Shortlisted - Day 0001
Gareth put in the order and settled back in time for the window shields to open. The cabin lit up with bright sunshine, and they looked out at a blue sky. A white and glorious field of clouds spread out below them—little of Earth was visible. Dara leaned over her armrest to get a better view.
Eventually, the pilot came on over the air to announce all was well, that they could move about the cabin. Then he remarked on the sights they would pass as they traveled over an island, then land. Gareth tuned it out, resting his head back with eyes closed.
He didn't get to rest for long. The flight attendant came with the drinks, and he passed two to Janine before receiving his own. Engrossed in her sketchpad, Dara didn't pay any mind to the zero-G juice bulb her mother placed in the cupholder.
Again, Gareth saw an angel sketched with light strokes, taking up the whole page, larger than life. She stood to one side in a flowing robe, her wings spread wide in a protective curve. The angel looked down at something from her great height, a gentle sadness upon her face. Her eyes spoke of helpless sorrow for what she gazed upon.
The face drew Gareth in, and the world around him faded to silence. He tried to take in the image, to find a connection that had meaning for him, but nothing came to mind. Yet, somehow, he felt a connection, as if he should. Unsettled by his lack of success, he broke his focus on the angel. The world became real again, and he decided he was just being foolish. Resting his head back, he glanced at Harlin who appeared to be sleeping, and decided to do the same.
Gareth became alert again at the pilot's voice announcing they were entering the landing port air space. He sat upright in his seat, blinked a few times, and looked around. Harlin was still sleeping, but when Gareth turned, he found Dara watching him expectantly. There was a second's pause as they stared at each other, then she slid her sketch device into his lap.
He gazed down at the drawing—it was complete now. The angel filled in with such detail to seem real, yet she was transparent, the stars behind her clear. She gazed down upon an ancient sailing ship. It had seven masts with sails out to catch a strong wind, sailing across an ocean of calm swells, except where the bow cut the waves. He could barely make out a man in Captain's uniform standing at the very bow, the triangular jib sails above him.
Gareth didn't know how, but he knew there was great sorrow in the Captain's heart. Maybe he got that sense from the angel's face, but he didn't think so. By the tilt of the Captain's head, he was looking to the stars, performing his duty as a captain must. Once again, Gareth looked at the sky through the transparent angel, but he didn't recognize their pattern. They were of no sky he knew of, from anywhere in the solar system.
Disconcerted at how much the drawing affected him, he decided Dara must just be a prodigal artist, and that he was being foolish to feel such emotion from a sketch. He lifted the device to hand it back to Dara, but she stopped him. She touched the pad and brought up the menu for sharing the file, then pointed at the CLEOS computer on his wrist. Gareth understood immediately and smiled at her.
"Are you sure? This is very beautiful—do you want me to have it?"
Dara nodded, and Janine, who'd been taking notice, spoke up.
"She doesn't give away her art to just anybody, so please accept it. She wants you to have it—it may mean something to you one day."
Gareth smiled at Janine. "It already means something to me." He met Dara's gaze. "Thank you so much for this. I will treasure it always."
He held his wrist device to the sketch pad, and Dara touched the transfer cue. Their two devices sent out signals, connected, then initiated the transfer.
Gareth looked at his device and noted with surprise that she had sent him two files. Pleased, he thought, maybe sometime later he would have them printed out.
The cabin speakers chimed, and the pilot announced it was time to take their seats and buckle up as they were coming in for landing.
Harlin leaned forward to look past Gareth. "This part is fun too, but we have to be quiet. We don't want everybody else to know how much fun we're having."
Dara grinned at Harlin with the pure joy of a child, but then she looked up at Gareth. When Gareth locked eyes with her, he saw knowledge beyond her years. She held her sketch up for him to see.
Once again, the lifelike detail of the beautiful artwork impressed him. Dara reached up and pulled on his shoulder, so he leaned his head closer.
"They're looking for home, but they don't know where to go," she whispered in her child's voice. "Will you help them? Will you take them there?"
Not quite sure of this question, Gareth surmised the little girl was imagining a story for her picture. He didn't want to disappoint her, so he decided to play along.
"It's my duty to help them—I'm a captain. Is this my ship?" He pointed at the sailing ship in the sketch.
Dara nodded, looking at him with a small smile and eyes that seemed to hold more knowledge than a child should.
Gareth took the smile to mean his playing along with her pleased her, so he continued, "Does my ship have a name? A good ship has to have a name, a proper name."
Dara pointed to the stern of the proud sailing ship, and Gareth looked closer. The stern had a balcony across it, and the windows behind would be the Captain's quarters, he knew. Below the balcony was carved the name of the ship, and Gareth had to squint.
'Canaisis,' it read.
Surprised, he smiled at that, but saw no reason to disagree—it was her story after all. "And these people, do you know them?" he asked.
Dara shook her head no. "But they're my brothers and sisters."
"Oh, well, in that case, I'll have to find their home. But I don't know where their home is. Can you help me find it?"
Dara nodded vigorously and pointed at the sketch.
Gareth followed her finger moving to each star behind the angel, and when she stopped, he said, "Oh, well, that's not too far away. Yes, I believe it's possible. I can definitely take them there."
"It won't be easy." She looked up at him, her voice soft with fear. "There's danger ahead."
Gareth smiled at her intense imagination.
"No true journey is without risk, but I have a good ship. I'll find their home for them, I promise."
The shuttle angled into its gentle descent, and the spell between them was broken as Dara looked around. Gareth looked past her and saw Janine smiling at him. She'd been listening intently, he realized. But with his attention now on her, she gently took the sketch device from Dara.
"We're landing, sweetheart. We have to put away anything loose so it doesn't go flying across the cabin if we run into rough winds."
Gareth nodded to Dara to let her know her mother was right. "It's one of the rules," he said.
They all leaned back in the seats as the shuttle increased its descent rate. Gareth sensed Harlin was looking at him, and turned his head to look. Harlin smiled at him.
"What?" Gareth asked.
"Nothing. I just didn't expect you to have a soft spot."
Gareth grunted. "Children are our future. I have no respect for those who don't respect that."
"Hey," Harlin lifted his hands in pacification, "I can respect that and still find your soft spot adorable at the same time."
Gareth faced forward. "As long as you don't let out that shriek again, I can live with that."
Just then, the pilot announced that they were coming into final approach pattern.
∞
Finally home.
Gareth paused with mixed feelings in front of his door. Tugging his coat with his free hand, he felt the outline of the gift box in his pocket and drew a deep breath. He raised his hand, about to knock when the door opened, and his wife met his gaze.
"Good, you're here." She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. Then she smiled briefly, but it wasn't her usual "happy-to-see-him" smile. "We need to talk." She headed for the living room.
"Wait. Is something wrong?" Confused, he closed the door behind him and dropped his duffel bag on the floor. "Linn?" He found Caitlin standing with her hand resting on the high-backed armchair, looking out the window at the view of the ocean below. "What's going on?"
Her shoulders heaved with a deep breath. "I've waited for you for most of the whole time we've been together, Gareth." Her voice was tight. "It's not easy being a captain's wife, but I felt it was worth it, that we'd have time together later. Well," she turned to face him, "I've been diagnosed with Ahron's disease. I only have—"
"You what?" Gareth stepped forward, reaching for her shoulders. "Ahron's disease? Why didn't you call me?"
She stopped him with her palm as she held his gaze, her eyes glistening but determined. "I only have a short time left. And I saw the announcement. I know it's a greater risk than any other captaincy training. But I know you, Gareth—that wouldn't be a deterrent for you."
"But I'm doing this for us, Caitlin!" Gareth blurted.
"Don't leave the program because of me," Caitlin continued as if speaking a prepared statement, as if he hadn't spoken. "I only have a short time left, so I've decided I'm not going to wait any longer to live my life. I'm leaving."
He stared at her, his thoughts frozen in shock and disbelief as she cupped his cheek, her fingers stroking his skin. "I'm sorry, Gareth. I'll always love you, but I can't do this anymore. I have to go. I have to live... before I can't. And I can't allow you to be tied to me. If you want to go on with the next phase of training, then I want you to do it. I want you to do it because I know the kind of man you are. You'll make the finest Captain there is. It's in your soul." She stepped into him, up on her toes to kiss him softly on his lips. Stepping back, she flashed him a faint, sad smile and gazed at him for a moment.
"Goodbye, Gareth. Be strong for both of us."
It was barely a whisper, but the words struck Gareth like lightning. Then she abruptly turned, grabbed her handbag from the armchair, and passed him with head bent, hiding her tears.
The echo of her words rolled like thunder through his soul as he turned to follow her with his gaze, his mouth working but unable to produce a sound. Time slowed to a crawl as the door closed, blocking his view of his wife.
The finality of the moment... so profound he couldn't think. She'd walked out on him, and he couldn't understand why.
Ahron's disease?
It took a few seconds for his mind to reboot into a cascade of questions. When did she find out? How long had she known? Why hadn't she told him? Where was she going?
It took another few seconds before he unfroze himself. He rushed to the apartment door and yanked it open to follow her, only to see her stepping into the elevator.
"Caitlin! Wait!"
She didn't turn or stop as he ran towards her. The elevator door closed before he could catch up with her. He ran past the elevator to the far end of the hallway and threw the stairway door open. Jumping the first six stairs down, he began a race to beat the elevator to the lobby floor. He knew there was no way he could descend the eight floors faster than it could, but he had to try.
He flung the door to the lobby open, just starting to breathe heavily. Looking around, he didn't see her, so he dashed to the front entrance. Through the glass doors, he saw her closing the passenger door of a vehicle before it pulled away. He raced outside but failed to catch a glimpse of the driver of the vehicle entering the main road.
Gareth's heart pounded so fast it hurt as he halted at the lot exit, but it wasn't his exertion that caused him pain. He stood there gulping air as the vehicle disappeared from sight, feeling like he wasn't getting enough, not knowing what to do next.
He couldn't think. He needed to do something, but couldn't get past the echo replaying Caitlin's words in his head.
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