Uncommon Life: The Athena Lee Chronicles, #6.5

Chapter One

Looking out at space you can sense the beauty of it all. I stood looking out the new view screen in my office. The new shipyard was launching our Navy’s newest capital ships, and I didn’t want to miss it. There has been so much death and destruction of late that I really needed to see hope. I’ve seen the ships before. They were the former Imperial ships that the late Commodore Vakulinchuk used to attack this very station. That is one Imperial officer that no one will miss. His trial and execution along with former Governor Norton and my ex-husband were held in a closed session. The proceedings were streamed via-vid but were not open to the public. Personally, I think we should have just shot them and dropped them in a hole somewhere. But my idea was not to be. I smiled at the memory of Cole’s face when the verdict was read. He truly thought he was not going to be executed along with his boss.

I caught a gleam of light in the distance. Turning my head, I could discern the bow of the first ship moving out under its own power. After all the destruction that crazy Russian caused to this planet; those ships will now help to protect our future. It was nice of him to leave them here. There was a knock on my door and I spun around to see who would dare to disturb me.

Major Lee? You are needed in the control room. The speaker was one of the new lieutenants. His name was on the tip of my tongue, but I couldn’t place him. We have a great many new officers.

I believe that I left instructions I was not to be disturbed. My tone was very dangerous. This kid was treading in deep and dangerous waters.

Ma’am, I was told to come and get you. The shipyard sent a messenger and groundside command has been calling.

What part of do not disturb me did you not understand? Now I was mad.

Ma’am, the other officers…

I don’t freaking care what the other officers want! When I say give me an hour, I mean give me an HOUR! What is your name? I could feel the blood rushing toward my cheeks and my muscles were tensing up. The lieutenant was frozen to the floor in fear.

I’m waiting? What is your NAME? Now I was shouting. They could probably hear me down in waste disposal. Hmm that was where I would send him.

Ma’am, my name is Lieutenant Hitashi Leveck. The kid looked like he was about to faint.

Lieutenant Leveck, who sent you in here?

Ma’am, the duty officer sent me. I just glared at him and made a come on motion with my hands.

Uh, that would be Commander Phon who gave me the orders.

Here is what you will do for me Lieutenant Leveck. You will inform Commander Phon that he is the new Waste Management Officer for this station. The current officer down there has been trying to transfer out for years but there hasn’t been any replacements. Since Commander Phon has shown how well, he follows my orders maybe he will learn something down there. You, will inform him of his new position and tell the rest of those slackers out there that I have thirty more minutes of my personal time left. If anyone else disturbs me, including you, I will reassign them to something worse! Understand me, Leveck?

Yes, Ma’am. He saluted and scurried out of my office. I could hear raised voices that penetrated the door but no one else entered. There was a faint Meow, and I looked over at my desk. Merlin the CATT was staring at me.

I assume from that look that you sent the transfer orders in my name for the new sanitation officer? The CATT nodded his head. I chuckled. Commander Phon was a royal pain-in-my-ass and this time he went too far. Dealing with that mess down there would do him some good or make him crazy. Either way a win win.

Send Commander Sanford to personnel. I believe that Captain Lamont was looking for a few officers to flesh out the ships a bit. One thing that came out of the whole AI emancipation bill was the usefulness of the robots themselves. Finding new jobs for them to do wasn’t hard. Merlin has been the best assistant I have ever had. I looked back out the window. Thirty minutes might seem like a short amount of time, but for someone as overworked as I was it was a vacation.

Until the Assembly designates a replacement, I am the Commanding Officer of the Militia, the Space Navy, and Freedom Station! They can take ground command any time they want. Hell, they can take the Navy too. But, Freedom Station is mine! I looked over at Merlin. He was curled up in my desk chair pretending to sleep. I have to admit that I really like being in charge of this station. Even though this is a military post I get to meet a wide variety of interesting people. Of course this wasn’t my original plan for my life. Not even close. Now that I look back I see the mistakes I made in my life; some good and some bad.

My first memory is of my mother. She was beautiful, my mother. I can remember her singing to me in my crib. She had a soft melodic voice. She would sit next to my bassinet and sing soft lullabies and recite the most wonderful stories to me. I spent much of my early years in a playroom filled with toys and brightly colored cloth pillows. Mother would say that she grew up in a similar way. I loved the way she smiled at me. Of father I saw very little. He would check on me at least once weekly but as I discovered later, he felt that girls should be raised by their mothers. I was almost three when my world changed for the worse. The year that HE came.

My loving mother gave birth to my first baby brother, Hannibal Lee. Our father was like a man possessed. He spent more time with the baby than he did with his military unit. I learned later in school about something called ‘son preference’ in my sociology class. It was a holdover from China on Old Earth. Sometime during the twentieth-century China had a single child rule to reduce population growth. This coupled with the traditional belief in patrilineality led to parents desiring male children over female ones. On Old Earth it was a ploy to make sure property and wealth stayed in the family. Girls could not inherit under the old rules. They were only of use as wives, concubines, and teachers of children. Any job or income that they brought in belonged to the husband so why would parents want them. My father was raised by someone that supported this belief. Here on Hong Kong our inheritance rules are not preferential. Women can inherit and own property. We are not slaves. Unfortunately, our grandfather on father’s side was very old school and from off-world. Grandmother inherited the farm, house, and everything that came with the name of Lee. Her husband spent his whole life trying to control her and it. Father is a result of that sort of upbringing. I didn’t even know what the word ‘misogynist’ meant.

Mother named my new little brother Hannibal after a famous explorer, general, and warrior. That was father’s goal for Han too. The workers and laborers called him the ‘little prince.’ He acted like it. Father doted on him every moment of his life. I was five years old when I realized that father had not kissed or held me in over a year. I remember crying to my mother that father hated me.

He doesn’t love me. He hates me. I was crying. I had spent all day drawing and presented father with one of my pictures. Whenever I gave one to mother she smiled and stuck it up on the wall in my room. Father grabbed it from me and frowned. He crumpled it up and threw it in the trash.

Sweetie, he didn’t understand that’s all. Please draw me one. I would love to see what you do.

Later that night I heard raised voices in the house. My name was mentioned numerous times. After that father kept his distance from me. He showed little affection as it was. The little prince continued to grow and mature. When he was three, and I was six, mother gave birth to another son. Father named him David. Another king to rule the household. Once again I was left out in the cold wind of father’s love.

My mother was an educated woman. She came from Mars and told the most wonderful stories about kings and high adventure. Unlike my father, she knew all about DNA and how things grew. Her garden was famous in our district for producing fruits and vegetable never before seen on the planet. She tried to instill her love of plants in me. As I grew, I spent more and more time on the great farm, our family owned. Even then it was a mechanical marvel of automation. I was eager to learn and spent hours watching the grass grow. I can remember telling her that I wanted to be a farmer. The summer of my seventh year was a magical time for me. Mother could not say the same.

Life on Hong Kong was not hard. We had modern medical facilities and many other conveniences. Amelia Lee was a stubborn woman who refused to believe that she could get sick. Father was too busy to notice or care. The Militia took up much of his time. What little time left was spent supervising the farm and chasing after HIS sons. Each pregnancy that mother experienced took her longer and longer to recover her strength from. It was only after she collapsed in front of father that he took her to the doctor. When they returned father was happy and proud. His wife was pregnant and would be adding to the family, again. Anything else the doctor had to say about his wife he completely ignored. After two boys in a row father was ecstatic, that he would have three proud sons to run the farm and continue the name.

Mother’s fourth pregnancy was very hard on her. She gave birth to a small blond girl. Father was very disappointed and left the hospital with my brothers in tow. I smiled at the cute little baby through the glass and knew we would be the best of friends. Finally, someone who would be on my side and could help me against them. I was in the hospital room watching the baby when the doctors explained to mother about her illness.

Mrs. Lee? How are you feeling? The doctor ran medical scanners over