom will be fine and everything will be fine!#

#Calm down,# Jathas ordered, #I doubt she’ll make you do anything you don’t want to.#

Reaching Mirith’s house, she pulled him down the white-pebble path to her front door. Her house was like most others in the neighborhood, the short fence surrounding the front garden was painted sunshine yellow, the flowers within the garden were arranged in a pattern and planted so that they would bloom at certain times to make different patterns. Mirith’s mother was pretty good at selecting flowers like that.

Getting her door open, Mirith pulled him inside and shut the door behind. “Mom and Dad won’t be home for another hour,” she offered.

“Miri,” Vathion swallowed, leaning back against the door, something in his bag poking him uncomfortably in his back, “...My mom...” he said, voice cracking.

As if he’d thrown ice water on her, Mirith’s eyes widened, then dulled and her shoulders sank. “Vath... I’m sorry... you’ve tried really hard, I know you have, but... Nature is just cruel sometimes. You can’t stay a kid forever.”

“I know, but...” Staring at her face, Vathion took a breath and cleared his throat, “...I won’t be able to go on the trip with you. Mom and I are going to go somewhere... We’re leaving tomorrow. And... After that - everything will be okay with Mom. I'll be able to do what I want then.”

Straightening, Mirith stared at him for a long moment. “Where?” she asked.

“...Baelton,” Vathion admitted finally. He really did not want to lie to her. He would have told her too, if she would have believed it. “I ...probably won’t be able to see you for a while though.”

She turned away, pulling her backpack off to set on the floor under the coat rack to the left. Her house was built on similar plans to Vathion’s, with the living room to the right and a hall straight off the front door. “So, you want cookies still?” Mirith asked, looking towards him and managing a smile.

“Yeah,” Vathion answered. ‘I hate these secrets...’

#Then why not tell her?# Jathas asked.

Vathion ignored him.

Setting his bag down, Vathion followed her into the kitchen.

“So, you got your grades from the finals back today, didn’t you?” Mirith asked as he took a seat at her dining table while she got the cookies out and brought him a glass of milk.

“Yeah,” Vathion sighed, “I got a B in language... gonna catch hell for that one.”

Mirith snorted, “What? Someone going to spank you?” she teased.

Looking towards her, Vathion snorted. “He'd have to catch me first!” Her reply was to grin mischievously; apparently she was over his rejection.

She quirked a brow at that but thankfully didn't ask.

“It was barely a B anyway. Aola’s just a stickler for pronunciation!”

Mirith sat down beside him and picked up a cookie, shoving it into Vathion’s mouth as he opened it to continue griping. Mirith continued speaking, “Sheh is a Linguist. Of course sheh is snippety about proper grammar and punctuation. We’re very lucky to have sheh teaching at our school. ...Even if no one knows where the hell to find Humans. What exactly did you call her, anyway?”

Vathion swallowed the mouthful of cookie and said, “An honorable scallop. I meant to say scholar!” He lifted a hand to catch the crumbs he accidentally sputtered on the table, trying to not waste.

Breaking into a laugh, Mirith said, “No wonder she looked so pissed!”

“Come on! Those words are really close in Terran!” Vathion defended after swallowing, then picked up his drink to wash it down. Mirith just continued to laugh at him. “Not like I’m planning on being any sort of translator or anything. Certainly can’t be a Linguist like her.” Instead of studying, Vathion had been working on his father’s birthday present - a hack code for standard AI’s - as well as memorizing his lines for that stupid play, and studying for the rest of his finals. There was also a little recreational hack he had done on the video game his father had given him, Battle Fleet, involving the Graviball graphics and the characters he did not like: such as his second in command and a few Imperial fleet captains and admirals. Honestly, though, Vathion figured his father could really use something like the AI hack to reap information from Rebels directly. So, he should be glad!

Lifting a brow, Mirith blinked, “Her? Oh, I guess sheh would have told you sheh’s gender. You’re Aola’s pet after all.”

“What do you mean by that?” Vathion demanded, turning to look at Mirith, reminded once again that she smelled rather good when she leaned in close to answer.

“Only that you’ve been taught by sheh since fourth grade and sheh’s always making you translate stuff for the rest of the class, and sheh interrogated you the longest during the exams.”

“Oh, so you mean that I’m her pet because she torments me the most?” Vathion said, leaning towards her in return.

Drawing back suddenly, Mirith turned away to take a bit of her own cookie, leaving Vathion to lurch forward in surprise. #Oh, now she’s getting back at me by TEASING,# Vathion observed to Jathas.

His Hyphokos suddenly disengaged, dropping to the floor, then climbing up onto the table to get a cookie of his own. “Hello Jath,” Mirith greeted the lizard-like creature. “Decided to join the conversation?”

“Abandoning him,” Jathas said cheerfully as he pointed a stubby finger at Vathion, his long ears up and facing towards the two like exclamation points, “And getting cookies of my own. They’re too good to enjoy vicariously!”

“Why thank you!” Mirith said.

* * *

Meandering towards his house, Vathion balanced on the curb, arms out. Lifting his eyes, he gazed around, taking this moment of solitude to actually look at things - how often it seemed that he just rushed through life, from one thing to the next without noticing the scenery. It made him feel a bit empty.

His neighborhood was a well kept one, consisting of a main street with cul-de-sacs on either side. Association groups regularly lived together in one of these rings and each had neatly trimmed gardens surrounding the houses. Gardening was an age old Gilon and Hyphokos pastime, dating back to the dawn of history when they had first discovered how to do it. Some historians believed that Gilons had become intelligent not just because of Hyphokos influence, but because of their love for collecting pretty flowers in one place, which had lead to farming, and from there, industry.

“Vathion!” called Mrs. Ameda Gannatet from her front garden on the left side of his house. She was getting on in her years with gray hair kept short in an almost military no-nonsense style. Her stormy blue eyes were surrounded by wrinkles, as was her wide mouth, set in a triangular face that had always seemed vaguely familiar to Vath, though he could not place why. She waved at him and Vathion stopped, turned, and headed towards her.

Smiling as he came up, he dropped his bag briefly to give the old woman a hug, closing his eyes as her scent wafted over him. “Hi Missus Gannatet,” he greeted, breaking into one of his rare true grins, “Guess what!” His time with Mirith had lifted his mood, which was nice, considering that it had been pretty black by the time he got off the bus.

Holding him back at arm’s length, she smiled at him, eyes lighting in a way that truly made him think that she was using him as a replacement for someone - just as he was using her. Not that Vathion minded if she did use him, it was mutually beneficial to them both and Hasabi approved of his spending time with the old woman and her mate.

“What dear?” she asked.

“I graduated today! Two years early,” Vathion announced, but refrained from telling her why other than, “Mom and I are going to go see Dad, finally!” She at least had been told - by Hasabi - that her mate was still alive, just elsewhere. A breath of excitement washed through him again, but it turned cold as he caught the old woman’s expression.

She looked pained and upset, but managed to smile at him, though he could tell there were tears in her eyes. “That’s wonderful news, darling,” she said, voice strained.

Confused, Vathion hugged her again, “I’ll call, if you want...” he offered, trying to make it better somehow.

“Yes,” she whispered, petting his hair, “Yes, I would like that. Please call.”

“Missus Gannatet... Is something wrong?”

Sniffling, Ameda fished a smile out from somewhere and managed to make it look genuine, “I’m just overwhelmed - how fast you grew up, Vathion!” she patted his cheek lightly, then touched his hair, and he felt as if she was not really looking at him, but someone else, “Already graduated and going off to space... be careful out there. Try to keep your father out of trouble. Now run along, dear, before your mother gets worried about you.”

Reluctantly, Vathion picked up his bag again, then gave the old woman another hug before turning and heading back to his house where he stepped onto the white pebble path to the front door. It was a Gilon’s dream home, and the only thing missing was his father, and it made Vathion wonder why Natan had bothered choosing to have a child if he had not wanted to be with them. He sighed, unlocked the door, and glanced back towards his neighbor’s house to find Mrs. Gannatet gone. Sighing again, he stepped in.

A strange, strangled noise startled him, and he paused, waiting to hear it again.

Hasabi’s strained voice called. “Vathion, come here...”

Kicking off his shoes and dumping his heavy bag on the floor next to the door, Vathion continued into the living room and over to the corner where they had their wallscreen set up to take calls. A man sat in view on the other side of the screen, wearing what was unmistakably the Natan Fleet uniform. That man was Ma’Gatas, Ha’Natan’s second in command on the flagship Xarian. Ma’Gatas looked grim, the scars on the left side of his face pale against his slightly yellow tinted skin, his excessive weight made his jowls heavy and chin - which had never been strong even in his youth - double and sag down his neck. He had thinning amber hair clipped close to his scalp, and large, nearly bulging, cyan eyes. Vathion was only familiar with Ma'Gatas's portrayal on the Natan Fleet Show.

Hasabi was seated in front of the screen, heart-shaped face in her hands, shoulders shaking, and it had been her stifled sob that had stopped him at the door. Vathion rushed to his mom, putting his arms around her shoulders, not registering the look of shock on Gatas’s face.

“Mom, what’s wrong?” Vathion asked gently, all thoughts of Mrs. Gannatet’s confusing behavior driven from his mind.

Shaking her head, Hasabi wrapped her arms around him in a hug, “Talk to him,” she said, gesturing at the screen and let go, getting up and stumbling off into the bathroom, he could still hear her sobbing. Looking back towards the screen, Vathion reluctantly took a seat.

“I am Ma’Gatas,” the man introduced needlessly, “Second in command of the flagship Xarian...” he hesitated, “I’m sorry, but... Ha’Natan is dead. He has named you his son, and heir.” Vathion felt the blood drain from his face, and all he could do was sit there with a blank look, unable to respond. Tears stung his eyes as Ma’Gatas continued, “A transport is already on its way. It should arrive in twenty-six hours.”

This shook him out of his numbness and into shock, “Wait - wait - what?” he asked, leaning forward, placing both hands on the desk in front of him to brace himself, “you mean...”

“I told you,” the man repeated, “You’ve been named Ha’Natan’s heir and will be inheriting his possessions.” Mentally, Vathion went through the math, realizing that an entire fleet of twelve battleships was an incredibly large financial burden to suddenly take on, especially at sixteen.

He did not recall falling out of his chair at that point, but apparently he had, for he had to climb up off the floor and straighten the seat before retaking it. The man had a small smirk on his lips. “I... okay,” Vathion said finally, unable to think of anything else to say, clutching the edge of the desk.

Ma’Gatas nodded slightly, his seriousness returning, “I’m sending the files Ha’Natan wanted you to have now.”

Nodding, Vathion watched as the man’s face disappeared and the swirling envelope logo replaced it, meaning that it was receiving mail.

Jathas stirred in the back of his mind and finally murmured to his Bond, #Truly amazing! You should be excited! You own the Natan Fleet.#

Glowering, the boy opened the first document, “Not quite the right attitude here, Jath, my father had to die to give me that!” Just saying it made his eyes water, and Vathion blinked rapidly in an attempt to clear his vision. The Hyphokos fell silent, not quite understanding this view of death. Hyphokos had ways of taking the memories of a fallen member of their people and incorporating it into their own, so in essence, the body could die, but Memory Lived On. Too bad it was impossible for them to do it with Gilons.

Vathion sniffled and typed in the password to open the protected files, then began to read, eyes widening as it turned out to be the autopsy report on Natan’s death. Crushed by a crate in cargo bay four? “What the hell was he doing there?” Vathion knew well enough from his Battle Fleet game - a gift from his father when he was younger and still remaining his favorite game - that cargo bay four was always used for spare parts, mostly for the fighters in the shuttle bay one deck above. There was nothing interesting at all in there, but the report said he had been found at the beginning of first shift when the crew came in, so it could not have been a late shipment.

Getting up, Vathion flipped on the vidscreen and scoured through the various channels, looking for some mention of Natan’s death. There was nothing. Apparently it had not hit the news yet. Hopefully it would not. It was distressing enough to his family. A sickening thought hit him - that busload of school kids raving about the filler episode in the show learning about Natan’s death multiplied across the Empire. He paled and shivered.

Sitting back down, Vathion saved the file to a disk and uploaded the update on Battle Fleet that was his father’s parting gift, his eyes stung. The second document was apparently Natan’s autobiography - quite an extensive file - but Vathion did not read past the first few lines to see what it was, then closed it. The third was a letter to Vathion and Hasabi. Saving those to his disk too, Vathion told the house’s AI to print out the letter. Lastly, was Natan’s will; he printed that too. Taking both, he headed to the bathroom door and sat beside it, listening to his mother sob.

“Mom... Dad wrote a letter...” he said gently, trying to coax her out of the bathroom. He knew she loved Natan - everyone loved Natan, but Vathion also knew that Natan loved her, otherwise he never would have agreed to have Vathion - there were no accidental Gilon children, despite Vathion’s occasional gloomy thoughts otherwise.

She did not open the door, but quieted her sobbing a little.

“Dear Hasabi and Vathion,” he read out loud, throat tightening and unshed tears making his eyes blurry...

* * *

If you are receiving this, then I’m dead. I know that sounds rather casual of me to say, but then, I’ve been dodging the Great Beyond for the last thirty years of my life and it’s not quite so scary anymore. I just wanted to tell you both that even if I haven’t been a very big part of your lives, I love you, and think of you often. I’d hoped that I would get to visit you sometime soon, but it always seems that every time I try to take a bit of time off, I end up in the midst of some new Adventurous Emergency that hits the news the next day and gets made into a Vid episode.

Hasabi, I just wanted you to know that I miss your cinnamon rolls. I experimented in making some for myself, but when my attempts don’t end in charcoal, they just don’t taste right without you there, smiling at me over your tea. Those three weeks we spent together were the best of my life... I bless you for putting up with me. I was a wreck back then - rude, inconsiderate, losing my faith, and losing my will to fight. You gave me a reason to live and to clean up my act... and gave me so much more. You gave me a son, and I wish that I could have stayed with you. I wish that I could have been there to see him born and grow up. I’ll always feel like I let both of you down by not being there.

It was my dream to have a family in a society that wasn’t war-torn and on the edge of fear and panic - I wanted to sit in the garden and drink tea with you while our son played with his Bond and I’d teach him all about model ship building.

Vathion... I’m sorry for not being there for you when you needed me - for playing the bad guy about your grades, and just all out never being there. You can’t know how much I wanted to be. I wanted to.

Over the years, I’ve watched you grow - through pictures and calls, and it hurt how much you looked like me - you must have gotten hell at school; pestered with ‘Do the pose!’ and ‘say it! Say “Onward Mates! For the Empire!” like that stupid Vid show...’ which I really do say, but not as often as that hammy actor Mayban does. I’ve never laughed so hard in my life - watching someone else pretend to be me. Or am I really that crazy and stupid? Paymeh says I am, but I can’t help it. We’re up here, so far away from what we want; even if we’re next door to it - we just can’t ever reach it... Peace, order... That’s what we want, but it seems that no matter how hard we try, we’re always a step away from it. Just one step, and then another.

It seems hopeless from this end, but I keep trying, for you, for Hasabi, for all the other children and wives of this bloody war. Honestly, I’ve been miserable. I’m torn between wanting to be with you and wanting to play the Hero and save the day so that everyone will have hope and dreams for the future, so that they’ll keep on fighting. And I’m sorry, but, the ugly truth of it is that my feelings don’t matter in this wide universe and if I want my dream to come true - even if I die - I have to play the part...

* * *

Vathion sniffled and lifted a hand to wipe his face with his sleeve and blinked a few more times as he came to the end of the first section. Hasabi still had the bathroom door firmly closed and he could hear her sniffling still. From there, Natan had gone on and on about his favorite conversations with his son and Hasabi, and Vathion could hear his mother giggling from time to time, sounding strange amongst her sniffles. Natan had apparently been unable to let his beloved and son sit and cry for long - he had to go out with a laugh and pose. So like him.

Vathion paused and swallowed, licking his lips to wet them as he resettled against the wall beside the door. “Hasabi, I’ve got everything set up for you, and I’m really sorry,” the boy flushed, reading that out loud to his mother. “Vathion - you’ll do fine. I’ll watch out for you both, wherever I am.”

Reaching the end of the letter, Vathion folded it up and sat silently staring at the wall opposite of the bathroom door. Kitty-cornered to it was the door into the kitchen with the afternoon sunlight streaming in through the window over the sink and making the dust dancing in the air visible in the shafts of light.

“His will...” Hasabi said from the bathroom, “Did he send that?”

Licking his lips, Vathion said, “Yeah...” Flipping through the printouts, he came to the last page and read out loud, skipping past the mailing address stuff which had been dual sent to the Imperial Agency for their records as well as the Mayles house when it went through the Xarian’s AI, and a third line indicated that the message had also been forwarded to an anonymous mailbox, “First - my money goes to Hasabi Mayles. She knows my account numbers and whatnot. Second - I, Natan Gannatet, acknowledge Vathion Mayles as my son, and declare him heir for my title as Earl of Teviot with right to wear my Tassels. Third - Vathion Gannatet receives all my possessions,” Vathion noted that Natan had wasted no time in changing his name and handing him the Tassels denoting a member of the Gilonnian nobility. Gatas had already told him that he owned his father’s fleet, which meant that he had final say on who was hired and who they got repairs from, but that did not mean he had to be on the fleet. Odd about that last name though... Taking a breath, he shook his head and honestly had not believed it before, but there it was in writing; he really did own his father’s fleet. He read the next line and stopped, staring with his mouth open.

Hasabi called, “Vath?”

“Fourth,” Vathion continued, voice small - Ma’Gatas had not mentioned this, “I name my son Ha’Vathion, Admiral of the Natan Fleet.”

Slowly, the bathroom door opened, and Hasabi crawled out, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and looking down at the paper. Vathion could not speak any more. “I knew he’d get you into that uniform someday.”

Blinking, he shook his head, “But - but - Mom! I can’t! I can’t do this! I’m not... I can’t!”

Her fingers pinched as she held him close. “Stop that! I didn’t raise a coward, and you didn’t get it from your father. You’d better start packing. You’re going to be on that ship for a while.”

“But - I can’t!” Vathion's voice squeaked upwards. “I’m not old enough!” Tears stung his eyes as he looked towards his mother, “I’ve just barely graduated from school!”

Hasabi pinched him again and sat back, her hair, tied in a tail high on her head, swinging. “You stop that,” she said. “You stop it now. You can do this. Your father trusts you to do it. Get up and go start packing. Take your game with you, I’ll give you the number to call me with, so don’t forget to talk to me.”

Looking up at her as she stood, Vathion stared, “What about you?” he sniffled.

Hasabi shook her head, “He said he has everything set up for me. I’ve probably been given somewhere safe to live until...” she said softly, “The number I’ll give you can reach me anywhere.” She offered her hands down to him and he slowly got to his feet, “I’ll be all right. He’s made sure that I’ll be safe. Go pack. I’ll make dinner.”

“But why can’t you come with me?” Vathion asked and she gave him a long hard look. Still, he persisted, “Wouldn’t you be just as safe with me on the Fleet?”

Her eyes narrowed; a dangerous sign.

Hanging his head, Vathion turned and started off down the hall, heading towards his room. Pausing at the door, he looked back, “Dad sent his autobiography too,” he informed his mother, who was still standing by the bathroom door, her face tear-streaked and eyes watery. Perhaps she was trying to make a show of being strong just to goad him into standing up and doing what he had to... No. Not a show, Vathion realized as he stared at her. She was strong. She would be alright once she got past the shock, though Gilons rarely outlived their mates.

‘I should have done it with Mirith when I had the chance...’

She nodded and made a shooing motion. Turning, Vathion headed into his room to start packing. “Make sure to take your game!” Hasabi called down the hall.

Sighing, Vathion downloaded his save files onto a disk and took the cartridge with the actual game on it out of his datapad, dropping them on the bed along with the disk that had his father’s last messages. Finding his travel cases, Vathion stared at them. He would probably be wearing the Natan Fleet uniform more often than not, but there were some outfits that he particularly liked and did not want to lose. He dropped his disks and game into the smallest suitcase, then turned and opened his closet.

His uniform from the play stared back at him - nobility Tassels, stars, and all. Taking it out, he folded it and dropped it into his suitcase, followed by a couple shirts and some shorts and pants - leisure clothes, mostly just stuff to lounge around his quarters in or wear while he worked out. As he hunted through his drawers and under his bed for things he could not live without, Vathion frowned at himself.

#My father is dead and all I can think about is damage control. Jathas, I must be heartless,# he complained to his Bond. #I thought grief was all consuming.#

Jathas emerged from him; uncurling and slipping free of Vathion's syote sack and out from under his shirt. The spry little Hyphokos was smaller than most, measuring barely four inches in length with long flexible tapering ears and short cropped shining black hair hanging down around his blunt-nosed diamond-shaped head. His coloring was mostly pale yellow with a minimum of crimson on his belly and finger and toe tips, showing him to be rather young.

Settling to his knees on the floor, Vathion still towered over the Hyphokos, but ignoring that, Vathion wrapped his arms around his Bond as the Hyphokos hugged him. “It’s okay,” the lizard whispered soothingly, closing his multifaceted silver eyes. “You’re just being intelligent about it... Besides, it’s not like you knew him very well. It’s okay though. I’ll be with you, no matter what happens, I’ll stay with you."

Sniffling, Vathion tucked his face against his Bond’s neck, “Thank you,” he whispered, “I’m going to need it, I think.”

Jathas flicked his ears in agreement.

Chapter 1 ...... Chapter 3