Sci-Fi Story: A Vision of the Future Ch 3

A Vision of the Future: Chapter Three
By Hugh D. Martin

      After Leo kissed her good night, Nira went back inside her house. She was still thinking about the visit to the Oracle, she couldn't believe that what she wanted was beyond the Oracle's power. That was supposed to be impossible! Nira didn't see her mother until she bumped into her,
      "Oh," she said, "sorry mom."
      "Is something wrong dear?" asked Nasakia.
      "Leo and I went to see the oracle today," said Nira, "I wanted to ask her about the two of us but she said it was beyond her power."
      Nasakia gave her daughter a comforting hug,
      "That's okay," she said, "wait, what's this?"
      She looked at the amulet around her daughter's neck,
      "Oh," said Nira, "the Oracle gave that to me. Leo got one too."
      Nasakia looked from the amulet to her daughter and back again, a quizzical expression on her face,
      "She just GAVE you and Leo a pair of Seer's Amulets?" she asked.
      "That's what those are," said Nira, "I had no idea."
      Seer's Amulets were rare and powerful relics that showed the wearer something important to them. That could mean a vision of the past, or a premonition of the future.
      "She told us it might help find the answer," said Nira.
      "I think it just might," said her mother.
      Her father was at work so Nira had dinner with her mother and went to bed. She woke to a pair of green-gold eyes. They belonged to an eight year old boy standing beside her bed,
      "Mommy," said the boy, "Are you awake?"
      'Mommy?' That confused Nira for a second, but then she remembered the Seer's Amulet. This is what it was showing her, the future. She let the power of the amulet guide her,
      "Yes I am sweet heart," she said. She sat up in the bed and gave her son a hug.
      "Come on kiddo," said a man's voice, "you go have breakfast. We've got a busy day ahead."
      Nira looked at the man and was met with a shock. It was Leo. He was older, certainly, and wearing a GDC Officer's Dress Uniform, white and black with gold trim. He looked over to her and smiled warmly,
      "Morning," he said.
      "Good morning," she returned.
      Leo walked over and picked up their son,
      "Come on Thomas," he said, "Let's go have breakfast while your mom gets ready."
      Nira got out of bed and got dressed, she picked out a long royal blue dress with a violet sash around her waist. She walked into the kitchen and found Leo eating breakfast with Thomas,
      "You look pretty mommy," said the boy when he noticed her.
      "Thank you sweet heart," said Nira.
      "You're welcome," said Thomas.
      There wasn't much time before they had to leave, so Nira put a breakfast pastry into the toaster. She had to eat it while they were heading out the door. Leo sat in the driver's seat of the family skycar and they went to the important event of the day.
      
      They drove to the Bastion, the ring section of the station opposite the Citadel. The Bastion was the military center of the Tower, a remnant from when the station belonged solely to the Federation military. Today was the day Leo received a commendation. Nira didn't know what medal he was getting or even what for, but she knew he had more than earned it. She was surprised at the uniforms of the other attendees though, they were all CDF. Leo gave her a quick kiss and then left to prepare for the ceremony. Nira looked around at all the military personnel and noticed a familiar face: Captain Jamilah Kashani Wolfe, the Grand Marshal's wife and the closest Nira had to a grandmother,
      "Captain Wolfe," said Nira, "Nice to see you."
      The captain turned and gave the barest hint of a smile,
      "Nira," she said, "It is good to see you too."
      Like her husband, the Captain was a Full-blood terran. She had sapphire blue eyes and wore her lustrous black hair in a long cascade down her shoulders. Her voice had a peculiar accent, a mix of her native Tehran with Oxford.
      "Why is everyone here in the Colonial Defense Force?" asked Nira.
      "Your husband didn't tell you?" said the Captain, "he's receiving a commendation on behalf of the Federation."
      "Really?" said Nira, "He didn't say anything."
      "That sounds like your Leo," said the Captain flashing her almost-smile again. She was never the most expressive of people, even for a terran,
      "You and Thomas should find your seats," she said, "the ceremony will be starting soon."
      Nira took her son's hand and walked into the assembly hall. Most of the seats were occupied by people in uniform, but she did manage to find a couple of open seats for Thomas and herself, the Captain sat down next to her and the award ceremony began.
      The presenter was none other than the Grand Marshal himself. He cut a terrifying figure in full Dress Uniform: all midnight blue with a white peaked cap. He wore his sword at his side, a gold aiguillette around his right shoulder, a set of red, gold and black fourragère around his left and had more medals pinned to his chest than anyone could count and he even had the prestigious Medal of Honor around his neck, all of them earned during his three-quarters of a century long career in the service.
      "I've often said that I don't believe in heroes," he said, "but sometimes there are rare individuals who come awfully goddamn close. Colonel Leo Sevchenko of the GDC is one such person." There was a round of applause as Leo stepped onto the stage and stood at attention. The Grand Marshal continued,
      "When pirates seized a human colony in the Rosette Nebula, Col. Sevchenko's ship was among the first to respond. Braving the planet's orbital defenses Col. Sevchenko personally led a team of GDC troopers to oversee the evacuation of civilians. In the span of only two and a half hours, the Colonel and his crew saved the lives of all fifteen thousand colonists."
      There was another round of applause before the Grand Marshal could continue,
      "The Legion of Merit," he said, "is the highest award the Federation can give to those who are not CDF personel. For his exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services to the Terran Federated Colonies, I am honored to present to Colonel Leo Esteban Sevchenko the rank of Commander of the Legion of Merit."
      From a small cherry wood box, the Grand Marshal took a medal suspended from a crimson ribbon. He put it around Leo's neck and saluted, when Leo returned the salute the ceremony was finished and people starting getting out of their chairs and leaving the assembly hall. Everyone in attendance seemed pleased with Leo's actions the Grand Marshal had mentioned, everyone that is except Nira. She marched right up to her husband with a searing look on her face,
      "What were you thinking!" she yelled at him, "you could have been killed!"
      The assembly hall emptied immediately at that point, Leo threw up his hands to fend her off,
      "Nira," he said, "I was okay. It wasn't as dangerous as the Grand Marshal made it seem."
      "Not as dangerous?" she cried, "you were risking your life!"
      "Honey," said Leo, "do you-"
      A young man in a GDC utility uniform walked up to the two of them,
      "Colonel Sevchenko," he said handing Leo a data pad. He saluted sharply and walked away,
      "What is it?" asked Nira. Leo read it silently,
      "Orders," he said at last, "they want me back on duty first thing tomorrow."
      That was NOT what Nira wanted to hear,
      "But," she said, "You still have three days of leave left. And according to the CDF you just got finished nearly getting killed. Maybe they want you to go all the way this time!"
      "Nira," said Leo with a sigh, he put his hands on her shoulders,
      "Do you know the most important thing I take with me when I'm deployed? The one thing that always keeps me alive?"
      She shook her head.
      "A holo of you and Thomas," said Leo, "the Grand Marshal told me once that the most important thing a soldier, or anyone in the military needs is a reason to come back home."
      He hugged her tightly to him,
      "You two are my reason," he said, "Don't you remember when we were kids; I promised that we would always have each other?"
      "Yes," she said.
      "I meant that when I said it, and I still mean it now," he told her, "Even when I'm out at the farthest reaches of the Universe, There's nowhere else I want to be than right here with you."
      Nira felt tears in her eyes; she hugged him as tightly as she could and kissed him fiercely. Thomas made a gagging noise,
      "Yuck!" he said, his parents just laughed.
      
      They went home briefly, long enough to call a babysitter for Thomas so Leo and Nira could have one last night together before he went out on deployment. First, they went out for dinner at a nice restaurant. After they ordered they had a conversation,
      "So," asked Nira, "do you know what you'll be doing out there."
      "The usual stuff," said Leo, "patrolling trade routes, some minor exploration, providing a support role to ACTUAL militaries."
      "What about rescuing people from danger?" asked Nira.
      "Nira," he replied, "I really wasn't in danger. You know how long it we were under fire from the orbital defenses? Ten minutes at most."
      "I thought the Grand Marshal said it took two and a half hours?" said Nira.
      "The evacuation took that long," said Leo, "it took ten minutes for the CDF to wipe out the orbital defenses. Now I see why people are so afraid of an orbital strike, it's worse than a nuke going off. Besides, I don't do stuff like that often. Normally it's pretty boring."
      "I still don't like it when you go," said Nira.
      "I know," said Leo, he gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.
      When their meal was served they talked about more ordinary things: how Nira's parents were doing, Thomas' grades in school, and another recent event regarding their son,
      "You know," said Nira, "there's a girl in Thomas' class that he likes."
      "Oh, really," said Leo, "has he introduced her?" He was very pleased at this news.
      "No," replied Nira, "not yet."
      "Hmm," said Leo, "maybe that's something we'll do when I'm back home in three months."
      "I think that's a good idea," said Nira.
      After dinner they went to their favorite place on the entire station, Presidium Park. They found a secluded open area and lay down on the grass watching starships.
      "Remember how much we used to do this when we were kids?" asked Nira.
      "Yeah," said Leo, "I actually bought a copy of Jane's Ships of the Galaxy so I could identify them all."
      "Really?" said Nira with a chuckle.
      "Yeah," said Leo, "of course I don't need one nowadays."
      "No," said Nira, "I suppose you wouldn't."
      "There's one thing I liked better about this though," said Leo.
      "What's that?" asked Nira.
      "Being here with you," replied her husband.
      He hugged her close and nuzzled the side of her face. She giggled happily,
      "I liked this better too," she said.
      They lay there for hours, simply enjoying being with each other. It was well into the night when they came home. They paid the sitter, tucked Thomas into bed and retired for the evening. After an hour of passionate lovemaking they finally took a rest. Nira panted in blissful ecstasy as she snuggled against her husband,
      "Well," she said breathlessly, "that's one thing I'll definitely be missing."
      "We could go again if you miss it that much," said Leo. Nira laughed,
      "You're insatiable!" she said. He just chuckled,
      "Well," he said, "that's why you married me."
      Nira wrapped her arms around her husband and hugged him tightly, he hugged her back, kissed her forehead and fell asleep. Nira lay back and put a hand on her belly, she knew that she would dearly miss Leo while he was gone but maybe, just maybe, she might have a surprise waiting for him when he came home. She rested her head against her husband's shoulder and went to sleep.