Package

99 AE

Lucerana

Prevailia

Alexander Bloodworth

Package

 

                “I don’t understand, you told us we didn’t have a father,” says my sister.  I am too confused for words.  I hold a little glass marble in my hand, a present from a father I didn’t know I had.  To be fair, it came via package.  I’m still not sure if this Jerry D. Bloodworth exists. 

                “Well, I’d say he exists at least from the biological stand point,” replies Max, “Someone had to contribute to your genes.”  My uncle raised Alicia and myself for as long as I care to remember.  Our mother died when we were newborns, and until now, we knew nothing of our father. 

                “What does the letter say?” I ask, still examining the little marble in my hands.

                “I’m getting to it,” answers Alicia, pulling the paper out of the envelope.  “’Dear Alex, Alicia, and Maxwell,’” she reads, “’I apologize for not contacting you sooner.  It was your mother’s wishes that I would not intervene in your lives in any way, and I hoped to honor her wishes.  Unfortunately, events are unfolding that force me to break that promise.  I have watched both you grow as the years have gone by, and now, twenty-five years since I last saw you, the least I can say is I am proud.  Maxwell, my brother-in-law, I thank you for looking after my children when I could not.  You have succeeded well in becoming a general in the Prevailian army.  Second in command to Hogarth Smith is quite an accomplishment.  Alex and Alicia, I only wish that I could have been there for you all those years.  You make me proud that you have already found success in your professional lives.  You are considered Lucerana’s top detectives in the LPD.  However, it is unfortunate that things are about to change.  I have foreseen, but been unable to stop, ominous events in the future.  These are inevitable. The dominoes have already started to fall and the three of you are likely to play key roles in this planet’s future.  The contents of this package are to help you in these future endeavors.  The glass orbs I have sent you are powerful.  They are called ECD, or Elemental Control Devices.  They give you control over unique aspects of the immediate environment.  This control links directly to your thoughts.  There are three in the package, one for each of you.  I encourage you all to test them out and learn how to use them.  They will be advantageous to your struggles in the future.  Please continue to make me proud, Jerry D. Bloodworth, CEO, Polemos Corporation.’”

                “Did you say that right?” I ask in disbelief, “Polemos?”

                “The whole thing’s written here on official Polemos paper,” Alicia answers, waving the letter.  She hands it to me, “See, look, it’s got the official seal and everything.”  I grab the paper and glance it over.  Sure enough, the fancy stationary was from Polemos Corporation.  The grand seal at the top, a capital Greek letter omega.   The banner across the front of it reads ‘Polemos Corp.’ 

                I turn to Max, “Our father is in charge of the Prevailian Armies top weapon provider, and you never told us?” I ask, “I have a feeling that’s something you would know, considering you’re a Prevailian General and all.”

                Max stands up from his chair at the table.  Wearing his full military uniform, his six foot stature made him out to be intimidating.  Knowing my uncle, he would never harm anyone without good reason.  “The last thing your mother asked me was to keep you as far away from your father as possible,” he answers.  Max is serious, something he usually saves for work.  He is lighter hearted than this with us.

                “That doesn’t mean you had to neglect telling us he existed,” says Alicia, now standing to face him.  My twin sister, while dwarfed by Max’s stature, I feel is more intimidating.  Her cold blue eyes create an icy stare.  I would be able to tell she's upset even if she wasn’t so vocal about it. 

                “I felt that it was better for you not to know,” replies Max.  This conversation is reaching a boiling point.  He looks down at his watch.  “We can talk about this later.  I am going to be late for work.” 

                “You can believe there’s going to be a long conversation tonight,” Alicia answers back, but Max is already out the apartment.  The door closes behind him.  I look down at my watch.  8:15 am.  He left fifteen minutes earlier than usual.  He just didn't want to talk right now.  “Can you believe this?” Alicia asks me, “Please tell me you're confused as well.”

                “You don’t need to ask me that question,” I answer.  Alicia and I are what you would consider close.  We are close for twins if that illustrates the point further.  We stuck together in school, attended the same university, and followed each other into the same profession.  Out of everyone I have ever met, she is the closest person to me.  She knows my feelings, and I know hers. 

                “Well do you at least think it’s real?” she asks.

                “My guess at the moment is that it’s legit, but you know as well as I do that things aren’t always what they seem.  We wouldn’t be such great detectives if we didn’t know that,” I reply. 

                Alicia sits down again, beside me at the table.  She is deep in thought, as I expected.  This is a lot to talk about.  I take a sip of my coffee.  It’s no longer hot, rather, luke-warm at best.  In all the excitement over our surprise package, I forgot I even had coffee.  Now it’s cold.  I hate wasting coffee. 

                I stand up with my cup, walk over and pour it down the sink.  “Why was Max so defensive about everything?  That’s not like him.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen him like that.  Ever,” says Alicia, holding her head in her hands. 

                “You have to remember that our mother was his sister,” I reply, walking back to rejoin her at the table, “It’s clear that the reason we didn’t know of our father until today is because something went wrong.  How would you feel if I asked you the same thing before I died?  Not that I have any children, or anything.”

                “Ha! You and girls? You’ve always been too picky,” she jests, forcing a smile.  It’s not that I haven’t had the opportunity.  It’s that I haven’t particularly enjoyed the opportunities that present themselves.  Through our school years, Alicia and I were always young for our class because we ended up skipping a few grades.  That didn’t stop the girls that were my age from, as Alicia puts it, ‘swooning’ over me.  I’m not some sort of intellectual snob or anything.  The ones without smarts were the ones with enough courage to make the first move, and the ones with the smarts, lacked the courage.  On top of that I’m not one to look.  As much as I have felt like a piece of meat, I never felt like giving one wolf the victory was appealing.  I just tended to remove myself from the situation.

                “That’s because I haven’t met anyone you wouldn’t scare off,” I reply.

                “Ha ha, very funny,” she states, falling back into her chair, bringing her mood with her. 

                “Look,” I begin, “I know I would do anything you asked me to do with sincerity.  If it was the last thing ever you asked me to do before dying, you can bet I would be furious if something prevented me from carrying out your wishes.”

                Alicia turns away from me.  She’s holding back tears.  “I know, you don’t need to tell me,” she starts, “it’s just, I always looked around at all the kids and saw them with their parents.  I was always jealous.  I mean, Max is great, he raised us, but his work was always in the way when we were growing up.  You were the one thing I had to hold on to, to keep telling me I needed to keep going.  I always assumed that if our parents were around, we would be one happy family.  I always assumed our father was dead as well, and you know what they say about assumptions.”

                “I can relate,” I state, “But whatever made our mother decide that it would be better for us never to know we had a father is in the past now.  We don’t even know what that was.  From the sounds of it, this Jerry D. Bloodworth cared enough about our mother to honor her wishes for at least twenty-five years.”

                Alicia is silent.  I know she agrees with me, at least in thought.  Her heart still appears to be struggling with the concept though.  “We don’t have any pending cases at the moment.  Take the day off.  I’ll go in and tell them you’re under the weather.  If I have nothing to work with by noon, then I’ll come back and we can chat some more.”  She still doesn't respond, but I know she accepts the offer.  I stand up and walk over to the door, grabbing my coat.  I’m halfway out the door when I am interrupted. 

                “Thank you,” mumbles Alicia, looking up at me from the table with her glassy blue eyes. 

                “Just nominate me for brother of the year,” I reply as I shut the door behind me.  Our shared apartment is modest but not by size or quality.  The fact is alone each of the three of us could afford something much more extravagant.  We’re just content with what we have. 

                Alicia and I still live with Max, not because we need to, we just want to.  He is our family, as small as a family we have.  Max says it’s good for him as well because it cuts down on his philandering.  He is a high ranking general and his style of philandering doesn't involve women.  Unfortunately, society isn't fully behind a gay man leading an army.  I always wonder if it’s why Max isn’t first in command of the troops. 

                I make my way down the hallway, past the other apartments, down the stairs, and out the door.  Winter is approaching, and it’s been a cold November so far.  Not that the month has anything to do with the season.  The calendar is just an outdated invention to remind us that this is not our first planet.  The twelve month calendar worked great back on Earth, but there is no Earth anymore, and there hasn't been for four hundred years.  Salvation is twice as close to a star that’s half as bright as Earth’s sun.  The seasons here don’t line up with the calendar, and neither does a Salvation year, but that’s not enough to make people let go. 

                The cold doesn't bother me anyway.  Besides, the station is just two blocks away from our apartment.  That’s the other thing we like about it, it’s located right in the heart of the Prevailian capital.  Max has a little further to go and has to drive, but Alicia and I can walk.  We have a car down at the station for when we need to go out in the field. 

                As I make my brief walk to the station, I can’t help but think back to the letter.  What troubles me most is my father kept emphasizing that Max, Alicia, and I would be important in coming events.  Ominous events.  I’d just take this as random babble had it not been for his title.  CEO of Polemos Corporation.  Polemos is the main provider of arms to the Prevailian army.  I hear about them a lot through Max.   A company that creates weapons in a nation that opposes war is not what makes Polemos a controversial corporation.  Polemos Corporation received an official charter from the Prevailian council.  It was established in the neighboring country of Laissez.  Polemos is the only company chartered outside the country.  Thus, Polemos is exempt from various types of regulations that all Prevailian companies must abide by.  No one knows how Polemos operates, and yet the government continues to issue them weapon contracts.  It’s the sort of situation that breeds conspiracy theories.  The only problem is this letter now has me breeding my own theories. 

                I’ve reached the station now.  I enter through the doors.  The lobby is a buzz, which is typical, but this is a different kind of buzz.  Also my Chief, Michael Edwards is here and not in his office.  Not typical. 

                “You’re late, where’s your sister?” he asks.  I’m not even five minutes late.  He never questions my tardiness.  He tends to let Alicia and I operate how we want because he knows we get the job done.  Has he been waiting for me?

                “She’s not feeling well today,” I answer, “Is something up?”

                “Two hours ago, the Decorian Research Labs across town burned to the ground.  The LFD’s initial investigation suggests it’s arson.  I assigned you and your sister to the case,” says Edwards. 

                “Arson?” I ask in disbelief, “I don’t remember Alicia and I ever being assigned to an arson case.  That’s not our department.”

                “I know,” Edwards answers, “It wasn’t my decision.”

                “Then who’s decision was it?” I ask.

                “There were two hands in the choice,” explains Edwards, “As you know, since this is a Decorian facility, it is now an international event.  It’s much more complex and sensitive than your typical case.”  The chief pulls out his note pad and flips a few of the pages around.  “The first person to request that you lead the investigation is the man in charge of the research facility, Dr. Brutus Devivo.  He said it wouldn't stand if anyone else was on the case.  The second man to request you, and this was over the phone, was Murphy Patterson.”

                “Murphy Patterson?” I ask in disbelief, “You’re not pulling my leg or anything, are you?”

                “I wish I was,” answers Edwards shaking his head, “You’re famous enough that the Chairman of Prevailia thinks you and your sister are the only team for the job.  Whatever it is, I’d say this is important, you better get over there.”  He tosses me something.  It’s the keys to my car, solidifying that this is urgent, as if I couldn’t figure it out already. 

                “This isn’t a typical day,” I state, turning and heading to the station garage.  This doesn’t exactly help the whole ‘conspiracy theory’ thing going through my head.  An arson case that people decide only Alicia and I can solve sounds pretty much like important ominous events.  I am worried now about how Max will play into this.  

Reviews

[Meat of Dog]

You have a good way of opening your chapters with suspense and questions. This is a very good skill (one which is not as commonly understood as you might think). That’s vital to keep a reader going, like if a movie series opened with drab, boring opening each time who would bother watching on? At the same time it answers a question or two raised by the last chapter. I’m curious why Alex and Alicia were not to know their father. Who is he? The description is good in this chapter too. I am personally partial to domestic situations and conversational development so I enjoyed getting to know the characters here. You did a good job of that without it dragging on or bring pointless/ boring. I like the realism held in this story, the fact that it’s realistic despite being sci fi or whichever genre you would call it. Another thing that is vital but not understood enough I’ve noticed is that the best fiction is as realistic as possible and thus believable.



Suggestions:

“rather, luke-warm at best” Lukewarm.

“I know, you don’t” I know you meant for a pause but a coma is not needed here grammatically.

“Then who’s decision” Whose.

[Kayja Symphious]

Okay, first of all... To all those who look at reviews, instead of the story...STOP READING THIS, AND READ THE STORY! It is a great read, and worth the time.

The story is shaped well and the writing is on cue, and the provocative ending has got me geared up for the nest chapter.

A LOT of thought has gone into this story, so I only have a few suggestions for you.

The letter from the father states twice that he promised their mother that he wouldn't intervene in their lives. The second time doesn't seem necessary.

BTW. The letter. What a great way to do exposition! It was subtle, but direct. Well done!

I realized the need to keep word count down, but I think for the sake of flow, "He is typically lighter hearted" should be changed to "more light hearted".

When Alicia confronts Max about the fact that he knew about their father, " She isn’t too pleased with all this new information, that much is obvious." doesn't need to be said. Why? cause you already painted a wonderful picture depicting that very sentence.

That's about it for now, this was a joy to read, and again... looking forward to the next chapter!

P.S. :O MAX is..... Wow I didn't see that coming! Well done!

[EsdeeAyo]

Thank you for the read and the review. I truly appreciate the kind words and the suggestions. Actually, I already made the changes. Again, thank you. It's reviews as such that keep me writing.