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BillSmithBooks, Outlaw Galaxy, Outlaw Galaxy Tales and Imagination Forge are trademarks of Bill Smith. © 2006 by Bill Smith.

An Outlaw Galaxy Tale
by Bill Smith
www.BillSmithBooks.com, www.OutlawGalaxy.com
See the Author's Note following this story.

"Reid, hurry up!" Travus called, chuckling as he looked back at his son, who was rummaging around in the back of the truck.

"Coming, Dad," Reid called, his voice muffled. His feet stuck up into the air, kicking back and forth as he dug around under the tarp that covered the truck bed. The truck rocked back and forth on its anti-gravity field as Reid frantically searched.

Travus threw a couple of sticks onto the campfire, looked at his wife and shrugged. "He’s gonna miss the show."

"He doesn’t know there’s going to be ‘a show.’" She stuck a plump soutar sausage on a skewer and held it over the fire.

The smell of the spiced meat got Travus’s attention. "Fix me one, will you?"

"What, and miss the show?" She gave him a playful grin, then added another sausage to her skewer.

"Found them," his son called from under the tarp.

"Good." Travus rolled his eyes as he kneeled close to the fire. He turned and shouted, "Hurry up!"

He looked up into the night sky. It was clear, not a cloud in sight, and the moon was just a yellow sliver. The stars flickered and shimmered in the dark.

"I wish my dad could be here to see this," he said softly. "He would have wanted to tell Reid—"

"I’d like to think he’s looking down on us." His wife reached out, gently stroking his arm.

A sudden gust of warm summer wind roared through the clearing, the nearby branches rustling and creaking. The fire flared up, flames rising high. The rich, sweet almost-pine aroma of the throile trees filled the air.

Travus smiled. "Maybe he is."

He glanced up into the sky again and then looked at his wife. "It was a great idea to get out of town. Good suggestion."

She nodded and looked up into the sky. Her eyes danced from star to star. There were so many to choose from. "I forget what a difference it makes being away from the lights in town. It’s so beautiful…almost makes me want to move out here."

Travus chuckled. "You won’t feel that way when the snow drifts are seven feet deep."

She pulled her skewer back, plucked the soutar sausages and handed one to her husband. "Reid’ll never forget this."

Travus looked up into the sky, his eyes settling on a dark spot between two familiar stars, Bijenhi and Ulsevois. "Not even a flicker," he muttered.

Reid ran over to them, skidding to a stop in the dirt. Ten years old and full of energy, he never walked when he could run, never talked when he could shout. Travus remembered those days well. He hoped he could help his son hold onto that innocence.

His son was a solid boy, like his father and grandfather. He was going to have broad shoulders, was going to be strong and powerful…but he had the soft green eyes and gentle patience of his mother.

Reid held up the shiny package. "Want any faman-crisps?"

Travus shook his head. The chocolate and crispy wafers weren’t so bad…it was the crushed drihaj fruit filling that made his stomach queasy. "No. Maybe your mother wants a couple."

He smiled as his wife shook her head and smiled kindly at her son. "No, thank you, honey. You go ahead and enjoy them."

Reid ripped the package open and slid three of the treats onto a skewer. Travus grinned as his wife leaned back so that Reid couldn’t see and feigned a gagging motion.

Reid leaned towards the fire, playfully waving the skewer back and forth through the flames. "Why did we come out here, Dad?"

"You don’t like being in the woods? It’s quiet and peaceful—"

"It took us two hours to get here. Seems like a long drive just to go stargazing."

"I wanted to get away from the lights so we could see better. It’s a beautiful night. I thought we could enjoy this as a family." Travus walked over to the telescope he’d set up away from the fire and peered into the eyepiece.

There it is, he thought as he spied the dim star, the scope’s electronics zooming in for a better view.

Then he turned to his son. "Tonight is a special night."

Reid frowned. "Really? Doesn’t feel special."

Travus checked the chrono on his wrist. His heart fluttered. It was almost time. "Are those crisps done?"

Reid nodded.

"Good. Come on over here. I want to show you something."

His son scrambled over. Travus crouched down, eye level with his son, and pointed up at Bijenhi and Ulsevois. "You see those stars?"

Reid nodded.

"Good. Now, watch."

Reid looked at his father. "Why?"

Travus turned the boy’s chin back towards the sky. "Just watch."

The boy stared for a few seconds, but then started to fidget, glancing off into the woods.

Travus leaned over and whispered to his son. "Patience. Keep watching."

And then, in the murky black between Bijenhi and Ulsevois, there was a sudden, brilliant flash of white light. It was like a flare, filling the sky.

Reid gasped in surprise.

Travus just looked up and stared, memories of the past coming to him. Tears came to his eyes as he recalled a similar night, a long time ago on Laddenir, a father showing a son—

"What is it?" Reid asked.

"A star. Amurakke."

Reid frowned. "Never heard of it."

Travus smiled. "That’s because it exploded a long, long time ago. That light you’re seeing now is one thousand, four hundred and fifty-three years old. That’s how long it took to get from there to here on G’jarrica."

"Wow," Reid said softly. "That’s neat."

"Yeah, pretty neat." Travus nodded. "And around that star circled a planet named Koekbaan. Of course, it’s gone now, burned to cinders…but it was there a long time ago."

"So?" His son looked up at him. "What’s so special about it?"

"Koekbaan is where our family is from. A long time ago there was a boy named Codin Karmmi. He was just four years old when they evacuated that planet. He was your great-great-great-great—well, let’s say you’d need forty-six ‘greats’ in front of grandfather to get it right."

"Oh," Reid said softly, his eyes growing wide as he stared at the brilliant spot in the sky. "Why was his last name Karmmi? Our name is Niilo."

"About seven centuries ago, our family name was changed after…uh…." Travus paused as he blushed. "Well, that’s a story for when you’re a little older…but, um, don’t ever go to Yarrito. I guess they hold grudges something awful."

He looked up at his wife, who was her shaking her head and smiling. "Much older," she silently mouthed.

Travus grinned.

Reid stared up into the sky. "Over a thousand years ago…that’s kinda cool. My friends…I don’t think any of them have stories like that."

"That place up there—that light—it's where we come from." Travus paused. "I’ve waited a long time for this night."

Emotions and memories flooded through his mind. His father pointing up into the night, telling this same story. Back then, his father seemed like a giant, so wise and good and…immortal.

He looked down at his son. "You know, someday, twenty-five or thirty years from now, you’ll take your son out into a dark field, someplace far away from the cities and the lights and the craziness of everyday life. And on that night, you’ll point up into the sky and it will light up, just like tonight. And then you’ll tell him this story."

"How can I do that, Dad? This is only going to happen once."

Travus smiled. "Well, sure, only once here on G’jarrica…but the light we’re seeing won’t reach some of those other stars for decades or even centuries. If you settle on a world twenty-five or thirty light years further out, you could get the timing just right. Just like my father did with me back on Laddenir. This tradition goes back to my father, and his father, and his father before that…and well, maybe all the way back to Codin himself."

Travus took a deep breath. Only now did he know how much this night had meant to his father so long ago. "I hope I can be there when you do this with your son."

Reid looked at his father, not quite sure what to say. He just nodded.

Travus stood and walked over to the telescope. "Want to see it up close? It’s not often that you get to see something like this."

"Sure," Reid said, his eyes growing wide. He ran over to the scope and peered down into the eyepiece.

Travus gently reached out and stroked his son’s thick brown hair. "You’re not just looking at the stars. You’re looking back through time. You’re seeing the echoes of what once was…but is gone forever." Then he smiled at his wife. "Not bad for a quiet night of stargazing, huh?"

He looked up, staring at the brilliant white light. It was a beacon in the sky.

"My father would have loved this."

END AUTHOR’S NOTE