Tiff, Matty, and I returned to Earth and left the rest of the crew to do some grinding before we started our journey to Boutelerien to meet with Calista and her goons. Natasha was working on tracking Elvis’s signal and also confirmed that she believed she could get a secure message to Red so he would know we were coming soon. More importantly, we needed to let Kindo and Matthias know. Those two wouldn’t take kindly to Calista showing up at big T.D.s unannounced, and I needed them to let this happen without the threat of violence.

  We all exited the Tower portal outside of our semi-permanent FOB. After returning from Boutelerien, I decided this would be our most logical home base while we helped Earth rebuild. We spent a lot of time on the Bloodhound, but there were times that we needed to be on the surface for extended periods, and I could count on the locals from Dawes Hill to make sure nobody trespassed into our space.

  Dad assigned people I would trust to monitor the FOB in shifts. They were all family and knew that nobody would get into the base without a fight. Honestly, there wasn’t much there for them to steal, but it gave me peace of mind nonetheless. I exited the portal to see my brother-in-law, Tommy, sitting on a UTV in front of a gated fence that had been built around our base of operations.

  “What up, Son!” I called as I walked toward him. Tommy and I had been close for years; our greetings were always the same, regardless of whether it was appropriate or not. We were teenagers when we met, and we would be teenagers to each other forever.

  “What up, Son!” Tommy returned our designated greeting with a fist bump. “You do a lot of killing there?”

  “Some, we had to cut it short, though. We have an unexpected trip to go on.”

  “Everything good?” Tommy asked, leaning against the fence.

  “Is anything ever good anymore?” I replied.

  “Ah, I don’t know, son. We all made it through the worst of it intact. I got my place, my family, I’ve had worse days, for sure.”

  “Hey Uncle Andy!” My nephew Trey ran up, followed by his two little brothers, Hunter and David.

  “Tracy!” I yelled, “Still got fat legs, I see.” His name wasn’t Tracy, and his legs were fine, but I was set on convincing him otherwise. Hey, he was a teenager, and I was his uncle; it was my job to humble him at every given opportunity.

  “Why are you the worst?” Trey asked, shaking his head.

  “Did you want something, or did you see something shiny and couldn’t help running toward it?” I joked.

  “Are you ever gonna take us up to the Bloodhound?” Trey asked as his brothers crowded around excitedly.

  “Hey, Ms. Tiff,” David offered with a blush.

  “Hey there, David,” Tiff replied with a smile. “Don’t let your uncle give you boys too hard a time now. Remember, I’ve seen him scream like a little girl on multiple occasions, don’t let his fancy armor fool you.”

  “AHH, I knew it!” Trey erupted. “Still the same ol sissy you always were!”

  I walked up to him, equipped my armor, and summoned my Black Hole Daggers. “Wanna test that theory, Tracy?” I said menacingly as he looked up into my black visor.

  Trey and his brothers drew in closer, determined to protect each other before Trey shouted, “Look! A Lizard!”

  I turned my head, assuming I would see a Lacertine approaching. Trey took his moment, and with every bit of strength in his little fat leg, he kicked me in the balls. I groaned, grasped at my crotch, and fell to my knees. David and Hunter chuckled maniacally, shoved me to the ground, and kicked me in the head before turning and bolting back to the village.

  “Ugghhh,” I moaned. “Why did that actually still hurt?!”

  “I am afraid that is my fault,” Ses said in my head. “I sensed no danger and therefore did not secure the armor completely. Lesson learned. Your nephews appear to be deviants, Captain Dawes.”

  “Ha, they got you good, Son!” Tommy chortled. Those boys are fighters, they are gonna be okay, whatever happens in this world.”

  I stood up, my hands on my knees as I exhaled and inhaled intently, trying to regain my composure. “They weren’t even a little scared, were they?”

  “Nah, they know you love ‘em,” Tommy said, watching his boys run down the path back to the village, laughing and horsing around. “They also know you love to pester and have been planning to get you back for some time. You kind of brought it on yourself, to be honest.”

  “They don’t know the full extent of what you did, Andrew.” Tommy turned and looked at me. “I hope they never have to know, and they will only have that because of what you and your friends did.”

  “Peace is expensive, Tommy,” I said softly.

  “I know, but you paid the price, and I’ll never forget you for it, Andrew.”

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  “Have you seen Dad lately?” I asked. “I need to talk to him about this trip.”

  “Yeah, he was up on the hill this morning trying to show Brad how to grease the bearings on that new tractor.”

  “Brad is still around?” I asked, surprised.

  “Yeah, believe it or not. Even with Earth getting back to some sense of normalcy, there is no Hollywood anymore. Your dad has kind of taken him under his wing and is helping him get plugged in at the E.G.O. They have tossed around the idea of making him an ambassador or something, and figured since he had access to Captain Andrew Dawes’s father, that he should probably just sit tight for now.”

  I looked toward the settlement. “You trust him?” I asked Tommy.

  “Yeah, he’s a decent guy. Dumb as a box of rocks, but when you made your living with your face for so many years, you don’t exactly need to rewrite the theory of relativity.”

  “Fair enough.” I shook Tommy’s hand. “We are gonna be in for about a day. The rest of the crew will be coming through in the next day or so. After that, we will be gone for a while, I don’t know exactly how long, but a while.”

  “!0/4. You probably need to go see your Mom before you leave. She’s been worrying about you and Michael nonstop, which means that I have to hear about it from Misty nonstop. If you could help a brother out, I’d appreciate it.”

  “I got you, bro. I’ll see her before I get out of here.” I slapped Tommy on the shoulder and took off toward the village with Tiff.

  “Yo, Cap!” Matty shouted from the door of the HAB. “Im gonna prep the Pup and then get some shuteye before we take off. Let me know when you get the details on that meeting with EGO.”

  “Will do, Matty. We’ll be back shortly.

  A few minutes later, we arrived at the village, and I saw my dad in a field on the southwest corner with Brad, working on the tractor.

  “Hold that son of bitch, Brad!” He grumbled as Brad strained to hold the control arm of a brush hog as they attached it to the rear of the tractor.

  “I can’t get it aligned and in the hole, Mr. Dawes!” Brad complained.

  “Well, for all that fancy hair and that perfect jaw line, you are still as worthless as tits on a boar hog, Brad. Get out of the way and let me do it.”

  “Hey, Dad! Need some help?” I shouted as we approached.

  “Son! Good to see you again so soon. You all ended your trip early?” Dad took a rag from the bib on his overalls and wiped his hands before turning to Brad. “Finish up here, Brad. We still have to get these five acres tilled up.”

  “But the control arm?” Brad moaned.

  “Jesus Christ, Brad! Just figure it out!” Dad shouted as he left Brad to the tractor maintenance.

  “Tiff, you still haven’t come to your senses, I see.” Dad reached out and gave Tiff a soft hug.

  “Well, I’m still weighing my options, but I guess I’ll stick around for a while longer,” Tiff replied with a smile.

  “What made you cut the training short, son?” Dad asked as he shook my hand.

  “Something big came up, Dad. I need to meet with the E.G.O., and then we are heading off planet for a while.”

  “Why the sudden change of heart? I passed on your message, and they weren’t very happy about it, to be honest, son. What changed?”

  “A lot, Dad,” I said with a shake of my head. “I told you there were things out there in the galaxy that even I wasn’t ready to face. Well, I’m about to face those things anyhow. I figured it was only right to let EGO know.”

  “It’s the E.G.O. son, not EGO. You know that. Okay, I can set a meeting. I’m assuming this is a virtual meeting?”

  “No, Dad. As much as I hate it, it needs to be in person. We can take the Pup and be there in a few hours, as soon as you get ready.”

  “Hell, I’m ready now. I work for a living, and it does them all some good to see that. I’ll ping them when we’re enroute.”

  “Fair enough. I’m gonna have Tiff and Matty with us, Dad, just so you know.”

  “That’s your call, Son, but it could cause some uneasiness with the other representatives. No offense, Tiff. You know I love you, but some of the representatives are still unsure about,” He motioned around above his head, “Extraterrestrial life forms.”

  “No offense taken, Mr. Dawes. I would say, however, that they better get used to it. Humans are a small fish in a big pond, and right now, Andrew is the only thing keeping them at bay.”

  “Fair point.” Dad looked at me, “You know she is too good for you, son. Right?”

  I looked at Tiff and smiled, “I tell myself that same thing every day, Dad.”

  “Good. The day you stop is the day I put a knot on your head, boy.” He laughed, and we all headed toward the Pup. Toward a meeting with the new bureaucrats of Earth, and all the plans and machinations they had for the Bloodhound and me.