The Summit Beyond Our Galaxy - An Apple Loving Individual space opera

Chapter 16 - Returning to Kanzen City

Chapter 16 – Returning to Kanzen City

Monday, May 18, 2176
9:23 PM
Kanzen City, Korolev Crater, Mars

Within no time, Jerry along with Alyssa, Durand and Tango Galnac were already on the shuttle to Kanzen City. Alyssa sat next to Jerry, laying on him as she shook a little. Jerry put his arm around her to placate her, so she can stay calm. She smiled and looked at him. "I'm not sure if you're aware, but one of the domed cities at the Korolev Crater, is named after my ancestor." Alyssa explained. Jerry looked at her. "Which one?" said Jerry. "Mason?" "No." Alyssa said. "Perkins?" said Jerry. "No!" said Alyssa. Jerry then sighed. "I'm giving up after this!" said Jerry. "Is it Montgomery?" Alyssa then placed her thumb up. "Bullseye!" said Alyssa. "Named after Jonathan Montgomery. Born in 1997, in Houston, TX; he was known for saving the women of Houston, who were held prisoner, to be sold off, in 2019. He died in 2079 but left behind a great legacy for my family." Jerry was amazed hearing this. "Fabulous!" said Jerry. "Seemed like a righteous dude!" "Yeah, he sure was!" said Alyssa. "Unfortunately, very few people were like that in those days! However, he helped all the women back then. He did it as part of a plan to seek revenge against two men who raped his younger sister Amanda." Jonathan was indeed amazed at hearing this.

The shuttle landed in Kanzen City within half an hour and for the first time in her life, Alyssa saw life outside Phobos. Tango Galnac got out of the shuttle along with Durand. Durand looked at Jerry. "I need you to come home with me." He said. "Your mother will be overjoyed to know you're here!" Alyssa was indeed happy for Jerry as well. Jerry however, felt strange. "You guys have been living on Mars for the last two years, and I never knew about it?" said Jerry. Durand then looked at him "It wasn't your fault, Jerry!" he said. "You had your reasons to go, and you needed time to yourself." Jerry looked at him. "I guess you're right!" said Jerry. "Still, it's no reason for me to have abandoned my family!" Alyssa and Jerry reached Jerry's apartment, where Alyssa began to unpack her things. "You've got a beautiful place to stay, Jerry!" said Alyssa. "I love it!" Jerry smiled. "You'll enjoy it more when you stick around here." He said. Jerry then went to fetch the rest of his and Alyssa's items and brought them in the house. Then he placed them in a corner. "We'll deal with this later!" said Jerry. "Right now, we must get moving to Dad's place!" He then placed all the luggage aside.

After grabbing all their luggage and placing it in Jerry's apartment, they headed towards Durand's house. Durand lived only about nine miles away from Jerry. They come to a mid-sized suburban complex. It was a beautiful neighborhood and the houses were also beautifully designed for the modern, current day and time. Upon arriving the house, Durand got out along with Jerry and Alyssa. As they approached the door, Durand paused in his tracks. "Wait here, you two!" said Durand. Jerry looked around and saw the neighborhood, it was pretty beautiful for a high-end place. He was happy seeing the vicinity. However, he also was pacing a little in anxiety. Alyssa noticed this and came to him. "What happened?" said Alyssa. Jerry looked at her. "I don't know, what if my mother..." Jerry then stopped speaking suddenly. Jerry and Alyssa both looked ahead. Durand walked out holding the hand of a woman, who seemed to be in her mid-forties. The woman looked up and saw Jerry. She continued to stare at Jerry, and Durand let go of her hand. She then slowly walked towards him, as Jerry also began to do the same. She looked at Jerry for some time, Jerry smiled a little towards her. She placed a hand on his face, as Jerry slowly placed his hand on her hand slowly releasing a tear from his eye. The woman then burst into tears and hugged Jerry. Jerry then hugged her as well. Alyssa smiled as she also shed a couple tears.

Tango Galnac also witnessed this and smiled. Durand then went to them and they suddenly stood up straight and saluted him. He saluted them too. "Alright, ladies and ladies!" said Durand. "How much did he offer to pay you?" Larkin then looked at him. "150,000 cloud jewels, sir!" she said. "To each of us!" Durand then shook his head. "I must be out of my mind!" he said. He then took out his holo-tablet and prepared to make a transaction. "Here's 200,000 to each of you!" said Durand. "50,000 more than what he offered you! I'll reward you 50,000 more should you succeed in delivering the ruse to Miller and arresting him!" Larkin and the team looked at Durand. "SIR, YES SIR!" said Tango Galnac, altogether. They saluted him again and went to go to work.

Tango Galnac then went back to their barracks and prepared to go to Miller. They got into their automated hover-jeep and headed to the meeting place. Along with them were photorealistic holograms of Jerry and Alyssa. "So, how will we handle this boss? What's the move?" said Luna. Larkin looked to her side. "We will deliver the ruse to Miller, and he will believe it actually is Jerry and Alyssa." Larkin explained. "After that, Rahul must hack the powerful weapon, capable of destroying a whole planet, and insert the virus to kill the machine's software." Lance then smiled a little hesitantly. "I don't know, boss!" said Lance. "If he's playing us, you'd be cut off! There's no way we'll reach you in time!" Larkin then smirked. "Jesus, Lance! You sound just like my mother!" "I don't think you'd be able to say goodbye to your mother if this is a play!" said Lance. "Look!" said Larkin. "Miller's got no more reason to trust us, than we do him. If I roll up on him with the whole team, it can sour the deal! So, we play this straight until we know different? Understood?" "Whatever you say, boss!" said Lance. "We got your back, you know that!" "Hell, yeah!" said Larkin. "That's what I'm counting on!" It was a quiet moment after that, as the team waited to arrive to their destination.

Back at Durand's home, Jerry explained to the woman, who was none other than his own mother Joanne, how life had been since he left home, and how he met Alyssa and everything. "I won't lie to you!" said Jerry. "I didn't feel good at all leaving you guys, but you know I had to. It was the only way, I'd find some peace of mind!" Joanne smiled. "Every child has to one day start living independently and work hard on his own to survive in the world." She said. "Parents don't last forever. Son, I'm very proud of you!" Jerry smiled. "Over the last few years, I saved up tons of cloud jewels, more than what I need to do with." He said. "I also have done things on the side, which served as multiple sources of income. Such as write novels under a pseudonym, which surprisingly sold a hefty amount of copies. I've also invested in few properties and make money from that. I just don't tell people, otherwise I'd lose my job and I enjoy working. I'd say I've got about 14,000,000 cloud jewels from all my hard work in the last five years. Perhaps, at this rate I could retire at 30, then enjoy the remainder of life with Alyssa." Durand smiled. "Son, you did the right thing!" said Durand. "Honestly, Michaela is at a huge loss, knowing she left a wonderful man!" Everyone had a good time. Jerry then took something out of his pocket. A small box. "Alyssa Michelle Eisenberg, will you marry me?" said Jerry. He opened the box to reveal a wedding ring with quite a huge diamond. Alyssa smiled as she put her hand out. "Yes!" said Alyssa. They then shared a kiss, as his parents took out their holo-phones and snapped some pictures of the two.

In the digital realm, Priya and Arjun watched this. "It's amazing he proposed to her with a ring that costed him 3,000 cloud jewels!" said Priya. Arjun looked at her. "How do you even know this?" said Arjun. "I've seen his expense account online!" said Priya. "Although he doesn't spend like crazy!" Arjun then looked at her. "Don't you think it's a little too invasive?" said Arjun. "No, not really!" said Priya. "We're digital beings after all! Ever since the dawn of electronic and digital devices, pretty much everything online is in our access. Not that we wanted it." They both smiled at one another. It was an amazing moment in both, the real world and digital world.