Out
A series about Mars
by Daniel
E. Machado
Chapter
19
Fred needn't have worried about party
details. From the moment Blade and September first discuss Roselene's second
Martian birthday party Fred is no longer a player. In fact, after the women's
first conversation on the matter neither woman even acknowledges Fred’s
original participation. Idea concept has never qualified a man to
undertake a little girl’s birthday party.
Blade and September both decided not
to tell Roselene about their party plans until that morning -- a ploy Fred
would have never even considered -- to keep the girl from becoming over
anxious with anticipation, while still giving her plenty time to prepare
for the evening's excitement.
At the Learning Center that morning
September holds a special joint study period identifying each child’s Martian
birthday in relation to their birth date back on Earth, and then displaying
the relative positions of both Earth and Mars for each of the dates. Most
of the older students find the entire discussion ridiculously childish,
that is until one of the fifth level boys realizes that his Martian birthday
lay just two weeks away, and Ms Lee is talking about parties.
The precedent having been set, the double birthday concept goes stellar.
And as September had anticipated the older children soon preoccupy themselves
with their own party plans, showing little or no interest at all in the
fact that they have been uninvited to Roselene’s celebration.
The party itself turns out to be nothing
at all as Fred had envisioned, far from just a few people standing around
in their quarters watching Roselene blow candles out on a small cake. September
has reserved an entire Learning Center rec-room and invited both the first
three learning levels
and their parent. Between invited guests,
interested Learning Center staff, and various tag-alongs and drop-bys,
Fred estimates that there must be at least fifty humans in an interior
volume that maxes out at around thirty. But all in attendance seem happy.
With a intentional bump Fred feels someone shoulder up to him from behind.
"You know, I don’t mind you being
masochist enough to think this whole party thing up." John’s hushed voice
just barely manages to cut through the echoed clutter of rumbled adults
and squealing children. He's apparently managed to disengage himself from
the clingy tangle of Roselene’s playmates wanting to touch his dress uniform,
a dress-code that Roselene had insisted on. "But I do mind you being
sadist enough to involve me."
"Yah, right. Like Rosy and Blade would
ever miss their one big opportunity to get you in your dress blues and
embarrass you in public." Across the crowded rec-room Roselene's gaggle
of screaming classmates scamper around the long festive table set with
fruit punch, cake and presents. "Besides." He leans in conspiratorially.
"I need all the help I can get."
Across the room both Blade and September
jointly supervise cake cutting surrounded by a dozen springy screaming
children while continuing an involved conversation with both each other
and a small group of instructors and parents.
"What in the name of Murphy's ghost
were you thinking?" John shakes a disbelieving smile at his friend. "I
mean, having a small party for little Rosy is one thing, but getting those
two together on the planning? Are you nuts or what?"
"I assume that question's rhetorical?"
Fred grows, finding some strange familiar comfort in the his impoliteness.
John merely grins back at Fred's hard
squint. The two have become close this past year. A closeness unlike John's
love for his crew. John would stand station and die without a second thought
for anyone on the ship, especially his rigging crew, but with Fred the
feelings of friendship and loyalty are different. Fred has become family
to John. Real family, not just some intellectualized relationship-tree
or genetic similarity matching. Just as Blade and Roselene have become
family. Night after night he's lived as a "member" of this family odd little
family unit, not as just some "relative". And in that time Fred has become
one of John’s personal connections to Earth. Out between the orbits finding
real family contacts come rare. It seems for the very first time in his
solar-sailing career John will truly hate to see the passengers disembark.
"You better lighten up, Fredy Boy."
John smiles. "Those two women that you just got together both come equipped
standard with some extremely excellent radar. Totally maxed just about
now, I'm sure."
At first Fred’s expression fall through
several crossed emotions before finally bumping into John’s point.
"You know?" Grinning at his own folly
Fred shakes his head. "Sometimes I’m not half as smart as I think I am.
And then again, at other times I find even that to be wildly delusional.
All I wanted to do was…" Fred's mouth falls dumb, his words refusing to
form. "I give up. I have no idea what I was trying to do. You’re
right, I’m freakin' nuts. Socially-challenged. I’m sure that’s why I passed
my deep orbit psych review so easily."
"Well you’d better buck-up for now,
old son." John smiles as he sips at his clear plastic cup of slushy red
fruit punch. "Because, I'm afraid those two might actually have come to
like
each other."
"You sure you're not just looking
at their party-faces? Females are known to be a lot more devious than most
men imagine." Screwing on his best party-face Fred waves a big goofy
smile across the room at Roselene.
Or maybe you're a lot dumber
than you imagine. John snickers. But then, just how smart is it
to let your own feeling grow for a woman your about to leave behind forever
on Mars?
"Well." John sighs. "Like the condemned
man said: 'It’ll all be over soon.’ Pod-sep is just a couple months away.
After that another month or so down to Phobos and you'll all be off on
your own."
Finding himself staring down at his
last sip of fruit punch Fred stands caught in the solemn truth of John's
words, as John slowly finds himself regretting having been more cleaver
than thoughtful.
"You heard anything yet about whether
or not you’ll be going planetside?" John hopes a tangent might rescue their
flagging mood.
"Not yet." Fred replies, himself grateful
for any distraction from the topic of leaving Blade and Roselene behind
on Mars. "And I’m getting the odd feeling that something's up at corp."
"Like what?"
"Who knows? First they notify me to
expect rescheduling. Then they tell me I might be going planetside. Then
they come back with a general posting saying that all transfer schedules
are to remain in effect, only now all of a sudden all corporate transfer
data has been restricted."
"No explanation?"
"None." Fred shrugs.
"Uh oh." John nods past Fred’s shoulder
with sudden of concern.
"What?" Fred looks back at him still
distracted over the inconsistencies of his corporate transfer schedule.
"Approaching to your starboard aft.
Bear hard and prepare to be boarded."
Over Fred’s shoulder he finds Roselene
leading a light infantry assault straight at them.
She leads with her queen. Fred
smiles. Just like me.
The shrieking attack of children descend
on the two men without the slightest hint of mercy. Turning to face his
attackers Fred grins down into the familiar laughing smiles of a dozen
or so children. John's comment about leaving all this behind has sobered
him. Very soon now noisy children and hard hugs from happy little girls
who love dearly you just because you just happen to be you will
become precious and few and far between.
Better enjoy the little stinker
while you can. Fred reminds himself as he watches Roselene yank at
his arm, pleading for him to do something foolish and ultimately humiliating.
This
baby-girl may be the closest thing you’ll ever have to a daughter.
"How do those two stand it?" September
leans over to ask Blade as the noisy scuffle of screaming children rushes
across the rec-room. The unruly mini-mob quickly persuades both John and
Fred to do some of their "funny voices". It’s one of Roselene’s favorite
amusements which means, try as they might, the two stoic spacemen haven’t
a chance.
Apparently most spacers spend a lot
of time in front of archive displays because both men, virtually
unknown to each other before this voyage, have independently committed
to memory several pre-millennia flat-vid comedy skits. Roselene’s current
favorite is a skit from a long defunct euro-group known to video-historians
by the collective name Monty Python's Flying Circus. Soon the two men are
warbling out in exaggerated voices, sending the children into fits of uncontrollable
laughter.
"They usually act this silly?" September
nods across at the ridiculous display.
"Only for special occasions, and only
for Roselene." Blade restraightens the recently scattered napkins and half
consumed refreshments on the table. "I see it as two confirmed bachelors
displaying traces elements of displaced fatherhood. It'll do them good."
"No doubt." September smiles. "Besides,
just how often do a stoic pair of spacers get to act so ridiculous in a
room full of adults without any real fear of embarrassment? I don’t know
about you, but I can remember talking my father into doing some pretty
silly stuff at some of my birthday parties."
"Mine too." A sigh sadden Blade’s
reply.
"I’m sorry, Blade. I didn’t mean to…"
September begins, suspecting she must have inadvertently stumbled
onto some painful past.
"Oh, no." Blade's smile grows slightly
as she watches the children's happy mayhem. "It’s nothing like that."
Surrounded by a giggling swarm of
children John frantically flails both arm up over his head in manic counter-point
to Fred’s mockingly dignified falsetto. Blade feels reasonably certain
that none of the children present have even the slightest notion of the
Spanish Inquisition, but still Roselene's class-mates find the skit hilarious.
"It’s just that… well, Roselene has
never really had a father. At least not one that ever actually participated
in her life. Now with us leaving John and the ship pretty soon, and then
right after that Fred taking off for the belt, it’s going to be like she's
losing two fathers in a row. I only lost one when I was about her age,
and I didn't like it very much. You know, it's funny. I really didn't think
my finally getting out to Mars would make me so... sad. I’m not really
sure which one I'm going to miss most."
"Probably a tie." September
says quietly, but distinct. "But for much different reasons, I’m sure."
Blade turns her head to find September's
surprisingly straightforward smile.
"You’re a lot more direct than most
women. I can see why Fred likes you so much."
"That doesn't bother you does it?"
"No." Blade shakes her head slightly.
"I’m happy for him. Happy for you both."
"I know that’s what you project, and
Fred certainly sees it like that, but is that really how you feel? I mean,
with or without the sex, you’ve still been living with him for a year.
It would be hard just to feel nothing at all for him."
"You’re not jealous, are you?"
Blade's eyebrow cocks at her. In the past week she's become quite fond
of Roselene’s teacher, and would hate to think that there might be reason
to consider that a mistake. September's sudden burst of laughter nearly
distracts Fred and John from their skit, but not quite. After all, they
are still men.
"No." September's laughter subsides
into a smile. "But, I do care about Fredy a lot. He’s extremely sweet,
in a goofy sort of way. I think he's cute. And I wouldn’t want to see him
hurt any more than you would. And speaking of not letting him get hurt."
September nods across at the hapless Fred and John once again being cohered
at the point of near pandemonium into performing yet another frantic skit.
"Don’t you think we ought to go rescue those two before the kids kill them?
We still have presents to open."
"Not just yet. " Blade holds September's
wrist. "The abuse will do them good." And then after a short pause. "September,
could you and I talk a little later on? Girl stuff."
"Sure." Nodding back September finds
herself feeling some of the same uncomfortably contradictions she's heard
Fred described feeling toward John. "Any time."