Shoshone Station: The Galactic Consortium season 2

Episode Five: Adam #18

I almost wish I had the excuse of work, Lannister thought over breakfast that morning.

He'd greeted his nephew as "Adam" when zie came to breakfast.

"I hope no one expects me to call my daughter, Brooke, by some boy's name," Frank Senior had commented.

"Not a girl," Adam had growled.

And so it went on from there.

"You were born a girl. You'll die a girl," Frank Senior began angrily. He caught Linda's warning look and turned away quickly. "Whatever." He took his morning coffee and his breakfast and stomped off toward the back of the room where the view screen was. He turned it to an Earth channel and sat with his back to the others.

"A tale for old men, we say," Peeta commented as he sat a plate in front of Adam. "I believe you say, old wives' tale. You can't tell gender from a baby's organs. Gender is in the brain."

"You can't?" Linda echoed.

"No," Adam said. "I saw a healer. They say I have non-binary genetics, which is why I have female parts. But my brain isn't female. They said so."

Dad gave her a hard look, but Lannister couldn't quite read it to see if he was taking in the information or not. Linda was looking uncertain. Frank Junior simply shrugged. "Tried to say," he muttered.

Linda shot him a look. "Timmy's older brother is becoming his sister, is all." he added around a bite.

"And if the whole world were jumping off a cliff?" Linda shot back.

"That's not quite the same thing," Lannister commented. "Breakfast is divine. Thank you, Peeta."

"Yes, it's divine. Divine. We really need to get you to share some of these recipes with our cook," Mom said.

Everyone quickly agreed, glad for the change in the conversation.

Shortly after they had finished eating, a small group of others arrived. There were two slender women in flowing dresses led by an older Hanuman female. Behind them was Shir, the station's missile commander.

"Whoa," Frank Junior said, looking up at the tall, slender form of Shir. "Are you an alien?"

"Lavara," she replied, taking him in with her blank eyes. Lights at the corner of each lid blinked.

"The Lavara are genetically human, but a deep-space culture," Lannister told his nephew. "They've lived so many generations in deep space, sometimes with little contact with the rest of humanity, that they've evolved for it. Their height is due to low gravity."

"And our lack of pigment," Shir said, "is to better make use of the artificial light we receive."

"And your eyes?" Frank Junior asked, fascinated.

Shir laughed. "Who wants to see out of biological eyes? You can't see hardly anything that way. I've anticipated this question." She pulled out what looked like an old-fashioned pair of pince-nez spectacles, glasses with no ear pieces. Except these spectacles had wiring on the sides. She bent down to his height and beckoned him forward.

While she was talking to Frank Junior, the Hanuman had approached Lannister's mom and was talking to her and Linda. She was a courtesan and was taking them for an exclusive spa package.

"Brooke," Linda called out, "come with us. It will be fun. And a good chance to catch up."

"Aww, Mom," Adam protested. "A spa day? I'll just stay—" Zie glanced back where Frank Senior was still sitting, ignoring them as best he could. "I should train. Workout. I will catch up later."

"Oh, come on," Linda protested. "Please? Be social."

Lannister opened his mouth to speak, but to his surprise, Dad beat him to it. "You can come with us," Dad said. "If you want."

Adam nodded, relieved. "Yeah, I could do that." To Linda, zie said, "Catch up with my little brother."

Linda looked on the edge of arguing and then nodded.

"You want to join a military order. Be good to see this. Though I don't know how similar they are."

Lannister and Adam joined Frank Junior and Dad beside Shir. Frank Junior looked up at them through the spectacles. "This is so cool," he declared. "You see this all the time?" he asked Shir.

She smiled and touched the side of the spectacles.

"Holy crap!" Frank Junior declared and nearly dropped the spectacles. "I can see the stars." He reached a hand out in front of him, groping for things none of them could see.

"A military order?" Shir inquired of Adam.

"The Kurgara."

"Tough training, but a noble ambition. For surface dwellers, their biotech is nearly as good as ours." To Lannister and his dad, Shir said, "Our tour will begin with the main command deck, then the missile command. I've a couple of simulators set up, so you can see what we do, roughly, without having to have the necessary biotech upgrades or training. Should amuse the child."

"And my father will find it fascinating as well," Lannister said. "He was a naval commander for years. Though our technology is nothing like yours."

As they all headed toward the door and their appointments, Lannister turned to Peeta. "You will be okay?"

"I shall endure his stony silence in good grace, never fear. Besides, I shall clean up breakfast and leave him a pot of coffee, then retire to my own quarters. The screen there provides all the entertainment that one requires."

It was a subtle jab, but for Peeta, a sharp one. Underneath his graceful mask, Peeta was a driven young man, eager to improve himself and his station in life. He had little patience for those who were simply content with what they had, who had no ambitions.

Lannister nodded, in this case, agreeing. Who would come to a space station and then spend their day sitting in front of view screen watching American TV?

"Carry on then." He turned and followed the others out the door.