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“So how about calling my son?” James asked.



“Oh he will be here within minutes, I am sure…” Tobias responded, suddenly shaking, with nervous anticipation.



Chapter Eight



Maribel had swum to find Jason, as soon as she realized what her Father intended. She knew that the son would want to see him, soon.



Yet even as she had made her way through the labyrinthine network of channels in her home, sadness filled her. Family meant much to her and, she imagined that if it meant the same to her young paramour, then she would surely lose him.



She had talked to him, many times about his Father, ever since his disappearance into the mine, all those years ago and, still he spoke with reverence of the man.



‘It you love something, be prepared to let it go,’ she recalled being said, sometime; somewhere back in her past, in a film, or storybook. Either way, she understood what it meant, both for her and Jason.



As she found her way to the room he had been allocated, Tobias slowly explained more of himself to James.



“It was way back when I was a researcher, working for Taelos, years before the wars. I’d made a discovery that led to Maribel’s life and, a workforce for my employers; a workforce of men and women designed to suit the tasks asked of them, deep in space. A place where many wanted more money to go to, than Taelos had been willing to pay. Yet with The Brood, they had workers, literally made for the job at hand… And, when they sold the technology on to other corporations, I earned myself a planet, for me and Maribel, so we could enjoy a little time together before…” Tobias suddenly fell silent, for several long seconds, before he drew himself from his reverie, to look at James and add, “And that, brings me up-to-date.”



“So she really is a mermaid?” James ueried, suddenly wondering whether he’d imagined all that he had seen.



He looked at his glass, more than half empty.



“A refill?” His host prompted, with a wide smile: “You’ll not have long to wait, of that I can assure you. But you do look as though you need another drink…” Tobias poured them both a second drink, then added; “A mermaid in myth and story was a woman, often beautiful, with the lower half being a fish. That she is and so, by common definition, yes she is a mermaid…”



“But why?” James asked, feeling the effects of the alcohol.



“Why not, I liked mermaids growing up. In fact I recall an old screener; think it was called ‘Miranda’. Well, to get my baby’s name I used that and Disney’s Ariel. And you must admit, she did grow to be a beautiful young woman, didn’t she?” Tobias queried of James, patting his knee as he did so.



“Ariel?” James asked, recalling his Nin showing him the Disney cartoon as a child, although the other film the fellow mentioned meant nothing to him.



“No silly!” Boomed Tobias Willington, his laughter filling the large room: “I meant Maribel,” he explained, “my baby… my little Maribel…”



Again there was a long pause in the conversation, as each drank and thought. Finally James asked, “So let me get this right, the Taelos Corporation got you a planet with a series of aquaducts, as payment for creating The Brood for them?”



“Oh no,” Tobias clarified; “They made a planet suitable for Mariel’s use, so that I’d keep quiet, about what I know and can do… and, really it’s just a large, very beautiful prison meant for two, which reminds me…”



At that moment a figure stood in the doorway, Maribel in his arms. It was Jason, but this figure before them was no boy, he was tall, slim and well-toned, possessing a body that testified to years swimming, with Maribel. Like her, he was naked.



“Guess I should have dressed?” Jason asked of both the men.

“What the frag happened?” He asked, noting that the old man’s beard appeared fuller and, the lines in his face seemed deeper and more profuse.



Chapter Seven



“You stepped into a void mine…” Tobias told James, “I’m awfully sorry, I should’ve warned you. “You stepped into a void mine…”



“I’m awfully sorry,” Tobias told James, “I should’ve warned you. “You stepped into a void mine…”



James looked confused and, he allowed Willington to take his elbow, to lead him toward the middle of the room and near the wall, where he waved his hand.



“You stepped into a void mine…” He repeated, regretting the need to explain what needed to be.



“Huh, wassat?” James asked, his confusion evident.



Willington took a seat in a burgundy coloured wing-back and, gestured to James that he sit in a similar chair, to his left: both of them opposite a roaring fire that appeared, with a wave of his hand.



He offered James a drink, from a decanter that had appeared to his right, upon a small occasional table.



“Remember I said I didn’t expect visitors?” Tobias asked, left eyebrow raised beneath a furrowed brow, worried about the other mans reactions to what he’d impart.



He didn’t wait for an acknowledgement, but carried on speaking; “Well, the mine’s are designed for the unwelcome one’s… and…”



“And?” James prompted, his curiosity piqued.



“They hold the captive in none-space, a void in space and time…” Tobias clarified, then added sheepishly, “It was never expected that I’d want to recover someone from the void…”



James mouth opened once, then once again, before he said again, “And?”



“Well, you’ll have to be prepared for a little surprise… just, erm… a little one,” Tobias informed him: hoping that the man drinking with him wasn’t violent.



“Prepared?” James asked; feeling anything but…



“Oh I don’t want to oversell anything. It’s just that time moved differently for you in the void; a sort of version of a man living longer out here, than back on Earth… sort of thing…” Tobias Willington was floundering, badly and, he knew it.



“Whatever it is, I’ll accept it; as long as Jason is safe and happy,” James informed him, in a gentle voice, prior to finishing his drink.



“Another?” He requested, extending his arm with the empty glass before him: “’Coz something tells me I’ll be needing it, in a minute, won’t I?”



Smiling now, Tobias nodded.



“I had to send a message to my former employers, to send a recovery device, on the regular supply run. It happened eventually, but time passed… time passed…” Tobias intoned, filling both their glasses once more.



“And, now I’m back…” James said, stating the blindingly obvious.



“Yes, you’re back…” Tobias conceded.



“So how about calling my son?” James asked.



“Oh he will be here within minutes, I am sure…” Tobias responded, suddenly shaking, with nervous anticipation.

His Nin had taught James much that could be considered of a philosophical nature in his formative years and, her teachings helped him now, as he recalled her soft and comforting voice.



The one concept that she’d taught above all others was acceptance, of self and one’s surroundings. This acceptance allowed his to be… as he was… where he was… until.



Chapter Six



Half the expansive room seemed to be a low-level aquarium. It had been this that one had used to lead the other to her home.



Maribel rested herself, draping her arms over the walls of her run, watching her Father staring ruefully at the ornate staircase leading into the dwelling, from above.



And, as Willington looked downward occasionally at a dial on a device in his hands, time passed; slower for some than others, as James was to find out…



The blackness shimmered and, James blinked.



He blinked several times, as the feeling of weightlessness left him and, he was overwhelmed by gravity.



The staircase of white, that widened as it reached the floor, was the first thing that James noticed, as he appeared mid-air, before Tobias Willlington.



He dropped hard onto the steps, which he rolled down.



Then somewhat winded, James rose to one knee, to look at a red-faced Willington.



“What the frag happened?” He asked, noting that the old man’s beard appeared fuller and, the lines in his face seemed deeper and more profuse.