Chapter Two
***Kyllian***
"What if I don't want to go to the way station? Father doesn't really care where I am. He never has. He's proud to brag on my accomplishments and show my picture to his cohorts so he can gain approval for the fact that I share his features, but he still prefers to hide that I'm a part of you, Mother. He doesn't want anyone on Delti Utopia 6 to know his dear son is a weredragon. How could you have married him, Mother? How could you love a man who hated half of who you were?" Kyllian ranted.
"He didn't hate me or you, my son. Not at first, anyway. It was his father who put the notion of our unworthiness in his head. If we had stayed far away from his family, we would still be happily together. They shamed your father into believing that the Naga were a low class compared to the humans: that is, the ones who stayed in power and had riches. The pirates are no longer considered to be human in their eyes. I hope I've taught you better," his mother replied.
"You have. I'm nothing like him. He tossed me aside the day I first transformed. That was a decade ago. Why does he suddenly want me with him now? Why can't you join us?"
"There is no rhyme or reason to his demands. I would ignore them if not for my longing for him to see the wonderful man you have become. Pictures and awards don't tell the whole story. He may think or want to imagine that you've left the weredragon side of you to go dormant and become more human. I want him to know that it is the Naga side that has made you prosper. I need him to see that others have accepted you without question. My heart wants him to let go of his father's atrocious training and come back to us to be your father and my husband."
"You still miss him even after all these years, don't you? You never stopped loving him? He abandoned us here on Earth, on the pretense of becoming established on the way station. He was supposed to come back and retrieve us, but he never did. He's the mayor. How much more established does he need to be?" Kyllian argued.
"He's made mistakes. I know you can't see your way clear to forgive him. It's understandable since he told you he was ashamed of you the day you transformed. He broke your heart. The difference is that I remember the boy I married. He wasn't like that at all. He thought my dragon was beautiful. He loved that side of me the same as he did this human form. He was thrilled the day you were born. He was the first to hold you. It was he who named you. He chose a name deeply rooted in his ancestry. It was his great grandfather's, who was a warrior. He loved you then and inside him that love remains, though he chooses not to let it show."
"I never knew that man, Mother. The one I lived with watched me closer each day to see if he could find a flaw. Every accomplishment was tainted by the way he'd stare into my eyes to see if a weredragon was hiding. He never left me alone with friends for fear I would change, even though he was aware it wasn't possible until I was of age. Maybe he figured I would tell them what I might become. The point is, I don't know him as anyone other than a Naga hater."
"Hate is a strong word, too strong for this situation. Now that his family is gone, he doesn't have to fear reprisal from them. He can show his love again. That may be why he wants you to come to him. Please, my son, go to the way station for me. Teach him how to love again. I want our family to reunite."
Kyllian didn't know what to do or how to feel. He didn't wish to disappoint or hurt his mother. The dear, sweet woman had taken care of him and taught him so much all by herself. His father had supplied the money, but she had supplied the love and day to day attention. He didn't believe his father could or would revert to the man he had once been. As mayor of Delti Utopia 6, he had been given power and prestige. He had lived among revelers and thieves. It was bound to have tainted him even further.
Kyllian had seen the news feeds about the trouble on the way station. He realized his father could easily be involved. If he was, what should Kyllian do? Would he keep the news from his mother and deal with it himself or leave and come home? He was suspicious of his father's motives. He had to be. They hadn't spoken since the day Kyllian had shown him his wings. Yet, he heard his father speak on the news about the son who built the newest technology, the boy who he was so proud to say had made space travel even faster and cheaper. What did he want with his son?
* * *
The tripthrough space to the manmade way station, Delti Utopia 6 hadn't taken much time at all. Kyllian's invention had shortened the spaceflight to half its usual time, but only on the newest of ships. Luckily, his job meant that he had easy access to the newest and best of most things. He had never set foot on the pleasure station. The gambling mecca was his father's domain, although much of the station's technology was due to Kyllian. His father's summons would finally give him a way to see what his inventions did in a real-life situation.
The space dock was running smoothly, to his surprise. He had heard about the terrible backup after the government gold had vanished. There was an unusually large number of security teams present with at least one cop at each landing zone. He assumed it was due to the skirmish between pirates and the casino's security men. The news claimed it was over a woman's right to sell her body, which made absolutely no sense. They had made it legal nearly a hundred years ago. He was certain there was more to the story that those who controlled the way station didn't want the universe to hear. They had lost enough profits as it was.
Sections of the city were blocked. The signs professed that those areas were undergoing renovations, yet he could see the burned-out ruins with his own eyes and the holes in walls which were caused by laser blasts. The skirmish had been more widely spread than reported, more like a war. His father would have some explaining to do.
Kyllian's luggage was to be transferred to his father's home by land rover. He had decided to walk and see the sights instead of traveling with them. If his father became angered when he didn't appear at the specified time, who cared? He certainly hadn't shown up for anything, ever. Kyllian would get there, eventually.
The lights and noise of the gargantuan main casino drew him in. He convinced himself there was no harm in trying out his luck at gambling. He saw the videos advertising and explaining the games. He had as good a chance at winning as anyone, so he wandered over the bridge. He noticed it had recently undergone extensive repairs and wondered why. Surely the battles hadn't reached this rich, protected zone.
The noise level increased a thousand-fold as he neared the entrance. Aliens of every size and shape were tossing dice or playing cards. The winners shouted praise, and the losers cursed the winners. Kyllian found it amusing.
Accepting a drink handed to him by a passing waiter, he stepped up to an empty place where a Centurion female was rolling the dice. She had been winning heavily, and there was a sizable stack of gold coins in front of her to prove it. He observed a few tosses and then made a small wager. She won again, which meant so did he. He didn't place the next bet, because his keen eye caught the switching of the dice. The game was rigged. The female bet ninety percent of her winnings and she would be losing it. The cheaters game of bait and switch was as old as time itself.
He moved to a game of cards and saw the dealer pull one off the bottom of the deck: cheating again. He supposed the casino had to resort to such behavior to keep luck on their side. Kyllian just wondered why he was the only one who could see it happening. It was possible that the tourists simply didn't care. After all, most were here for entertainment, not profit.
The band was a better attraction. He knew them well. They were famous on every known world and his particular favorite. He spent a leisurely hour listening to them. When his COM link rang, and the message was from his father demanding his presence, he just smiled and ordered a drink.
Six hours after he had arrived, Kyllian sent a return message: “On the way. Doesn't it please you that I wanted to see the city you oversee? It's great if you can afford to be cheated out of your life's savings.”
It would rile the old man, but Kyllian was still angry over being summoned after all these years of no communication. They would argue, and that was perfectly fine. At least it would be a conversation.
He found a transport and simply asked to be taken to the mayor's official home. He was slightly surprised when the transport left the city lights behind. He had assumed his father resided in the heart of the city. Instead, he found himself in front of a mansion. It was three stories tall with a columned porch that wrapped all the way around it. There were balconies at the upper windows. It was made of a white product resembling marble. It glowed even in the moonlight. The grounds surrounding it were massive, green and lush, with flower gardens and a pond.
He was angered all over again, not for himself. Why couldn't his mother have shared this lovely home? It was large enough for an army, and she need never enter the city and show her true nature. She would have loved the gardens, and she could have had the freedom to fly without detection. How cruel to leave her alone on Earth to raise a son with no father.
The door burst open before he had finished climbing the endless steps. Kyllian recognized his father immediately, though he was far older than the man he remembered. His dark hair had turned silver, his face was lined with wrinkles, and he appeared to have shrunk in height, but the angry scowl was the same.
"You took your sweet time to get here, boy. Didn't your mother teach you how to respect your father?" he screeched.
Kyllian just kept walking forward calmly. He answered in an even tone, "She taught me to respect those who deserve it, and you have yet to prove that you do. If you had wished me to be taught differently, you should have remained in my life. I simply chose to study the world you live in and gather clues as to why you are the way you are. I thought you would appreciate the sentiment."
By the time he had finished the explanation, he was standing eye to eye with his father. They were both six-feet-two-inches of muscle and anger. Their eyes shared the same green hue, but Kyllian's were sharper. The older man no longer had the dark auburn mane that was sported by the son. The resemblance between the men couldn't be missed. The classic noses, full mouths, and stubborn chins were exact replicas.
"Don't sass me, boy. You may have grown into a man, but you're still my son, and I demand respect. I made sure you had all that you needed. I saw to your home, food, clothes, and education. That means I've earned respect and more from you."
"Money, that's all that's ever mattered to you. Money only goes so far, and it doesn't buy respect or love. Mother's love trumps your money a million times over. I'll give you your due respect when you choose me over money, FATHER."
"You're too old to call me father. My name is Thomas: as in Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Edison. They were great men, and so will I be. It's in my blood, my human blood. I hope to find that you share enough of it to make you worth the trouble of bringing you here. Come inside. We have much to discuss about what I expect from you."
"You mean we have much to argue about," Kyllian said under his breath. "I hope none of your great human blood shows up in me. It's tainted with bigotry."
