The Jovian Legacy (10 page)

This
is it,
he thought,
though
he wasn’t quite sure what
‘
it’
meant.

The
computer screen showed a clear image of Jack’s parents, faces
beaming, over the moon that they would all soon be reunited.

“Son,”
his father began. “You must prepare for your journey to join
us. The people of Jovian have arranged it. And..,” he paused,
“...it has been agreed by the research team that you bring
Megan with you.”

“What?!
Oh yeah? Really? Far out!” Really?” Jack jabbered.
“Totally awesome!”

“Yes,
Jack, Megan belongs here too. But you mustn’t scare her, so
you won’t be able to explain to her what’s going to
happen. It is going to be enough of a sacrifice that she leaves
behind the people who love her and who brought her up. The McGlews
are now elderly so it will probably be the last time they see her.
We will make contact with you again tomorrow,” his father
stated as they both waved goodbye (with Nancy blowing a kiss) and
left the screen. The computer buzzed off. Jack sat there transfixed
at the blank screen, then decided to get himself together.

“I’ve
got to think of something,” he said aloud. With that thought,
and bursting with excitement, he rang Megan. He thought it wonderful
to hear her lovely sweet voice again.

“Jack,
I…I didn’t expect you to call again. I thought it was
over,” Megan began. Jack ignored her words because he didn’t
really know how to respond to them.

“Would
you like to go out for dinner? I just feel like getting out of the
flat,” he said, hoping she wouldn’t pick up on his
nervousness.

Megan
didn’t reply straight away. “Well, um.. Where?”

“How
about we go to that restaurant that’s just around the corner
from where you live? Tell your folks I’ll bring you back by
nine.” Jack held his breath.

“I
don’t know. My parents aren’t home, and they said I had
to stay home and study. My sister’s here.” Megan
replied.

Shit.

“They’ve
gone out to visit some friends,” she continued. “I think
they’ll be back around about nine though. I’ll ask my
sister if it’s okay. I’ll ring you back.”

Jack
placed the phone on the cradle and stared at it, waiting. It rang
within a few minutes.

“Hi,
it’s me,” Megan said. “She said it was okay as
long as I got home before the wrinklies did.”

Yes!
Jack said under his breath,
punching the air.
“Pick you up at say, half-past five?”
he said with a lilt in his voice.

Jack
replaced the receiver and started pacing around his flat.
What do
I do now? Pack? No, I won’t need to. How can I tell Megan to
pack anyway? Tell her to pack for what - for a journey to the Planet
Jovian?
He knew he was having
crazy thoughts.

Patting
Fahrenheit
on either side of his face, Jack thought he looked
pretty sharp in his white tee-shirt, black leather jacket and new
jeans.

“Might
as well go out in style... I mean, up,” he said, smirking.

Bang
on five-thirty p.m. Jack rang Megan’s doorbell, and was chuffed
that she had put makeup on, her hair up, making herself look older.
He thought she looked like a model.

Anyone
would have thought she’d made a special effort,
Jack
mused. The chemistry was still there, even though he knew that Megan
was his first cousin and genetically engineered from Katy and
Theresa, thus having the characteristics of both of them.

He
realised he was staring when Megan blushed.

“I’m
ready,” she said awkwardly, trying to mask her discomfit. Jack
regained himself, took hold of her hand and led her down to his
Mazda.

This
will be the last time I’ll have to take poor Megan out in this
old banger,
he said to himself.

The
evening went well. Jack ordered seafood chowder as an entrée
while Megan had Soup de Jour. They both ordered the ‘Ship to
Shore’ as their mains as they both loved seafood. Now Jack
knew why their tastes were so similar. Instead of dessert they
ordered two hot chocolates. He discreetly kept an eye on the time so
it would leave enough time for Megan to spend some time with her
parents.

Mr
McGlew answered the door and greeted his daughter with a look
indicating she was in trouble. Megan became anxious, quickly
introducing Jack to her father, who, with some hesitation, took
Jack’s hand and shook it. The look on her father’s face
confirmed Jack’s investigations over the past few months. He
thought it bizarre, but knew he had to keep himself composed in front
of the McGlews. Jack felt like a criminal when in fact he was more
of a victim, insofar as not being able to ever have a proper
relationship with Megan. Megan took Jack into the lounge where her
mother sat in her comfy chair, relaxing from their visit with their
friends. She
placed a kiss on her cheek.

“Ma,
I’d like you to meet Jack.” Megan grinned with pride.

“How
do you do?” Barbara replied. She knew very well who Jack was.
“Did you two have a nice evening?” Jack discerned that
she was only making conversation due to the fact that the old man
probably wouldn’t.

“Yes,
thank you,” he replied.

“Och
weel, that’s guid then. We cannae offer ye ony baking though -
ah ate it,” Dennis grumped in his broad Scottish accent. Jack
didn’t know whether he was having a joke or whether he was
being unfriendly. He laughed a little anyway.

Megan
shot Jack a nervous glance. “Oh no, that’s okay, we’re
both full. We’ll just have a cuppa tea.”

“Och,
wull ye noo?” Dennis replied, his tone definitely unfriendly,
Jack deemed. Somewhat puzzled, Megan made a nervous little laugh and
put the kettle on, asking if they wanted one too.

“So
how was your night?” Megan asked with her back turned.

“Oh,
it was nice,” Barbara McGlew answered her daughter. “Janet
is still having bowel trouble after her third operation.”

“Um,
thanks for sharing that with us Ma,” Megan replied, cringing at
her mother’s volunteer of information in front of someone that
they’d only just met.

Jack’s
mind was elsewhere. He felt terrible that he was about to take Megan
away from her family, which prompted him having second thoughts about
the whole damn thing. He could feel old man McGlew’s eyes
boring into him.

After
spending an hour making small-talk, mostly to Mrs McGlew as Megan’s
father spent most of the time watching TV, Jack observed that Barbara
was becoming tired, and so announced his leaving. He decided to
leave the big departure for another day, for Megan’s sake.

Driving
back to his flat, Jack mulled everything over. He’d asked
Megan over for lunch the next day, all the while feeling like he was
leading her up the garden path. He knew he was, and it was an
extremely long garden path, a path to a new world, thirty-five light
years away!

There
is no way that I can take Megan away without first telling her about
it,
he contemplated, guilt
sweeping over him because he had initially intended to do just that.

After
they had eaten their salmon and pasta salad, Jack gently took his
girlfriend’s hand and lead her into the computer room.

“I’d
like to show you something, Sweetie.” Megan looked intrigued.
“There’s something you need to know about me, about us,
and then afterwards, I want you to make a decision that will change
your life.” Jack caught his breath and continued, his heart
racing like a trapped little bird. “It will be a very hard
decision to make, and I will support you whatever you choose, okay?”

Megan
sat there staring back at Jack, eyes wide. She felt a little thrill
go through her.

Omigod,
is he going to ask me to marry him?
she
excitedly thought without giving any thought to the fact that she was
too young for that. She was once told that when girls start dating
boys they see every new boyfriend as a possible husband. She knew,
however, that it was a silly girl notion, a thought that was soon
confirmed when Jack picked up, not a small purple felt box with a
ring in it, but the virtual reality helmet.

“What’s
this funny looking mask thing?” Megan asked, deflated.

“You
have to put this on,” Jack stated as he handed it to her., “in
a minute.”

“Okay,”
she agreed, deciding to humour him.

Jack
took an obvious deep breath. Trying to use the right approach, he
explained how he’d been contacted by Jovian scientists and why,
conveying it the best way he could. Megan listened intently with a
look of innocent confusion.

“Let
me show you,” he said, gently taking the helmet from her and
placing it on her head. Jack logged onto his computer and keyed in
the journeys he’d made. The video clips showed up as
thumbnails. Jack clicked on each of them until she’d seen them
all. He felt it was the only way of showing her the truth. The last
clip showed when Jack had found out about her.

Megan
removed the helmet and placed it on the computer table, and went out
onto the porch. Jack stood at the kitchen window with a splitting
heart, staring at his lovely girlfriend while she sat on the porch
steps gazing up at the night sky. After a while, he grabbed his coat
and joined her, wrapping his coat around her shoulders. He sat down
beside her and rested his hand on top of hers. She looked so sad.
After all, he told himself, she had just found out that she was his
cousin, and her true heritage.

Megan
felt embarrassed, confused, and used. She had been part of an
experiment, even though it was for the right reasons. She felt like
a freak. She loved her parents and knew they desperately loved her,
but it was all too much to absorb. Not now. She just wanted to go
home.

Jack
couldn’t sleep, wondering which way Megan would turn. Around
four o’clock in the morning he finally drifted off, when he
awoke to the sound of someone knocking on his door.

“I
hope you don’t mind me coming over,” Megan said,
hesitating, “I just need to talk to you.” Jack was
surprised to see her, aware of the reasonably long walk from her
place to his.

“Of
course not,” Jack replied, running his hand through his hair.
He put the kettle on and slipped into the bathroom to have a quick
wash.

Sipping
their Milos in silence, Megan shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

This
is it,
he thought, tensing up.

“I’ve
been awake since six, thinking about everything,” Megan began,
looking at him square in the face. “Jack, I feel that my heart
belongs here.”

Jack’s
heart sank.

She
continued. “Although I’ve found out my true identity, it
isn’t what’s real to me. So many people live a lie; they
aren’t living as they really want to. Real is how people
should feel inside, and how I feel in my heart when I’m around
my family, the way I have been brought up - with love and kindness,
what I feel my total existence in this world has meant. You are my
first cousin, Jack, we can never be together as, you know, we want.
Now I know why you were stalling me and I’m grateful to you for
that.” Jack admired the way she talked beyond her years. “But
even so, there’s a special bond between us. If I go, I’ll
never see my parents again. They’re old, it’ll be a
massive sacrifice.” Megan paused, observing Jack’s bowed
heard. “But if I stay I’ll always wonder if I’d
made the biggest mistake. I don’t want to be ignorant of what
is out there, waiting to be discovered. So I’ve decided…
I’ll come Jack. I’ll come with you,” she
exclaimed, smiling radiantly at him, and excited about everything she
was getting herself into.

Jack
couldn’t believe his ears, her words taking a few seconds to
sink in, then flung his arms around her, hugging her tightly. He
felt like the best thing ever had just happened to him.

Holding
both of her hands, Jack spoke with conviction. “There has got
to be a way around it. Around us. It’s stink that we can
never be together for real, but as long as we have each other
everything else will come second place, and we might find that it
won’t be such a biggie.”

Megan
grinned back. “I’m cool with that.”

Back
in her bedroom Megan sat down to write a letter to her parents and
another to her brothers and sisters, and left them on her neatly-made
bed. How could she tell them that they will never see her again? By
the time they found the letters she would be gone, and most likely in
a very foreign world. She kissed all her soft toys goodbye, shoved a
few precious things in her backpack, and left. Halfway down her
front path she stopped and turned, looking back at the house. It hit
her like a rock. She turned back and walked quickly until her house
was out of sight and collapsed, her body convulsing with grief.

Chapter 8

J
ack
sat down at his computer and logged on. The following instructions
awaited him:
“You must fly to Florida and from there you
must board Flight N6138X.”