Chapter 17: Summer

The little human girl stood 4 feet tall. She had a slim figure and hair of gold flowed around her beautiful face to the middle of her back. Her eyes were emerald green with a glint of high intelligence. At the moment, they also held a look of amusement.

Bear smiled at the little man and his obvious discomfort, "Well Papa, what do you have to say for yourself?"

Benny took the child's hand, smiling. "My daughter, do you have a name already?" he asked.

"No Papa, it is my understanding that you will give me one," she said innocently.

Benny looked at his big friend, "Well, any ideas pard?"

Bear looked at the golden haired child. He saw the gentle ease of true beauty and self-confidence she possessed. It brought back to memory of a day when he was a child. It was one of his perfect days from his past when he was 12 years old. He, Buck, Tex and Jet had been hunting down a deer and had tracked the wounded animal over a set of mountains until they found the dead deer on the peak of a beautiful grassy meadow. The boys had set up their small camp and skinned and quartered the deer. Sitting around a small fire afterwards the boys had watched the most majestic and awe-inspiring sunset of their lives. There were a plethora of colors in the sky. There was a fantastic emerald green band right across a section of the darkening sky that reminded Bear of the same color as the child's eyes. It had been one of the last days of summer before nature started to shift seasons.

Kneeling down in front of the little girl, the big man looked into her eyes. Yep, they were indeed the same color of the fantastic sky he had seen all those summers ago. Bear sent the day and his feelings of wonder to both of the little people in front of him.

Benny was surprised and awed at the vision of the sunset that his friend sent into his mind. The little golden haired child had tears in her eyes as the sky in her mind bloomed into the majestic color and then faded into darkness.

Benny took her little hand in his, "I think my friend Bear has the right idea and also the perfect name for you. Summer, I name you Summer my child, for you are truly as beautiful as the colors in that sky of Bear's past. And the joy and awe he felt that day is also a match for how I feel looking at you now, my beautiful daughter.

"Well Papa, I like my name very much. I am Summer, the child of Benny and Sasha and I loved the day you shared with me uncle Bear," she said, smiling.

Benny looked at the little girl the same size as himself. He knew she was not human, but she was unlike any AI that he had seen before. Her skin looked as real as Bear's. Even her golden hair looked real to him. The only part of her that stood out from his human friends were her bright emerald eyes. "Welcome to my family my daughter." He finally said, smiling as he wrapped his silver metal arms around the girl.

After a few moments Benny released his new daughter, who looked expectantly at the mountain of a man kneeling next to her new dad. She squealed as Bear picked her up and lifted her above his head. She laughed as he pulled her into his arms and kissed her now blushing cheeks.

"Ok Bear, put her down before you break my little girl," Benny said, laughing.

Bear grinned at his new niece, then he winked at her and moved her to his left arm. Before Benny knew what was happening he was swooped up into

Bear's massive right arm and was sitting eye level to both Bear and Summer. For a moment he forgot that he was thousands of years old and felt the simple joy of being held and loved like a child himself. The pure love that flowed from his big friend was only surpassed by his mate back home.

I will make sure my daughter knows this love from me for all time also. Bear is a shining example of just what love for all truly means, he thought as Summer giggled.

"Ok you big teddy bear, put me down before you crush my servo," Benny said, smiling.

Bear put both of them down and blushed sheepishly, "Sorry, just got caught up in the moment I guess."

Summer straightened her clothes and looked at her new father, "Would you like some help on your problem with the dark matter Papa?"

Benny grinned at his new little girl. "His girl", it sounded so strange in his mind but he liked it. "Yes my sweet child, might I ask what you know about the subject and where did you acquire your knowledge from?"

Summer gave him the 'well surly you aren't that stupid' look. "I am the very latest AI in the known systems and I have the very latest data on dark matter in my memory banks," she said coyly.

"Ah so that's what Captain Tomias meant huh?" Bear said smiling.

"Yes Uncle Bear, he was not sure if I would get here before you took off on you experimental shuttle and did not want to get your hopes up if the Council did not approve of his request. But they did and well, here I am," Summer said with a light giggle.

"I guess the council had a real change of heart after all," Benny said thoughtfully. "That means they finally figured out where the next stop would be for the Sabori, and they didn't like the idea of being slaves or food for the nasty little beasties."

"Seems that way little buddy. Now let's get to work and see what our little girl can help us accomplish," Bear replied.

After an entire month of tests and experiments the three finally came up with a truly safe and effective way to use the Dark Matter for both weapons and shields along with massive power being added for use with engines.

It had cost them a few meteors to fine tune the weapons and they had blown up over 20 engines before they got a shield strong enough to contain the enormous amount of raw power released when the dark matter interacted with normal matter, but in the end it worked flawlessly.