Through the Bopecan Port Read online

  Star Marshals

  Through the Bopecan Port

  Star Marshals

  Through the Bopecan Port

  Dave Lemel

  Star Marshals

  Through the Bopecan Port

  Copyright 2017 David Lemel

  All Rights Reserved

  ISBN: 978-1548407094

  Cover Design: SelfPubBookCovers.com/NoSynonym

  [email protected]

  This book is dedicated to my gorgeous wife Sarah and our two incredible daughters Sophie and Hattie.

  Chapter 1

  Todd Jordan tossed and turned under the comforter in his king-sized bed. He wasn’t exactly sure if he had slept for more than a few minutes consecutively all night, but he was certain he could now see the first signs of sunlight creeping across his bedroom carpet. He threw the heavy comforter off, swung his legs over and sat up at the side of the bed.

  ​Something was slowly floating down in shadowy specs on the other side of his curtains. It isn’t supposed to snow, he thought to himself. “Another spot-on Milwaukee weather forecast,” he grumbled as he pushed himself up from the bed and shuffled to one of the two bedroom windows overlooking the front of his property.

  ​He pulled the side of the curtain away from the window and peeked out. A slight draft gave him a chill as he watched the large, fluffy white puffs drift down and accumulate on the driveway and yard. After a few minutes, he walked back over to his nightstand.

  ​Todd grabbed his phone and called the landscaper that usually plowed his driveway. He informed them that they would not be needed that morning. Most of the time he loved having a plow service. Occasionally, though, when he had a lot on his mind and the snow did not appear too wet and heavy, he enjoyed clearing it himself. He found it therapeutic.

  ​As Todd dressed for the cold forty miles up the Lake Michigan coastline, Sasha Cain poured coffee from a pot into two waiting mugs. She took one to the fridge, pulled out the skim milk, and splashed a little into the cup. She placed that mug on the snack ledge to wait for her husband, snatched up the other, and went to sit in the family room to watch the falling snow.

  ​A minute or two passed, and Simon rounded the corner at the bottom of the stairs. He collected the waiting mug and made his way to the family room to join his wife. As he plopped down in the chair opposite Sasha by the window, she turned and smiled. “She pass back out after the bottle?”

  ​“On it,” replied Simon. “I left the last ounce up there on the dresser in case she wakes up soon and wants to finish.”

  ​Sasha peered through a wisp of steam over her mug. “How are you doing?”

  ​“It’s funny, you know. I was just thinking, as I fed Penny her bottle, about the trip I took through the port when I was at academy. I was so excited. For weeks leading up to it, day and night, that was all I thought about. As you’ve heard many times before, not only did it live up to my extraordinarily high expectations, it blew them out of the water. For years afterwards, I longed for the day I would have the opportunity to experience it again. Now it’s finally upon me, and all I want to do is throw you and Penny in the car and run away.”

  ​Sasha broke eye contact with Simon, looked out the window, and sighed. “I know, hun. Enough’s enough, though. You’ve been having your pity party for the entire week and a half you’ve been home.” Sasha looked back into Simon’s eyes. “It is what it is. You are going and you should be. We have this last morning together at home. It’s time for you to accept it and get your head straight; let’s try to enjoy our last hour or two as a family before Todd gets here.”

  ​Simon returned Sasha’s gaze and blinked a few times before smiling and looking at the floor. “Okay. You know this is one of the things I love most about you. When I need a good smack on the back of the head, you’re all for giving me the smack.”

  ​Just then a commotion could be heard from upstairs, followed by what sounded like a two-hundred-pound man falling down the stairs. Buddy, the Cain family Golden Retriever, tore into the family room and bolted straight for Simon, crashing into his legs. Buddy’s entire body wagged as he cried and buried his head in Simon’s lap.

  ​“You wake up and find yourself alone, Bud?” Simon chuckled and put his coffee down. He gently grabbed Buddy’s head and pet him behind his ear. “It’s all right, you big baby, c’mere.”

  ​Buddy pressed himself harder into Simon’s legs. Sasha grinned and rose from her chair. “Whenever you two are finished, you should probably get outside and shovel.”

  ​Simon groaned and bent down by Buddy’s face. “You wanna go outside, Bud? There’s fresh snow.”

  ​By the time the word “outside” had left Simon’s mouth, Buddy was already pulling away from Simon’s legs. When he heard “snow,” he nearly threw himself through the door to the back patio.

  ​Simon laughed as he got up and chugged the rest of his coffee. “One second. Let me throw on some boots and a coat.”

  Chapter 2

  Todd cut the power to the snow blower’s engine and walked it back into its place at the back of the garage. He looked over at the shovel hanging from a hook on the garage wall, glanced back out toward the driveway, and considered using it to clean up the edges. “Nah,” he said as he hit the button to close the overhead door and headed back inside.

  ​He took his coat and boots off and made his way down the hall to the kitchen. He grabbed a big mug from one of the upper maple cabinets and set it on the black granite countertop. He filled the cup with hot coffee, leaving just enough room that it wouldn’t slosh out as he walked it back to the room at the back of the house overlooking his backyard and the lake.

  ​By the 2050s, most people did not print out pictures and put them in albums anymore. Todd’s grandmother had not been most people. He walked over to one of the many built-in shelves filled with the albums she had put together and pulled one out. He took a seat in an oversized brown leather chair by the picture window, took a big sip of his coffee before setting his mug on the small table at the center of the window, and began paging through the plastic sheets filled with pictures.

  ​After a few pages, Todd guessed he had been about three years old in this particular album. On page after page, he had a huge smile on his face. Finally, he came to a group of pictures taken at a park just a few blocks from where he now sat. There he was, standing in the playground, holding the hand of a beaming three-year-old version of Todd. The fugitive Todd was about to head out in pursuit of—his father, Douglas Jordan.

  ​Todd’s eyes slowly moved around the plastic sheet from picture to picture before freezing on one in the bottom corner. He could not get himself to break away from this photograph of himself sitting on his father’s lap at the top of the slide. They were both looking at the camera, and his dad was waving at whoever had taken the picture. How could this man have sold out his entire species? thought Todd.

  ​He pulled the picture out of its sleeve, stared at it for a few more seconds, stood up, and shoved it in his pocket. After returning the album to its spot on the shelf, he hurried up the stairs to take a quick shower.

  ​Just a hair over five minutes later, Todd jumped in his dark green, British-made SUV and backed out of his garage. He weaved down a few freshly plowed streets and came to a corner where a brown sign hung from a large post by a small parking lot. In green painted lettering on the sign, it read “Doctors Park.”

  ​Todd pulled in and selected a spot near the playground. He shut the car off and sat quietly in the early winter morning stillness, looking at the picture of the happy little boy and his smiling father sitting at the top of the very slide he was now parked in front of.

  ​A few silent minutes passed, and Todd started the truc
k to get the chill out. A flicker of movement caught his eye and he noticed something at the other end of the park. From across the field behind the playground, a man came along a path through the trees. He towed behind him a small boy on an inflatable tube. The boy giggled wildly as the man glanced over his shoulder and said something before running through the field, the tube skipping and gliding behind him over the freshly fallen snow.

  ​Todd watched for a minute as the grin on his face widened. He looked back down at the picture in his hand, and the grin immediately vanished from his face. He leaned sideways and shoved the picture back in his pocket. He put the truck in reverse and lifted his foot off the brake.

  Chapter 3

  Simon removed his coat and hung it on a hook above the bench in the Cain mudroom as Buddy shook the melting snow off his now damp coat of copper fur. As he sat down to take his boots off, Penny appeared in the doorway held by Sasha’s outstretched hands. “Hi, Daddy,” said Sasha in a playful voice as Penny smiled.

  ​“Hi, sweetie! Did you finish that bottle?”

  ​Penny’s smile disappeared. She belched, and a massive glob of spit-up flew out of her mouth and splatted on the floor. “I’ll take that as a yes,” Simon chuckled as Sasha added, “Oh, my,” quickly squatting down to wipe up the mess with the rag that had previously hung over her shoulder.

  ​“I don’t get how she keeps growing since it seems like more comes back out than goes in every feeding.” Simon slowly shook his head. “Here, let me have her,” he continued as he stood up from the bench. “I’ll bring her up with me when I shower. She can hang in the baby cage.”

  ​“Works for me, and you know I hate it when you call it that.” Sasha handed Penny over. “I’ll run to Lori’s and grab a dozen muffins.”

  ​Simon headed up the stairs.

  ​A few miles southwest of him, Todd closed in on his exit. The radio cut out, and a ringing tone filled the truck. A robotic voice interrupted the second ring: “Call from Mom.”

  ​Todd grinned. “Accept call. Hi, Mom.”

  ​A very calm and slightly sleepy woman’s voice responded. “Hi, sweetie. How are you doing?”

  ​“I’m okay. Honestly, at this point I just need to get up there and go. Sitting down here for the last week and a half has been brutal. The second I hit forty-three north this morning, I relaxed more than I have the entire time I’ve been home. How are you?”

  ​“Oh, I’m all right,” Marie sighed. “I think the initial shock has finally worn off, and now the questions keep piling up.”

  ​“I know what you mean. My pile is starting to look like a ski hill.”

  ​Marie groaned. “It just shakes you to the core. I realize our marriage wasn’t perfect. I mean, whose is? But I at least thought I knew him well enough to know he would never just run out on his family like that. And to fake his own death in the process…” Marie sniffled, and her voice became shaky. “For over seven years, I’ve been walking around thinking I was a widow. Thinking my husband had died in the line of duty, protecting us all. In an instant, he goes from dead and brave to alive and the ultimate coward.” She sniffled harder. “It’s just a lot to digest.”

  ​Todd veered the truck into the right lane in anticipation of his approaching exit. “I know, Mom. I’m sorry. I wish I could stay longer, until you’re doing a little better. I just couldn’t pass this up.”

  ​“No, no. I’m glad you’re going. Well, I mean I’m as nervous as I always am when you head out on an O.E.A. Actually, considering the circumstances of this one, even more than usual. I just know you would’ve been an absolute wreck down here if you didn’t get it and had to wait while someone else went to bring him back.”

  ​“Thanks, Mom. I’ll send word as soon as we have him loaded up and safely in the brig on the Henrietta .” Todd put the blinker on and gently eased off the gas pedal. “I’m at my exit now. I love you, and I’ll make sure next time we talk I have plenty of time ’cause I’m sure you’ll have plenty of questions.”

  ​Marie chuckled. “Yes, I’m quite certain that will be an interesting conversation. I love you too, hun. And Todd?”

  ​“Yeah, Mom?”

  ​“I know you’re not one to call your mother while out on assignment, but if you need to talk, you know I have a hol-call room, and I’m always willing to listen.”

  ​Todd grinned. “I know, Mom. I promise, if I need to I will. I’m getting close to Simon’s street, so I gotta go.”

  ​“Okay, honey. Love you, and you just remember you are a great marshal and an honorable man.”

  ​“Thanks, Mom. Love you too.” With the click of a button on the steering wheel, Todd ended the call.

  ​A few blocks ahead and a couple to the right, Simon made faces at a laughing little girl. He had moved her to the middle of the bed as he got dressed, but she refused to stay there. To even take his eyes off her long enough to pull a shirt over his head, he had decided to move her to the floor. There she lay by his feet, big doe eyes wide open, staring up at him.

  ​“You know, kiddo, don’t tell anyone, but I think I’m starting to get a little pumped about this assignment.” He bent down and pinched Penny’s massive cheek. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m gonna miss this face like crazy, but interstellar travel is pretty incredible.” Simon slid his arms into the sleeves of a gray hooded sweatshirt, zipped it up, and squatted down to pick up Penny.

  ​He reached her up over his head and gazed up at her. “I promise I’ll take you one day.” He brought her down closer to his face and stared into her eyes. “Gonna be a while, though. Me and your mom have connections, so we can get a nice deal, but I want you to be old enough to appreciate it.”

  ​As Simon adjusted Penny to sit in his arm facing outward, he heard a door opening downstairs. Buddy leapt up from the foot of the bed where he had been napping and launched himself out the door to the hall.

  ​“Anybody home?” yelled Todd. Buddy flew down the steps and into the mudroom. “Hey, Buddybuddybuddy, how ya doin, boy?” said Todd as he sat on the bench to pet Buddy and take his shoes off.

  ​“How was the drive?” asked Simon as he descended the final couple of steps and turned toward the mudroom. “Roads okay?”

  ​“Yeah, everything was plowed and salted by the time I pulled out of my driveway.”

  ​“You mean your plowed driveway, you spoiled, lazy brat,” Simon responded with a smirk.

  ​“Hey, I cleared it myself today! Called ’em right after I woke up and told ’em I had it covered.”

  ​“Ooooo, I’m so impressed. You use that behemoth of a snow blower you bought for no reason, or did you actually shovel?”

  ​Todd stopped untying his shoe and glanced up at Simon. “Snow blower.”

  ​Simon chuckled as he re-situated a squirming Penny. “It wasn’t even wet snow. That thing probably took a half hour to start because you never use it, and when you finally got it going, just blew that fluffy stuff straight up into the wind and back onto your driveway.”

  ​“For your information, she started up first try. Well, actually it was like the third, but right away. And did a fabulous job clearing.” Todd stood up from the bench and leaned his face in by Penny. “And did you help your dad shovel, or did the poor old man have to do it all by himself so now he’s cranky and lashing out at anyone smart enough to use a snow blower?”

  ​“Ha!” Simon spun and walked to the family room. “You want a cup of coffee? Sasha should be back from Lori’s with muffins any minute.”

  ​“Coffee and a muffin from Lori’s sounds perfect.” Todd waved Simon ahead to the family room when he veered toward the kitchen. “Go, sit. I know where to find a mug. So is Sasha our lead at ground or hasn’t she said?”

  ​Simon laid Penny down on a blanket that had been spread out on the living room carpet before sitting down next to her. “She is, indeed. Lombargnor already briefed her in private.”

  ​As if on cue, the door from the house to the garage opened, and Sasha
’s voice beamed into the home. “Hi, Todd, hope your drive up wasn’t too icy.”

  ​Todd poured coffee into his mug. “We were just talking about you.”

  ​“Oh, did you guys want me to go back out to the garage for a minute, or am I welcome to join? ’Cause I could sit in the car and put away at least half of these.”

  ​Sasha held up the cream-colored box with “Lori’s” written across the front in cursive black lettering as she entered the kitchen.

  ​“Nothing like that, dear,” replied Simon from his spot on the floor, “just told him you’re lead and have already been briefed.”

  ​“Yeah,” added Todd, anxiously eyeing the box in Sasha’s hands, “so why don’t you put that beautiful box down and fill us in.”

  ​Sasha slid the box onto the counter and took her coat off. She draped it over the back of a chair at the snack ledge. “Just try to leave a couple for me, would ya?” She made her way to the floor beside Simon and Penny before continuing. “As far as filling you in is concerned, I already informed my husband: Lombargnor made me promise to keep my briefing to myself. So you’ll just have to wait to hear it from the head honcho’s mouth.”

  ​“Right on.” Todd opened the box and pulled out a blueberry muffin from the front row of large, golden topped assorted baked goods. “It’s not like the assignment itself is a big mystery, and I can wait a few minutes for details.”

  ​“I can tip you off about one thing, though.” Todd and Simon both perked up and stared at Sasha in anticipation. “You may want to pack a few hoodies and a pair of jeans.” She looked at Simon with a mischievous grin. “Pritzley went clothes shopping for you guys, and I saw some of what he brought back. Pretty boy over there,” she nodded in Todd’s direction, “will probably love most of what he bought. However, I know my husband will prefer a little less flash, a little more comfort.”

  ​Simon’s mouth curled into a wry smile. “I already packed extra. Based on the info we already had, I figured the planet we’re headed to had a high probability of an Earth-like atmosphere. I wanted plenty of my own clothes, if my hunch was correct.”