Invasive Species
Chapter 6

Jumping back as he narrowly avoided being hit by a passing vehicle, David shook his head trying to bring himself back into the present. He had been walking the streets of Toledo, a medium-sized city on his home planet of Zuhause for nearly an hour, and now found himself on Main Street. Across the park he could see the warm lights and hear the soft banter of patrons pouring out of Gholardi’s bar and Grill; his favorite place to end his days, and his current destination.

As he walked along the reflecting pool that made up most of the park, he breathed deeply the aroma wafting from the 30 meter high, 90 meter wide man-made waterfall that fed it. By the time he reached the side street that ended in the establishment, the butterscotch colored stone behind the falls took on a bright amber glow in the setting sun; it seemed to turned molten hot, but still failed to evaporate its wet glaze. He stood there for a moment, taking in the relaxing mid fall spectacle before walking through the establishment’s propped-open door.

Before David reached the bar, the proprietor, Mike, had his usual ready: a tall glass of auburn liquid named the Madison Crawl, so named after the street the bar sat on and the method the consumer usually used to get home, glowing in the recessed lighting. David moaned as his red skinned palms wrapped around the frosted glass, soothing away hours of wear and tear.

David spent his days traversing the wilderness that surrounded the mountainside city, hiking and climbing until he was near exhaustion, then found himself in the bar before retiring to a hotel nearby. Money had never been a concern for David, having constructed his own stellar energy panel from scrap parts at age 7. It was an inefficient piece of junk, to be generous, but 11 years of earning energy credits without the need to spend any, he had accumulated enough to maintain his current lifestyle for years.

Outside employment was a pursuit only for the bored, the materialistic, and the intellectual idealists. Those who wished to fulfill the needs of humanity that were not labor-intensive, but still needed human imagination and intuition. Perfection of energy-matter conversion, and the energy based currency that resulted from it, had ensured that nearly anyone could provide for their own basic needs and creature comforts without ever leaving home.

Unfortunately for David, there was no work on Zuhause that interested him. Though his wealth remained enough to keep him alive, it was not enough to reach his biggest goal of leaving his home star as a bright speck in the distance.

“I’ll have what he’s having,” a voice said from beside him. David had been subconsciously aware of the sound of crumpling leather as someone slumped into the stool to his left, but it was the voice of the stranger that sent his heart into his throat.

It was not the voice of a stranger at all, but that of his own father. David knew it could be no coincidence, but his father focused solely on the liquid being poured into his glass, as if it was his sole purpose for being 50 miles from home on the wrong side of the mountain.

“You wanna open a tab, Mister...Cole?” Mike asked after the ID card had been flashed in front of the scanner.”

“No thanks, and you can call me William,” David’s father replied. William gave a satisfied smile as the red garnish was added to his drink, giving the impression of a drop of blood sinking in a thick strand through honey.

David could hardly contain a smirk at his father’s insistence at the use of his first name from a man he didn’t know, and would likely never meet again. William was an oddity in this era. He despised formality, and tried to befriend everyone he met. He always told David that generations of living on different worlds had caused humanity to forget that they were all still the sons and daughters of Mother Earth. An odd sentiment from a man who had spent his young adult years fighting against Earth, but other than his old, leather military jacket, nothing about him spoke to his years as a soldier.

“Your mother’s been worried,” William said without looking over. His tone was neither condescending nor accusatory, something that David had always appreciated about his father. William always respected David’s independence, and rarely demanded anything from him, especially when he reached adulthood.

“But not you,” David replied.

“Never. I know you can handle yourself.”

There was a long pause as they both nursed their drinks, before a thought occurred to David. “How did you replace me?”

“Your mother hired a private investigator. You know, so we’d have a body to bury,” William answered with a chuckle, referring to his wife’s tendency to jump to the worst possible conclusions. “When the investigator finally found you, she insisted I check on you myself.”

“And drag me home?”

“I’m sure she would like that, but you know I wouldn’t try.”

“Right. So she was that worried?”

“Well, you did vanish without a word to us or your friends.”

David grimaced and took a swig from his glass. “What friends?”

William nodded and scratched his belt length beard. He seemed mildly surprised by the response, but had apparently pieced it together, because he didn’t challenge it. He caught David’s eyes in the mirror behind the bar before he spoke again. “David, I truly do understand how you feel after losing the woman you love like that. And, I get everything you’re doing because of it. But I would like to dispense some advice if you’ll hear me out.”

David took another swig, and pursed his lips before he answered, “Always.”

“I’m not going to tell you that coming home will do you any good. I don’t even believe it would. What I can tell you is that no matter how far you run, no matter how much distance you put between yourself and home, that won’t help you either. Time will help, but that will only get you so far. If you don’t face what happened and accept it, this feeling of loss will follow you to the grave.”

David turned towards him. “I guess I know that. It’s just too much to be around the places and people that remind me of her. Even on this side of the mountain, I’m reminded of it a little too often. If I could, I would be on the other side of the territory by now, or farther.

“I know, son. That may even make it a little easier. But in the end, the only way to truly escape it, is to admit that chapter of your life is over.”

“And if I don’t?”

“Sounds like a miserable existence to me. But then, some people are most satisfied in misery, and still make a great life out of it. Either way, it’s not my place to tell you what to do, including being happy, but I do feel is my responsibility to make sure you know how to get there if you want to.”

“I appreciate that, Dad.”

William stood from his stool and pulled his jacket tightly around his shoulders. “I understand if you don’t stop by to visit, but your mother would appreciate if you let her know how you’re doing every once in a while. I would like it too.”

David nodded. “I’ll try to do a better job of that.”

“Good. Well, I’m going to catch the transport back home before your mother sends a search party for me too. It was good to see you, Son.”

“Yeah, you too, Dad.”

William grabbed David’s shoulder and squeezed firmly with a smile. The look on his face told David that he knew and accepted that David may never step foot in his hometown again. There may have been some sadness behind that smile, but it was buried by William’s dedication to letting his son be his own man.

William left without another word and David stared at his own drink as the red garnish lost its distinguishable color and form to the rest of the liquid in the glass. He was preparing to take another swig when his attention was drawn to the hologram above the bar. Whatever sporting event he had been ignoring till now had been replaced by an ad. It announced itself with the anthem of the Bellefonte territory alliance, and the spinning image of a nondescript man in a blue uniform with the address of the local government recruitment office flashing across his chest. The voice-over was announcing an exciting opportunity for new customs officers at the Orion shipping hub in the Akers system; a dim star at the very edge of the territory… the other edge.

The pieces fell together in David’s head, not so much gently and one at a time, but all at once with a dull thud. He realized that the ad had come to him as if by divine providence, giving him the opportunity to get everything he wanted most at that moment. New scenery, new people, extra income, and a free ride off-planet.

He hurriedly grabbed his wrist comp, widening his eyes and trying to see through the blur of the alcohol. Scanning the hologram, his wrist comp was loaded with the official application, which was automatically filled in with his personal information. He tapped the submit button with a smile, and swigged the last of his drink before leaning over the bar.

“Hey, Mike! Go ahead and close my tab.”