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She had found her way back to Tombstone. As she came through the door, she was in tears and upon the sight of her father, she began to cry uncontrollably.
"Emiko," Doc said kindly as she entered, placing her bag on the floor by the door. The young Kusari girl ran to her father as an escort stopped by the door and stood aside quietly to allow the young girl to be with her father.
Doc held his daughter tightly as she melted on his shoulder. "It's OK, Baby," he tried to tell her, not knowing what was wrong. She leaned back a bit, her face soaked with tears and her hair in her face. As he moved the hair from her face, she told him. "D....d....daddy.....M....m...mom....mommy is dead." She only got worse as he held her tight again and could only close his eyes.
A piece of him still loved Midori and always would. It wasn't hate the broke them up nor an act of infidelity. He found himself choking a bit, holding her tight. "The twins," he thought out loud. At this, the escort gently approached, "They are safely aboard Med Force One, Sir." The escort then backed off to allow for him to tend to his daughter.
"I'll take care of things, thank you," he said to the escort. With that, the escort quietly left.
He held his daughter for over an hour to console her. She was exhausted from it but was so distraught, she couldn't sleep. She was, however, able to speak a bit.
"What happened to Mom?" he asked.
"Child birth, Daddy. She died in child birth, just like you warned her she might if she tried again," she explained.
"And the baby?" he asked.
"Kisashi is being cared for by his Daddy and family. I just wanted to come to you," she softly explained. She again began to cry and clutch her father.
As she cried, Doc heard the door open and noticed Vaelin charge in. He listened to what he had to say as he held his daughter. He nodded his understanding and noticed that Emiko had cried herself to sleep. Standing with her, he realized he had his hands full.
"Um....would you mind helping me out? I'm going to have to bring her with me. I'll need my medical bags and her bags as well. Midori died and I can't leave her."
He was barely able to cover her with a blanket to head out when he went off with Vaelin.
Vaelins jaw clenched, while on the exterior it might seem he didn't care for Doc’s problem, on the contrary he was very saddened and even regretted the necessity of the help needed. He moved to grab the medical bags as well as Emiko’s. “Theres equipment on the ship, i’ll forward a message when we are in the air for a room to be prepared for the both of you.”
His demeanour only portrayed the doer aspect, to press on despite the difficulties. He stored the bags in one of the storage units that was locked to the ground to prevent their belongings from flung about. When the two were aboard he cycled the engine and took off, more gently then he might have done previously considering Doc’s daughter.
He opened a communication wave to the Anubis. “Jim, prepare a room for two guests, normal access and complete privacy of the room.” He closed the transmission and set the ship onto auto pilot, he swang around from the chair and moved to Doc, finally the stoic mask falling.
A soft sigh escaped from his lips seeming absent minded about the wound on the right side of his face which was being held together by stitching and butterfly bandages. “I am sorry Doc.” His tone solemn, it was a sorry to just more than one present issue, dragging him away when hearing the news and showing little compassion in the face of it. “If there was anybody else.” he spoke softly and looked down at Emiko his brows furrowing. He hoped that he would understand why he wouldn't go to Doreen, who still believed he was dead or gone.
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For the moment, it didn't matter where he was headed. His daughter was a mess and he found himself the sole provider of his three children. Emiko was but twelve but well beyond her years. She was pretty, much resembling her mother, and she was maturing. For now, she was sound asleep on a bed aboard the ship. To keep her that way, Doc gave her a mild sedative. After several minutes that seemed like an eternity of sitting at the end of the bed, his head in his hands, he finally pulled himself together to go see Vaelin. The anguish would stay with him for awhile. Finding Vaelin, he thanked him.
"I....I was expecting that, not by a long shot," he said softly shaking his head, "I told her not to try having another child." He slammed his fist on a wall, "Dammit why couldn't I have been wrong that time!" he bellowed.
He wanted a drink, a strong one, but he knew it would compound the grief. Amazing. She was his ex wife and he missed her.
He took a deep breath to collect himself, "I'm sorry, old friend, in this time of trouble I seem to forget that a friend needs my help. So what's going on and where are we headed?"
Vaelin had returned to his seat to allow Doc to have a few moments alone with his daughter, asleep or not, the death of a loved one was hard on anybody. He had occupied himself with making sure preparations were made and when they got aboard for Doc and his daughter. Doc ranted and Valin would just turn in the cockpit chair and looking at him letting him blow off some steam. “The choice was hers to make, she deemed it worth the risk.”
He almost turned the ship around when Doc tried to apologize and belittle his own problems, though this was an unfortunate necessity. “We are heading to the Anubis, gonna get you to set up in the Med-Bay, I got your patient already there, hopefully I have all the equipment you would want there. though its not my field I prefer to have all the best stuff.” He tried to avoid offering a rebuke to Doc but found that he wasn’t completely able to resist it. “Doc, the woman you still loved just died, you have a child come in crying herself to sleep.” His voice was hard but still contained a gentleness to it. “If there was someone else or enough time, I would find another. Your daughters need you now more than ever.”
The trip was short as the Nephthys entered the docking back of the Anubis, already shifting in its course to move somewhere more discreet, trailing it would be a gunboat and Cruiser. Vaelin got up from his seat and moved to place a hand on Doc’s shoulder and pat it as he went past. “Go put Emiko to bed, the AI will lead you to the Medical bay where your patient will be waiting. I am sorry for your loss old friend.” A half hearted smile appeared on his face as he went to exit the Nephthys.
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"It's OK, Vaelin," Doc answered kindly as he held up an empty hypo spray injector, "it didn't take me long to put her down and I gave her just enough of a mild sedative to keep her resting awhile." Putting it down, he gave his gently smile to his old friend.
"I'll be OK. I'll right things with my kids soon enough. The twins are in good hands right now." He then got to the mission at hand, "So, what do I have to look forward to?"
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Tombstone Estate, Planet Gran Canaria
It had been two years since anyone had occupied the mansion at Tombstone Estate. Midori was dead and buried, Doc had remained in seclusion at his hide-a-way on Erie, Emiko was now trying to find her own way in the universe and the twins were with Doc on Med Force One.
The tall, slender man in a heavy fur coat entered through the front door. It wasn't what it once was. The once green flower gardens outside were old above ground beds, often coated in frost and no longer did wildlife graze on the acres of grass. Still, the inside was unspoiled. It was the same way it was left two years earlier.
The man turned on the lights and then the heating system. Gradually, he removed the furs that coated his body and headed for his old West room. He picked up the picture of him and his old friend from long ago. Doc just smiled as he looked at it. Those times were great. His piano was sitting silent and the liquor of his bar aged.
He walked from room to room. Flashbacks of Midori were all over. She was greeting him at the front door, cooking in the kitchen, breastfeeding in the living room or trying out something new in her wardrobe. It just wasn't the same and he missed her terribly. He took a second to look out the side window. There was his converted military truck, just sitting. It was the only thing that was warm outside.
Out the front window was the now icy water of the large lake. Even now it was pretty but in a different way. Rather than rolling waves coming ashore with a glen to either side, it was now a still water's edge and snow in the trees. Doc just sighed.
Now warm inside, it was liveable. The access to his underground lab was still locked. Who knows what it looked like. Rather, Doc found it better than staying on ship all day, even if he was alone. With a cup of coffee in hand, he headed up to his bedroom. It was there that reality set in.
On the nightstand was a picture from a time past. The wedding photo of him and Midori. Placing his cup down on the stand, he held the picture and stared. She was so beautiful. He remembered the day he met her on Naha. Every chance he got he would venture by to take her home. He smiled weakly at the memory. But the more he stared, the more real his depression became. He could stand no more.
Clutching the picture tight against his chest, he hung his head and wept......hard.
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Tombstone Estate, Planet Gran Canaria
Doc returned home from a long trip into Orleanis. He solved a large supply issue for his nuclear medicine research program. With over three thousand units of Prometheum in an underground bunker, he had enough to last at least a good many years. For now, he was tired and settled into his recliner for a break with a glass of warm brandy. It was one of the few drinks he liked warm. Tomorrow would bring another day of work so for the rest of the day, he relaxed.
His favorite place to relax was his old West room. It was one of a time past, a room where pictures of places and people of that time past sat. But his favorite tool of relaxation was the baby grand piano that he kept. It was immaculate and beautiful. Placing his brandy on the coaster atop the piano, he started tickling the ivories. He always got into his music as his body swayed to the rhythm and his eyes often closed as if to be lost in memories. He was tired but it only enhanced the mood. New York State of Mind
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Tombstone Estate, Planet Gran Canaria
It was cold. The harsh winter was setting in over Gran Canaria and with his estate in the hills away from Port Canaria, it was even more harsh. Still, he was prepared. He had enough food, water and heat to last him for years if he chose not to leave. For now though, he sat in his West room relaxing.
He was in a black robe on his couch. A cup of tea on the table while he read a medical magazine. Keeping the room warm was a fire crackling nearby. Minutes earlier, he had thrown another log on it and returned to his couch, his legs folded under him on one end of it with a fleece blanket wrapped around him. He was comfortable and at ease. For a moment, he stopped to take a stare out the window. It was snowing and blowing. Comfy inside, he didn't care. While his mind was involved in his magazine, one on the outside looking in would notice what would appear to be a very empty home.
Most people would leave a place like Canaria during the winter season but not Doc. Anyone else would retreat to his cabin on Erie to let the harsh winter pass or even stay aboard Med Force One. He chose, however, to live in the past or at least, to a point. He missed Midori. He had built it with her in mind many years earlier and was to her memory and honor that he stayed. Having his large, underground lab made it appealing to him as well and of course his baby grand piano.
But what really made it home? No politics! It was here that the wars of many factions and governments were non-existent. With but a private channel to Med Force Enterprises, anyone else would physically have to come to the estate to talk to him and at this time of year, who would be crazy enough to do it? After years of attempting to make peace between groups, his robes were mothballed in a closet somewhere. He could travel anywhere without bother as he funded his Enterprise. Humanitarian cargoes to a Freeport, food to Crete, pharmaceuticals to Malta or iridium to just about anywhere didn't generate interest.
Again, he looked out the window and gave a light smile. It was a quiet day and he would enjoy it.
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Planet Leeds, Leeds System
Doc's shuttle set down on the landing pad of Planet Leeds. Getting clearance wasn't easy with the very suspicious Gallic Royal Navy now running the planet. Not that Doc was a threat nor was his enterprise but he WAS a Sirian in the minds of the Royals. Armed guards met Doc at the pad and demanded an inspection of the ship. There was much discussion over the various items of cargo and why he was here. Doc's charm and wit weren't well received about helping those in need but he finally convinced them he wasn't here to cause a problem. Looking around, there was already enough trouble on Leeds. In his mind, he told himself looking at the pollution that had been around since the colonization of the planet, "Just when one couldn't make a place worse...."
He had an escort of two members of his medical staff and two security personnel. It wasn't the the Royals that worried him as much, it was the resistance who was suspicious of all. There were people to save and children to rescue and that was enough. It didn't take long to find people. And so his mission on Leeds began....
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Planet Leeds, Leeds System
To blend in, he left his well known attire on ship. Rather, a pair of jeans, plain shirt and a brown, leather coat seemed more fitting. He kept his shoulder holster under his coat and tucked the other pistol in his pant line. His medical bag was carried in his left hand and his hair ran over his shoulders slightly un-kept to not look to foreighner like. His escorts dressed much the same and kept their heads on a swivel as they traveled.
Leeds was a mess. For now, he saw no resistance or oppressed citizens. Together they decided to head into the ghettos where they knew people in need would be. His quest was for children, women and older folk who couldn't help themselves and needed to get out. The Resistance would be fine as would the Royal military. Each fought each other to the death as evidenced by a rotting corpse, presumably a member of the Resistance, left to just rot. Doc took what ID he could find and moved on. "So this is what it's come to here," he commented to himself.
Entering a ghetto area, he remembered it before the occupation, before the Kusari war. It was once a thriving place of working people. Now people worked only to survive day to day. The Royals check point knew what was going on as they sort of snickered when Doc passed through. "Don't get yourself killed," they quipped.
It was hard to tell if the body against a wall was sleeping or dead. Did he want to check them for fear that it might be a trap by a thief? Instinct made him check with his escort behind him. In one case, he gave a drink of water, another man was dying and all that could be done was to make him comfortable and yes, one person lay dying. The more Doc saw, the more angry he became.
He remembered how the Royals wanted to make people pay for the sins of generations ago. This wasn't revenge. It wasn't pay back, it was just plain cruelty. He made sure that pictures were taken for his files. He continued his search for the children caught in the mess.
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