Chapter 5

The trial itself was an anticlimax. We were there to hear Jackson change his plea to guilty. An anonymous source Informed Communication and Transportation Command where to find the Gamma 10, which had ended up several years out of time and in an uninhabited and uninhabitable system. Not wishing to create any paradoxes, they were brought back a few days after the scout set out to find them.

Jackson himself was eventually sentenced to twenty years community service, with a total ban on off-planet travel, tagged to ensure he couldn't bypass the system. I thought it entirely appropriate he was assigned to what remained of the Amazon rain forest. Teams had for some years been working on reversing the inroads several centuries of exploitation had caused.

Of more immediate interest to me was the prospect of visiting Anya's and my families. Her parents lived in Seattle, which previously I'd never visited. RT got us there after a smooth, if boring, eight hours. We were greeted at the station by an older couple whose relationship with Anya was undeniable. Her mother was much heavier, though still attractive. Her father, stocky, square and solid. Anya stepped forward.

"Mama, Papa, Hector Finch. Hex. My fiancé."

Her mother wrapped her in her arms. "Darling, rebenok. Eto syurpriz."

Her father stepped towards me and took the hand I extended. "A surprise, indeed." His grip was firm, but uncompetitive. "Mister Finch. Or should that be Captain? Or Governor?"

"Any would do," I smiled, "but, if you will, I'd prefer 'Hex'."

He inclined his head. "Hex, then. I'm Ivan Ivanovich. My wife..." he turned to her and raised his voice, "Lyubimyy..."

She loosened her grip on Anya, who turned to me with a wry smile.

"Da, dorogaya?"

"Come and greet our daughter's intended."

"Hex, my wife, Katerina Mikhailovna. Katya."

"Welcome ... Hex." She held out her hand.

I took it and, bowing, brushed my lips across the back of it. "Thank you, Ma'am. I see your daughter comes by her beauty honestly."

She surprised me with a belly-laugh. "Captain, you're a flatterer. But I thank you. Please, come with us."

When we stepped into the small, two bedroom, apartment, Anya swept off her hat, to a gasp from her mother and a sigh from her father.

"Darling ... your hair! I understood why it had to be short, but this?" I honestly thought Anya's hair, or lack of it, was of greater concern to her mother than her bringing a previously unannounced fiancé home.

"Long story." Anya stated abruptly. "It will keep until later."

Ivan took me into their lounge, where he offered pepper vodka. I felt it politic to accept. We were on our second glass when raised voices were audible from the kitchen. Anya's father clearly anticipated my intention to go to her, but he raised his hand to stop me. "Let them sort it out. Anya's a grown woman, now. Katya must accept it." He frowned, but went on, "We're very proud of our daughter, but I have to admit her commissioning came as a surprise. Our family has a long history of military service, but she'll be the first officer."

"She's a remarkable woman, who deserves her promotion, and I'm a lucky man that she's agreed to Contract with me. The pity of it is that she'll have to go to Inactive status when she marries me."

"About that..."

"The Command does not allow married couples to serve in the same area of operations. Unfortunately I'm in a somewhat unique position, so it has to be Anya. At least she'll be able to accrue seniority, and we're promised that she can train regularly to keep as sharp as possible."

"You come as something of a surprise..."

"I expect so. I think falling in love came as a surprise to both of us, too."

Anya's father nodded. "I suppose so. However, I think we are both delighted she has finally found a good man to spend her life with."

"Thank you, sir."

"Ivan. I was never an officer, I worked for a living." The blocky man smiled as he trotted out the hoary old retort of every NCO over the years.

I laughed, and was still laughing moments later when the ladies entered the room.

"Darling, Anya's going to tell us how she comes to be without hair on her head."

We sat together on a small sofa and I held her hand. Anya didn't look very happy as she met my eyes, but between us we explained the situation. I interrupted mainly to correct Anya's account when she tried to minimise her part.

"You say the... regenerator... saved your life?"

"Yes, Mama. But we don't know how it works. Alien technology, well beyond our present science. But that's part of the problem. The original builders programmed in total depilation for some reason. Andromeda tells us she may be able to rewrite the coding in time, but that it's very complex. Hex keeps telling me he doesn't mind, but I'm afraid..."

"Darling..." the first time I'd used the endearment... "I have never said 'I don't mind', I have said you're beautiful. God only made a few perfect heads. The rest He covered with hair."

Ivan laughed heartily. "You'll do, son! You'll do!"

At bedtime, Anya practically dragged me to her room. I'd expected to sleep on a couch, or convertabed, but instead it was her three-quarter bed, bigger than a single but smaller than a double. We didn't need much space anyway.

"I wasn't going to miss a second of sharing a bed with you," she stated, categorically. "Mama protested, but I put my foot down. Besides, I had a trump card," she added with a grin. "I've seen their marriage certificate. Three months before I was born."

I shook my head and chuckled. I wasn't fighting it.

Seattle is an interesting place and we spent a couple of days – not enough, by far – playing tourist. I was determined to return for a longer visit.

We made the eight-hour trip back to New York, NY, with the intention of going straight to the Sprinter and using it to make the hop across the pond to Britain ... actually, Scotland. That was derailed when Anya suddenly left my side. I still can't quite grasp what she did, but it seemed she cartwheeled across a stretch of concrete, aimed at a man in an overall. A small object went flying out of his hand and he left the ground and flew backwards. When I caught up with her, she had him immobilised on the ground.

"Call security," she said, "and collect that ... object ... over there. Don't touch it with your bare hands. Use a tissue. Very carefully."

Security were on the spot almost immediately, and Police less than half an hour after. The man was arrested. The object was identified by one of the security officers. "Not that I'd seen one before," (neither had any of the police) "but it's a disrupter. Developed off-planet, on Electra. A very nasty device altogether. Will cause pain, stun, kill or disintegrate according to the setting."

We found out later, once it had been examined, that it was fully charged and set to 'disintegrate'. At the time, our departure was delayed so long it only made sense to spend another night at a hotel. It was a short night, though, as we knew that heading east we would be getting (from our point of view) a very early night. In fact it was dark as we lifted off.

A Sprinter is not intended for significant amounts of atmospheric transit. Effectively, it is limited to about Mach three. I filed a Great Circle, ballistic, flight plan. Lifting off at oh five twenty, EDT, we landed at Dyce, for Aberdeen, at thirteen twelve Zulu. We were met by my parents. I introduced Anya, of course. Dad smiled, shook her hand and welcomed her to Scotland. Mum ... to my astonishment ... swept her up in an enormous hug. Anya looked stunned, but after a few moments returned the embrace. When Mum broke the clinch, she didn't let go, but stepped back holding Anya's shoulders at arm's length.

"My dear, you are very welcome here." Mum then turned to look at me. "Don't look so shocked, dear. We've been following the news, and you're a celebrity. We know, or can guess, what Anya's done for you. Not to mention being the first lady you've brought home. It's about time you made me a grandmother."

"Mother!" How embarrassing was that?

"Janet!" My father always knew when to step in, although to my mind he was a little late that time, but he had something in his voice... I will be obeyed!'... that only came out when he was determined. My mother, sister and I, we all recognised it and instantly stopped. In the case of my sister and I, we'd learned that failure to shut up or stop whatever we were doing that Dad perceived as a problem, resulted in the application of the board of education to the seat of knowledge. If you know what I mean. Mum had obviously caught on long before we were born, so I can't speak to the method he used to educate her. "Let us at least get them home and eat lunch before you start grilling them about the future of the family name."

The family home had been in the family for generations. With the addition of a 'granny flat' to the rear, it had accommodated up to four generations at a time, though more usually three. At that time, it was just one, my parents. It was something of a surprise, therefore, that after a whispered colloquy between Mum and Anya, we found ourselves in my old room, unpacking our bags. Not that I was complaining, but I had expected Anya to be shown to one of the other rooms and to sleep alone. I had to assume this was, in a way, a seal of approval.

My mother clearly had been spoken to by Dad. The meal ... my mother is an excellent plain cook, and the savoury stew was well up to 'spec' ... was relaxed. Of course Mum and Dad wanted to know everything about Anya, but they weren't obtrusive, or intrusive, about it. It wasn't until we'd finished Mum's apple crumble and were sipping coffee – in Anya's case, tea – that I got to the point and answered the question that had been burning in my parents' – especially Mum's – minds.

"Mum, Dad, Anya has agreed to marry me. We'll be entering into a Contract as soon as it can be arranged. Unfortunately, it means she must resign her post in order to stay with me, and we'll be starting that as soon as we get back to Andromeda."

"What Contract?" my father asked, curiously.

"Indefinite," I answered. "Neither of us want any suggestion of ... impermanence."

"Or uncertainty," put in Anya. "I knew what I wanted from the beginning, but it was Hex who insisted on indefinite. I'm very happy about it, though."

"That's so sweet!" My mother was clearly over the moon about it. "Where?"

I hadn't given that a thought, and looked my question at Anya.

"Andromeda," she said, "That's our place, and our future. I don't want a big fuss, anyway. I'd be content with just signing the Contract before witnesses in the Brigadier's office."

Mum frowned. "That won't do at all! I'm sure your parents will want to be there, and I certainly do. You don't want a ceremony?"

Anya shrugged. "I never thought about it until I met Hex. My family are Eastern Orthodox, but none of us are practising. I don't mind a few witnesses, and I suppose getting together for a meal is okay..."

Mum grunted. "Well, you're here for a few days, aren't you? You won't mind keeping me company while Hector," (I rolled my eyes – I've never got Mum to realise how much I dislike my given name.) "and his father do some male bonding." There was no question in there, and Anya recognised that spending time with her future mother-in-law was now a given. She submitted gracefully.

"Of course, Janet."

Dad and I spent several days playing golf. I hadn't touched a club since leaving home, so, predictably was not very good. By the time we left, though, I was almost back to the standard I'd achieved as a teenager. More importantly, Dad and I were much closer than we had been for years.