Sex and Death in Outer Space

(A Star Seeds Story)

###

Bianca let the water run, the roar of it rushing through the pipes soothing, shielding her from the chaos around her. The handsome, well-dressed man striding back and forth on the granite countertop gestured dramatically, his face tight with consternation. Whatever he ranted about couldn't be good.

She wrung out her kitchen rag, warm water seeping between her fingers and over her hands. Maybe, if she asked politely, Mr. Eckleridge would let her use the master bathtub again after she put the boys to bed. Sitting in that claw-footed paradise while hot, fragrant water swirled all around her as she leaned back with a glass of expensive synthetic wine made her feel like a queen.

She set the rag on the countertop with a wet plop, drying her hands on the front of her jeans before tapping her mobile device, the worked-up hologram flickering for a moment before disappearing. She picked it up and slid it into her back pocket before getting to work wiping down the Eckleridge's expensive, fashionable kitchen.

Open floor plans were convenient for families with small children. She smiled with an exasperated shake of her head as Caleb and Joshua leapt back and forth between the gray couches, the television blaring their cartoons. Outside the bay windows that lined the walls, smoke drifted up into the mountain towns from the burning valleys below, turning the sky an apocalyptic yellow. The boys were so wild that afternoon because she hadn't been able to take them outside with the air quality being toxic, especially for small children. She shut off the faucet with a sigh, the frantic music from the cartoons filling her head. As she wiped crumbs into her cupped hand, little Joshua fell to the floor, immediately popping back up to hurry over to her.

Caleb stopped jumping, leaning over the back of the couch to yell after his younger brother. "Come back! The piranhas are stripping the flesh from your legs! All the blood and guts is going to draw sharks!"

Dark-eyed with curly black hair and a great smile, Joshua Eckleridge stomped over to her, face flushed scarlet with exertion. "Biba, can I have a glass of water, please?"

She paused her cleaning, turning to open a cabinet and select a bright red Iron Man cup, Joseph Quinn scowling from the image on the side. She had always preferred Robert Downey, Jr.'s Tony Stark, but she couldn't blame the boys for enjoying the re-boot more than the original. "Of course you can. I like how you said please. Would you like ice?"

He shook his head, hopping from foot-to-foot as he waited for Bianca to put a lid on the cup and slide the straw through the opening. "What are you doing?"

"Getting you a cup of water."

"What about before that?"

"You're dead, Joshua! A hammerhead and a great white ripped you in half fighting over who got to eat you!" Caleb just had to make sure they knew he was still in there, waiting for his brother to return to their game.

"What?" Bianca smiled, handing him the cup. "When I was wiping down the counters?"

He took it from her with a nod, bringing the red straw to his lips for a long drink. He took a deep breath when he was finished. "Yeah. What are you doing?"

"Cleaning."

He furrowed his brow, cocking his head to the side. "That's boring and dumb. You should come watch TV and play with us."

Bianca put a hand on her hip and pretended to be torn. "Well, your father won't like it if he comes home to a messy house."

Joshua rolled his eyes. "I'll deal with him. Come play." He smiled, a single dimple appearing on his right cheek. "Please?"

She had to laugh, tossing the rag into the sink. She could clean later. It was only eleven and Mr. Eckleridge wouldn't be home until late. She held out her hand and he took it, pulling her toward the couch and the awful preschool cartoons.

"Biba is a magic mermaid! She used her powers and brought Joshua back to life. Hurry! Get to the submarines before the piranhas come back!" Caleb climbed onto the back of the couch.

"You know you're not supposed to do that. Please get down," said Bianca.

Caleb smirked with all the unearned confidence an attractive, wealthy nine-year-old boy could muster, but he did climb down, lacing his fingers behind his head as he watched them.

"Thank you for listening." She dropped into a squat, throwing her arms around Joshua and surging to her feet, her quads, hamstrings, and glutes strong from chasing those boys around for the past eighteen months, the child screaming and thrashing in her arms. "Hold still! The sharks will sense the disturbance in the water and swarm us!" She carried him to the couch, dropping him onto the stiff cushions.

Caleb tossed his brother a Nerf gun. "Here they come! Three hammerheads and twelve great whites!"

Joshua scrambled up and leapt onto the other couch to join his brother's defenses, shooting Styrofoam darts at invisible sea creatures.

"You guys need to quit jumping on this furniture. Something is going to get bro-" Her mobile device vibrated in her pocket. She stopped her scolding to pull it out, puzzled by the name that appeared over the number. "It's Mr. Kirk. Please be quiet."

The boys stopped their yelling and turned to stare, their dark eyes narrowed.

Bianca clicked "voice chat" instead of "hologram". "Hello."

Mr. Kirk's deep voice boomed through the small device in her hand. "Are you alone?"

She chewed her bottom lip as she held the phone to her ear. "No. I'm with the boys."

"You need to get away from them. I have urgent instructions for you."

The hair stood on the back of her neck and her stomach clenched with fear. "Umm."

"Do it, Miss Bailey."

She must've had a terrified expression on her face, because Joshua's eyes widened and he hopped off the couch to press against her side.

"What's going on?" Caleb squeezed his plastic weapon.

She ran her fingers through Joshua's hair, hoping her smile looked more real than it felt. "Wait here. Mr. Kirk just has to tell me something boring. Go back to your game."

Their eyes bored into her back as she walked into a dim hallway, stepping inside a half-bathroom, foaming green hand soap smeared all over the basin sink attached to the wall. Joshua. She shut the door behind her, stooping to pick up last night's Spiderman pajamas. Caleb. "I'm alone."

"There's been an attempt on Mr. Eckleridge's life."

Air burst from her lungs in a rush and she slumped onto her bottom. "What?"

"The bullet missed his heart, shattering his clavicle and scapula as it blew a hole in his chest. Duncan and his men swarmed him when he fell and got him out of there and to a hospital. Don't worry. He'll live."

Bianca clutched her chest, her heart pounding painfully against her ribs. "Oh, thank god."

Mr. Kirk thundered on. "These demonstrations and protests get wilder and more dangerous every day. There's violence and looting in the streets. The authorities are completely overwhelmed. I think the Reformists are planning something nasty and Mr. Eckleridge agrees. He wants his sons off the planet. I need you to pack up a suitcase and some toys and shit for the boys. I'm going to be there in forty-five minutes to escort the three of you to the Olympus Base. The ship leaves for the Space Station Elysium at two o'clock. Hurry, Miss Bailey. There's no time for pissing around. Wear your gun." His mobile device disconnected with a beep.

She slid her device into her back pocket, worrying at her thumbnail. Panic corrupted her thoughts. Mr. Eckleride was a scientist, not a politician. He had devoted his life to terraforming Mars so humans could have a second chance. Why would the Reformists shoot him?

She took a deep breath and opened a slim cabinet against the wall, pulling out a spray bottle and a dry towel to clean up the sink. Those boys needed her. She couldn't lose her head in a time of crisis. When she was finished, she put the spray bottle in the cabinet and balled the sticky, sudsy rag in her fist, clutching Caleb's pajamas in her other hand.

She dared not look in the mirror. The horror seizing at her heart and lungs would derail her completely if she saw it in her own expression. She took a deep breath as she pushed open the door. "Boys, turn off the television. I have to tell you something."

###

Bianca folded comfortable clothing and tucked it into a suitcase. The smiling, colorful robots that danced along the molding of Joshua's bedroom ceiling mocked her and the poor child sobbing next to her.

"Get your case and pack up your video games. No limits on the ship. You can play as much as you want until we get to Elysium." She pulled Joshua against her hip and rubbed his shoulders.

"You're sure Dad's not gonna die, right? You're positive?" called Caleb from the doorway.

She turned, his ashy complexion and wide fearful eyes breaking her heart as he shoved plastic superheroes into a Spiderman backpack.

She didn't know what to say, so she told the truth. "Mr. Kirk said the bullet missed his heart and that Mr. Duncan and his men were able to get your Dad to a hospital. I'm sure he's in pain and probably a little scared, but he's going to be alright."

"I'm scared, too, Biba." Joshua threw his arms around her waist.

She knelt and pulled him close, Caleb zipping up his backpack. "It's okay to be scared. A scary thing happened. But the adults are dealing with it. We're going to keep you, Caleb, and your Dad safe. Mr. Kirk and I are going to take you to Elysium and when your Dad is well enough to travel, he will join us there. You need to listen and do what we tell you to do when we tell you to do it." She ran her fingers through his hair and cupped his sweet oval face. "Can you do that? Can you be brave for me? For your Dad and your brother?"

He nodded his head, sucking snot deep into the cavities of his skull, the wet sound loud enough to be slightly amusing despite the severity of their situation. "I want to take my baby blanket and my penguins."

Bianca suppressed a smile. "Of course."

Joshua busied himself with his stuffed animals while she pulled a handful of sensible black socks and underwear with sharks printed on them from a drawer and shoved them in the suitcase, picking it up and hurrying across the hall into Caleb's bedroom, colorful bits of worthless plastic littering the floor.

Muscle memory took over as she subconsciously dodged Legos, trying to remember if Caleb's favorite t-shirt was clean. She set the suitcase on the bed and pulled open a drawer, the old-fashioned brass handles rattling against the wardrobe. It was a wonder such an expensive piece of furniture hadn't been broken.

Caleb followed her inside, clutching at the straps of his backpack. "Biba, I need you to be honest with me. I didn't want to say this in front of Joshua because he's already crying."

The only features Caleb shared with his brother were his dark hair and eyes, his face sharper and more angular. It unnerved Bianca to see his typically confident smirk replaced with tense, tight-lipped fear.

"Is my Dad really going to be ok? When my mom got sick, everybody said the medicine would make her better and she would be fine. I believed them. I believed them, but she got sicker and sicker and then died. I never want to be disappointed like that again. Please tell me the truth, Biba. Is my Dad going to die?"

She pulled several folded t-shirts out of the drawer, Caleb's favorite blessedly on top. "Come here." She put them in the suitcase and knelt, gripping his shoulders. "The bullet missed his heart. Bones were broken and he has to have surgery, but he will survive this. I will never lie to you, Caleb. You can believe that."

He wiped his eyes and wrapped his arms around her.

She held him close. "Mr. Kirk will be here soon. He is not a patient man like me or your Dad. You need to listen and do what he says."

"I will."

"Did you pack up your video games?"

"No."

She released him, standing to finish her task. She still needed to pack a few things for herself. "Go pack yours and help your brother pack his. Please."

He hurried out of the room without a word.

Bianca left enough room in the suitcase to shove a pair of her own jeans, two pairs of sweatpants, a t-shirt and two loose, long-sleeved sweaters, and several changes of underwear inside.

She snorted with humorless laughter as she zipped up the suitcase. Why did she always pack underwear like a person who couldn't make it to the bathroom? She packed more underwear for herself than for either of the boys.

She zipped the suitcase closed and put it on the floor, moving to the shelf inside her closet, hands trembling as she punched in the password to the heavy steel safe on the shelf. The mechanism released with a click and she pulled the door open, the dark metal cold against her fingertips.

There it was, menacing even when the safety was on and the chamber was unloaded. A shiny silver 9mm Beretta 92 compact pistol rested inside the safe next to three clips of ammunition and a holster.

She took a step back, running her fingers through her hair and glancing around her spartan bedroom. Bianca Bailey was a slender white woman of short stature, completely non-threatening in any way at first glance. But with a gun in her hand, that skinny white girl could inflict a massive amount of suffering and death.

When Mr. Kirk had insisted she learn to shoot in case she ever had to protect the boys from harm when they were out and about, she balked, saying that she hated guns and would never be able to use one even if the situation called for it. But Mr. Eckleridge had agreed with Mr. Kirk and demanded that she learn to defend his sons from harm.

"You'll love shooting." Mr. Eckleridge had insisted when Mr. Kirk had driven them to a shooting range to practice. "It gives you the most incredible rush. You'll feel powerful. Invincible."

But as Bianca had held the gun out before her, safety goggles strapped to her head and ear protection shielding her delicate auditory system from any permanent damage, she only felt ridiculous. And when she pulled the trigger, the bullet blasting a hole into the backstop, fear burned at the back of her throat and her heart pounded in her chest. Maybe Mr. Eckleridge had confused feeling powerful with feeling dangerous.

Misters Eckleridge and Kirk had laughed at her poor aim.

Bianca had been grateful she'd only blown a hole in a piece of plywood and not some poor innocent child's head.

Two squirrels wrestled in the grand oak tree outside her bedroom window, their eyes the same dingy yellow as the polluted air they breathed. She took a deep breath, turning back toward the closet and the instrument of chaos and destruction inside. The boys needed her. She couldn't demand they be brave and follow instructions without question and then not do the same. Lead by example. Model the behavior you want to see. Her college mentor had forced those mantras into her subconscious when she was a student teacher.

"I'm a cowgirl," she murmured as she fastened the holster around her waist. "No. A Pinkerton Agent hired to deliver two precious children to safety."

She reached for the gun, allowing herself that little moment of insanity as her fingers wrapped around the hard metal. With trembling hands, she loaded it, cocking the bullet into the chamber with a deafening click and sliding it into her holster. She tucked the extra rounds of ammunition into her belt and pulled the hem of her long T-shirt down, concealing the gun on her hip.

She'd had to take hours of instructional and safety courses to be able to do that. A little slip of paper in her wallet indicated that the State of Colorado deemed her knowledgeable and responsible enough to hide a deadly weapon on her person as she moved about in public.

Bianca pulled the handle of the suitcase up and rolled it out of her room and down the hall, the little plastic wheels gliding over the fake wood with a soft rattle, her gun pressing against her hip. Dread seeped into her bones and tainted her thoughts. She would not be able to relax while she wore that cursed thing. For the first time in years, she prayed, hoping she would never have to use it.

Joshua sat on a bench by the garage door, clutching a small teddy bear with a bright red Santa hat stitched to its head as Caleb helped him slide his feet into his light-up black rain boots. "Can I wear these? They're my favorite."

She forced a smile. "Of course you can. I haven't seen Christmas Bear in a long time. It'll be nice to have him join us."

"Mom made him for me."

Her mouth ran dry as she sat down "Oh. How nice."

She grabbed her sneakers and pulled one onto her foot, pulling the laces tight, their backpacks all ready to go by the garage door. "Do you have everything you want?"

"Yes." They said in unison.

Her phone went off in her back pocket - Mr. Kirk.

Bianca pressed voice chat, pressing the mobile device against her ear. "Yes?"

"We're here. Don't come outside, we'll come in and get you," said Mr. Kirk, his steady voice calming her nerves.

"Who's we?" she asked.

He hung up and she swallowed hard, the sight of two pale, wide-eyed young boys clutching each other's hands causing anger to flicker in her chest. Even if Mr. Eckleridge was guilty of some great crime, the Reformists had no right to terrorize two innocent children.

Bianca forced a smile. "Mr. Kirk is here. We'll be safe at Olympus Base soon."

"Is it dark in outer space?" asked Joshua.

The man door in the garage squeaked open.

"The sun shines all the time and there's electricity in Elysium," said Caleb. "It won't be scary at all."

Joshua licked his lips. "What about cold?"

A hard knock on the door made him jump.

Mr. Andrew Kirk stepped inside, stubble on his cheeks and circles under his dark eyes. He was not a tall man, but broad shouldered, with long, muscular arms and a trim waist. Caleb once joked that he looked like a gorilla, but Bianca had always thought him very handsome with a strong Grecian nose, full lips, and thick dark hair that almost looked mahogany when the sunlight hit just right.

Mr. Liam Jones, a golden, green-eyed Apollo stepped in after, a pressed smile on his face. He nodded at the boys. "I am so impressed that you were able to get ready so quickly. You guys are so mature and brave."

Caleb swelled with pride and Joshua nodded, blinking away tears as his bottom lip trembled.

Mr. Kirk's gaze fell to the gun on Bianca's hip, then lifted to study her face. When their eyes met, she took heart. He wouldn't let anything bad happen to those boys. Or to her. Her mouth dropped open, a bizarre impulse compelling her to tell him how happy and relieved she was to see him, but he looked away, reaching up to press the Bluetooth in his ear.

"Target acquired. Awaiting confirmation that the perimeter is secure," he said.

Joshua slid off the bench and away from his brother's grasp, crawling into her arms and snuggling close. She wracked her brain trying to think of something reassuring, something comforting, to say. It would've been condescending and stupid to act as if their situation wasn't terrifying.

Mr. Jones grabbed their backpacks, looking at Caleb. "Ready to go, little man?"

The child nodded. "Yes, sir."

Mr. Jones nodded, expression suddenly serious. "Your Dad is gonna be so impressed when I tell him how brave you're being."

A faint murmur of human speech rumbled from Mr. Kirk's Bluetooth and everyone froze, breath held while they waited for his response.

He pressed his finger against the black earbud. "Confirmation received. Bringing target to transport."

Bianca bit her lip, fear making her jittery.

Mr. Kirk met her eyes as Joshua clung to her. "Come on. We need to go."

###

A sleek and sexy black electric car sat in the driveway, a security guard Bianca recognized sitting in the driver's seat. She couldn't remember his name.