Chapter 12

“Evasive maneuvers, Tali,” I ordered as the display of our exit trajectory shifted and showed two fighter jets coming up behind us.

Tali’s eyes flashed, “Given the nature of our ascent, Captain, I would suggest forgoing your plan of a hidden escape, for a faster and more obvious one.”

I nodded in agreement, and we watched as the ship sped up in an attempt to get away from the fighter jets that had been following us. While we may or may not have appeared on their radar, they could visually see the ship from the glow of the engines. Tali increased the angle of ascent, since we no longer were making pretenses and I watched as the jets moved off, unable to follow us. I didn’t breathe a sigh of relief until after we passed the moon on our way towards Mars.

I glanced at my holographic assistant, “Tali, set up the sensor buoys that we had discussed, so that we can keep an eye on Earth. Perhaps this may spur people towards positive and productive change, but we will have to see. Sis, I want you to head to medical where Tali will instruct you what to do.”

Eva nodded and headed for medical, as Tali disappeared from the bridge. I took a seat at what would soon be Eva’s station and tapped on the interface surface. There was no response, but then I realized that the system might still be on lock out since the upgrades, as we had never needed to use the station yet.

Shaking my head, “Tali, disengage engineering station lock out, authorization Alpha-Bravo-One-One-Zulu-Seven.”

A second later the station sprang to life, showing the various statistics on our weapons, shields, propulsion, as well as the other essential and non-essential systems. I was given enough knowledge to understand and work the station in a pinch, but Eva would be getting enough knowledge to know how to rebuild this ship from the ground up and I had no question in my mind that she would be able to come up with new ways to do things once she got settled. It had been ten minutes after they had left that Tali returned to the bridge, standing next to me with a confused look on her face.

“Captain, Eva is in the medical pod. I estimate that she will emerge from the pod at the same time we arrive home to Trak’alta Station. I did notice something peculiar in her DNA profile sir that I believe you need to know.”

That caught my attention and I turned away from the console to give Tail my full and undivided attention.

She seemed unsure as she continued, “As with most species, when two members propagate, their DNA mixes to create the new lifeform. While there are slight variances, siblings should have the same familial markers. Your DNA was mapped when you went into the pod, to get a base of your genetic code so that the right sections would be enhanced. The same has been done for Eva, but I have noticed that you two do not share any genetic similarities. Based on this information, I can only conclude that you two share different parents.”

I looked at Tali in shock. There had to be a mistake, because I knew who my parents were and who I was.

“There has to be a mistake, Tali,” I said with a slightly irrational tone, “run the DNA again.”

With a soft smile, Tali replied, “I ran the DNA comparison two million, seven hundred and thirty-five thousand, four hundred and twenty-three times so far and each time is the same sir. I am truly sorry.”

I nodded and told Tail I would be in my room to think on this. I asked her to send Eva to my quarters as soon as she was out and had her set a course for home. Tali gave a salute, and I went to my quarters to think. I looked back at everything that had happened in my life, especially my family. There was no hint from anyone, not my parents or my siblings. My aunt had never said anything and treated me like flesh and blood. David was the closest to hinting that I wasn’t his brother by blood, but the attitude could have also been nothing more than the oldest child’s reaction to another sibling. My mind drifted over my life, and I lost track of time. I hadn’t realized how much time had passed when my door chimed, meaning that Eva was done, and we were arriving at the station.

“Enter,” I called out, trying to lock in my emotions until I had all the answers from Eva about what I had learned.

“Hey, little brother,” Eva said with a friendly and warm smile. “Tali said that you wanted to see me?”

I looked at Eva, taking in the changes, but also seeing her differently for the first time in my life. Eva had been roughly about five foot six and one hundred thirty pounds. She had a slight curvy figure, with most of it situated in her hips. Tali had provided her with one of the Mac’skarian uniforms and adjusted it for a human to wear. Now it looked like she had gained two inches in height, but her body had been transformed as well. Her hips weren’t as wide, but she had an hourglass figure now. Her breasts, which had been relatively small, were now the size of a melon. She saw me staring so she did a turn, allowing me to see her from behind and I could tell she had some adjustments made there too. Ignoring the thoughts that were now sneaking their way into my mind, I tried to focus on the task at hand.

“Yes, I did,” I replied, hoping to not let my emotions get the better of me. “When you went into the pod, Tali did a full genetic scan of your body. That way, the pod could maximize and repair issues in the DNA as well as adjust them in tother areas. One thing she noticed within five minutes of you going under was that there was a variance with our DNA.”

Eva got a nervous look on her face, “Well, we are siblings so there would be slight variance given gender and physical appearance.”

I nodded, “True, but this wasn’t a minor difference. This test confirmed that we have absolutely no genetic connection. My parents were not your parents, so that means that one of us was adopted, but I am doubting it was you, since you look so much like mom.”

I watched as the nervous smile faltered and tears welled up in her eyes. She had been having to hide this for years, even after mom and dad had passed.

“I am sorry, Derek,” she cried out, “but it wasn’t supposed to be like this. Mom and dad were supposed to tell you before you went off to university, but then the accident happened, and I didn’t have the heart to tell you the truth. I didn’t want your memories of mom and dad tainted by learning that they hid the truth from you. You need to remember that mom and dad treated you no better and no worse than me and David. No matter what you may believe, to them you were their son, and to us you were our brother.”

I sighed and rubbed my head, “I know. I have been thinking about it while you were in the pod. Looking back at all my memories, with this new information, I couldn’t find a single instance where they treated me differently or less than they treated you. Even David’s indifference to me didn’t seem like anything more than having another sibling to deal with. However, there is one thing that we need to rectify to make sure that we move forward correctly. Derek Masters is dead, he died when he fell into that cave. I am not that boy anymore, so you will need to accept that. My name is Hugh Stargazer now, a new name for a new life.”

“Okay, Captain Stargazer,” Eva said with a small smile. “What orders do you have for me?”

I shook out some unexpected thoughts and replied, “We will be coming out of hyperspace soon; report to the bridge, I will be there shortly.”

She gave me a salute and then headed out of my room to the bridge, and I couldn’t help staring as she went.

“Tali,” I called out, causing her to appear in my room. “Were all of the changes that were made, based on what Eva needed.”

Tali nodded and answered, “Yes, sir, though I may have taken a few liberties with some of it.”

“Liberties?” I asked, cocking an eyebrow. “And just what kind of liberties did you take with Eva while the pod was making its adjustments.”

Tali cocked her head to one side and said, “Eva wanted a curvier figure, but the actual proportions were based off of some of the fantasy women in your subconscious. Given that there are no genetic issues that would normally prevent copulation, I figured this would best suit your needs.”

I sat there in shock as I listened to Tali explain that she had basically changed my sister to be more sexually attractive to me.

I tried to control my irritation and said “Tali, while I appreciate the sentiment behind your actions, don’t ever do something like that again without the express permission of the person involved and myself, do I make myself clear?”

She nodded and I could see that she was slightly upset by my reaction. She must have thought I would have been ecstatic, plus I know that Eva would have agreed to anything to make herself more appealing to me. I would cross that bridge when I came to it; for now I needed to be on the bridge. As I entered the bridge, I saw Eva at her station and Tali in her usual spot next to my chair.

Eva stared at the screen with a smile, “So that is what hyperspace looks like, eh, Captain? Is it just me or does it look like green television static?”

I laughed and replied, “I have thought that very same thing, Eva, but it is beautiful in its own way, isn’t it?”

Eva nodded, and three seconds later we returned to normal space, just outside the gravity well of the Trak’alta system.

I glanced at my sister and said, “Tali, take us home. Let’s show our new crew member what her life will soon be like.”

Eva watched in wonder as we made our way towards the gas giant that our new home orbited. As we got closer, I saw the Vir’take fighters come out to meet us as we made our way towards the station. It had only been two days, but I could see some of the progress they had made on the cruiser. They had finished stripping the rest of the old, damaged hull off and it looked like they were working towards refitting the internal systems. Given the changes to nearly every system, it required that we remove or replace nearly every system, circuit, and conduit on the ship. Thankfully whatever we took out would be broken down by the fabricators to refill the various used components that were used to make the new systems.

I would be doing my best to help, but it would be limited to heavy lifting, as the more technical aspects weren’t my forte, even with my training. I made a mental note to still devote time to learning as much as I could, so that in a pinch, I could handle most aspects of the ship. I had a funny feeling that Eva would find a way to optimize the process, since she had always been good at figuring out stuff like that. We passed the shipyard and made our way towards the hangar bay of the station. As we entered, I saw that the enemy ship had been stripped down to the framework. Tali landed the Obsidian and I looked over at Eva to see that she had become slightly nervous. I smiled and walked over, offering her my hand to help her up.

“Eva and Captain,” Tali said with a warm smile, “Welcome home. I notified Alta when we came out of hyperspace of our return. I expect that there might be a welcoming party waiting for you.”

I nodded to Tali and wove our way to the airlock, stopping to give Eva a moment to compose herself before I activated the exterior door. Opening with a soft hiss, the door retracted to offer a view of the hangar bay. I stepped out to find Vish’ala standing two meters from the ship airlock, with Tali and Alta on either side of her. An honour guard of Mac’skarians lined either side of them, from where Vish’ala stood, all the way to where the hanger door led into the station. There had to be nearly a hundred of them there, all dressed in uniform and all performing a human military salute. I smirked and knew that this was all Vish’ala’s doing. I turned to Eva and gestured for her to follow me as I stepped out of the ship while Eva hesitantly followed.

I was surprised to see Vish’ala’s friendly and warm smile falter when she saw Eva emerge from the ship, which was confusing as to why she was reacting that way. I tabled that train of thought for now and approached her, and the others.

“Welcome back, Captain,” she said with a thin smile. “I didn’t realize that in your absence you would be picking up strays.”

Surprised at the comment, I responded with, “Mind your tone, Vish’ala. While I am always appreciative of your loyalty and judgment, you will show Eva respect! She is the closest thing to family I have left, and she chose to give up everything on Earth to come here and help me.”

She bowed her head and said, “Yes, sir, I apologize. I don’t know what made me respond like that.”

I nodded but knew that we would need to deal with the issue sooner rather than later before things had a chance to get worse.

I glanced at all the Mac’skarians that were present and said, “Thank you all for coming, I am happy to see that you are all okay and have made noticeable progress on the White Claw.”

Everyone, including Eva, looked at me peculiarly, I told them, “That is the new name of the Lionel medium cruiser.”

Eva was still a bit confused, but everyone else broke out into big smiles and began cheering ‘White Claw.

“Alta, please have quarters prepared for Eva near mine. She will need time to adapt and having me close by will help her adjust better”

“Of course, Captain.” Alta replied with a smile, but again I saw a negative reaction appear on Vish’ala’s face.

“Captain,” Tali said, “Alta has informed me that the teletrams are up and running, making traversing the station much easier.”

“Thank you, Tali and Alta,” I gestured towards the hanger doors and said, “By all means, ladies, lead the way.”

Tali and Alta guided us out of the hanger, with Vish’ala on my left and Eva on my right, towards the teletram. They had not been made an essential repair, so I was surprised to see that they had been fixed.

“Originally we were going to wait to repair the teletram system, but we found that we were suffering too much lost time trying to move material through the station from the mass replicators located the farthest from the shipyard.”

It made sense and I was glad it was up and running. This would possibly speed up our timetables, but what effect it will have would remain to be seen. For the next few days I would try and concentrate on helping Eva acclimate herself to her new situation and surroundings. It was easy on the ship when it was just us, but now she will be one of only two humans on a station filled with over two thousand Mac’skarians. The trip to the habitation core was a quiet one, with tension slowly building as we neared our destination. When the tram stopped, we followed our holographic guides until we reached where the crew quarters for the White Claw crew were located.