Journey to Year 1,000,000,000 Ch. 18

And then suddenly Elizabeth was there, standing by his side.

"You're Sarah Carey, Bill's wife, aren't you?"

"Yes," said Sarah. "Who are you?"

"I'm Commander Elizabeth Shaw. I was on the Judicator with your husband when Bill died. Bill was a brave man. He saved my life."

"He did?" Her eyes went wide.

"He saved all our lives. Come, let's talk." She gave Taylor an inscrutable glance as she pulled Sarah Carey away.

"She still cares for you, in her own way, you know," said Victor.

"No, I didn't know," said Taylor.

"Perhaps you should try to expra her," Victor grinned. "So, back to what we were talking about. Do you want to find the other Pam?"

"Victor, I don't know where she is," said Taylor. "I don't know where to find her."

"You knew how to travel a billion years into the future, but now you claim you can't find one very prominent research and diagnostic tool on the planet Earth," said Victor. "Admit it, Michael. There's a bond between you two."

"Victor, we never even slept together."

"That's exactly what I meant," Victor replied.

A Japanese couple came up to them. They identified themselves as Sanyo and Fujifulm Tanaka, Suki Tanaka's parents. Sanyo, the mother, had the same heavy pear shaped breasts as her daughter.

"Our daughter was your navigator," said Sanyo. She took Taylor's hand. "Please, gracious Captain, tell us about our daughter. Why is she not here with you now?"

Because... she was turned into a squid, but even as a squid betrayed the other squids and saved all our lives? Taylor remembered the battle between Suki Tanaka and Jennifer on the bridge of the Judicator, as they were racing against time to escape into the Black Box. Suki had saved all their lives that day. But what could he actually tell Suki's mother?

"I... I don't know what to say," said Taylor.

"I do," said Victor promptly. "I knew your daughter. She saved all our lives."

"Victor! The regulations-"

"Are meant for other people, not me," said Victor. "She saved all our lives. We were captured by aliens. Suki was brainwashed and tortured into working for them. But she ended up saving all of us."

Fujifulm's jaw dropped. Sonyo gasped. "Why... if you say she was brainwashed, why did she still help you?"

"Because at the end, she remembered who and what she was," said Victor. "A Survey Service officer. One of the finest."

"I... I developed a... special relationship with Suki," said Taylor, reluctantly. He was pleased to see Fujifulm's jaw drop even lower. "At one particularly tense time, we were... close. I got to know her well. She was a fine woman. You must have been very proud of her."

It didn't take screaning abilities to see the look in their eyes. Suddenly, they knew. Sonyo reddened and her face went through several phases as she slowly figured out what Taylor was saying. Finally, she reached out and touched Taylor's hand. "Thank you, Captain Taylor. Thank you so much."

She was trembling as her husband led her away.

"Too much information, Victor?"

"I don't think so," said Victor. "Her parents deserved to know how she saved us."

"And what I told her?"

Victor shrugged and smiled. "I think it pleased her."

"It did?"

"To think that the valiant Captain Taylor made her daughter happy sometime before her final moments. Yes, I think it did," said Victor.

Speaking to the families was an unpleasant task, but it had to be done. The worst encounter, unexpectedly, came with Jennifer Hale's family.

Taylor recognized them, Jennifer's mother, Maureen, and her younger sister, Kelly. Maureen looked like an older version of Jennifer, and Kelly had the same thick dark hair and ripe melons under her shirt that Jennifer did. Jennifer had introduced her family to him before, during a social function. But the sad reunion he anticipated turned out to be something far worse.

Jennifer's mother, Maureen Hale, ripped into him immediately. "What happened to Jennifer?" she demanded.

"I can't tell you, Mrs. Hale," said Taylor. "All I can say is that she died in the line of duty."

"Don't give me that smug Survey Service line!" Maureen snapped. "You came back without a scratch on you! Why isn't my daughter here too?"

What to say? That her daughter had turned into a giant squid, and had perished with a psychic blast to her chest?

"There's something you're not telling me, is there?" She said, jabbing Taylor in the chest. "Something that happened to my Jennifer. Tell me!"

"There's nothing he can tell you, Mrs. Hale," said Victor.

"He's responsible! He's the reason my daughter is dead!" said Maureen Hale.

"Mother!" said Kelly, the younger daughter. She tried to restrain her mother, but she pulled away.

"No, let me finish. We all know the reason Jennifer went on this mission. Unlike the others, she wasn't assigned to it. She volunteered," said Maureen Hale. "And we all know why she volunteered. Because she was in love with you. Admit it! You were having an affair with my daughter! You seduced her into joining this mission!"

"No, it's not true!" said Taylor.

"It is true! You fucked her, and you dragged her along, and you got her killed! She would be alive today if she had never met you!" Maureen yelled. She had the attention of everyone in the hall now. "They all would! Anyone who loves you dies! And here you are, with that smug expression of sympathy pasted to your face, dressed in your fancy tailor's dummy whites as you pretend to dole out sympathy with an eye dropper. Well, I'm not buying any of it! You're a fraud, and you lead people to their deaths!"

She was screaming now.

Survey Service military police came over and started to drag her out by the arms. She was still screaming as she was taken from the hall. A hushed crowd eyed the spectacle.

Victor put his hand on Taylor's shoulder. "Michael-"

"I know, Victor," said Taylor. "Believe me, I know."