NAL GHANIK MASSAGED his eyelids as he sat opposite Meilo in the small office of their apartment.
"Damn, I'll only be able to calm down when Sirid is back from his shift, calls me and tells me nobody noticed anything."
"He'll be up there for six days. You should try to calm down before that." There was a hint of ridicule in Meilo's voice.
He took it lightly and smirked at her.
"Taila will be home soon," Meilo said. "I'll make dinner."
"Let me help you," he said and they went into the kitchen.
Taila worked at a café in the RSW housing complex three afternoons a week, other than that she was in her university preparation year, studying at Hagesh's community college.
She greeted her parents with kisses on the cheeks when she came home and they soon sat at the dinner table.
"The guests in the café are talking about nothing but this Ganes Trufft thing."
Nal perked up. "What do they say?"
"Half of the guests don't believe the story. They say it must be a cover up for something else."
"Really. Why do they believe that?"
"Oh, come on, Dad, a Virtual-drama worthy love-crime on board the Gen? They're trying to cover up some FTS stuff for sure."
Meilo and Nal exchanged quick glances.
"Like what?" Nal asked.
"Like they executed two FTS spies and blame that on the third spy, Ganes. Who's now enjoying torture in the local prison three kiloclims away."
"The State of Aran doesn't torture," Nal said.
"Oh, come on, Dad, sure it does. Inquisition with another name, that's all they are."
"Wow, since when have you become so anti-government?" Meilo asked.
"Since I met this guy..." Taila grinned broadly at her parents. "And speaking of him, I'd like to go out now. I'll be back by midnight, I promise."
"Whoa, new boyfriend?" Nal asked.
His daughter grinned mischievously at him. "Maybe. He's super cute."
"Will you tell us his name?" Meilo asked.
"Not yet. I wanna test him first."
"Test, like in, testing how he's in bed?" Nal asked.
Taila giggled.
"You're on the pill?"
"Yes, Dad."
"Condoms?"
"Yes, Dad, I'm not stupid."
"I never said you were. You can bring him here anytime."
"Dad, please, I'm not gonna make love to a man in my room while you and mom are sitting in the living room next door."
"Why? Your mother and I are making love with you sleeping in your room next door."
"That's different."
"Is it?"
"You're my parents."
"So?"
Taila drank the rest of her juice, then got up.
"Where will you meet this guy, backseat of your car?"
"Gosh, Dad, no, in a hotel."
"Which one?"
"I'm not gonna tell you."
"You will, I need a place to go to to play big daddy in case you're not home by midnight."
"He's a very sweet guy and I can handle him, Dad."
"That's what Ilis Lefenn thought of Ganes Trufft, I bet," Nal grumbled.
"Dad, please."
"I'm just worried about my little girl!"
"And that's sweet of you, but I'm not a little girl anymore, but nineteen and you raised me to be a responsible, reasonable and smart young woman, for which I'm very grateful by the way, and I'll introduce you to him if he passes the test tonight. And apart from that you should get used to the thought that you won't know anymore what I'm doing twenty hours a day when I'm in Shilas at the university."
With that Taila squeezed a kiss onto his cheek, then onto her mom's, who smiled a bit sourly, and left the apartment.
"Horrible. Why didn't we have a son?" Nal asked, making Meilo laugh out loud.
"The thought that some teenage or early twenties pubertal guy with pimples all over his face is sleeping with our precious daughter is just driving me nuts."
"It's not her first time, Nal," Meilo said softly.
"I know, and yet... Holy Inquisition. Why do they have to grow up so fast?"
Meilo chuckled and started collecting dishes.
✜✜✜
Nal couldn't sleep as long as Taila wasn't home. He stayed in the living room, waiting for her, while Meilo went to bed. He indeed had no clue yet how to survive it when his daughter would be far away in Shilas. If Meilo and he managed to escape the authorities, what then? He never dared to think that far. They'd go back to Kurie of course. Maybe he should try to persuade Taila to study in Kurie instead of Shilas. But why should she? The schools in Aran had far better reputations than those in Kurie.
Nal tried to focus on his tasks and talked to headquarters in Kurie via his hand-held communicator. He found himself trying to disperse doubts that he himself still had. Doubts as to whether Sirid was in danger and whether the show around Ganes Trufft and the evacuation of the Gen had anything to do with him. He promised headquarters to report to them immediately as soon as he heard back from Sirid.
He had barely stored the communicator in its hiding place in the air conditioning unit and sat back on the sofa when Taila came home. It was ten minutes before midnight. One look into her face and a sting of worry pinched his chest.
"Hey, honey, you okay?"
"Dad, have you been waiting for me?"
"Guilty as charged."
She smiled weakly at him.
"You look awful, what happened? Come here." He patted the sofa.
She sat down next to him. He put an arm around her and pulled her to him.
"Holy Tral, did he hurt you?"
"No, Dad, I'm fine, it's just..."
"What?"
"He's an idiot."
"Why?"
"It's all right, Dad, I won't see him again."
"What did he do?"
"He wanted me to do drugs, I refused, then he called me names and said I was boring and what not... forget it. I'm done with him."
"Tell me who he is, so that I can rip his head off and stuff it up his ass."
Taila chuckled. "I most certainly won't tell you his name, Dad."
He caressed her hair and kissed it. She sighed.
"I envy mom that she managed to find a cool guy like you. I wish I'd have such luck."
"I'm not cool."
"Oh, you are. You're super cool, Dad."
"I'm a little official in Hagesh's tourist department, now how's that cool?"
"You're much more than that, Dad," she said, kissed his cheek and freed herself from his embrace.
"Good night."
"Good night, sweetheart. I'm sure you'll find a very cool guy in Shilas. It's too hot here anyway, that makes all the boys nuts."
She laughed and waved at him. He looked after her. What did she mean when she said that he was much more than a little official at Hagesh's tourist department? Surely not the FTS part of his existence? Her attitude towards him changed dramatically when she turned sixteen. Before that they always fought, after that she suddenly became daddy's girl. He presumed that was due to the fact that she discovered boys and lost her virginity at age sixteen, although she and Meilo insisted that happened at seventeen and a half. No, he was sure it happened when she was sixteen, and that experience made her look at her dad as a man rather than a father.
A shudder went through his body. He knew he'd be able to face torture and death, but he wouldn't be able to face his daughter hating him for being more than the little tourist department official of Hagesh.
Nal took a deep breath, got up, and went to bed.