Half Life

The Gap

"Maddie, what are you doing? We have to report this!" Jack exclaimed. Maddie shushed him furiously. The boy had just fallen asleep, hidden in their home lab. She herded her husband to their small kitchen and closed the lab door behind her. 

"You didn't hear him Jack. He doesn't seem to know much English, but he knew enough to tell me that he had to stay secret. With the amount of blood he was losing, those could have been his last words."

"Why?" Jack asked. 

Maddie lowered her voice still further. "I can't be sure... but maybe whoever destroyed that planet has a death sentence for all survivors. They're an advanced enough species that they've developed interstellar travel. Whoever it is could be tracking down the last of the Halphas as we speak."

Jack opened his mouth, but stopped. He might be blunt, but he was smart enough to realize the possibility of Maddie's words. 

"So... so we just hide him in our lab for the rest of his life?" he finally reasoned.

"No. That's no life for anyone.... I've been thinking though-"

She cut off, wondering what he would think of her suggestion. 

"What?" Jack asked impatiently. 

"Halphas... they look pretty similar to humans don't they?" she said tentatively. "If we gave him colored contacts, maybe a fake tan to hide that skin tone, we could say we adopted him. Plenty of orphans after that civil war on Mars."

She expected him to argue. Jack loved the rules of Space Corps, and not reporting the survival of an unknown/ endangered alien went against almost every one. But he looked thoughtful as he considered. He began to nod. 

"That would work!" he said slowly. "And Jazz could use a little brother to boss around."

"When the danger's past, we can tell Space Corps about him, and they can take things from there," Maddie added, a huge wave of relief at his agreement washing over her. 

.............................................................................

After the decision had been made, Maddie sat beside the Halpha's bed for hours. He seemed to recover amazingly quickly, the deep gashes already beginning to knit together. His eyes were closed, but he twitched anxiously in his sleep. 

It finally began to dawn on Maddie what this boy represented. An amazing, advanced, completely new culture and species. One that had been almost entirely wiped out before they even really met each other. 

The boy jerked in his sleep again, muttering a few foreign words. Maddie felt her heart ache ache thought of something else too. She would be acting as this boy's mother. But what had happened to his own mother? Had she escaped? Was she searching the ruins desperately for her son? Or was she now part of the lonely ruble cloud which had once been a planet?

After a few hours, when she had arrived home from school, Jack brought Jazz in to see her new brother. She rode on her father's broad shoulders, blue eyes shining with curiosity. 

"Come here Jazzy," Maddie called, gathering her 7 year old closer to the cot. 

"This is going to be your new brother."

Jazz looked at him, wide eyed. She crept closer and put her small hand up close to his face. She seemed confused as she compared her pale skin to his greenish tone. 

"He's a little different than us sweetie," Jack explained. "But we'll be a good family, won't we?"

Jazz turned doubtfully back to the boy. She poked his face. 

With a huge gasp, the Halpha's eyes shot open. Jazz shrieked as she saw them. Black where they should have been white, with glowing green irises. She hid behind her father as the boy leapt to his feet, eyes roaming the room in fear. 

Maddie jumped up, hands raised non-threateningly. The boy's wild eyes rested on her. He seemed to remember her, and relaxed just slightly. 

"It's okay," Maddie said slowly and softly. "You're safe. Everything is okay."

He stared at them, uncomprehending. 

Maddie pointed at herself. 

"Maddie. Mad-y," she sounded out. A small glimmer of understanding kindled in the wild eyes. 

"Jack," Maddie went on , excited by this development. She pointed at Jack, who nodded in confirmation. He lifted Jazz out from behind him. She quivered with fear, eyes locked onto the boy. 

"Jasmine," Maddie explained. A spark of her old fire relit. Jazz squirmed, exclaiming,

"No! Jazz!"

The Halpha seemed to understand. The tension bled out of his muscles and he sat down hard on the cot. 

Maddie pointed questioningly at him. He cocked his head, not understanding. 

"Maddie," she pointed at herself, "Jack," she pointed at Jack, "Jazz," she indicated her squirming daughter. She then pointed back at him. 

"D'any'a," he responded. 

"Dannyay?" Jack repeated, slurring the name together.

"Danny!" Jazz exclaimed, excited at her own brilliance. Her shyness evaporated. She rushed forward and hugged the boy. He was smaller than her, and looked shocked. 

"Danny Danny Danny! You're going to be my brother!" As she hugged him, a smile began to grow over the small Halpha's face. 

Maddie and Jack exchanged looks. His real name was too foreign. Too... alien.

"Danny it is then," Jack decided. "Danny Fenton."