Personal Log 156: 5 April – 25 May, 3303
12 Jul 2017Jemine Caesar
5 April – 25 May, 3303A matter of the utmost importance awaited me on my return to Beta Hydri. With the wedding of Sam's sister Jenna to Andrew due to take place in ten days time, my presence was urgently required for the fitting of my bridesmaid's dress. So, within three hours of landing on Stevenson Base, I found myself with Jenna and her sister Sarah at a fashion store in the starport's commercial district.
The dress Jenna had chosen for Sarah and I was a classic A-line sleeveless style in powder blue taffeta, with a short beaded floral bodice and a knee-length swing skirt. Jenna's own wedding dress was to be a strapless full-length gown in cobalt blue, with a sumptuous wave ruffle skirt. Jenna explained that our dresses would perfectly complement the blue Thompson clan tartan kilts the men would be wearing.
After the dress fitting was completed to Jenna's satisfaction, the three of us went for a coffee in the starport's entertainment district to talk about all things wedding. During a lull in the conversation, our attention was caught by a news item on the cafe's holovision; yet another update on the search for disgraced Imperial ex-senator Ms Kahina Tijani Loren, otherwise known as Salome. I'd seen quite a few news items about the woman's exploits in recent months.
"I wouldn't like to be in her shoes," said Jenna. "She must have been mad trying to assassinate Denton Patreus."
"Yeah," agreed Sarah. "As for those public spats she had with Aisling Duval, what was all that about?"
I shrugged. "I've never really had much of a head for politics," I said. "I leave that sort of thing to far cleverer people than I."
"What do you suppose she might be up to?" asked Sarah.
"I have absolutely no idea," I replied. "If the reports I've seen on Galnet are anything to go by, she's in an awful mess. But I'm sure we'll find out the truth sooner or later, one way or another."
No, I thought as I took a sip of my coffee, I wouldn't like to be in her shoes either.
*****
Despite having been arranged at extremely short notice, the wedding of Andrew Thoms and Jenna Hodkin was a truly wonderful occasion. The Red Rose provided the venue for both the ceremony and the reception afterwards, courtesy of Sam's parents, Ben and Lil. Neither Jenna nor Andrew had wanted anything too lavish, so the wedding was a fairly intimate affair, attended by close family and friends only. Andrew's brother, Douglas, performed the role of Best Man with aplomb, giving a funny and very touching speech during the reception.
The celebrations continued long into the night, or at least what passed for night according to Galactic Standard Time. There was lots of drinking, lots of dancing, and lots of happy, smiling faces.
"Do you know where they're going for the honeymoon?" I asked Sam as we slow-danced to a popular romantic song.
"I do," Sam replied. "Andrew let slip that they're staying at none other than the Lightspeed Hotel in 70 Ophiuchi."
"Oh, how wonderful!" I said. "I'm sure they'll have a marvellous time."
Eight days later another celebration took place, albeit rather more low-key; April the twenty-third was my thirtieth birthday. Sam bought me a pair of beautiful drop pearl earrings and a matching bracelet, together with dinner at a restaurant in New London on Homeland.
We chatted about this and that, idly speculating about things in the news, such as the announcements by both the Feds and the Imps to build outposts in the Pleiades; the development of a new infrastructure in the far-off region known as Colonia; and the Alliance expansion into the California Nebula.
"And what do you make of that Imp ex-senator?" I asked.
"You mean the one who calls herself Salome?" replied Sam. "The woman has certainly generated a lot of fuss, I'll say that. Half the pilots in the bubble seem to be involved in the search for her. Exactly how that search turns out remains to be seen, of course."
As it transpired, no one had to wait much longer for the results of the search for Salome. On May the third Galnet reported that her ship had been destroyed several days earlier. Salome was dead.
*****
The life of a spacer is anything but settled. Within a matter of days, Sam and I had decided to once again leave the cosy familiarity of Beta Hydri and head for pastures new. A succession of cargo runs and data deliveries led us to the Alliance system of LHS 3356, where we set up our new temporary residence on Bentham Dock.
Sam continued to further establish his reputation as a taxi driver. I, meanwhile, sought to improve my Pilot's Federation Combat Rating by making repeated visits to resource extraction sites in the neighbouring G203-47 system. A string of reaping victories, coupled with successful encounters against the odd pirate in deep space, meant that by May the eighteenth my rating had climbed to Expert+45%.
The very next day, May the nineteenth, I received a k-cast recorded message from my father, Edward Harvard. In it, he told me that he and Diadem were to marry on June the seventeenth, just one month from now. The ceremony would be taking place on Diadem's homeworld of Reorte.
My thoughts immediately turned to the matter of what to buy them for a wedding present. Sam had taken care of our gift to Jenna and Andrew, so it seemed only right that this time the responsibility should fall to me. I checked through several back issues of Valentina! magazine for wedding gift ideas but, finding nothing which grabbed me, I decided to leave it in the hope that inspiration would come in due course.
However, an article in the latest edition of the magazine did catch my eye.
"Oh, Sam!" I said. "It says here that there’s a new play by Chalk and Cheese, opening in Wyrd at the end of May. It's the sequel to the one we saw back on Homeland last year, remember?"
"I do indeed," replied Sam. "It was very entertaining, if a bit ribald in places."
We had watched 'Docking Complete' at Beta Hydri back in February 3302. The programme for the play had mentioned that its authors, Tony Chalk and Johnny Cheese, were to write a sequel, and Sam and I had promptly resolved to watch out for it.
"Well," I continued, reading, "This new one's called 'Docking Successful', and you'll never guess who's in it. Cheryl Maughan-Pike!"
Cheryl Maughan-Pike was the actress who had appeared with my mother in "Star's End". It was Ms Maughan-Pike’s information which had helped me to find my real father.
"In that case," said Sam, picking up his own dataslate, "we must catch it if we can. I'll book us a pair of tickets." After a few moments he looked at me, smiling. "All done. We'll be in the second night audience on the twenty-fifth of May. Perhaps we'll be able to have a chat with our old friend Ms Maughan-Pike again."
We spent another couple of days in LHS 3356, then made our way to Wyrd at a leisurely pace. During the trip I received a call from my old friend commander Chiral. The last time I'd spoken with Chiral was in October 3302, when I had been in Pegasi working for Black Omega. Chiral's wife, Spell, had been missing for many months, and Chiral had been searching desperately for her, following every slim lead he came across.
"I have bad news," he now said. "The trace of my wife has gone cold long ago. I fear she's already dead. I have no idea what really happened to her."
"I'm very sorry to hear that," I replied. "I truly hope some new information turns up for you soon."
"Thank you. She's been missing for about two years now. I have had to move on, but I am still trying to find information whenever I can. Whenever I think about her it's like I'm falling into a black abyss. I don't think the pain of losing her is ever going away. I just have to learn to deal with it."
I shook my head. "You haven't lost her yet, Chiral. Not until you know her fate for certain. Don't give up hope."
"Thank you for your kind words," he said. "But it's been two years. You really think there's hope still?"
"I do. And you owe it to Spell to keep on hoping."
"A part of me still has hope. Another part of me tells me to let go, but... I can never let go completely."
"Nor should you."
Chiral nodded. "You are right. I will keep hope. Thank you."
"Take care, Chiral."
*****
The play, 'Docking Successful', was so hilarious that I was crying with laughter by the end. Authors Chalk and Cheese had worked in several cheeky topical jokes, poking fun at Powerplay leaders of all sides, as well as some very risque remarks involving the so-called barnacles.
Afterwards Sam and I went to the stage door to see if we could be reacquainted with Cheryl Maughan-Pike. Fortunately for us only a fairly small crowd of admirers had gathered to get a glimpse of the stars, so we had little difficulty in attracting Cheryl Maughan-Pike's attention.
"Ms Maughan-Pike!" I called, holding out my dataslate and a stylus. "May I have your autograph?"
"Of course, my dear," she replied, beaming. "So nice to meet a fan. What's your name, my darling?"
"Jemine," I said. "Jemine Caesar."
A flash of recognition crossed the actress' face. "Have we met before?"
"Yes. Very briefly, in January, at the wrap party for 'Return To Star's End’. I was introduced to you by my mo... by Rebecca Thorne."
"Ah," came the frosty reply. "That was quite an angry little scene you made, as I recall."
"Yes," I said, momentarily lowering my eyes in embarrassment at the memory of the row I’d had with my mother over my choice of lifestyle. "Ms Maughan-Pike, this is my boyfriend, Sam Hodkin." Sam stepped forward and gave the actress a smile.
"You were at the party too, weren't you?" she asked, peering up at Sam's face.
"That's right," Sam replied. "Though we have actually met before."
"Oh, really? I don't recall..."
"It was October, 3301," I told her. "At that time I was trying to track down my real father."
Cheryl Maughan-Pike gave me a patient stare. "And?"
"I found him, partly thanks to information you provided."
"Oh, lovely."
"His name is Edward Harvard. He was a security guard."
"Yes," replied the actress. "Your mother was very much in love with him when they were at drama school in Eravate."
I was taken aback by her remark. "What? You mean you knew all along? But why didn't you tell this to Sam?"
"It wasn't my business to tell him, my dear. Rebekka confided in me years ago, and swore me to secrecy. Becoming an actress was all she ever wanted, you see."
I nodded. "I learned that she considered being a mother to me would only impede her career," I said. "So I was given away to my half-sister to be raised as her daughter."
"Yes. It sounds rather harsh when you put it like that. But Rebekka was always very focussed on becoming a star. She and Barnes always wanted to get into show business, from a very young age. Too bad she had to leave home to pursue her dream."
"Leave home?" I was confused.
"Her parents weren't happy about it, mind you. They naturally wanted her to attend an Imperial drama school, but they couldn't afford the fees."
"Wait," I said. "I don't understand. What do you mean by 'leave home'? She and Barnes were both born in LHS 3447."
"What? No no no, that's quite wrong, my dear. They were born in Munshin, on Ocrimox's Opulence. They did settle in LHS 3447, that is quite true, though she and Barnes travelled back to their home world for the birth of their daughter, of course."
"Their daughter..." I repeated. "Eleanor? My half-sister?"
"That's right."
"Hold on," I said, as realisation began to dawn. "You're telling me that my mother is an Imperial citizen?"
"Yes, my dear. As is your real father."
"Oh, shit..."
"I beg your pardon?"
Trembling, I reached out and grasped Sam's hand to steady myself. "Sam," I said. "I'm a fucking Imp."