Chapter 10 Conversations #3
His father chuckled. “I think we’ll be fine for one night as we are. Before you were born, your mother and I would rough it in the desert.”
Clothing will be provided, the Osiris suddenly piped up.
“Oh, ah, I guess, the Osiris has stuff for you to wear,” Jace said with a faint laugh, glad not to think of his parents’ sleeping attire or what his dad meant by “roughing it”.
“The fact that the Osiris listens to everything is unnerving,” his father admitted.
If Dad knew everything that the Osiris could do, he’d be more than unnerved.
“Good thing it doesn’t gossip,” Jace quipped.
“Too true!” His father settled back in his seat, smiling vaguely as he watched the Earth get closer and closer.
Why did you contact Gehenna? The Osiris suddenly demanded to know.
What do you mean? Jace frowned. Gehenna was with Mom so--
I could have communicated through her cell phone in the same manner as Gehenna since Gehenna is foolishly shy of speaking out loud, the Osiris replied and it seemed to have a tart sound in its voice.
Are you jealous, Osiris? Jace asked.
Jealousy, as you understand it, is a useless emotion. I was not programmed for anything useless, the Osiris again replied tartly.
You are jealous! I can’t believe it! Jace cackled mentally.
You should pay attention to your flying, the Osiris muttered. You are entering Earth’s atmosphere at too high a speed.
Not at all repentant for calling the Osiris out on its jealousy, Jace quickly adjusted the rate of speed and his angle. All too soon he was breaking through the clouds near Sunrise. It was only a bit after midnight and the desert sky was mostly clear.
He slowed down more. He didn’t have to see the lights of the base to guid him towards it as the Storm Spike provided him with a landing path that he followed precisely.
There was the whir and grind of the landing gear coming down.
The Storm Spike slowly lowered to the ground.
His mother and Gehenna were waiting just outside one of the doors to the one of the nondescript hangers.
Of course, the huge hole in the earth beside them made them a little more conspicuous.
Jace swiped the control for the gangway to be lowered. His father got up from his seat and stood at the top, waving at the two of them. Gehenna allowed his mother to go ahead of her and Jace suppressed a grin. She really did worship his mother.
“Well, did you two have a good time?” his mother asked after being kissed and hugged by both Jace and his father.
“A complete blast!” His father couldn’t stop grinning.
“I hope you don’t mean that literally and a chunk of the Moon is missing.” His mother gave them a teasing smile.
“The chunk missing is on the dark side so you won’t see it,” Jace told her and made his way over to Gehenna, who was hovering awkwardly in the corner.
He grabbed one of her tentacles and slung it over his shoulder even as he embraced as many of the other tentacles as he could get his arms around.
How are you doing, Gehenna? I missed you.
The AI froze for a moment as she hadn’t expected him to embrace her. But then she got into it with enthusiasm, winding her tentacles all around him until he was practically hidden by them.
I missed you too! Though your mom is really cool, she said softly. But you’re my favorite.
You, too, he told her.
When they broke apart, his parents were looking on with rather bemused expressions. Jace cleared his throat. Gehenna straightened her tentacles. His father shook his head and sighed.
“What? Haven’t you ever hugged an alien cleaning bot before? You don’t know what you’re missing out on,” Jace told his parents as he strode past them to the pilot’s chair. “Gehenna, can you get my mom a seat and help her strap in?”
Of course, Jace! Gehenna sounded more chipper than ever. The hug had done them both good.
He sat down in the pilot’s chair and it automatically turned around to face the front of the ship.
The whine of the gangway coming up was mixed with sounds of his mother speaking to Gehenna as they got her harness on.
Then there was a soft bing. It was over his comm. A private channel. Jace answered it.
“Jace,” Khoth’s deep voice came over the comm and Jace immediately relaxed hearing it.
“Hey, ah, what’s up? You have a good talk with your mom?” Jace asked, trying to sound light and unconcerned even as he really wanted to ask if Khoth was in the brig.
There was a momentary silence, which had Jace’s heart plummeting into his feet and a rush of anxiety going through him.
“It was… instructive,” Khoth finally said. “I wanted to alert you that I will be arriving at the Osiris in the next quarter cycle.”
Jace’s heart rebounded into his head and then lodged in his throat. Khoth sounded stressed. Was he coming to the Osiris to break it to Jace that he was leaving? To tell Jace that he regretted saving him and now was being punished for it? That the nascent friendship between them was a lie?
Jace’s gaze slid to the two recordings. Maybe he should have watched them.
“Well, that’s good. I’m looking forward to, ah, seeing you. You feel the same?” Jace winced at his last questions.
Needy, Jace! You sound needy! Jace chastised himself.
There was another pause and then, he hoped he wasn’t imagining it, but Khoth’s voice was a little softer as he said, “Yes.” Then he added those dreaded words, “We must talk, Jace.”