"But I thought worm holes made time equal."
"It does. For us. We get here faster. But they're not in a worm hole, see? Now go away. I'm busy."
So Mother and Dad are some kind of geniuses. But no matter how smart they might be, the Qitani are smarter. They've learned more faster. They don't need whole ships to jump. They have jump gates, fah'ti, placed through the wormholes in their galaxy. Mother insists it's the same technology, just in a different format. "The science is the same, Jakey. It proves I'm right, that it really does only work one way."
"Then why do we need the whole ship?"
"Because it's portable! The Qitani need to create a port everywhere they go."
"But that saves time and lets anything through."
"Yes, and that's fine...if there's a fah'ti on the other side. Which means what?"
Always a lesson with Mother. "It means that they have to take a new one with them and activate it just at the right time or else their molecules will be scrambled into their base components."
She sighed. "That's close enough."
I was set to jump with Ralph. He'd go a millisecond before me and deploy the first Qitani fah'ti to our galaxy. I'd been assured that the suit is the key, that Mother combined the Qitani tech with ours, combining the portable with the non-portable. Over and over everyone assured me it was all set and very safe.
"Then why do we need to bring the fah'ti?"
It's small. The first time I heard about a wormhole gate from Dad I pictured something huge, a fantastic door with lights and flashy bits. I was very upset to discover it's about the size of head and not even really a gate at all. It simply guides any and all nearby matter to it's other head-sized ball at the other side of the worm hole. Mother launched into a very excited speech about the brilliance of such a small matter manipulator while I looked out the plasma display at the very tiny, very boring ball of fah'ti. Sitting there, I had one resting on my knee. It was going to activate itself when the gravity of the galaxy at the end of the worm hole could be felt.
"Some of ours seeps into the hole," Daniel had explained. "You went out for a ride with that little Qitani of yours on the Gukki Sea, right?" It was one of the best experiences of my life. I couldn't touch the water, of course. I couldn't even smell the air. But we sat on the back of a great log and let ourselves be carried down the raging river into the sea. We spent most of the day floating around under their two suns until Ashnahta's secondary mother found us and yelled at us good. We were very lucky it was Ta'al who found us and not Morhal. We may not have made it out alive otherwise, and that's not an exaggeration. I have seen Morhal kill her children for less. In her defense, they did know the rules. So did we. It was great luck indeed that Ta'al found us, even if Ashnahta is clearly everyone's favorite.
"Yes, I've been on the sea."
"You rode the river down and then got into the sea, but did you notice you kept going the same direction of the river? It's like that. Imagine the galaxies are oceans, and the worm holes are rivers. Only these worm holes flow either way, depending on how you enter. Does that make sense?"
It did. Almost makes calling our space vehicle a "ship" instead of a "rock" make sense, too. The pull of the Milkyway gravity is supposed to turn on the fah'ti...or something. That's one of those concepts I like to think I understand, but know deep inside there's a good chance I never actually will.
"And if it doesn't, then they'll be along within a month to pick you up, if my guess is correct. Don't worry. StarTech wants you. Bad. Even if they don't know about you. They'll detect an object with life signs and get to you before you know it. They aren't going to let you bob around space for long." Daniel was sure. Stephan was sure. Jenna, Phil, Colleen, Mother, Dad...they were all so sure.
"I'll be a tiny little dot. What if they miss me?"
Dad had laughed and laughed over that one. "Jake, I don't think you fully understand the way things work. And you shouldn't. You're just a kid. Trust me. Trust StarTech."
Trust the organization that hated my very existence. Because that's what it came down to. Mother had no idea she was pregnant with me when they left. Dad has unfortunately told me more than once that's because they had a few quick moments right before take off and that's how I came about. They sent their confessions to StarTech, and before they left the galaxy had received a reply asking for clarification and potential consequences if they were transmitting the truth. Though Mother and Dad sent more information, they never heard back. They knew the policy, though. The law. They broke it to have me. By the tone of the transmission, Mother and Dad were sure StarTech was furious I existed. They also knew StarTech believed my birth was intentional, though whether they actually had proof of that or just worked for them long enough to know what was meant but not really said, I'm not sure. Mother has pointed out several flaws in their assumptions, the main one being how the whole crew had to scramble to make accommodations for a child. "I may not be the best mother, but I certainly am good at planning! Don't you think I would have requested the basics for child rearing? You didn't learn to use the toilet until you were three. That was three years of no diapers. Think about it. It simply does not make any sense."
So they didn't want me then. I was an illegal problem at best, if I actually existed to them. As I said, we had no way of knowing how many of our transmissions were received over the years since we jumped galaxies. They didn't want me then. Why think that they suddenly wanted me after sixteen years? Mother said the knowledge I have is invaluable. She told me to think of how much I can teach them all. Dad, he wanted me to know what it's like to walk on a surface and breathe real air. I've only had one day to prepare, and that's been spent listening to them both go on at length about what they think. It was only after they both got quiet that I could begin to address what I thought.
"When am I coming back?"
Dad did not answer. Have I mentioned how uncomfortable that suit was? Qitani are the same basic shape as us, but their torsos tend to be thinner and their legs are longer. Because of this, my feet didn't quite reach the hard base, and my life support apparatus dug into my ribs. The longer the silence got, the more uncomfortable the suit became.
Finally Dad gave my leg another pat. "I'm going to miss you, kiddo. You have no idea how happy I was when we found out you were going to be born."
I couldn't look at him. Think about the suit, I ordered myself. Concentrate on the suit.
"It was the happiest day of my life. And I always hoped that some day we could find a way for you to get home."
"It's not my home," I said again. That was the one thing I could say because it filled me with so much anger that there was no way I'd break down and cry. "My home is here. With you. With Mother. With Ashnahta."
"Ashnahta will die when you are a young man, and then what will be left for you?"
I turned to him in surprise. "Then a whole world! And you don't know that she'll die. They've got our science now, too! They're working on ways to increase longevity and...and..." I stopped because of the look in Dad's eyes. He was far smarter than I've ever given him credit for.
"And you will be left a young man with nothing and nowhere to go and nothing to do. And you will be an outcast, both here, and there, and on Earth. You are my son. You are the best thing I have ever done in my life. And some day, I hope you have a child and know what I'm feeling right now."
"So you're sending me away to get me away from Ashnahta?" I couldn't help feeling bitter. I can still taste the bile that rose in my throat after that revelation. "I expect stuff like that from Mother, but never from you."
"Why? Why never from me, hm?" Dad sat up and crossed his arms over his chest. "You think your mother is the only one that makes sense of inane situations? Hm? Tell me, Jake. Where are you and Ashnahta going? What are you going to do? You can't even breathe her air."