Peter David - After Earth

Vanessa’s husband, Trent, was playing with Lorenzo, who was gurgling high over his head. He was young, but it was clear he’d have eyes like his father, Hunter. Vanessa watched them contentedly playing and was happy they could provide the infant a safe haven.

“Hey,” she said, entering the room. He angled the baby toward her, using his hand to make Lorenzo “wave” at his mother.

She walked over, leaned down, kissed Trent on the forehead, and took Lorenzo into her arms. If she took the post, moments like this would grow fewer and fewer just as she was getting used to thinking of the baby as her son.

“Trouble?” He followed her into the baby’s nursery, which just a week ago was a workout room. There remained a faint aroma of sweat that Trent needed to address but first things first. She was changing Lorenzo’s diaper, powdering his skin and cooing over him. Finished, she swaddled him in a bright red, blue, and yellow blanket.

“Not exactly,” she said, accepting the bottle Trent offered her. “Comm chatter appears surprisingly quiet.”

“Admit it, you like when things are slightly off the rails,” he said. “But there’s something going on, otherwise you wouldn’t have been called in.”

“Yeah, there was a meeting,” she said, uncertain how to broach the topic. She mentally reviewed a speech the entire way home, but now, with Trent and Lorenzo in the same room, it wasn’t coming easily.

“We’ve built a pretty good life, haven’t we?”

“Sure.”

“We have friends, we go out, we do things,” she said as she adjusted the bottle in her grip. Then she settled into a chair and fed Lorenzo. It felt wonderful. Peaceful and calm.

“Are you worried the baby will change all that?”

“Oh, he will. We won’t go out as often, our social circle will change, especially when he begins classes. But I was ready to accept the responsibility.”

“What are you getting at? You’re being vague and not telling me about the meeting. Was it bad?”

“No, not bad at all. Kind of thrilling, actually. But it would mean changes. Lots of them.”

Trent stepped closer, brow knitting in concern.

“Are you being reassigned?”

“I have an offer,” she began.

“One of the new colonies?”

“No, here in the city,” she said as her free hand stroked the baby’s cheek. Lorenzo sucked away, oblivious to the growing tension in the room.

“Come on already, tell me what’s going on.”

“You know the family history. You know how the Raiges are forever intertwined with the Rangers. Well, that’s being called into play.”

“PC? You’re kidding. Shouldn’t Hawkins have the job?”

“More.”

“What more? There’s nothing more than the Prime Commander,” Trent said.

“They want me to run the government and fix the planet. I’d oversee not only the Rangers but the Citadel and Mirador.”

“That’s crazy,” he said. “A one-person PC, Savant, and Primus? That’s unheard of.”

“It’s happened before, but it didn’t turn out so well,” she said, and reminded him of the disastrous man who assumed all three roles in 195 and took the overbearing title of Imperator.

“Really? I’d forgotten all about that.”

“Well, they hadn’t and want me to do the same, only better.”

“But you’re so young,” he said. “Are you experienced enough to know how to fix the government?”

“They think I am,” she said, placing the now-empty bottle atop the changing table. “It’s an amazing offer.”

“Did you accept?”

“I told them we had to talk so here we are, talking.” She reached out and grasped his hand.

“A week ago we had one kind of life, and this last week we began something new and wonderful. Now I’m being asked to give it up and take on a monster responsibility. But I like our life. I love spending time with Lorenzo. That’d all change.”

“For how long?” he asked.

“Six months, time enough for everybody to figure out who should really be running the planet.”

“So, you’d just be a caretaker?”

“More than that, Trent. There are things that need fixing. There’s rebuilding to do. People who died that need replacing, beyond our leaders. The list could be endless.”

“And you have six months.”

“Yeah.”

“Sounds like you want to do this,” he said, gripping her hands tightly within his.

“I love what we’ve built. I love our little family. But I am a Raige and we’re built to protect all of Nova Prime. The people are our family, too, and they’re hurting.”

“I know. I know all about the Raiges and the way you’re trained. Protecting runs in your family.”

“But you’re not happy.”

“I worry about you. Emotionally, you’ve been through so much in such a short period of time. Taking this on will be crushing and you rarely rely on others, preferring to do things yourself. Looking after the planet is a huge responsibility, and I want my wife back when the six months are over. Will you be the same?”

She leaned over and kissed him.

“As long as I can come home to you and Lorenzo every night, I’ll be just fine.”

Carefully placing the baby between them, the couple embraced and she soaked it in. After all, she began wondering, just how many nights over the next six months would she actually have the luxury of coming home, finding either one still awake?

It was, though, just six months. And Hunter already told her to do it. He was speaking for the ancestors. She would do the job, without that damned title, and protect not only her family but all the families on Nova Prime.

It was in her blood.

Faia Raige had been preparing dinner for herself, since the men in her life were away together, when she heard a knock at the door. For a moment, she wondered if she had extended an invitation to someone and forgotten. That would be unlike her. She was usually good at remembering such things.

Hearing the knock again, she wiped her hands with a cloth and went to answer the door. When she opened it, she saw two men she had never met before. There was something about them. They looked… official.

“Mrs. Raige?” the taller of them said.

“Yes. Can I help you?” Faia asked.

Then they told her what had happened. For a moment, they were just words. Then they sank in, and she began to scream. The men looked away. What could they do? They had torn her life open and ripped its heart out. What was there to do after that?

Years earlier, Faia had lost her daughter, Senshi. That was the most horrible thing she could ever have imagined, the most horrible pain she could ever have borne. But this…

This .

Kitai felt a soft pecking at his cheek. What…? He brushed it away with his hand, but it resumed a moment later. Finally, he opened his eyes to see where the pecking was coming from and found himself staring into the eyes of a tiny, newborn baby bird, close enough to nuzzle at him with its beak. Instinctively, Kitai jumped back and realized he was covered in something clear and viscous. He sucked in a breath and began wiping the stuff off his face. Only then did he pay attention to the patchwork of light and shadow around him and the intertwined branches picking shadows from the sunlight.

Where am I? he wondered.

Propping himself up, Kitai looked around. He was surrounded by eggs: not the kind he had known on Nova Prime but huge ones, each of them bigger than the baby bird. And they had all begun to crack.

As he watched, the birds inside them—dark, wet things—emerged from the eggs and spread their slick wings as if they would take flight. A nest , he realized. I’m in a giant nest . Kitai looked down. He could see through the bottom of the nest, where there were gaps in the branches. If I’m in a nest , he thought, I must be in a tree . He identified the biggest branch in the interwoven structure and traced it back to an enormous trunk. And there, sitting on the branch right next to the trunk, was a massive bird of prey, not unlike a condor except it was more than two meters tall if it was a centimeter. As Kitai looked on, his heart pounding, the bird opened its beak and spread its wings. They spanned a good five meters. Of course, he had seen that kind of wingspan before…