Jonythan stood by the window in the library, bent slightly forward as he leaned on the railing. His eyes were fixed on some distant point within the dome, yet focused on nothing. His face was as calm as the surface of a lake, not a ripple nor motion to betray what lurked beneath. Behind him, around the fireplace, Admiral Hozera, Denton, and Gabi sat quietly, waiting for him to speak. Half a dozen armed guards were positioned against the back wall, rifles ready, also awaiting command. The only sound in the room was the crackling from the logs in the fireplace as the orange flames slowly consumed the Terran wood.
"So tell me, Admiral," Jonythan said with a whisper without turning around, "What was the real purpose of your visit today?"
"I'm not sure I understand..."
Jonythan swiveled on his feet and took a step forward, his hands clasped in front of him. His eyes danced from Gabi to Denton before they settled on the Admiral. Denton had a feeling the only reason their host hadn't already lashed out at the Admiral was because of their friendship. He suddenly found himself immensely grateful that the Admiral had come along.
"You and your intelligence friend Mr. Staxx arrived here with alarming news about my son, how my name might have been compromised and that I may be at risk. You painted a picture that truly alarmed me, my friend. Then," Jonythan said as he gestures towards Gabi, "My daughter is chased through her own home by a foreign intelligence officer for reasons unknown to me, tackled and held to the ground like she's some wanted criminal." Jonythan's voice had gradually risen as he spoke and he spit the last words out one at a time.
Denton, who had remained silent since being apprehended by the security forces and returned to the library under armed guard, gasped audibly and looked at Gabi. Daughter? Gabi was a Forsythe? He felt his mind suddenly spin in a million directions.
"I can explain," the Admiral started, his hand held up, his eyes apologetic.
"I sure hope so, Jakob," Jonythan said as he started pacing back and forth, "Because to me it appears as if you came here under false pretenses and to use our friendship to gain access to my home for reasons you were not willing to share with me." Jonythan stared at the Admiral as he finished. Denton also found himself staring at the Admiral whom he now also knew by his first name.
"Maybe your daughter can shed some light on this," Denton suggested and shot a glance towards Gabi, who avoided his look. She was, after all, the one who was implicated in this whole affair and Denton didn't feel that it was fair that Admiral Hozera should bear the brunt of Jonythan's rage. As if on cue, the Admiral shot him a thankful glance.
Jonythan halted his pacing and turned to Denton. "Gabi? Why on Earth would she be able to explain any of this? Do I need to remind you that she was the one tackled and wrestled to the floor by you?"
"She might know more about this than you think," Denton said slowly with Jonythan's glare now fixed on him. "For starters, I'd love to know what she was doing in the apartment of a missing athlete on Proxima b. Why did she assault me and why did she use diplomatic credentials to evade the authorities? Maybe she could also explain why she became the team lead for the athlete, Jarrell, that is missing?" He paused and glanced at Gabi, who refused to look at him. "Mr. Forsythe, as much as I hate to say it, your daughter is our primary lead in Jarrell's disappearance."
Jonythan's turned to Gabi, his face reddening. "Proxima b?" he said. "You've been on Proxima b?"
"Daddy, I..." Gabi started before she was interrupted by her father.
"You told me you were doing fieldwork on the surface."
"Well, I was."
"For how long? A day? How long were you on Proxima b? What on earth were you doing there anyway?"
"It's a long story," she said with a sigh.
Jonythan spread out his arms. "I've got all day," he said and walked over to his chair, sat down and took a gulp from the glass on the table next to it. He slammed the glass back down on the table. "It better be good, Gabi."
Gabi took a deep breath, exhaled and looked down at the floor. "Denton is right about everything. Almost."
"Almost?" Denton said, his eyebrows raised.
"It's true, I was there. I was the team lead for Jarrell, one of the Descent pilots. Yes, I was in his apartment, and yes, I even used my diplomatic status to get out of jail before I ran away...."
"I can't believe this," Jonythan said and rubbed his forehead. "My own daughter, caught up in criminal enterprises on a distant planet? Why?"
"That's not true," Gabi said and raised her voice. "I had nothing to do with his disappearance."
"So you say," Denton said.
"It's true. It was trying to protect him."
"Protect him?" Jonythan said and looked up, confused. "What was he to you that you felt you had to protect him? And from what?"
"Will you let me finish?" Gabi said with irritation in her voice, "Or are you just going to make up your mind about what happened and why before you know all the facts like you always do?"
Jonythan rubbed his forehead, sighed and nodded. "I'm sorry, Gabi, of course, continue."
Gabi took a deep breath, wiped a solitary tear from her eye and continued. "Some time ago, while I was reviewing the personnel files for our Mars operations, as you had asked me to do, I found an in-depth background check of Jarrell."
"Standard background check? He is our employee?" Jonythan interjected, his eyebrows raised as he leaned forward.
Gabi ignored her father's interruption and continued.
"It contained far more information about him than should be needed for a standard background check. I quickly found that he had never even applied for a job with us, anywhere. What made it stranger was that Carter had Jarell's profile in our Mars offices while Jarrell is a resident of Proxima b. That's a clear violation of our personnel protocols, even if I ignore the fact that he hadn't applied for a job."
Gabi paused for a moment and looked up at the other three and locked eyes with her father for a few seconds. As if understanding an unspoken requested, he motioned for the guards to be dismissed. They waited in silence as the room emptied of everyone except the four of them.
"I had a bad feeling Carter was up to something. You know as well as I do, daddy, that he sometimes crosses the line when he shouldn't. This seemed to fit. So, I decided to take a trip to Proxima b. I had to be sure. I checked in on the surface for my fieldwork, in case you'd check, and then traveled to Proxima b. I just had to find out why Carter was so interested in Jarrell. I know I should have told you, there just wasn't time and I know you would have argued against it."
Jonythan nodded, his facial expression much softer. "Continue, please, dear."
"Once I arrived on Proxima b, I quickly found out that Jarrell was...sorry, is... a superstar athlete on Proxima b. That made the reason for being there in the first place so much more difficult. Approaching him as a private citizen was next to impossible. I was lucky that there happened to be an opening on his team for someone to organize the new season. I must have answered the interview questions right because I was hired on the spot."
"How did you know he was in danger?" Denton asked.
"Until you showed up, I didn't. Until then, I had spent my time trying to get to know him better, learn about his family history, you know, try to find what made him so interesting to Carter."
"What did you find?"
"Not much. Mostly just your average family history. He grew up with his mom. His dad was never in the picture, so it was a bit of a rough childhood. He never seemed to want to talk about it, but he had nothing but good things to say about his mother. I could tell he really cared for her. He always spoke of her passing with sadness." She paused and took a sip of water before she continued. "He has been to Earth before, but it seemed to be more of a vacation than anything. Carter's interest in him still is a mystery to me. I can't for the life of me understand what he possibly could want with him. From what I can tell, there is no connection between them."
"How do you know he came to Earth?" Denton asked on a hunch. He remembered something from Jarrell's apartment that hadn't made much sense before, but he couldn't help but wonder if it was part of the puzzle.
"There was this travel magazine, all marked up with destinations on Earth. Verifying that he took the trips was relatively easy."
Bingo. "So you took the photo and the magazine then, from Jarrell's apartment? After you hit me on the head?"
Gabi look at Denton and then down on her hands and nodded.
"What happened to them?"
"I have the photo with me. The magazine is in my apartment," she said and retrieved the photo from an inside and handed it to Denton.
Denton held it in his hands and looked at the woman in the photo and the young boy that stood next to her. While in Jarrell's apartment, there had been little time to look closer at the couple but now, he could clearly tell that Gabi was telling the truth. It was a happy mother and son.
"Jonythan, did you ever spend any length of time on Proxima b?"
"Well, like I mentioned earlier, I've come and gone many times..."
"But for a longer stretch of time? Like several months, a year?"
Jonythan looked at Denton in silence for a few moments. Denton saw a sadness in the gaze that met his, and it was at that moment that the significance of the photo became clear to him.
"Yes, yes, I do remember. Very clearly, in fact. I was asked to fill in for the Terran ambassador until a new one could be appointed. I happened to be there on business when he suddenly passed away. A replacement took longer than expected, unfortunately. I did my duty when they called, naturally."
"I think you should take a look at this," he said as Jonythan gently took the old photo. With his elbows on his knees, he studied the photo for a few seconds and then looked back to Denton, a quizzical look on his face.
"I'm not sure I understand."
"Take a closer look at the woman in the photo, if you don't mind."
Jonythan held the photo closer and studied it while the others sat in silence. Suddenly, his facial expression changed. His eyes popped wide open, his mouth fell agape as he gasped for air and the color of his face drained. With shaking hands, he turned to Denton.
"Is this... Is this...?" he said, struggling to get the words out.
Denton nodded. "That is Jarrell and his mother. I believe Jarrell is your son."
~~~
Well, my friends, the cat is out of the bag...kind of. Could this really be true or is Denton barking up the wrong tree here?
As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts! Leave a comment and hit that vote button as you do!