Echo

27. Brave

I sit by Malax in the helicopter. "What did you say?"

"Nope. We leave it there."

"But you heard what I said."

He smiles. "You did very well. I'm proud of you for speaking your mind and being brave."

I try to hug him and nearly get hung by the straps.

"I'll give you a hug when we get back."

"Ok." I smile and wiggle.

Daddy drops us off at Phade and keeps going with Eriska.

Malax carries me to his office and we get some lunch. Then I sit on his lap and kiss him until Rye kicks me out.

I wonder around his building for a while, and it seems so much more secure than the judge's place. He has so many cameras and metal detectors. Can't even get into the building without talking to a guard and going through one.

I peek out the front windows and there is not much press here today. Probably at the courthouse. There are guards out there and about 5 people. I could talk to them. I'm brave. Everyone said that and there are only 5. That's not many.

I walk out the front door and the guard is on the phone before it closes. He's telling on me.

"OCTAVIA." The 5 of them push up to the steps yelling.

"1 at a time please."

"There are concerns about you working for Phade Enterprise. What are your plans going forward with terraforming?"

"Imagine how many medicines we haven't found yet. Or food. There is so much we don't know out there. We'll never know unless we study places."

"How do you feel about terraforming Crucorix North?"

"People like to use the word terraforming. But it's colonization. We are settling there and establishing control of our area with walls and things. Terraforming is about changing a planet to be hospitable to us. Crucorix North is already hospitable to us. We do not have to change anything about it. Crucorix South is not hospitable to us. The atmosphere is too thick and it has too much gas. Life as we know it, does not exist there. We are placing the Larcis cubes on Cru South. They are reducing the gas, so we may colonize it someday. That is terraforming."

"And you study terraforming?"

"Correct."

"Would you ever terraform a planet that already had life on it?"

"Probably not. That planet's life would exist in those specific conditions. If we altered that, life could no longer exist. For example, pretend we find a planet that's 200 degrees year round. It has thick trees and some insects. They have a right to life. If we lower the temperature so we can colonize it, the trees and insects will most likely die. I don't want that."

"Have you been to Cru N?"

"Yes I have."

"Are they killing the lizards?"

"Not at all. The lizards are killing us. We are doing everything we can to stop that. I had a humongous thing that chased me down a beach. I ran into the water. They do not go into the ocean. So, we are learning. The fences are being built. We have found scents they stay away from. We are not there to kill them. We want to study them. Study the planet. Learn as much as we can."

"Would you try to colonize a planet that had intelligent life on it?"

"No. I would talk to them if possible. Try to communicate somehow. Maybe share information or technology. I'm not interested in any kind of hostile takeover. We come in peace."

"Have you found intelligent life elsewhere?"

"Not that I know of."

Malax stands beside me. "No, we have not. Only different types of animals and plants so far. But we continue to search. We hope to someday."

"Are the 2 of you dating?"

I laugh. "Sorry, I wasn't ready for that. I was talking about science. But no. We have never been on a date."

"How long are you planning to work at Phade Enterprise?"

"2 months. This is for the summer. Then I will be going to Epirac."

"Will you return next summer?"

"Unknown at this time."

"When you said 'We are placing Larcis cubes on Cru South' were you speaking about Phade Enterprise?"

"No, I was not. I was saying, we, as in all of us. I'm not even sure which company is leading that."

Malax shakes his head. "It's not Phade."

I smile. "I want to point out that I have no authority to speak for Phade Enterprise. The ideas and thoughts I share are mine alone. Malax may or may not agree with them."

"Malax, same questions."

We laugh and he shakes his head. "You'll have to start over."

He answers their questions about the same way I did. Then he talks about the houses and offices going up on Cru N. How he's going to rent to teams.

Then we see the Kinnik helicopter land. Daddy joins us, telling everyone Zircon will be on Cru N as soon as possible. Then I get kicked out. Too many press are showing up.

I check my phone and still no messages, so I go to Cru N. I leave the gate and pick some flowers. I'll study them when my lab is ready. I find some weird moss and mushrooms. This place is fascinating.

I keep my new box on my cart and go back to Phade. I go to my desk and plop down. "I cannot sit still today."

"We all have days like that. I watched you outside, you did well."

"Thank you. I was trying to be brave and there weren't many of them out there."

My phone goes off. It's from Scotch. He wants to know if I'm going to pay him back for my Price of Peace ticket. I tell him sure and ask how much it was.

"Do dates split the cost?"

"Some do. Some people like it like that. Why?"

"Scotch asked me if I was going to pay him back for the ticket."

Kai shakes her head. "No. That should have been agreed to first. Did you know where you were going?"

"No. He kept it a surprise."

"That's sketchy. Not sure if I like it."

I shrug my shoulders. "I'll pay for my ticket. It's not a big deal. I had no idea people do that."

I make it through dinner without hearing a word from him. Then he tells me he shouldn't have to ask for the money. I should just pay my part.

-I'm sorry. I didn't realize this. Let me know how much it was and I'll pay you back.-

He doesn't say anything, so I go to bed. I'm exhausted.

The next morning,

-Were you going to pay for your ticket?-

-Of course. I still don't know how much it was though.-

-Look it up.-

So I do that. The tickets range from $110 to $3,000. I don't know what he paid. Not sure why he won't tell me. I rub my head and my eyes fill with tears. I guess I could give him $3,000. This doesn't seem fair though.

Malax picks me up and carries me to his office. "Why are you crying at your desk?"

I hand him my phone. "Do I give him $3,000 and hope it's enough?"

"No. He's trying to scam you out of money. That's why he's not giving you a number." He calls him from my phone.

"Really?"

He nods. "Hey asshole. This is Ax. You need to submit the receipts to the legal department at Phade. They'll let me know what she owes. I'll take care of it. Delete her number and do not contact her again, or we will see you in court for stalking, fraud, and harassment." He hangs up.

"I thought he liked me." I start sobbing. "I had fun. He wanted to steal my money."

"You're ok." I shake my head. "Yes." He picks me up. "He did like you. Then he figured out who you are. He liked your money more than you. It happens sometimes. People are money hungry and forget you're a real person. They only see money. At least you found out quickly."

"I didn't even know I was supposed to pay. Kai said some people do that. I would have paid. I didn't know."

"No baby, he was trying to scam your money. If I ask you for a vacation next week and send you a bill for $100,000 in 2 months, is that fair?"

"No."

"If I ask you to pay half of a $200,000 vacation next week and show you the prices of everything, is that fair?"

"Yea."

"If you say no, do I get to bill you?"

"No."

"If you say yes, do you have to pay your half?"

"Yes."

"Good. You understand."

"Can we do that now?"

"A $200,000 vacation?"

"Yes."

"No."

"BUT."

"I don't even know where that would be."

"$100,000."

He laughs. "You want a vacation? I'll take you somewhere. I need to check when you're working at Kagona first."

"With rides and a beach."

He pats my butt. "You paying half, woman?"

"I'll pay the whole thing. I'm too young to go by myself. You are adult supervision."

He hugs me. "You're not paying a damn cent. I'll take care of you."