END of LINE: Humanities Last Stand - part 3 (3 page)

This morning as he brought the hover craft down in front of the Post Office he was met by the county law enforcer. Jon had seen the male standing at the
corner of the Post Office wearing the distinctive dark blue uniform and black leather sash that was polished to a high shine.

“Are you Jon Connell?” the Enforcer asked as Jon stepped out of the hover craft.

“Yes. Can I help you?” Jon politely replied. No sense in making the man angry even if the guy was pretty small for the job of being one of only two
enforcers assigned to this area.

“I have a summons here for you to appear before the Magistrate tomorrow.” the Enforcer told him as he handed Jon a slip of paper. “You've been charged with
aggravated assault upon the person of one Helios King.” Looking Jon over from head to toe the Enforcer suggested, “As it just so happens, I was there when
you punched that guy's lights out for insulting your aunt. I would have done the same thing. If you're smart, you'll ask for option 3 at your trial.”

“What's option 3?” Jon asked.

“Option 3 is reserved for cases like yours where there is absolute proof of guilt, but also of justifiable circumstances. Instead of serving five cycles at
the penal colony, you serve a three cycle enlistment in the Peacekeepers. You come home after three cycles a free man with a clean record who can pretty much
write your own ticket in the job market rather than a convicted criminal and possible menace to society. The military would love to have a guy like you.”
After a minute the Enforcer continued, “Hell boy, who knows, you just might like it enough to make it your career. I did.”

“You made a career out of the Peacekeepers, but here you are as an enforcer?” Jon questioned.

“Like I said, you come out with a clean discharge after exemplary service and you can write your own ticket for a job.”

“Thanks for the information. I'll consider it.” Jon agreed before walking inside to pick up the mail. On the flight home after stopping in at the diner for
breakfast, Jon thought of ways to tell his aunt about what had happened and that he had decided to ask for option 3. At least that guaranteed that he'd get
off this planet.

“Auntie Gala,” Jon called when he walked into the house. “ I've been summoned in front of the Magistrate tomorrow for breaking that punk's nose at the
Lodge on Connell's Day.”

“I was afraid someone would charge you. Its a shameful day when a male is charged with a crime for protecting a female's honor.” Galaxiey told him.
Normally she would have scolded him for this use of a human curse word, but
punk
was exactly the right thing to call the male who had insulted her
and caused her son to react violently.

“The Enforcer who gave me the summons told me I should ask for option 3 at the trial.” Jon explained. “He said if I take that I serve three cycles in the
Peacekeepers and then come home. If I keep my record clean for those three cycles I can get any job that I want. Otherwise I might end up just another
convicted criminal whose employment prospects are very slim.”

“Before we took you in and you needed me here to care for you, I used to take trips with your uncle and I've seen the penal colony. The place is nothing
but a vast desert with sand worms as big as a cargo shuttle. That is the last place you ever want to be. Scratching in those sands for the dung of the
worms for twelve hours everyday is no place for any living thing.” Galaxiey told him. “You go be the greatest warrior this sector has ever seen since your
great, great, great grandfather, the Warrior Jon Connell. Come home with the wings of a flier pinned to your chest.” She reached up to touch his face and
was overcome with emotions. Jon gently lifted her in his arms and held her close as she cried. Finally she wiped away her tears and told him to put her
down. “You're too much like your father and your uncle, Jon Patrick Connell. They both held me like a small child whenever I cried.” She smiled at him and
gave him a gentle kiss on his cheek. “It always made me feel safe to be in their arms as it now does when I'm in yours. One day some lucky female will know
the love in your heart too. On that day my tears will be tears of joy.”

“Never cry over me my only true heart-mother.” Jon told her softly before gently putting her back on the floor to stand in front of him. “I will go to the
Peacekeepers and become a warrior you can be proud of. Then when I return I will buy my own star vessel and together we shall travel to all the known stars.”
Jon pulled her tightly to him again and told her, “I will keep you safe for as long as I live. You took me when my seed parents died and have always loved
me no matter how big I grew. You never caused me to suffer. You always kept me safe. Now it will be my turn to keep you safe and to make you happy.”

Galaxiey stepped away from him with her head lowered to hide her tears. Already she felt the first stages of her mourning coming on. She had pushed the
needs of her body aside in order to see the boy standing before her now grow into a fine adult. He would be leaving her soon to begin life as an adult.
Now her body demanded that she mourn the loss of her husband. It was the way of all Lexon females when a beloved husband died or at being rejected by a
chosen male, they entered a period known as their mourning. During this period they separated themselves from society and spent their time letting their
tears openly flow. It was the way of her kind to rid themselves of the claiming essence and cleanse their systems for a new future. Perhaps with a new
mate, but usually staying alone in service to others as teachers or advisers to younger females.

The next day was over sooner than Jon thought. His trip to the Magistrate took less than an hour local time. Apparently someone had enhanced the Lodge's
video recorders and had captured the entire incident including the filthy insults the King boy had openly made about Jon's aunt. The video closed with the
scene of Jon and his aunt proudly leaving the celebration arm in arm together.

“Young Connell,” the Magistrate said, “the recording clearly shows you assaulting the King boy with justifiable cause. Had this happened on any other day
the case would have been dismissed. However, this happened while the Prince and Princess were in the same room.” He looked up at Jon who stood in front of
the smaller man's large wooden desk. “I have no choice but to make an example of you to prevent such violence in the future. I'm sorry my boy. After what
that kid said about your aunt, I'm not sure I could have stopped after just breaking his nose.” Shaking his head slowly the Magistrate pronounced his
sentence, “You have asked for Option 3. That option has not been requested in over twenty cycles, but so be it. I grant your request. Jon Patrick Connell,
you are charged by this lawful body to serve three cycles in the service of the Interplanetary Peacekeepers. Good luck to you son. Come home safely to us.”
Jon politely nodded to the Magistrate before turning to leave. As he reached the outside hovercraft parking pad he was met by the Enforcer who had given
him the summons the day before.

“Congratulations on your choice. Lieutenant Connell.” he told Jon.

“How can I be an officer when I haven't even reported for duty?” Jon questioned.

“Simple, I looked up your records and found that you are a fully licensed pilot with FLT certifications.” the Enforcer told him. “The Peacekeepers need Faster
Than Light qualified pilots. When I told certain contacts of mine about your case they offered you a commission. You'll have to go through all the required
training, but once you've completed basic combat and then advanced flight, you'll officially be given the rank.” The Enforcer smiled, “They were also
rather impressed with how you handled the bully at the Lodge. To be honest, after I saw the evidence today, so am I. Someone insults my heart-mother that
way and I'd break every bone in that person's body, twice!” The Enforcer smiled and stretched out his hand. “I read up on human history and it seems that
males of your species do something called handshakes. I'd like to shake your hand and offer you my best wishes on your future career.”

“Thanks” Jon told the man as he took his hand and gave it a firm shake in the manner that his uncle had taught to him cycles before. “I'm going to go home
and pack. I have a shuttle to catch tomorrow.” Jon felt somehow strangely happy to be making his final preparations to leave Haven. This would be a brand
new adventure for him. He would miss his aunt and the half wild saber-tooth tiger he'd named Talga. He had raised the massive cat from an orphaned kitten
and knew it could take care of itself in the pristine forests that surrounded his family home. Despite not knowing how long he would be away from those two
things he loved about his home world, he felt good about leaving so many bad memories behind. “Maybe, one day, I'll be able to take both my auntie and my
tiger away from this place.” he thought.

6 Months Later

Jon awoke on this morning feeling just a little bit taller than his already extreme height. He had found that even in the military, with its mixed bunch of
individuals from all the known races, he stood at least two inches taller than anyone else. Here though, no one made insulting remarks about his height.
That all by itself made him feel one hundred percent better about himself, but on top of that he had earned the highest marks in his basic and advanced
combat tactics classes, had earned expert rankings in both hand to hand and limited weapons training. He had also earned expert ranks in both pistol and
rifle use to go along with his eighth degree Master's ranking with the sword. The highest ranking that there was for swordsmanship. As a special honor,
he'd been given a uniquely carved sword that was now considered a part of his dress uniform to be worn at all times.

The past six months had been the toughest of his life. The Instructors would come in hours before the sun had risen and literally toss everyone from their
beds. There would be only minutes to take care of all the necessary morning activities like shaving, using the relief chamber, and getting dressed before
being marched off for a breakfast of stale protein bars, lukewarm coffee, or maybe over cooked eggs with burnt toast if it happened to be a holiday.
Halfway through the meal, the instructors would return to harass their trainees about how long it was taking them to eat and screaming for them to hurry up
and lineup outside. Then the group of trainees would be marched out to firing ranges or classrooms that were at least five miles away from the barracks.
Most days they ran those five miles to class.

Exercise sessions went on for hours at a time. Hand to hand combat lessons would take entire days and midday meals would be brought out to the trainees and
served up on plastic plates with forks that doubled as spoons. The most difficult part for Jon to adjust to came when they started to inject him with all
manner of nanoids designed to enhance his strength and agility. During all of this, cadets would sometimes fall behind and be shuffled to classes coming
behind Jon's group. Sometimes he would be kept up at night by the sounds of young males and females crying themselves to sleep. Bedtime came after each day and Jon
discovered that he usually had more stamina than most of the others. He would often find himself lying in his small bed wide awake when his mind refused to
relax enough to let him go to sleep. For the entire six-month training period, Jon found himself living on fewer than four hours of sleep each night. He
found that of all the things the service tried to teach him, he enjoyed the physical activities at the ranges and the combat mats the most.

Today he had one last job yet to perform as a mere cadet. As the highest ranking cadet in his group, he was to lead the troops in their graduation march
before being released on a month long leave prior to reporting for flight training. Training had not been easy even for a purebred human with his extra
size and muscle tone. The tests were designed to cause people to stress themselves beyond what most people would call the breaking point. Jon had never
broken. He had reached deep inside and channeled every emotion he'd ever had, good and bad, into passing with the highest ratings the instructors had ever
seen. Of course, none of the instructors had ever tested a human before. So it was with some satisfaction that he wore his dress uniform with its gleaming
white leggings and tunic.

As he rushed back from early morning meal, he tried one more time to contact his aunt only to be told that she was currently unavailable, again, by the
house security system. He hoped that meant that she was on her way to attend today's ceremony. However, he had been unable to contact her during this
entire last month of his training when the trainees were allowed to make personal calls to family and friends. She would not have failed to return his
messages if she had gotten any of the ones he'd already left for her. So today, while he felt good about finishing his training, he also worried that his
aunt may be seriously ill. She was getting older after all and even with the miracles that the Healers could make happen, a person had to be able to get to
one for them to work their magic. He worried that she was lying sick at home and unable to get help. He never planned on returning to Haven, but now he had
changed his plans and that was exactly where he was going to go.

During the graduation ceremonies Jon kept scanning the crowd of visiting parents searching for his aunt's tiny figure. There were several Lexonian families
in attendance. Each one dressed in finely crafted gowns. He did not see his aunt among them. Finally after what seemed like hours of speeches by one Officer
after another, it was time for Jon to take the lead and give his small address to the crowd.

“Honored Guests, Officers and Leaders, on behalf of all of the cadets gathered here today I wish to give our heartfelt thanks. Thank you for guiding us
along our journeys from childhood up to today when we step out on our own as fully entitled members of the Interplanetary Peacekeepers Service. Some of us
will be leaving here to go directly to our units and may never meet one another again in our careers. Others will be going on for more specialized
training. All of us understand the great sacrifice you all have made to bring us to this day in time and we will never forget your efforts.” Jon waited for
a count of ten before continuing. “Honored Guests, may I present to you the graduating class 301,243.” He took a step back from the podium only to have another
cadet begin calling out the names of each member of the class in alphabetical order. As each cadet approached to receive his or her certificate of
graduation and have their official rank insignia pinned to their uniform's collar, they also had any awards that they had earned during training awarded
and pinned to their uniform tunics. Of course Jon had won nearly everyone of the awards and so he had the most ribbons hanging from his tunic, not to
mention his ornate sword and the black shoulder sash with gold braiding along each side to signify his eighth degree master status, when he literally
stumbled across the one person he did not want to ever see again.