A Family of Their Own Making

A Few Days Later

     Palvon stood in front of six Young Ones in the large living room of his residence. “It all started by accident. One day everyone on Thiak was normal, and the next most of the adults over twenty were dead. All because of an airborne illness that spread over Thiak in one day.”

     “Not only did it kill off the adults, but it also made the ones still alive unable to reproduce. That wasn’t all. That illness kept everyone their own age forever. The planet of Thiak was now populated by a billion Young Ones ranging in age from ten to sixteen. A few million were under ten, and about half that many were between seventeen and twenty.”

     “As for adults, there were about a hundred thousand of them. Most were between the ages of thirty to forty. Their solution to the Young One’s problem was to use them to their advantage. The Young Ones could do whatever needed to be done to stay alive.”

     Palvon was not pacing around his living room. “Whether it was creating food with animals, fruits, or vegetables, building buildings, mining, etc. Young One would be doing it. The adults called themselves fathers and mothers, and the Young Ones their family, but they weren’t families. Most families don’t treat their Young Ones like that. At least they shouldn’t.”

     “I didn’t believe that was our solution to our way of life now. So, I left everyone behind and moved to this small land mass surrounded by water. I’m not the only one living there. There are one hundred and thirty-one, now thirty-seven, Young Ones living there with me. I consider them family, but not the kind of family that everyone else on Thiak calls family.”

     “Yes, most of my Young Ones help all of us live better, but I don’t force them to do it. I don’t punish them if they don’t. Something else that didn’t happen before the illness destroyed Thiak.”

     Palvon sat down with those six Young Ones surrounding him. “Like you six, with the help of several Young Ones like yourselves, I have been trying to save as many Young Ones as I can from those that want to treat you like they do. I may only have a hundred and thirty-seven right now, but soon I’m hoping it will be a billion.”

Back to the Present

     SpaceFaction stepped off his bar stool and raised his hand. “I’m next. I have a story to tell you about a family that wasn’t a family.”

A Family of Their Own Making

Almost Four Days Ago

     Haanic ran around a corner with a hand weapon in each hand firing one blue glowing laser ball after another at any adult coming near him. Each ball was fired randomly at those adults, but most hit them in their heads. They looked dead before they reached the ground.

     Raneia and Monan stood next to Haanic doing the same thing. Only they were aiming their balls at the adults to their left. So far, they were killing most of them. A few adults got lucky. Monan dropped his hand weapon in his right hand and placed his hand behind his back and waved it. Evonni ran past them with six other Young Ones.

     At age twelve, Evonni was the youngest of the four Rescuers. Evonni held two hand weapons in her hands when eight adults came around another building. She ran past them with the six other Young Ones behind her after she shot each of them once.

About Four Days Later

     Palvon stood and looked at the six new Young Ones in his family. Three males and three females. The same six that had been rescued a few days ago by Haanic, Raneia, Monan, and Evonni. Only now they looked a lot better after getting cleaner whole pieces of clothing and some food.

     “Welcome to my family.” Palvon started helping these Young Ones to get up ranging in age from ten to sixteen. “If you have any questions or concerns, you can come to me at any time.”

     As these six Young Ones were leaving that room, Haanic, Raneia, Monan, and Evonni entered. All ten nodded to each other and made polite conversation as they passed one another. Haanic, Raneia, Monan, and Evonni walked up to Palvon. “You have some more Young Ones who need our help?” Haanic asked.

     “Unfortunately, I do. You may need some help in the rescuing of these eight Young Ones.”

##

     “We thank you for helping us, but you are an adult.” Haanic leaned over a large table in an old rundown and abandoned building that looked about a hundred years old. “Why are you helping us?”

     Jakkine leaned over the large table in the middle of Haanic, Raneia, Monan, and Evonni. They were looking at a diagram of a residential complex. “It’s because I don’t like what my male mate is doing.”

     “That’s why I’m helping you. When we first selected our eight Young Ones, Biagon was great with them, but for the last twenty years, he has gotten steadily worse.”

     “I fear for the Young Ones we have. Especially, the two females. At eleven and thirteen they are too young to be helping the males with their responsibilities. If I don’t help you, something very bad may happen to them too.”

     Jakkine pointed at a large building on that diagram. “This is where they are all living now.”

##

     Using a V-shaped tree branch, Haanic looked through a hollow square cylinder on a Long Weapon. Looking down from a large hilltop, he saw the building where the eight Young Ones were living in the middle of four other buildings surrounding them.

     “According to Jakkine, Biagon has forty adult males helping him. Ten in each of these buildings when the Young Ones aren’t handling their responsibilities.”

     “When they are doing their responsibilities, those forty adults are scattered around them watching them. At least they are the male Young Ones right now.”

     Haanic shifted his looking to look at the residence where Biagon and Jakkine live. “The two females still have responsibilities at the residence. Biagon hasn’t mixed the Young Ones together yet, but he’s about to do it. That’s why we need to rescue them now.”

     “Evonni, I want you to rescue the females while we help the males. Do you think you can do that?”

##

     Before heading for the side of the residence, Evonni looked all around her from a Wooded Area near it. “I don’t see any adult males. It looks like they are all with you.”

     Entering a side entrance Evonni started looking for the two female Young Ones. Instead of finding them, she found six male adults she had to kill. “I guess I was wrong about any adults here.”

     Haanic killed one adult with a little blue ball to the side of his head. He quickly killed two more near the first one in the same way. None of them had the chance to fire back, but the other seven with them did. Haanic dived behind a large tree before he started killing them.

     “We know we only have thirty-five to kill,” said Monan as he and Raneia were killing the other adult males one after another.

     “One of those males is Biagon.” Raneia had just killed him too.

####

     Haanic, Raneia, Monan, and Evonni entered the living room of Palvon as the newest eight members of their family were leaving. They walked up to Palvon, but Haanic did all the talking. “I think we have a very big problem helping the rest of the Young Ones on Thiak. There were forty other adults at that residential complex.”

     “Yes, I know there were. That’s why I said you needed help with this rescue.”

     “This has been going on all over Thiak. The adult males outnumber the females fifteen to one. That means there aren’t as many families as before. A lot of these extra males have been helping the families control their Young Ones.”

     Haanic glanced at Raneia, Monan, and Evonni before he looked back at Palvon. “What does that mean for us rescuing of the rest of the Young Ones on Thiak?”

     Palvon sighed. “It means our rescuing is going to be a whole lot harder to do now.”

##

     “There are a lot of things we need to do if we want to continue rescuing these the rest of Young Ones,” said Palvon as he and Haanic walked down the hallway together. Raneia, Monan, and Evonni were walking right behind them.

     “We need to double your team, and we need more teams to help us.” continued Palvon.

     Palvon stopped walking. “We also need to start going after these rescues before we are asked to do it.”

     Haanic also stopped before a large, closed entrance. Raneia, Monan, and Evonni almost ran into Palvon and Haanic before they stopped too. “What we really need is for these Young Ones we are rescuing to help us too, but most of them can’t do that because of their adult ‘parents.’

     “The Young Ones are usually too weak and tired from their responsibilities to help us. Just what their ‘parents’ don’t want them to do. What else can we do for these Young Ones?”

##

     After entering this large Eating Area, Palvon, Haanic, Raneia, Monan, and Evonni walked up to the long table in front of several rows of smaller tables. Each one of those smaller tables had Young Ones sitting at them. Most of them were eating. Some were still getting their food to eat by several female Young Ones about ten or eleven.

     Palvon sat in the middle of Haanic, Raneia, Monan, and Evonni. Haanic and Raneia sat on either side of Palvon while Monan and Evonni sat next to Raneia and Haanic. “I have been thinking about this, and I can think of only one thing we can do about these adults now.”

     “There are about ten thousand other adults that feel the same way as I do. I think it’s time for us to help each other to put an end to this way of living for these adults. Even if it means we need to force them to change.”

##

     Palvon stood on a flat extension to his residence with Haanic, Raneia, Monan, and Evonni standing right behind them. They were looking at several hundred thousand Young Ones below them. After returning to the Eating Area, they sat where they normally sat to eat. Only that time they were eating. Around two hundred adults were sitting where the other Young Ones usually sat.

     “Who are all those Young Ones?” Palvon asked after he got up. “What are they doing here?”

     Stallim stood up. “We represent to the other adults like us, and these Young Ones are part of our families and their families.”

     “When they heard what we were about to do, they wanted to help us. They aren’t the only ones,” continued Stallim.

     “These were the only ones we could bring with us.” Walvinia stood up next to Stallim. “There are a whole lot more who want to help us. Like ten times that many.”

##

     Stallim and Walvinia stood on the extension now facing the Young Ones below them. Evonni, Haanic, Palvon, Raneia, and Monan stood behind Stallim and Walvinia. “I understand you and the other Young Ones like you want to help us with what is about to happen, but do you understand what that means?”

     “It means you will be killing a whole lot of adults, and I’m not talking about how we have been killing them up until now,” Stallim shouted to be heard by everyone below them. “We won’t be using light blue balls that just knock them out for a few hours, we will be using red balls that will kill them.”

     “Can you do that?” Walvinia asked. “We may outnumber the adults a hundred to one, but they won’t be the only ones killed. A lot of us will be killed too. Do you understand that too?” The way they reacted below with all the hooping and hollowing they understood.

Word Count = 1,969

     SpaceFaction smiled wickedly as he started to sit back down on his bar stool. “The End, or is it?”