I had expected Spark to prepare one or two saplings and a single data chip containing all the genome data. Instead, she provided me with several dozen saplings, ten perfectly preserved genome samples to clone replacements from, and a complete copy of all her research data. There was so much stuff that I needed to go back and retrieve my truck trailer to carry it all.

  “I appreciate all your help,” I said to Spark as Bob and Heavy loaded everything. “Feel free to stop by if you’re ever out on the west coast. I may not live in the most picturesque area, but I’m sure Jane and the kids would love to see you again.”

  “I may take you up on that sooner than you think,” Spark chuckled. “Once everything settles down, I plan to head over to Cascadia to knock some heads together. I shared my research with the Land Guard with the understanding that they’d share it with whoever wanted it. I never expected them to hoard the knowledge.”

  “To be fair… I don’t think they had any problem sharing the information; they were just trying to protect their facilities and samples,” I told her.

  “Not an excuse! If you had caused problems, I would have sent them replacements, then come over there to kick your ass myself,” she grumbled.

  “Well… you would have tried,” I replied, grinning.

  “I would have succeeded! You don’t know what I’m capable of,” she said.

  “Do you think I showed you all my tricks? You wouldn’t even get close,” I smirked.

  “I have my ways!” Spark declared. The two of us stared at each other for several seconds, then broke into giggles.

  “Take care of yourself, Evelyn,” Spark said, sticking out her hand. “If I hear that you bit the dust before I have a chance to visit and stress test your forces, I’ll be pissed.”

  “Don’t worry, I’ll be around for a long time. I have too much to live for and a lot of bears to throw at my problems,” I replied, taking her hand. “Be careful with your experiments.”

  “I’m always careful!” Spark replied indignantly.

  “Right…” I muttered lightly as I stepped back.

  “Hey Boss, we’re all done loading!” Bob hollered from the truck. “Heavy’s just double-checking the strapping now.”

  “Alright, I’ll be right there,” I yelled back before turning back to Spark. “Take care of yourself, and keep in touch.”

  “You too…” Spark replied. The girl bit her lip, hesitating for a moment, before pouncing forward and sweeping me up into a hug. “I’ll miss you!”

  “We just met!” I wheezed through her bone-crushing embrace.

  “Doesn’t matter, we have a connection," she replied. She cuddled me for another couple seconds, then released me and pushed me towards the truck. “Have a good trip! Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!”

  “I doubt that’ll be a problem,” I muttered, staggering towards the truck. When I got to the door, I paused, turned back, and waved before finally climbing into the cab.

  “She’s a nice lady,” Bob declared as I did up my belt.

  “You know she asked if she could try and take you apart,” I told him. “Actually begged me to try and stress test your frame.”

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  “It’s nice to be loved,” the bear declared.

  “She was planning on using Class III strategic weapons if she had to.”

  Bob paused. “Love is painful sometimes.”

  “Just tell her to aim for your head,” Heavy scoffed. “You’re so thick that nothing gets through that skull of yours.”

  “Is that so… Maybe I should block with my face more often,” Bob replied thoughtfully.

  “I can’t believe we’re having this conversation,” I grumbled as I put the truck into gear.

  It took me the entire trip back to the Strato Carrier to convince Bob to give up the idea of face-tanking everything, a situation that Heavy found extremely amusing. It was only after we landed and I finally climbed out of the cab that I realized the entire discussion was probably pointless. Bob would have forgotten about the discussion eventually anyways.

  “Do you want us to unload the truck?” Bob asked as he jumped out.

  “No, leave it,” I replied tiredly. “I doubt I’ll need the trailer again during this trip, and I’ll be dropping everything off at The Family’s headquarters once we get home.”

  “Don’t you need to take care of the trees, though? They might be back there for a while,” the big bear asked.

  “Not as long as you think,” I muttered. “We have to make a beeline back home to prepare for the oncoming storm. I guess I should probably get a couple of the frogs to check on them periodically until we arrive.”

  “There’s a storm coming?” Bob asked, confused. “I didn’t know that. I’ll make sure the kids have their raincoats.”

  “They’ll need a lot more than that,” I grumbled.

  I slipped around the front of the truck and started heading towards the residence but paused as I was about to pass Heavy. “Are you going to head back to the armory?”

  “Yessir,” the polar bear replied in his thick European accent.

  “You know, you’re welcome to speak your mind with me,” I said, looking the bear up and down. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you speak more than one or two words at a time before today. Don’t feel the need to hold back.”

  Heavy shrugged. “I speak when I have something important to say, that’s all.”

  “And it was important for you to insult Bob?” I grumbled.

  “You two set up the joke,” he chuckled. “All I did was deliver the punchline.”

  “I hate how true that is,” I muttered. “Are you heading back to the armory?”

  “Of course, I take my job as the armory officer seriously, and there are a lot of weapons that require maintenance," he declared.

  “Well, if you get bored down there, feel free to stop by the residence. Eddie would love to see you,” I said.

  The bear’s expression softened slightly. “Maybe later. Permission to leave?”

  “Granted… I guess,” I replied.

  Heavy performed a crisp salute and then started trudging back towards the storage area. I watched him go for several seconds before finally turning away and continuing my trek back to the residence.

  It took me a minute, and when I finally pushed my way into the living area. I found it quiet and mostly empty.

  “Where are the kids?” I asked Jane, who was sitting at the table, sipping on a cup of coffee.

  “In the activity room,” she replied, without looking up from her tablet. “It’s school time.”

  “Oh, right. The lessons. I forgot they had those,” I replied blankly.

  “That’s because you’re usually busy running from one project to another around this time,” she replied. “That’s one of the reasons this trip has been so nice. You can focus on the family instead of your work.”

  I flinched slightly. “About that… We have to cut the trip short.”

  Jane slowly lowered her tablet and looked up. “Did something happen back home?”

  “No, and if something had happened, the other samurai could handle it. We have, however, been made aware of something that’ll be happening soon. Something that could rival the global incursion in intensity,” I told her. “Thankfully we’ve been warned ahead of time and been given time to prepare. Time is tight, and I have to head back to help coordinate our defenses.”

  “Are things really that bad?” Jane asked quietly.

  “They will be in a couple weeks,” I admitted. “When it happens, I plan to use the carrier as a mobile command center to coordinate our defences. It’s probably best that you and the kids aren’t here when that happens.”

  Jane sighed. “Alright.”

  “That’s it? Just alright?” I asked, surprised.

  “Look, Evelyn, I may not be pleased about having you run around fighting Antithesis, but I understand that it’s important. You went out of your way to try and spend more time with the kids, and I really appreciate it,” Jane said. “Unfortunately you can’t control what the Antithesis do--all you can do is react. This is just a situation beyond our control.”

  “You’re taking this a lot better than I expected,” I admitted.

  “The kids and I have kind of gotten used to you being a samurai over the last year and learned to deal with everything,” she said. “Both the good and the bad.

  She picked up her tablet again. “Don’t you dare try and make me tell the kids about this, though--that’s entirely up to you.”

  “Right,” I groaned, imagining Issi’s disappointed face. “No problem.”

  This arc features Spark from 'A Spark of Sylvan Flame' - Go give them some love!

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