Dark as Daylight Ch. 14

"Gordon could you ever find it in your heart to forgive Zoey for what she's done?"

"I honestly don't think so. I'm going to be talking to God for a very long time to find out where my personal compass is pointing. For now, it's me and my daughter. Soon I will be fighting for custody of my unborn child. In her current state, I do not believe Zoey is fit to raise any child of mine, or anyone else's."

"Your honor, I will leave it there, for right now, but if need be, I will redirect my client at the end of cross-examination."

"Very well Delicious."

Gray cross-examine.

"Gordon did you ever hit your wife?"

"No never."

"Are you sure?"

"Are you talking about mean and maliciously? If you are, the answer is absolutely no. If you are talking about playfully, we do it all the time."

"Have you ever hit her pregnant belly?"

"If she says I have, you can take one of the guns we have, place it to my head, and pull the trigger. I will sign a statement swearing I never hit her stomach with a baby in it. From the day we met until the day before the incident, I have loved only her. I have treated her with the utmost respect and kindness. If she says anything else about me, take me outside and kill him me. As a matter of fact, let's do it now. My only request is that she stand there, and watch as it happens. If nobody wants to pull the trigger, give me the gun, and I will do it myself. I offered to die once before, while we were in space, as a matter of conscience. I'm not afraid of dying for the truth."

Zoey yelled, "I'll pull the trigger."

Gordon replied, "Let's go outside and get this done."

Monty said, "Zoey, do you know the penalty for murder?"

Gordon said, "Give me a pen and paper, and I'll give her immunity for this act."

"Gordon, you're out of your mind."

"I may be out of my mind, but I'm also innocent of the things she said about me. I will not let people look at me and think I'm a wife beater. You know better, and so do I."

Jennifer, Delicious Newton, Elizabeth, his entire family and nearly the entire crew gathered around him; begging him to change his mind. They kept telling him they knew he was not a wife beater, and they would not take her word over his any time.

Jennifer said to her son, "Go speak to your father, and ask his advice. If you don't want his advice, at least say goodbye. You know if you die I'm going to hate you forever. You're as prideful as your father was."

"I will, if you will take care of Payne, and fight Zoey for custody of the new baby."

"I thought you had forgotten about your children."

"That would never happen, mom. I love Payne, she is so playful, and looks just like her mother. I'm glad I never asked what my new child would be, because it didn't matter to me. I was going to love it just like I love Zoey, Payne, our entire family, and Monty. I'll go see dad now. Remember, he is not going to change my mind. If Zoey wants me dead, let her live with it, especially when she gets better. I hope it drives her insane."

"That will definitely do it, Gordon. A sick woman kills her sane husband. She goes back on birth control pills, and returns to sanity. Then she is told what she did to her very sane husband, and it drives her crazy. I suppose there is logic in there somewhere, although I don't understand what it could be."

"Keep digging mom, it's like gold. You have to dig deep to find that golden nugget."

Jennifer kissed him, and said, "I think you're crazier than she is."

"I'm not crazy mom. There are just certain things I will not allow people to think of me. Striking a woman, pregnant or not, is one of them."

"Your father would have said the same thing."

************************

On his way to the flight deck, Gordon was intercepted by Gray.

"Gordon, I am so sorry. She wrote down all those questions for me. I had to ask them. I knew they were bullshit, but acting as her attorney, I had no choice. Don't do this please. Don't throw your life away, because of her. She's a sick girl, and we all know it. Let it go. Let Doctor Finch put her to sleep. Have Laura put her in stasis for the next few months. Don't throw your genius away. I'm begging you, don't do this."

"Gray, I've never had a better friend than you. What you've done for my family, especially for my sister, can never be repaid. I know that wasn't you up there. During this whole process, you were being controlled by what she was telling you. I hope this helped you and Delicious see how important what you have is, and you never let it slip away from you. You have 3 more children to create. You don't want to wait until you're 60 to have the last one. They don't have Social Security here. Go take care of your wife and your children. Love them as I love my family. I have to speak to my father now. Take care Gray."

"That should be a very interesting conversation."

"You may be able to hear his part outside."

****************************

"Hi Janet."

"Clear the bridge!"

"Hello Gordon, you made a big stir in the auditorium."

"I have a habit of doing that, don't I?"

"Have you ever thought about living a quiet life?"

"Janet, you have no idea how I've tried to keep my nose out of everyone else's business, but everything seems to happen to me as I'm walking by. Would you give me a few minutes with my dad please?"

"Why do you think I cleared the bridge?"

"Because you are getting ready to go to the Arboretum?"

"You have no idea how good I've become with flowers. I can name several dozen varieties now."

"Very good; will they grow here?"

"Everything we brought with us was designed to grow here, or wherever we landed."

"Okay, I'll call you when I'm finished with my dad, or he's finished with me."

"Thank goodness Callie's in there. She can keep him from blowing a gasket."

"I don't think diamond computer chips break."

"Thankfully I'm not small enough to find out."

*********************************

"Hello Callie, It's Gordon Luck. Would it be okay if I got into an argument with my father?"

"Should I turn the speakers down, Gordon?"

"That would be a good idea Callie."

"Your father and I have been playing chess. I almost beat him, because he blundered on a move."

"Callie, my father never blunders. It's a trick of his to move you out of a position, where he is in danger. He will make a move that you see as a blunder, and you will attack it. It will weaken your strong position, and before you know it, you are back to being equal. He did it to me all the time, and I learned about it the hard way."

"Gordon, you have a big mouth. Is nothing sacred with you?"

"I love you too dad. How is your computer chip today?"

"We are functioning nominally."

"Hold on to your edges dad; in about 30 minutes, Zoey is going to shoot me."

"I know I didn't hear you properly. Would you say that again, please?"

"Doctor Luck, you heard him properly. Your daughter-in-law is going to kill your son in 30 minutes. What was so hard about hearing Gordon say that to you?"

"He's my son, not yours. Why is Zoey going to kill you?"

"We were in court today, for our divorce hearing. She accused me of being a wife beater. She had Gray ask me a series of questions, about hitting her and then hitting her while she was pregnant. The questions were such an abomination to my being, and to who I am, I could not let them pass. I said to her and those around us, if that's what you think I am, put a gun to my head and pull the trigger. My only demand is that Zoey has to be beside the person pulling the trigger. If no one wants to pull the trigger, I will do it myself, because I am not the abomination she says I am."

Zoey yelled, "I will pull the trigger."

"So I'm here to say goodbye, dad. I hope our people miss me, half as much as they miss you. Everyone talks about you every day. You are a part of everyone's conversation. You are, because you built this bubble of ours, and it continues to be absolutely amazing. Newton and I have been all over it, and there is not one flaw anywhere. We are still trying to find a way to replenish the water in the outer shell, but we will get there. We know where it rains. Now we have to figure out when, and why. There are never clouds to give us a hint, or electrical activity as a portend of things to come. All it does is start raining, when it wants to rain. The guys in the science section will figure it out one day. We will open the outer ports, fly our machine to where it's raining, and fill the outer shell, until it overflows. We will get it done, and it will be done perfectly, because of your cross-training directives.

Do you remember when you wrote them dad? You were home from the hospital, and couldn't stand up, and your nurses wouldn't let you out of bed. You were going crazy doing nothing. You started writing notes on paper, but you kept falling asleep, because of your medicines. You lost your train of thought, and got so angry at yourself your numbers went all over the place. The nurses were going to stop you from doing it, when Zoey told you to get a tape recorder. You could talk into it for as long as you could, and then stop. Zoey transcribed all your notes, and gave them to you to make sure she got everything right. It was as if you were working right beside me every day, and everyone in the lab felt the same way. You helped Zoey get your directives letter perfect, and all of us had no problems following the procedures you laid down. You did a fantastic job dad.

Our guys are fantastic also. They're getting better, happier, and more involved in the ship's business, as they train. You did a great job picking out our people, and our people are doing a great job multiplying.

I can't tell you how proud I am to be your son. Mom is still pissed off at you, and it gets worse every day. If you were to reappear, in the flesh, she would kill you; just to get even with you, for leaving her, without saying goodbye to her properly, in bed. Goodbye dad."

"I told your mother I didn't have much time."

"Yes, she told me, but instead of taking her to bed, as she asked you, you decided to tell the bridge crews, you were leaving, and why. It was a very noble act, but you left your wife steaming. Shame on you, dad. You picked your ship, over your family. If mom ever gets a hold of you, you are going to die all over again."

"She's not being fair, Gordon. She has to look at it from my point of view."

"I'll tell her about this conversation, if I live long enough to talk to her."

"You will live for a long time my son. I'll see you tomorrow."

"I'm not going to be here tomorrow dad."

"I'll save a semiconductor ready for you."

"They stopped using semiconductors ages ago."

"In that case, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Have I told you today that you are a pain in the ass?"

"No, but I feel much better now that you have."

"Callie, would you zap him or something, please."

"Who would I play chess with if I did?"

"Just watch out, when he plays the 17^th version of the Karoo-Kahn. He fools you by playing a defensive game, while using white. If you don't catch on early enough, the center of the board is his for the remainder of the game. By the 40^th move, he will either mate you, or you will resign."

Even Luck roared, "Go get shot. If I had legs, I would kick you so high, you would never come down. I've been setting everything up to get to that game. Another 5 to 7 years, and I would have had Callie dead to rights."

"I wonder if our new friends know how to play chess?"

"Elizabeth hasn't had her baby yet. You have a long time to wait."

"You will still be here."

"If you remember Teddy's prediction, so will you."

"I'm sorry, there's been a slight turn in the road. Goodbye dad, goodbye Callie."

"Goodbye Gordon. See you tomorrow."

"You are still a pain in the ass, dad."

"Doctor Luck, if Zoey is going to kill Gordon today, what did Teddy say that you know he will be here tomorrow."

"Teddy has never been wrong, when she makes a prediction. She was given the gift of precognition, from our God. She has made certain predictions. 2 of them are Elizabeth's 1^st baby will make first contact, with the people stuck on the cold side of this planet. Her second prediction is Gordon and Newton will go back to their spaceship, and fix it for them.

Our new friends will fly their spacecraft here. They will have to decide whether to stay with us, and form a new community, or not. We will have to make a similar decision. Do we stay here, or follow them to their home planet?

We could always offer them a trip to Earth, but once we got them there, every government on the planet would put them in jail, and then dissect them down their pubic hairs, just to see what they are made of.

I would not allow that to happen to an amoeba, no less a human being.

There is always another possibility. Some of us may want to go to their home planet to see what it's like, and some of them may want to stay here with us, and form a new community. Anyway you look at it, there will always be one spacecraft for each group. None of us will ever be stranded."

I know Jennifer is going to marry one of our new friends. It does not make me sad. It makes me very happy for her. I don't want her to be lonely for the remainder of her life.

As Gordon said, Jennifer is pissed at me. The reason she's pissed off at me is because I left her too soon, and she's lonely without me by her side. You have your sister's as comfort and company. Jennifer goes to bed alone every night."

"Strangely enough, Doctor Luck, your attempt at proper communications made sense this time."

"As is normally the case; your attempt at humor has fallen flat on its face, again."

"I was not attempting to be humorous. Shall we continue playing chess?"

"I will not lose."

"You will not win."

"I am getting closer to winning, than you are."

"I have not tried to win yet. I will let you know when I do."

"It will probably be sometime between now and the half-life of a Uranium-238 isotope."

"We will have many conversations in the next 4.448 billion years."

"I will teach you many things during that time."

"Winning at chess will not be one of them, Doctor Luck."

"Don't take this personally Callie; but you are nearly as big a pain in the ass as my son is."

"Thank you Doctor, platitudes like that make my diamond chips sparkle."

"If you keep that up, I won't talk to you."

"I can talk to my sisters, who will you talk to?"

"You are as big a pain in the ass as my son is."

"Thank you again Doctor."

"Fuck off, Callie!"

**********************************

"Do you know how to use this?"

"Yes I do."

Everyone was standing 30 feet to the side of Zoey. They were unable to comprehend what she was about to do. This was insanity.

Monty asked, "Gordon is there anyone or anything you want to do or say before you do this idiot thing?"

"Yes, there are 2 things I want to do."

He walked to his mother, and told her about his conversation with his father.

He got the reply he expected.

"I'll kill that son of a bitch, twice, if he ever shows up again."

"Mom, I told him you would do that to him."

"Next time, keep your mouth shut. I'll take my revenge out on him, my way."

"Dad said you had to look at it from his point of view."

"I am, that's why I am only going to kill him twice."

I told mom not to cry, and kissed her goodbye. Then he walked over to Monty, stood by her, and yelled to Zoey.

"I want you to remember this is not what I was angry at you for."

He looked at Monty, took her in his arms, and kissed her more fervently than he did the first time.

"My life would have been shit, without you in it. My mom and dad helped me become as smart as I am. You are the one who made me the man I am today. Thank you for everything Monty. God knows what a wonderful person you are. If that asshole, Jackson, doesn't marry you, he's missing out on the best woman God ever created."

"You fucking bastard, you are making me cry."

"Wipe the tears from your eyes, and I'll take that secret to my grave. I love you, Monty."

He walked over to Zoey, and stood 5 feet away from her.

"Go ahead, I'm ready."

"Turn around, I don't want to look at your face."

"That's too fucking bad, I want to see the bullet coming out of the barrel of the gun. It's very easy. The gun is in your hand; there is a bullet in the chamber, pick up your arm, point it at my face, and squeeze the trigger. It will be over in less than a second. You will be free of your wife beater, and maybe both children will be yours."

"You don't think I will do it, do you?"

"Quite the opposite Zoey, I'm sure you will. You are the person your parents couldn't stand for 15 years of your life.

Your father wanted to throw you off the balcony, every time he came home. He didn't, because he didn't want to go to jail."

"You had nannies every day, and night for those 15 years, so you didn't drive your mother crazy. You almost drove her there anyhow. It was flying her airplane that saved her, and staying away from you, for as long as possible.

If the condom didn't break, and you went back on birth control pills, I wouldn't be standing here, and you wouldn't be standing there. However, that's not what happened. You feel like the aggrieved party, so do what you want to do. Let's get this over with. Everyone's waiting; you won't have a friend to talk to ever again."

"Fuck yo..."

Someone in the crowd screamed. It was Elizabeth. Newton was holding on to her as he lowered her to the ground. Her water broke, and she had her first contraction.

Doctor Finch surmised that the intensity of the situation caused this to happen.

Elizabeth was so tiny, one security guard was able to carry her into the ship, directly to the infirmary for an examination.

Many people were so distracted by this turn of events, they forgot about Zoey and Gordon.

Gordon or Zoey didn't.

Gordon said, "I don't need an audience, do you?"

"Say goodbye you cock sucker."

"That was your job. I licked your pussy, until you tasted like fine wine."

Zoey raised the gun, slipped off the safety and squeezed the trigger.

Off to the side, Teddy was running towards them as fast as her legs could carry her.

Zoey squeezed the trigger, as Teddy yelled, "STOP!"

Everything stopped. The talking stopped. The people stopped moving. The pony's stop moving. The water stopped moving. Everything stopped moving, except her.

When she reached Gordon, she realized time had not stopped completely. It slowed to a crawl. The bullet was still moving. It was 2 inches from him, and continued moving slowly towards his head. She placed the palm of her hand under the bullet, and raised it, until it was 1 inch above his right head.

She ran back to where she was, resumed her position, and in a low voice said, "GO!"

There was a loud report from Zoey's gun, but Gordon did not fall. He remained standing to everyone's amazement. There was a louder gasp, and his entire family starred at him.

Zoey dropped the gun, and looked at him. As she slipped into unconsciousness, she said one word, "Gordon!"

Gordon went to Zoey, and Teddy grabbed his arm. She stood beside him, and began to pray for Zoey.

Gordon whispered into Teddy's ear, "I think God gave you another gift, didn't she? You and I have something to talk about, don't we Teddy? Remember, God is listening to us, and we must tell the truth."

"Okay, but you are very sneaky. I don't know how you know, I thought I kept it a secret."

"I have to take care of Zoey, now. You and I will talk later, okay?"