Earth Reconquered by Kevin Berger - HTML preview

Chapter 1

The fresh mountain air did me good. 

It was looking to be a glorious day.  

Breathing in deeply, I sat at the edge of the plateau, just on the edge of town, looking up at the majestic mountains that surrounded us.  I could never take this for granted—not with my history.

I rose and started heading back to the village.  There was much to be done on this beautiful day.

The village was primarily uniformed rows of pre-fabricated buildings; each building was home to a different family. The buildings were nothing fancy, just a hastily constructed village.

"Morning neighbour," old man Alvaro said as I walked down our street.

"Morning, Gino, how's the wife?"

"Gotta be great, she's married to me," he laughed. "You always first one out in morning. You baby wake you up early again?"

"No, no, my little Sean's an angel. He never does anything wrong."

Gino laughed again, the creases on his old face were long, but part of his charm. "That's a good poppa--always love your kid--no matter what. You space station people, you like to get up early--no?"

"Eh, I think it's more the army or police way. I was always forced to get up early by someone. Morning, Mrs. Lee!"

Mrs. Lee grunted in response.

"She not nearly as nice as her husband," Gino whispered to me as Mrs. Lee disappeared back into her house. "Why for she stick her face out? If she not want to say hi? I don't envy her husband."

"Now Gino, this town is too small and tightly packed for gossip--especially with Mrs. Lee. She'll eat you alive."

"You right, you right Tyler. You a smart boy--like my boy always was."

The smile disappeared from his face.

"Thanks, Gino,. I gotta go in for breakfast. I want to spend time with my baby before work."

My row house door groaned as I opened it. 

"Shhh, shhh," Melissa’s mother, Mary, ordered as I entered as quietly as I could. Melissa got her good looks from her mom, but in the morning, Mary always had on pyjamas and a thick housecoat--and her long blond hair was twisting every which way.

"What can I do?” I whispered.

"Shhhh, shhh," Mary said again.

The interior was as stark as the outside. It consisted of an open living room and kitchen area; and a staircase on the side leading up to two humble bedrooms. Our row house was slightly different from the rest along the street. Melissa insisted we convert the back pantry on the main floor to our bedroom. Sean slept in there with us. She wanted us to be closer to the kitchen and bathroom.  Our baby son Sean slept with us.

 I crossed the living room area to peer into the bedroom.  Melissa's lay sprawled on her back, her mouth open and snoring.  She was cute and beautiful in her exhausted state.  Her beautiful blonde hair was as frazzled as her mother's. When I opened the door, the morning light shone in on the bed.  I closed it hastily and quietly.

“The baby finally fallen asleep,” Mary said.

“Good, they both need some sleep. I can't wait until he starts sleeping nights.”

“That's normal.  He just came out of the womb, no night or day. You have to give him time to adapt to our world.”

“Yeah, I know; but not more than two hours in a row. It's brutal. How long did it last with Melissa?”

“Well, it can vary with different babies. Some adjust to sleeping nights right away. Some it takes longer...”

“Yeah, but how long was it with Melissa?”

“I remember my friend Johanna's baby was sleeping ten or twelve hours a night after a couple of months.  She even used to wake her up to make sure she was okay.”

Mary laughed but I just repeated “Yeah, but how long with Melissa?”

"It was about a year,” she said gravely, wiping her dishwashing wet hands on her housecoat.

“A year!” I moaned.

"Ssssh, sssh," she warned again.

"Okay, okay." I went over to the sofa and sat down heavily; feeling exhausted, defeated.  I looked out the window.  It was a view of the uniform row of identical lodgings just across the street.

"Only Mr. Alvaro and Mrs. Lee are out yet this morning."

"That's cause you get up at the crack of dawn. You even beat the old people like the Lees and Alvaros."

"I don't get much sleep anyway."

Mary came over and put her hand on my shoulder: “...but look at what you get out of it, little Sean, the love of your life”.

Tired, I gave Mary a faint smile, then looked back to the street. 

A delivery vehicle was passing soundlessly; its square box storage in stark contrast to the hovercraft base that powered it--a hybrid of old style Earth trucks and modern technology.

"I better get my ass in gear,. the delivery trucks are already starting to arrive."

The baby cried.  He wanted to be fed.  Mary got up, opened the door wide, and went into the bedroom. She went to the crib we kept beside our bed and turned to Melissa.

“Melissa, you shouldn't have the baby in bed with you! You know that's dangerous.”

“Mom, please. When I know the baby's beside me, I never move in that direction...”

“You don't know that,” Mary insisted, “you could move in your sleep.  You don't know.”

“Okay, okay, I promise, I won't,” Melissa waved her hand sluggishly. 

Mary looked at me and rolled her eyes as I came into the bedroom and she stormed out.

“Did you learn your lesson?” I asked, closing the door.

“Drop dead Romeo,” she said as I leaned over for a kiss.  “You'll have to stand over the crib and pass Sean over to me every hour or so, twenty four damn hours a day.”

I lay in the bed beside them, my arm reaching around my newborn baby and joining hands with Melissa, our arms surrounding, protecting Sean.

“That sounds like woman's work,” I said.

“I'll make you a woman if you want. Lean over here and I'll remove those precious family jewels of yours, that men are so proud of.”

Her head was still on the pillow as little Sean started sucking on her breast.

“Wow, nasty!  What did I do to deserve that comment?”

“Nothing, just offering--don't mess with a tired, hormonal new mother.”

With that she fell asleep again, the baby feeding beside her.  I looked at the two most precious people in my world. 

A natural mother. 

A natural child. 

Sean finished feeding and rolled over, like a contented little fat man after a big steak dinner and a couple of beers.  He was just starting to feed properly. In my ignorance, I had never thought of that; the dilemma of getting a baby to breastfeed properly. It was not part of my military training. I looked at this precious new life in wonder. I gently tucked one of my hands underneath his head and neck, the other underneath his bum. I raised him gently as he dozed, laughing at the drop of breast milk drooling down his tiny open mouth. His arms stretched out momentarily as I raised him in my arms, but he stayed sleeping, content with his full belly.

I carried him out to the living room. 

"Going to get some food for the day," Mary said. She had just pulled on her coat and was getting ready to leave. "Bye bye."

Carefully, I sat down in the living room, happy to have a few minutes alone with my little Sean nuzzling up close. Daddy was still foreign to him. He was still all Mommy's property. It was only in his sleepy state that he didn't notice it was not Mommy holding him. That was okay. I knew it would change soon. Melissa and her breast milk might have been his whole world, but Daddy was at the door, biding his time until he would be let in. The warmth of my little family was healing the wounds of my bizarre life; replacing my artificial memories with real ones. I wondered if I would ever feel normal; have enough distance from my past--my secrets that I only shared with Melissa. I cherished every moment of true natural family life. I suppose all new parents did, but I knew I was different.

"Aww, we’ve got no more time for this," I said to my little boy as I noticed more and more activity in the street.

Our town was a simple one; the first one built after the infamous Exodus. 

Some things I wanted to forget.

Others, I didn't.

Over near the convenience store was a Recharging Station for all types of vehicles and aircraft.  There were all the necessary landing pods and recharging units.  That was where I worked. Being a blended town, everyone was always asking and telling their life stories. I suppose that aspect attracted me. It meant the population was more tolerant, willing to accept and appreciate different cultures. Yet, that was also a danger for me. Those inquisitive people wanted to know my story too. The Earth citizens in our town were naturally curious about Space Station life, so they'd ask. I managed to sell my personality as kind of reclusive--not much of a talker.  It wasn't really who I was, but it was a great disguise for someone with a lot of secrets. I liked neighbours like the Alvaros, but I mostly kept to my little family.

I just wanted to blend in--not be seen.

Night and sleep were always hard for me; too much thinking.  In my young life, I had learnt how different I was; but having a regular family, a regular job, and a regular life--it made me feel like I could fit in. It brought peace of mind.

Sean turned in his sleep, nuzzling up to my chest.  His tiny little arms reached around me--probably looking for a breast that was not there. Mistaking me for Mommy, he rolled towards me; seeming to place an affectionate hug.  He was still  sound asleep, but I could feel his tiny heart beating against me. 

So fragile.

So tiny. 

A loud explosion filled the air.

The front door exploded; ripped open, smoke and wind billowing into the room. The door flew from its hinges and cart wheeled across the room like paper in the wind.  Smoke and sunlight filled the room. 

I was stunned, frozen, unprepared.

I clutched Sean tightly to my chest. 

Three figures swept through the door and burst into my home.  

They were soldiers in uniform. 

"What do you want?!" I demanded. "Who are you?"

"Don't make this harder than it has to be," one of them said through his helmet microphone.

"Take off that helmet!” I shouted as I started to rise, holding my baby tight in my arms. “I want to see who's invading my home--you coward!" Starting to rise, I held my baby tightly.

One of the soldiers grabbed my arm, jostling Sean, whose eyes opened wide, startled and he began to cry.

"Quickly!" The soldier closest to the door ordered.

I could hear Melissa starting to call out "“Tyler, Tyler, what happened?"

"What are you doing?" I said.

The soldier closest to me pulled harder at my arm, his other arm reached for Sean. Lashing out, I kicked him as hard as I could. He staggered backwards. Sean wailed. It was then I noticed the third soldier aiming his weapon straight at my face.

And then everything went black.