Lies and Manipulation

Chapter 36 - Answers (Year 5620)

A’dan stared at the screen, watching as Tlas fighters circled the station. Ra’nun’s plan worked. The Tlas fighters were stalled in space for close to two and a half hours, more than enough time to get the shield up. Now, Tlas settled around the station TK7 as best they could, creating a blockade that  virtually cut TK7 off from the rest of the galaxy.

He exhaled wearily. He couldn’t even talk to Marie, though he felt certain she knew what Tlas planned now. Dr. Tzel said that she needed rest and quiet. If possible, he would have liked to send her to Karit proper. According to Dr. Tzel, she was suffering like someone who had a deep loss, but he could not say what the cause of the loss was. Obviously, Dr. Tzel suspected it could be from the fact that the attack did not go as planned. A’dan suspected it might be more. Either way, it didn’t matter. Marie was off limits to him.

In the meantime, he had enough worries. Since Tlas decided to attack TK7, the base needed a senior officer on the bridge at all times in case something happened. A’dan also still had his duties of maintaining positive relations with those trapped on TK7 as well as sifting through intelligence. At the moment, he sat on the bridge as the duty officer and thought  about how he could possibly get TK7 free. The fact was that Karit did not have a large military force was a large reason for militarizing TK7.  Even now, they did not want to send ships for, they said, TK7 should be able to hold on. Hold--yes--but stop Tlas any time soon--no. 

His phone beeped quietly. A’dan pulled it out and, to his surprise, discovered that it was a message that held the school records he requested a few days before. At least he could solve one problem.  

A’dan brought up the records and searched the system for the exact birthday of the girl he met so long ago in that small store. It was a long shot, he still knew that, but he had to try something. The search turned up one result: Marie Vanhill. 

For a long moment, A’dan stared at the picture of the young girl he remembered. He could see it now pretty clearly; in some ways, he had been blind not to see it before. The same dark eyes. The same solemn expression. How could he tell Ra’nun though?  Out of all of the possible searches Ra’nun had done over the years--and A’dan knew he had done many--Ra’nun must never have searched for the last name he bore only a few months while he waited for the radiation storms to come. 

Cripes! He had been questioning his niece! 

A’dan took a slow breath to steady himself, then opened her file and skimmed for the things Ra’nun would want to know. Things like--Char gave her up when she was six for no explanation. Marie had been living in foster care even when he met her. He’d know if she stayed there her whole life once he got her Tlas intelligence  file. Only two logged complaints of abuse in the past year--the small number surprised A’dan--and both cleared by her foster worker. That bothered him. It had been clear as day that that girl had been abused in some way when he met her. She was also practically failing school and marked as having a medical condition caused by a brain tumor. He’d have to look into that at some point in time too. 

Still--Marie was Ra’nun’s daughter. Plain as day. How could he even explain this one to Ra’nun, let alone his superiors on Karit? How did something like this even happen? 

“You are bothered, Major,” the communications operated commented softly.

A’dan nodded even as he pulled tighter control on his shields. “Family matter.” 

“Is it pressing?” 

A’dan considered a moment, then shook his head. “I change shifts in an hour. One hour will make no difference on this.” The damage had already been done.

The man nodded and A’dan leaned back in his chair. 

Even though A’dan said one hour wouldn’t make any difference, he was not certain that he had ever experienced a longer hour outside of major family events--like his children’s births. It dragged on forever as A’dan’s mind ran around the whole situation with Marie, the baby, TK7 and the war. By the time he was finally relieved, he could not wait to get down to his apartment and see Ra’nun. He, however, did not expect to receive a notice of the DNA test as he rode the elevator down. While he did not need the test to tell him what he discovered, it did confirm it. 

Marie was, without a doubt, Ra’nun’s daughter. The one both of them had believed dead for the past thirteen years. And probably would have continued to think as such if she didn’t come here.

A’dan found Ra’nun just leaving his apartment. “Ra’nun.”

Ra’nun turned; never before had A’dan seen his brother’s face so haunted. It was almost as if Ra’nun saw a ghost and didn’t know how to respond.

“You know,” A’dan said softly.

“She’s--she’s my daughter,” Ra’nun whispered. 

A’dan nodded. 

“How long--have you know?”

“About an hour. I would have come sooner but I was on duty.” 

Ra’nun ran a hand through his hair. “What am I to do?”

A’dan considered a long moment. He normally had such a ready answer to so many problems, but this time, he just didn’t know. There was no easy answer. This wasn’t a normal problem anyone dealt with. “I--I don’t know,” he finally admitted. “What do you want to do?” 

Ra’nun sighed. “Part of me wants to rush down and see her right away. Part of me is terrified. What if she hates me? I should have found her, A’dan, shouldn’t have I?”

Slowly, A’dan shrugged. “Did you--ever look for Marie Vanhill?” 

Ra’nun stared at him. “Char gave her my name?”

A’dan nodded. 

“What--would she do that for? She was always so--independent. So determined not to be held back. That was why I worried that I couldn’t get her to come to Karit. She would have thought she could do everything herself.” Ra’nun rubbed his cane’s top absently. “If--if she is Char’s daughter too, then, how--what--?”

“Char gave her up,” A’dan said softly. “Probably a couple weeks before you showed up there.” 

Ra’nun stared, horrified, before he shook his head. “She said she was dead. How--“

A’dan shook his head. “Sometimes our lies do become our truths.”

“I could have gotten her though!” Ra’nun snapped. “I could have taken her home with me--to Karit. Where she would belong.”

A’dan considered slowly then shook his head. “My brother, what’s done is done. We can do nothing now but move forward.”

Slowly, Ra’nun exhaled. “Can I--see her? At least?  I don’t need to speak with her. I just--I’ve never even seen my--daughter.”

A’dan exhaled slowly. “I don’t know. Since she had the baby, I haven’t been allowed near her. Probably still won’t be.” 

Ra’nun looked stunned for a long minute, then slowly shook his head. “That makes me a grandfather.” He gave a half laugh. “I’m far too young for that.” 

“Perhaps. But it is what it is.” A’dan smiled a little.

“Can we at least--try? To see if I can get to see her? I don’t know if I want to yet but--I want to know she’s safe. And okay.”

A’dan nodded slowly. “We can at least give it a try.” He doubted they could get much more than an update though, truth be told. Dr. Tzel was typically pretty stubborn once he set his mind to something. But A’dan would do anything to get that terrified look out of his brother’s eyes.