Chapter 7: Chapter 6: Nostalgia – Part 3

The gate room of the SAT-Station was vastly different. The chaotic, rushed movements, appearance and disappearance of people, replaced with an orderly and organised process. It was almost military in the way that everyone knew and behaved exactly as they were supposed to.

Carl would have been amazed by that, would have, if not for the fact that to his right, the wall was lined with viewing glass, though the sights beyond were so mind-boggling that he wasn’t sure if they were some sort of visual display.

“Carl, want to look out the window?” Leanna asked, gently and also happy he seemed so breath-taken by it. Her heart almost melted when the boy took her hand and several who noticed smiled to themselves, clearly aware of her long-held wish to be a mother.

As they approached, Carl began to feel a wall of anxiety, but feeling Leanna’s warmth truly pushed him to be brave, just as Lydia’s prettiness had.

Klaire pointed to different things, her outstretched hand darting from point-to-point. “That’s the residences, that’s the competition level, that’s an incursion detector, that’s an external maintenance drone, that’s the moon, that’s venus… Awww, looks like we picked the wrong time to see Earth.”

“It’s all so beautiful. Thank you Mum… Really, thank you for giving me this chance.” Carl began to cry a bit and Leanna and Klaire both hugged him, whilst also trying to tell Squidge not to pull Carl down.

“Come on sweetie, let’s get you settled, it’s been a long day and we have lots to talk about. Not least of all is that picture, Klaire, you really do have some explaining to do.” Leanna huffed, sacrificing a small amount of the unshakeable girl’s comfort in order to make Carl smile.

They scarcely made it out of the gate room however when a large man spotted them and jogged over after turning on his heel. “Vice director! Is this him? Ah! Yes! The beast is there. My word, what a specimen, creating a new species by taking key elements and fusing them is simply extraordinary.”

“Liam! Please do show some decorum. He is a young man, one who had a long day and a lot happened. Hell we practically kidnapped him it all happened so fast, so please, can you give Carl some time to get settled before you hound him like a mad giant two and a half times his size.” Leanna barked, drawing snickers and smirks from several onlookers.

“Ah, yes! Sorry, yes. I lost my mind when I first got the picture and saw Lydia, knowing your relationship with her, when I heard you left I got carried away. Is he a relation?” He spoke more calmly, retaining a certain scatter-brain vibe, even as he asked the final question.

“Actually… I have adopted him…” Leanna shook her head as the strict queues turned like several domino chains, all facing her with expressions of shock. “…He will be starting tuition at the start of the next academic year. Carl, you may as well meet the man who will be teaching xenozoology and cryptozoology when you start.”

“Hello sir, I’m Carl, Carl Re-” Carl frowned with uncertainty. “…Leanna, Mum, sorry. Is my last name still Reaga? Mum said it was only my name, because she wasn’t able to properly adopt me.” Carl was genuinely intrigued.

“Technically, until the papers go through, yes and if you want to keep it, you can. Likewise, when you get older, if you decided to, you can change it again to, even your first name if you don’t like it.” Leanna explained.

“Not sure yet… Sorry sir, I’m Carl, just Carl for now. I apologise, I am quite worn out, but I look forward to talk, can we meet in a few days maybe… If you have time, that is. I’m sure a teacher is very busy.”

“For you boy, Carl sorry, I will make the time. Apologies and of course I look forward to the next time we meet.” He bowed forty-five degrees, but his dimensions made it seem like a far deeper gesture, then left without another word.

“Don’t be nervous with that one Carl. His body is built like a mountain but his heart is that of a puppy. I also think you two will get along great, Lydia said you handled the creatures like pro and were very knowledgeable.”

They eventually got back to Leanna’s residence, which was far more luxurious than Carl had anticipated. The front door opened up into a small entry way, where the all took off shoes and pulled on slippers, after rummaging through shopping bags to find Carl’s, then the inner privacy door opened up.

When that inner door opened up Carl thought they were going to be sharing, even asking “Where are the others?” The space was an open plan living room and kitchen, not small though. In fact this one space was equivelant to the entire living space of where he had grown-up, about ten metres by twenty. “Where are the beds?”.

Leanna and Klaire both smiled, secretly thankful Lydia wasn’t with them when he said that. “This isn’t the whole place, did you not notice the doors?” She pointed to each of the four doors, three of which were on the wall to their left and the last was beyond the kitchen.

“Auntie Leanna, can I give him the tour please? You should get food started, we haven’t eaten anything apart from the biscuits they give you for the migraines.” Klaire said both honestly, but also just wanting to be the star.

“Oh shoot! Yes, of course, I’ll get started on that, give the tour then get cleaned up for dinner.” Leanna was already flicking through bags to find those containing food, then shuffled off towards the kitchen.

“This one next to the door is the bathroom, it has a toilet and a shower…” The door hissed open as she knocked on it, then hissed closed as she moved along.

“This one is Auntie Leanna’s room, unless she changes her mind now that you’re here, she picked the smaller room because her guests usually bring more stuff than she has.” Klaire said, almost conspiratorially with how quiet she was.

“Yes they do, like Lydia who always brings two suitcases, or your mother who brings one for herself, one for you, your toys and games, your suitcase and not to mention the “special suitcase” that you always bring so you can leave crumbs in bed.” Leanna ranted without looking up from her personal slate, as she studied a recipe.

“Damn…. Sorry Auntie Leanna. Next along, this is her study. We can’t go in there no matter what. She keeps special documents and confidential slates in there for work, I got told off by all three of them for going inside once, so seriously, don’t do it. She moved along into the kitchen space, then toward the last door. I guess this is your room now, Enjoy… Sorry for any crumbs Auntie missed.” Leanna had abandoned cooking for this bit and stood behind them, next to Squidge who was moving very sluggishly now.

As the door hissed open to reveal the massive room, with a three-section wardrobe and king-sized bed, Carl fell back into Leanna, shaking his head. “No! Can’t be, too big.” He was honestly panicked, he got scared at night as many children do. The place they lived in had wild bests that would sometimes wander into the town and a couple made it into their shack.

“Carl, what’s wrong?” Leanna asked, wondering if it was something that could be resolved.

“Too big, I thought we would be sleeping in the first room together, that wouldn’t be a problem, what do we do if a beast walks in.”

“Oh sweetie, don’t worry. We’re in space remember, if you do get scared though you can knock on my door. If you can’t adapt we can swap, why not try it? You’ll appreciate the space when you’re older and when you have more stuff it won’t feel as big.” Leanna started, gently consoling him with a soft hand rubbing his back.

“Why don’t we have a sleepover tonight? I’ll stay with you and you have Squidqe now as well.”

“That, young lady, depends on what I learn from our chat about that picture.” Leanna snapped, making Carl feel better, but honestly the idea of having the energetic girl there would be comforting.

“Okay. I’ll try.”

“Yes! Now we get the big room!” Klaire cheered, trying to ignore any further mention of Lydia’s betrayal.

“Good boy, now Klaire can help you get unpacked now, we’ll be helping her get unpacked tomorrow.” Leanna said before returning to the kitchen.

They had a lot to unpack, Leanna and Lydia got a bit carried away with clothing in Carl’s opinion, but none of them listened when he said as much. Squidge was very happy with his bed as well and decided he had had enough for a day and fell asleep.

“Door, set to open mode…” Klaire said as she petted him. “…Now if he wakes up he can get out.” Klaire finished before standing up and heading out, back into the kitchen space where she could be heard pestering Leanna about being hungry.

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