Path book 1 Igor chapter 7

Chapter 7. The grandfather.

Igor (Mendoir, August 2360)

Admirals of the Fleet

August 4, 7:00 a.m.

Morning workout is our everything. It's been raining outside for a week now, everything is wet and damp, my father put away his bike, and flies to work on the family flyer. Such weather is rare on Mendoir in summer. It usually rains at night, although it is heavy, but it is short, and by morning it is almost dry. But sometimes a cyclone creeps over a rocky ridge, and then it pours until it all pours out, sometimes for two weeks. This is exactly the case now, and we are all sitting at home together, it's good that we have a big company, we don't get bored. It's quite stuffy at home from the dampness, I opened both vents and the front door, and I'm still sweating mercilessly from the stuffiness. Deniska is panting in the foyer of the second floor, studying in the front garden now is like torture, he almost slurps from the water, like a swamp.

Polkan came out from under the house, darted like a gray shadow behind the house — there he had a small nook with sand as a toilet — he was gone for a minute, maybe two, and our dog, casting a sad glance around, disappeared back. The impudent red muzzle knows how to use the toilet perfectly well, so he stays at home in bad weather.

Somehow he decided to take advantage of my personal push, but he's a child, so he's short and small — koteyka got a big bummer. Looking at how the redhead was sitting on the toilet, which was obviously too small for him: one or the other hind legs fell off, there was nowhere to put the front paws, and if they were left on the floor, it became difficult to do business — I laughed so hard that I woke up my older brothers. When they fell out of their room and looked at me, they followed my hand and saw the same picture, where the stubborn muzzle did not give up trying to perch on my potty. A moment later, the three of them were laughing, and they fell to the floor.... The redhead, having failed, made a face with a brick, and ran off to the first floor, to the parents' bathroom. And we walked away for another five minutes, periodically breaking down. Now he sleeps on my desk, occupying it entirely — after all, I have a healthy cat. But sleeping with him is awesome!

I recently learned great news: my Grandparents and Uncle Stephen are coming to visit us. He persuaded the old people to come to us. Even before I was born, my parents went to visit them on Earth to show them their grandchildren. But this time the senior Hacketts will come to the viewing. And his father's parents died while batya was still studying at the academy. Being complete spacemen, they went on an expedition, and their ship made an emergency exit from the relay. That is, he entered the relay as expected, but where did he leave?..

Yes, there are two admirals on one small ranch! My uncle was given an admiral without the prefix "counter" and immediately appointed chief of Staff of the Fifth Fleet. Actually, I've already seen Uncle Stephen — he came to visit us on vacation in the fall of '57. I remember perfectly well how my brothers and I returned from school, and a man I didn't know was standing in our yard. For some reason, it's not customary to keep photos and stuff here, so I've only heard of my uncle a couple of times, but I haven't even seen holographs. The brothers saw him, flew off their bikes, and yelled,

"Uncle Steve has arrived!"

They hung on to him. Laughing, he hugged them both. After that, the guys took him by the hands and led him to me, saying that they were going to introduce him to someone. He came over, and I looked at him carefully. Well, he doesn't look much like a gaming Hackett. A fairly young man, without a beard, with a wheat-colored mustache on a tanned face, eyes light blue like the summer sky, and a deep straight scar running from his right eyebrow down through his cheek, cutting through his upper lip. He was wearing a white turtleneck and jeans, and had Cossacks on his feet.

"Allow me to introduce myself, young sir! Rear Admiral Stephen Hackett, your uncle."

I got off the bike and tried to make an elegant bow, as much as possible in a unique way.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir! Igor Shepard, your nephew."

In general, I liked him, a real man: honest, direct, with a good sense of humor. There is a real English hardness in him — the hardness with which they conquered half the world and proved that the sun never sets over the British Empire. My uncle and father have been friends since the first year. We sat at the same desk, received praise and punches together. We went on layoffs and went to work. We even sat together in the punishment cell. Steve, after the death of the older Shepards, brought his father to his home and introduced him to his parents. The elder Hackett accepted my father as his own son, in fact, the Hacketts replaced the father of the parents. At the same time, my father met my mother, but it took thirty-five years before my father proposed to her. And all these years the men have been friends! While making a career, we helped each other in every possible way, sometimes even with weapons! There were even jokes about them in the Fifth Fleet, like: "If you see Shepard, then be careful — Hackett is here somewhere!"

After another barotrauma, I don't know what kind, as the cosmologists say, "inhaled the vacuum," daddy was completely written off. They said that if he tried to breathe vacuum one more time, then no hospital would help him. As I already know, barotrauma is the most common cause of death in the navy. Not wounds, not burns, either ordinary, chemical or cryo, but the most common consequences of depressurization. A small hole in a COCOS (1) — and now your blood is already boiling, and if you also hesitate, then that's it, you're ready!

1. COCOS — csuit or Compensation suit (English) — a compensation suit, a lightweight and soft spacesuit with power protection elements worn by ship crews in combat conditions. Amphibious and contraband teams wear armor.

After retiring, my father proposed to my mother, and the old people breathed a sigh of relief, otherwise they had already despaired of waiting for their grandchildren. My parents lived on Earth with my elders for a while, but the realization that there were no real career or professional prospects put a lot of pressure on my father. So Rosenkov Materials' proposal to participate in a joint poly-species colony project for all races of the Citadel (peace is allocated by the Republic, scientific support is provided by the Salarians, financing is provided by RM and the Hierarchy) was accepted by my father without hesitation. My grandfather then said that this was complete nonsense, and RM would not succeed. He and his father had a big argument, as Uncle Steve and Mom say, and they got personal. At the end, Grandfather said, they say, words are empty! Prove it by deed!

"I'll prove it!" dad replied then, and with his whole life he was able to convince his grandfather, and his strong friendship with the Tanirs complemented the picture!

A month and a half ago, my father sent allergy modifiers for the elderly to Earth, they will not be able to live here without them. Otherwise, it's a month of adaptation of the body under the influence of the modifier, and, voila, you can live on Mendoir. There is food here, drink water... and not only water. In the canon, I've always been amazed at how intelligent people can run around planets with a developed biosphere without fear of anything. Okay, here people have such a wonderful thing as a bioblock, developed at the very dawn of the era of colonization. This is a symbiotic virus that makes humans immune to 99.9% of the microflora, both terrestrial and alien! After bioblockade vaccinations, people simply stopped getting sick, and the chance of dying from inflammation caused by wounds is almost zero. I'm used to wandering around other worlds under the spell of the magic of life. Or with a set of artifacts for protection from the biosphere. But something needs to be eaten. And here, even succubi don't even have such spells. The Azari who.

However, a bioblock will not save you from poisoning with animal and plant waste products. That's why a comprehensive expedition from the Council and the Alliance has been working hard on Mendoir for five years, studying all kinds of fauna and flora here, and their danger to all races. Based on their work, allergy modifiers were created. Without them, if you sniffed a flower or ate a berry, or even just drank water from a river, you got an anaphylactic shock, and hello, you're already in paradise. So the landing force on new planets with a developed biosphere runs in tightly sealed armor. And yes, such an expedition is currently sitting on Eden Prime and preparing materials for colonization, has been sitting for three years and will be sitting for at least three more. So colonization is a slow business, which is what surprised me about the canon! In thirty years, and a bunch of colonies! Earth is everywhere, not other worlds.... It just looks like there's going to be a purely human colony on Eden Prime, which is too far from the Council's systems.

Last time, my uncle stayed for almost a month and left the most positive memories about himself. The brothers saw him off with tears in their eyes, and so did I. In general, I became very attached to the Shepard family, as well as to the Tanirs. My uncle didn't have his own family, it didn't work out somehow. Shrugging his shoulders, he responded to his mother's complaints: "You know, Diane, that I'm married to the most beautiful girl in the universe!" And he smiled, and the folder finished for him: "At my job!"

They both laugh, but Bati feels so sad!.. Then Dad confessed that Uncle Steve was having an affair with a Quarian woman named Shala, who was on a pilgrimage in his navy. But after a five-year contract, she returned to the Migrant Fleet with honor. Uncle Steve went fishing with us, hunting with his father and friends, and to the preference club. We all got care, warmth and love from him.

"When I'm fired, I'll come to your permanent place of residence! Will you accept?" He asked as he drove away.

"This house is for you, Steve! There's always a place for you here, remember that!"

My father answered then. I always remember, you are my family!

They will arrive in just a week! If only it would dry out by then!

"Leshka, let's have a pole fight. I need to get in shape. And then you will show me the combination that Master Tanris showed with the knife."

My brother grabbed his metal pole and went to change it to a wooden one. I went to get mine. Well, at least I'll do something useful, since I can't go for a walk.

A week later

We sit on the fence and look towards the city. We have a good fence, comfortable for sitting — there is a flat rounded canopy on top, it is also a solar battery. And he's so strong. No matter how much we climbed with Nasar and Azanti, nothing fell off. It's very comfortable for us, and the cat likes to lie on it. We are me, Vanka, Azanti and Nasar. The older brothers walk around the yard, followed by Polkan. The redhead is lying on the fence next to me, purring contentedly. Everyone periodically looks up at the sky — just like the airfield team is waiting for planes from combat departure. My father flew away to meet me, my mother is busy in the kitchen, preparing treats, and the whole pack of us are stuck in the yard.

"It's been an hour since the shuttle landed! It's been a long time." This is Denis.

"Calm down! While the customs is waiting for the luggage. Your grandfather wrote that there's a whole trunk full of hunting gear, and this is a separate inspection item! I read the code youself," Azat reminded Deniska.

"Yes, I remember everything, I'm just worried about something!"

"Sit down already, don't flicker!" Lyoshka exclaimed. "You're running around the yard like a bad Varren!"

"You're a warren yourself!"

"Well, you can also arrange a duel, or even just fight, hot Mendoir guys!" Bina put in her five kopecks. "Your old folks will be pleased to see your red faces after a fight..."

"Heh, heh, heh! I can imagine! Picture..." Ali was sitting in an armchair, smiling broadly, listening to us.

Bina went up to Deniska, hugged her neck and whispered:

"It's okay, stop it, Disya, you're turning yourself on and turning everyone on. Calmed down?" My brother really calmed down and looked at our bitch strangely, his emotions were a mess.

"That's how you know how to put your five cents in when you need to! That's why I love you!"

"Do you love it?"

"As a sister and friend! Not what you think! It's too early for some to even think about it!"

A chorus of laughter rang out across the front garden.

"It's funny to them!" My brother came up to me and muttered: "Move over!" and he sat on the fence next to me. I was suddenly attacked by an uncontrollable fit of laughter, I barely managed to stay on the fence, well, I caught Deniska.

"And now what? What kind of a laugh did you catch?" I was already flattened. I calmed down somehow and said:

"I remembered an old joke."

"Tell everyone," Leshka asked.

I told them a joke about a guy who was sitting on the rails. Everyone stared at me blankly for a while.

"Come on, there's a guy sitting on the rail!" and I spread my arms to the sides, pointing at the fence. Then it dawned on them... They laughed as if I had parodied a top comedy from an extranet. Apparently, the accumulated tension needed an outlet, and it turned into a laugh.

"Oh, ha ha ha! Move over! Oh, I can't! Ha ha ha!" Azat was laughing, lying on the grass. Polkan looked at him in surprise, wagging his tail listlessly. The red-haired visibly purred contentedly.

"It's not enough for this greedy fence! Ha ha ha! Guess what, buddy? Ha ha ha! The fence must be short! Ha ha ha!" Leaning against the house on the porch step, Leshka was laughing.

Bina and Ali were laughing in their chairs. Hugging each other so as not to fall, the younger ones, Azanti and Nasar, laughed loudly because they understood, and Vanka just for company. Denis was laughing the loudest, and the tension went away with the laughter.

A dot appeared on the horizon, which quickly turned into our flyer.

"Finally!" Denis exhaled.

The flier sat down in the middle of the courtyard, the doors opened, my father and Uncle Stephen came out on the left, and the "right" was hidden from us by the raised door, but it was clear that someone else was coming out. Stephen looked around our group. He was wearing an admiral's white uniform, he put on a cap, recovered and shouted with a smile:

"I wish you good health, young people!"

We fell off the fence like peas, stretched out and answered discordantly.