Planet: Eteran

First Insurgency War

RAYAN

As before, he refused to stand by and let it happen. Instinct drove him forward at the fear and desperation on Meryn's face. I just... hate it. Just like last time, I couldn't...

Mom took him back to the house, and his words failed him. His reasoning to fight, a simple reason, and he longed to bite down on his tongue and force out the words he was too scared to say. Shadows weighed heavy underneath her eyes, and he swallowed in shame. "Mom, I'm sorry."

"Why?"

"You said I should avoid getting into fights," he reminded her, but hesitated at the gate as it slid open when she entered her ID code along with the key. "You also told me to stand up for what I believe in. I believed helping a friend was worth any punishment I got in response. From the school or from you."

Her gaze never wavered. "You are my son," she said with a soft laugh. "You're too much like me sometimes, Rayan."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"We'll discuss this more inside the property." Mom led him along the gravel path to the mansion. "I will be calling the school to discuss their idea of a punishment. You're right in that I don't think you should be punished for what happened."

No Sanctum Personnel or Elites loitered on the grounds, who quite a number of times gave James a surprise. None of them took Mom away for work. "Am I still in trouble with you though? I..." He pressed his boots into the clean floor. "That's why you moved here, isn't it? You wanted me to keep getting my education, but that was kind of hard if I was suspended from Odaport Collegiate."

"Not from me, no," Mom said. "I actually want to talk to you about something."

"What type of talk?"

The open nature of his house reminded him of the warmth of James' and Ava's. He longed for a shred of that belonging in a massive universe of which he painted the stars. I hope this surprise birthday party will help. I'm going to have to set up the cleaning bot. James warned me that Jon is the type to make a mess unintentionally.

Mom put her coat in the sliding closet. "I want you to sit down, Rayan," she instructed and gestured to the loveseat in front of the fireplace. Rayan took a seat and waited for the inevitable lecture as she turned it on, and the shred of warmth spread across his shoulders as she joined him on the couch. Her hand rested on his shoulder as her smile echoed the warmth of home. "I think I should explain to you why I don't want you getting into fights."

"I thought it was because I'd ruin Dad's image." Bitterness salted his tongue, but he kept his gaze on the flames.

Her smile tightened. "No, Rayan. You don't know your own strength."

"My own strength?" Rayan mused. "What do you mean? Why wouldn't I know that?"

"Do you remember anything about what caused your suspension of the Odaport school?"

Rayan tried to grapple with the distant past, through the starleagues between Kestra and Eteran. "I..." He frowned. "Not that well. I remember that I moved without thinking. I was so focused on what was in front of me that it's like... it carried me straight to the problem." He held out his hands, which trembled. "I had to be torn off by an Elite, right?" Memory nothing but painful fog, he frowned up at her. "The other kid got off worse than me. I gave him a broken nose."

Mom gave him a smile full of pain. "Yes." A soft sigh escaped her. "You know what I am, Rayan?"

"Is that a trick question? What do you mean?"

"As you know, I'm an Edevic Elite. I have been genetically altered through the use of the bio-element called edevium."

Rayan shifted at the emptiness in the blues. I never liked these conversations. "Okay? So? What does that have to do with me?"

"Well, when I conceived you, I passed along half of my genetic material—"

"Whoa!" Rayan slammed his hands over his ears and stuck out his tongue. "I didn't think we were segwaying into this talk! I swear, Mom, I'm not up to anything! I know how that works!"

Mom giggled. "No. I don't mean that talk." Rayan scowled when she leaned closer to him with a devious grin. "Though don't think I haven't noticed how much time you spend with James. I'm glad you're making friends."

"It's not like that!"

Her smile softened as she left his space and stared into the flames, where it sent embers across the ice. "What I mean is that since you have half of my genetic material, I've come to realise it also passed down the edevic strands which have engineered themselves into my DNA." Her hand rested on his shoulder. "You're so much stronger than most, Rayan. I don't want you to get into trouble because you could hurt others and yourself."

"Are you saying I'm..." Air escaped his lungs as he shuffled against the arm of the loveseat. "That doesn't make sense. I can't do half of the things you're capable of, Mom! I'm—Is that even possible?"

"For a time, I wasn't sure," Mom admitted. "You're nowhere near the power of a true Elite, so please, don't let what I've told you shake you."

"But I'd still be half of an Elite!" He gasped and leaped to his feet, causing Mom to follow. "James stopped me, but if I had tunnelled on the fact that Meryn needed help I might have—" His words failed him when Mom frowned down at him. "I could've hurt him?"

"James stopped you?"

Rayan nodded.

Mom released him. "Well, you have to consider a few things. One, if you were aware that it was James at the time, you could conceivably hold yourself back. On the other hand, Garrett told me James has the backline position in the Starcross team. James knew what to do when faced with what could've been a stronger opponent." Her hand rested on his back. "Rayan, after your education, I'll put you through basic Elite training for you to control the things that you are capable of."

"But—"

"Only basic training," she said with a firm tone. "Afterwards, what you want to do is up to you. If you don't mind hearing my opinion on the matter, I think you should go forward with your artwork." One quick tap on his shoulder, she nudged him out of her way. "Go on. I'll get dinner ready. We'll eat together tonight."

Rayan shambled into the basement with the weight of the truth on his shoulders. Inertia slammed to his chest when he clung onto the railing. Except... I can't do the things Mom does. I know she can phaserush without a military phaser. I've seen her lift giant metal containers without effort — and she can read people's body language with near pinpoint accuracy. Rayan slid into the art dome and down the wall, beneath the picture panel. And... I can do a semblance of all of that?

He rushed through space and time to reach Meryn, carried through the aetherium coils. He held his stomach when it tightened.

Maybe the difference isn't obvious, but it's enough.

He took one of his sketches off the worktable and shifted through the drawers for brushes and pens. In one of the corners of the pods, James' birthday present, safe from his mess. He had many projects to work on, but another took center stage and intended to finish before James and Ava's birthday; her wolven mark.

He changed the settings on the panel for a mood shift and adjusted his easel. He tapped one of the small ports on the side, and locked in his sketch to get to work. Instinct dictated the stroke of his path instead of the strict lines he placed for a guide. Space never defined itself by rules. It upturned the lines of what they knew of their astral landscape. Surrounded by an expanse with no visible borders he added some touch ups to the painting he longed to perfect for someone who showed him the warmth he couldn't find on Odaport.

Time slipped out of his grasp, and when the door opened, he turned.

James.

Rayan left his tools behind to rush for James, who gave a start when he clasped his shoulders. "I thought you were home."

"Bold of you to assume I'd want to be around for dinner," he joked. "I ate and rushed over. I..." James left his inching fingers when he tried to investigate the spot the bully threw his fist into. "I have to make up for... how I've been acting. Ava won't let me hear the end of it." He moved around him, datacam in hand while his attention settled on the easel. "She's going to love it, Ray."

Rayan tipped his head. "How'd you get in?"

James shrugged. "Not with my dad's keys, if that's what you're wondering. Your mom let me in."

A smile grew on his lips as he gazed at James, who studied his unfinished painting of the wolf's protective fury. "You're always welcome here, James," he pointed out when James switched back to him, and he jolted with the memory of Mom's devious grin and he flushed with the heatwave. "You, and Ava, of course." He frowned when James took interest in the floor. "I..." He grasped onto James' arm. "I'm sorry for what happened earlier. If you hadn't held me back I don't know what would've happened. If I hurt you—"

"You? Hurt me?" James barked out a laugh. "Oh, please, Ray, I've had to stop people larger than you in Starcross. Actually, I was curious about your phaserush. I didn't know you had one — I've always wanted to try." Rayan winced and took shelter by his painting, and James' smile died on his lips. "Did I say something wrong?"

"No." Rayan let it go.

He half-expected James to continue with his questions, but his shoulders slumped instead. "Well. Ava went to bed, but I'm not tired. There's still a lot of day left if you... want to do something."

"Is she okay after what happened?"

James' empty expression shifted into curiosity and a level of uncertainty. "She's... fine."

Voices upstairs dragged him from James' strange shift of behaviour. Rayan placed his tools into the proper pod compartments and led James out of the dome and through the basement. In the foyer, Mom spoke with an all too familiar individual, outside, a couple of Sanctum Personnel stood on the porch.

Dad.

Hair as black as his own with their shared golden brown eyes. Rayan scowled at his older mirror, and Father nodded at him. "Rayan."

Rayan pressed his lips together and folded his arms. "Dad," he hissed through his teeth but refused to look up at him and stared at Mom. "You're home."

"For a moment, I had to stop by due to the Senator giving a speech in the city," Father pointed out.

Rayan ignored him. "Mom, is dinner almost ready?"

"Soon," Mom said with a smile at James. "Are we having a guest join us for dinner?"

"I already had dinner, Mrs. Falae." James released an awkward, almost pained laugh, and Rayan jolted when James turned to him with a hollow smile. "You know what? I'll just talk to you later. Tomorrow. You know where I'll be if you change your mind. It's not like I'll be doing anything else."

Change my mind? What?

Space and time slowed to a crawl as James retreated. Rayan dropped his hand to try and grab James', to never let him get away. It proved against him when his fingers drifted with a slight breath on his, but James made no sign of acknowledging the contact between them when he escaped the foyer and ran out the front door.

He rested his hand against his side, unable to make James stay. Both tucked into his sweater pockets, he rubbed them against the fabric.

"So," Father said when James disappeared into the dark. "I heard you got into a fight at school."

"It's not like you know anything about it." Rayan turned his back on the Vice Senator and headed to the dining room and ignored the weary expression on his parent's faces. His burst of freedom escaped with James, between an outstretched hand. I just wanted to have dinner with Mom. Dad always ruins my appetite for anything. I know Mom wants me to try but... he's always dragged away from work, what's the point? Mom actually puts in effort to be around for me...

He sat at the table. Awkward tightness crushed his sides between Mom and Dad. He ate his food while the two discussed Mom's plans for him after his school quad along with his improving grades. Hilarious with the extra hindsight. Mom could lift me and Dad both without struggling.

Yet, she continued to choose the longer, harder course for someone with her abilities. Abilities which awed him when he was a child. It sent a dash of fear with age at what she could've gone through for those powers. Mom never described the process, and his imagination made it worse.

"Rayan," Dad asked. "You want to tell me what happened at school?"

"One of my friends was getting bullied." Rayan glared at him and refused to feel ashamed. "I punched the guy pushing him around." Guilt washed through his heart when Mom rubbed the bridge of her nose and broke his steadfast thoughts. Her lack of interruption caused him to falter, but Dad's next words sent him into a rage.

"Fighting won't always work, Rayan."

"And what was I supposed to do?" Rayan snapped out of his chair and slapped his hands on the table. "You expected me to sit back and watch like you do? I'd rather be punished and help someone from their pain than sit on my ass and watch people suffer!"

"I only meant you could've gone to a teacher."

"Oh! That worked so well last time," Rayan bit. "Let me waste my time telling a teacher when my friend is getting kicked around like a ball! You want to know what happened when I tried it your way, Dad? I told my side of the story, and it didn't matter!" Rayan trembled, and ignored Mom's hand on his shoulder. "We all got in trouble — including the kid who got bullied." He left Mom's calming hand and threw his own into the air. "You don't tell me what I should and shouldn't do. You're never around, and quite frankly, I don't accept your view of it. You say fighting doesn't always work? I say sometimes that's the only thing I can do at the moment."

He gave neither of his parents a chance to break apart his argument as he swiped his half-eaten plate of food and rushed out of the dining room. In his room on the second floor in his other place of solace, he forced himself to eat and turned on his I-Screen to distract himself from his own outburst.

Mom's expression of exhaustion and stress haunted him.

I didn't mean to upset her. Frustration made him stab his knife into his food. It's not like he's going to be home for more than an hour. He sighed, then examined the telescope on his balcony. One thing where his use of it dwindled while he focused on his drawings and art.

His gift to the universe.

I think I know someone who will find a use for it.