“You are grounded for the next two weeks,” Molly snarled at Penny. “Go to your room and stay there!”
Penny didn't go quietly. Kurt heard her stamping up the stairs, then slamming the door to her bedroom hard enough to shake the house. He ignored it with the ease of long practice as he reread the sheet of paper. The Royal Navy wanted him back in the service, as soon as possible.
“Well?” Molly demanded. “What’s all this about?”
Kurt gritted his teeth, again. His head was already pounding and her razor-sharp words were cutting through what remained of his composure. The message didn't leave any room for evasion, he realised dully. He was ordered to report to the nearest naval base at once or face the consequences. And those consequences could be quite serious.
“They’re calling me back to the flag,” he said, softly. He swallowed, then nodded. “I’ll have to call my boss.”
“Now see here,” Molly snapped. “I thought you wouldn’t have to go back on active duty…”
Kurt rubbed his forehead. They’d met when he’d been a starfighter pilot, resplendent in his dark blue uniform. But a starfighter pilot didn’t earn much and, when Penny had been born, he’d resigned from the service and gone into business. The thought of getting back in a cockpit was staggering, but it had been years… he shook his head. There was no room to evade his duty. He’d signed up to the reserves and pocketed the extra cash. In exchange, he had to drop everything when his country called.
“There isn't a choice,” he said, tiredly. Mentally, he catalogued what he’d need. He kept an overnight bag under the bed; he’d just have to check it, then add anything else he needed before departing. And then he’d have to hire a taxi… he couldn't take the car, not if he was going away for longer than a few hours. “We took the money, remember?”
Molly’s face darkened, unpleasantly. She obsessed over the children, insisting that they received the best of everything, from food to education. Both of them had genuinely believed that Kurt would never be asked to return to duty, apart from the mandatory week of training and exercises all reservists were expected to undertake. But they’d been wrong.
“I signed the papers,” Kurt reminded her, before she could explode again. “If I don’t respond to the call, I could be jailed. And then there would be no one to feed the family.”
Molly sniffed as he turned and walked upstairs, wincing slightly at the sound of loud and obscene music coming from Penny’s room. Molly had spoilt her daughter, he told himself tiredly. There were days when he wondered if they would be called to jail to bail Penny out of trouble. If, of course, they could… it had been his fault too, he knew, but he was hardly ever there. How could he spend quality time with his family while earning enough to keep the kids in school?
Shaking his head, he walked into the bedroom and picked up his overnight bag. He checked it carefully, then slung it over his shoulder and walked back downstairs. Penny was already there, her face blotchy with tears. Kurt rolled his eyes, not bothering to conceal his reaction. Why the hell was Penny crying? She was probably looking forward to a few days off school.
“You’d better write to me as soon as possible,” Molly said, sternly. “And this young lady” — she nodded towards Penny — “will be doing plenty of chores around the house.”
Penny looked rebellious. Kurt reached out and gave her a hug, then turned to face Molly. His wife looked tired, but grimly determined. Kurt silently thanked God that he wouldn't be there to hear the coming argument. Molly would know, even if Penny didn't, just how vital it was that she stayed in the expensive school. If nothing else, they would lose the rest of the year’s payments if Penny was expelled.
Walking outside, he saw a taxi moving along the street and waved, hastily. The taxi pulled up beside the curve, allowing him to climb inside. He gave the address of the nearest aerospace base — he could report in to any military base, whereupon he would be directed to his muster point — and settled back, feeling his headache slowly fade away. Being away from the children and his wife certainly seemed to make him feel better, no matter how unpleasant it sounded. Just what had he been thinking, he asked himself, when he’d married her?
You were distracted by her enormous knockers, he thought, ruefully. No, that wasn't entirely fair. Molly had been charming as well as attractive — and she could still be charming, when she wanted to be. But she spent most of her time with the kids while he was at work, which made it harder for them to relax and just be themselves. Maybe the break would do him good… but what the hell was going on? The last time he’d reported for training exercises had been seven months ago. It was way too early for another one.
There was a bleep from the taxi’s radio as the music cut out, replaced by a nervous-sounding voice. “Please stay tuned for a message from the Prime Minister,” it said. The cabbie swore and changed the channel, but it made no difference. Kurt leaned forward as he realised that the message was going out on all channels. “The Prime Minister will address the nation in ten minutes.”
Kurt waited, impatiently, for the Prime Minister to begin to speak. Combined with the call-up, it suggested bad news. It suggested war. He didn't make a habit of following international and interplanetary affairs, but he hadn't heard anything that suggested war was on the verge of breaking out. There were bouts of trouble on colony worlds, brief disputes on Earth between smaller nations, yet nothing that should have demanded a full mobilisation…
The radio bleeped again, then a familiar voice came over the airwaves. Kurt realised, as he listened, that the Prime Minister sounded dreadfully tired. Something was definitely wrong.
“We have received news from the very edge of settled space,” the Prime Minister said, in a manner that suggested he wasn't quite sure he believed his own words. “A number of human settlements have been attacked by a force of unknown origin. We do not know why these… aliens attacked us, or what they want. All we know is that they are hostile.”
Kurt felt his blood run cold. Aliens? There had been speculation — and no shortage of movies, books and interactive games — about what might happen when humanity finally met another intelligent race. The aliens might be friendly, they might be so different that communication was next to impossible… or they might be hostile. And yet, there was no logical reason for two interstellar powers to go to war. There was no shortage of resources in space, nothing to fight over. Unless they were so completely repulsed by humanity…
He shook his head as the Prime Minister kept speaking, declaring a state of emergency and informing the country that every last military reservist was being called up at once. Kurt sighed, knowing just how many problems that would cause. His job wasn't vitally important, but there were Royal Navy reservists working for interstellar transport and colonisation corporations. Calling them all up to the colours would probably cause economic problems for the entire world. But there seemed to be no alternative.
“Aliens,” the cabbie said, when the Prime Minister had finally finished speaking. “Do you believe it?”
Kurt hesitated, then nodded. “I think so,” he said, reluctantly. “They wouldn't call up every last reservist if they didn't expect real trouble.”
The cabbie said nothing else until they pulled up outside East Fortune Aerospace Base. Kurt got out, paid him a sizable tip and then headed towards the gates. A handful of RAF Regiment soldiers were on guard outside, fingering their weapons nervously. Kurt eyed them as he joined the queue of reservists waiting to pass through the gates, realising — again — that this was deadly serious. Inside, he reported in and then waited for orders. They were a long time in coming.