The Optimum Project

Chapter 32

A family reunion

I woke up the next morning with a grin on my face, I was going to see my father after a disastrous accident and six months of training at a secret military base; excited didn't even begin to describe it. I hopped out of bed and rushed to get dressed, putting on a t-shirt and some faded jeans. I resisted the urge to sprint down the hall and settled for a jog instead, jumping into the partially filled elevator just as the doors closed. I fidgeted the whole way down while the kids around me chatted about their families.

The next thing I knew I was in the landing bays, giving my father the biggest bear hug possible, he leaned away and looked me over, lifting my chin and lifting my face so he could see the changes I must have gone through.

He smiled slightly, "you've gotten taller."

I laughed, "yeah, you've gotten richer."

He looked at me in surprise, along with the new carrier and an engineer he had gotten 500,000 credits in 'hush money', but I was the only person other than my dad who knows that.

His eyes narrowed and he looked at me, "how did you..." He shook his head, "never mind; let's get some grub, I'm starving!"

I nodded and together we went to one of the less packed restaurants, which were getting the most business since the station opened thanks to all the visiting parents. We were seated at a table near the back and were given drinks, my father some black coffee and a cola for me.

"So," my father said, "how's your forced labor?"

I looked at him and then realized he was talking about my training, "good actually, I've been making some friends and actually enjoying it, I scored top of my class in the fighter simulations."

He smiled, "good! You always were a good pilot, remember Olivad?"

I nodded, the Olivad system... A nebular storm had formed, knocking out piloting and zapping my father so badly he was incoherent, let alone able to pilot the ship. I had taken the controls and taken us to the nearest station, requesting emergency docking protocols due to the situation, they agreed but all they had available was an old airlock system. I steeled my nerves and tried to dock, I missed the coupling so I readjusted and tried again, the air lock mount on our ship was on the top and on the second try I had successfully made the seal; handing my father up to some medics and shutting down the ship, I stayed with him for four days.

He smiled at me, "most pilots wouldn't have been able to do what you did, they're so used to just pulling into a slot in the wall and watching as the door seals behind them and the room pressurizes."

He was quiet for a moment and a waitress came by with some food, nachos and dragon rolls, which were filled with peppers, some spices, and dragon fruit meat; a strange plant that actually grew balls of meat covered in scales, you would pluck and toss it into your fire, the scales were fire resistant but the heat would cook the meat on the inside, they were actually a delicacy in some systems but were pretty common around here.

He grabbed a nacho and dipping it into some cheese before eating it and resuming his train of thought, "any girls?"
I was about to say no, but suddenly remembered Sarah..."yeah, actually, its recent but, I like her and she likes me so..." I let the sentence hang there in the air as my father continued eating, "I'd like for you to meet her, actually." This seemed to catch him off guard and he actually choked on a chunk of Dragon roll. I smiled at him as he grabbed his cup and chugged it down, then taking mine and drinking that. He caught his breath for a moment and then looked at me, "seriously?"
I nodded and shrugged, "why not?"