Decisions Part 2
26 Nov 2017MMMMMalcolm
Commander's Log of Kay Wantz Sol 26 Nov 3303
Coming home to my family may not have been the best decision. It started off well enough. I was excited to be home. I was anxious to see mom, dad, and my two younger sisters. Not just my immediate family, but my extended family as well. My two aunts, three uncles, and anyone else mama invited off the street. Thanksgiving has always been a big holiday at mama's house. I love my family and they love me. It could not have been more evident as when I walked through the door. Everyone was surprised and everyone cried for at least thirty minutes. We hugged, we ate, we talked about my travels to Colonia, Sagittarius A and Beagle Point. We cried some more. The first four hours went great. Then I found out I missed my little sister Carla's wedding to Frank and it all changed.
Battles lines were immediately drawn. Half my family wanted to know if I was over the death of my husband Marcus. If one more person told me it wasn't my fault, I was going to explode. I understood they meant well, but their relationship advice and their suggestions for new beaus were not helping nor welcome. Neither was the other half of my family, as they chose to awkwardly avoid the subject altogether. They inadvertently ended up avoiding me, leaving me in the bombardment of the first half of my family. I began looking for the exit and thinking of excuses to leave. Especially when mama's secret weapon showed up. Some stray Federation scientist, she met on her way home from the grocery store, stationed in Sol, without anywhere to go for the holidays. Her original plan was to just feed him I'm sure, but she did not hesitate to seat us next to each other when the opportunity arose. He was cute in a nerdy sort of way, but when he went on and on about Thargoid research data he received from the Merope system, I quickly forgot his name. I found my thoughts drifting toward Malcolm and my body toward the door.
I retreated back to the solitude of the Black Widow. I had planned to just sleep off mama's turkey dinner, even went as far as changing into some sweats and a t-shirt to sleep in. I don't remember turning on the ship's computer. Nor do I remember when I chose to log into the Galnet database. What I do remember however, is the annoying buzz sound and big red error message I got every time I searched for Malcolm Xavier. I was certain I was spelling it right but just to be safe I did a general search for black pilots, who were born on Earth, age 29, and whose first name was Malcolm. Of the many thousands that were listed, Malcolm Xavier was not one of them. Who was he? I don't know why but I was determined to find out.
I spent the next couple of days relaxing at mama's house, shopping with my sisters, and as the oldest gently threatening Frank if he didn't take good care of Carla. The night of the 25th I packed up to leave. I told mama I had new prey to hunt. She doesn't approve of my career choice, but she doesn't press me about it. But she wasn't going to let me out of the house until I promised to be back for Christmas. A fleet of Anacondas couldn't keep me away. Once back in the Widow, I punched in the coordinates for HIP 118321.
The chime on his data slate was a curious surprise. When he erased Malcolm Xavier's existence from Galnet's database, he put in a secret monitoring program to notify him of anyone who might be searching for his charge. He did not expect the Federal Navy to be looking for their AWOL Rear Admiral for at least two months. He looked at the device. "Make a mental note to look into Ms Kay Wantz," he said to himself. Then he set the device aside.