PEACEMAKER INTRODUCTION

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MARCH 2163 - THE LAST DAY OF THE SECOND MARTIAN WAR

Commander Jan Ando was in the Presidential mansion on New Sydney, Mars. He just witnessed the President of the Martian Union, Johann Taylor, have a mental breakdown. He felt bad because he was caused it. Jan and told Taylor that he and millions of people were victims of a cycle of betrayal and vengeance that Taylor caused. It was a fitting punishment however, as Taylor ordered his grandfather’s torture and grandmother’s brutal murder. As Taylor was carted out, Jan shook his head and walked out of the room. 

In the hallway Jan’s his father, Rear Admiral Tran N. Ando was in the hallway under escort. Jan walked over to his father and said, “Hello, Dad.”

Ando could not hold in his emotions as he put his arms around Jan and said with tears in his eyes, “Oh my god! Jan, I am so glad to see you.”

Jan said calmly, “Dad, it’s good to see you too. I think the war will be over soon.” Then a man in a suit came over to him. Jan turned toward him and said nothing.

“Rear Admiral Ando, I am George McDonnell, the head of the Senate,” and he offered his hand to Ando.

Ando shook his offered hand, “It’s an honor to meet you, Senator McDonnell. May I ask what happened to Mr. Taylor?”

“Let’s just say he could not handle the stress of the war.” Ando nodded his head in understanding. He continued, “I am empowered to negotiate an end to this madness.”

“What about the head of the Militia?”

“We have civilian control of the Militia. He may not agree, but the Senate runs the planet, and I speak for the Senate. Now, may we go?” He led the way to the guards and led Ando and Jan to their waiting shuttle.

They boarded the shuttle and after it took off, Ando got on the communications channel to the Task Force commander to report to them that they will be bringing someone to negotiate the armistice with. He received congratulations and notification that his brevet rank of Vice Admiral was reinstated. A medical officer approached them and asked to examine Jan to evaluate his treatment while under captivity, Jan nodded and went with the doctor. Meanwhile, all the radio frequencies reported that Taylor died in the hospital as a result of a heart attack. Jan returned from his medical exam, which showed that he was showing no ill effects. He wanted to tell his father everything but wasn’t sure how to do it. He knew that his father had a lot on his mind, so Jan decided to invite him to dinner when they returned to the flagship. Perhaps that would help to soften the blow. 

Once they arrived at the Essex, Ando and McDonnell were escorted to the Task force Commander’s ready room. Just before they entered, the Commander’s Yeoman handed Ando two communiqués. He looked at the messages and with great effort struggled to hold his professional demeanor as he asked the young woman, “Does the Task Force Commander know?”

“Yes, Sir, and he said you can take care of this personal matter.” Ando nodded and handed the communiqués to McDonnell, who looked at them and handed them with a look of concern. Ando asked to take his leave and walked away, then when he reached his quarters, he sobbed loudly.

Jan was in the ready room of VAQ-480, the War Hawks, reading reports from the Devil Rays on patrol around the battle space. He was deployed to the unit to assist them in employing the Hammerhead using regular fighters. This ended up in his getting shot down. He was going to recommend that the Hammer in its current configuration was only suited for the Devil Ray. He requested that he receive reports from his unit so he can keep appraised of their activities. Just then the interphone chimed. He answered, “Commander Ando here.”

“Jan, it’s your father.” Jan could tell even over the phone that he was crying, “can you come by my quarters as soon as you can?”  

Out of respect for his privacy he didn’t use his instinct and asked, “Sure, dad. I’ll be there in ten minutes. What’s going on?” The only response was the phone disconnecting. Jan shook his head and walked out.

Jan arrived at Ando’s quarters and closed the door behind him. He noticed that his father looked stricken. He started to open his mouth, but Ando raised his hand to stop him and said, “I just got word that your mother disappeared from FOB Kilo. They are searching for her but there is no word.”

“Did she take a Devil Ray?”

“No, they said she was on a transport but could not say where it was going. They didn’t file a flight plan. They think it may have been attacked and destroyed. Also, Ivan reported that your grandfather died.” Jan screamed, “OH MY GOD! Both of them at the same time?!”

Jan knew that he would regret this, but he decided the time was now, so he stood up and sat on the chair across from his father and looked at him as he put his arm on his shoulder. His father looked gratefully at him as he said, “Dad, I know.”

Ando looked at him in shock and whispered angrily, “Let me guess… it was that god damned instinct of yours. Tell me what do you know?”

“Do you want the whole story, dad?” Ando said nothing and waved his hand in a ‘come on’ gesture.

Jan took a deep breath and said, “This madness started when you were 16. Grandpa was an agent of SPINS on a mission when he was betrayed by his partner and tortured. At the same time, grandmother was violated and murdered by people his partner hired. Grandfather never knew why you were spared.” He saw the shocked look on his father’s face as he continued. “Grandfather’s former partner was Johann Taylor, the man who recruited him into the organization.”

Realization showed on Ando’s face and he softly said, “So, you mean that my father started two wars for revenge?”

“Yes, Sir, he did. Grandfather wanted to turn Mars into an irradiated wasteland, but chose a more painful route. There is more. Have you ever heard of Khoc Lieu, the weeping willow?”

“Yes, I heard she was a spy extraordinaire, but I always thought she was a myth.”

“She was recruited by grandpa as a tool of his revenge. She was on his radar from the day she cold-cocked you at a party.”

“No, it can’t be.” Jan nodded sadly.

“What a fool I am. I was used by them for revenge.” The shock destroyed the effects of the mind wipe. “It was uncle Johann on the battlefield that day. That bastard was my godfather, and he betrayed my dad.”

“Yes. Perhaps it was sentiment that you were not killed along with grandmother.”

“I wish I was. Your mother lied to and manipulated me all that time,”

“Dad, she loved you.” But Ando silenced him with a hand to his face. He then decided to go all the way, wherever the chips may fall. “Dad, there is more.”

“What more can you tell me? My heart is torn to pieces because of my so-called family, commander.”

Jan was saddened by the bitterness in his voice but forced himself to continue, “Dad, just before mom got pregnant with me, she consented to an experiment.”

“What kind of experiment?”

“We had an encounter with an alien race that visited us. They had no way to communicate with them, so they were turned over to SPINS who found a way. They gave mom…”

He angrily interrupted him by saying, “Don’t you ever call her that again.”

Jan, continued, “They injected her with their blood. It enabled her to communicate with them. It also gave her telepathic abilities, and they were passed on to me.”

“You mean, you are a mutant?”

“Yes. I didn’t know about it until before she returned to you. Mom wiped my mind so the only ability I had access to was the instinct and healing abilities. After I was captured, she teamed up with Gemini and attempted a rescue. They actually made it onto New Sydney when I had contact with her telepathically. Mom monitored me as I talked to Taylor, then after he broke down, she decided to transform to one of the aliens and went off into space.”

He was ready to lunge at him as he growled “You are insane. Stay away from me.”

“Please, dad, I want to pass on mother’s farewell gift to you.”

“Stay away from me, Commander. I never want to see you again.”

Jan looked serene as he said, “You don’t mean that. Yes, you are hurt, but please, let me show you.” He began taking off his uniform and went to his skivvies. Jan saw Ando start to pull his blaster but stood there undaunted. He closed his eyes and a glow surrounded his birthmark first then soon enveloped him. The glow receded and Ando saw a bright blue dolphin floating in front of him. He flinched in surprise and then lowered his blaster.

“My god.”

Just then, they saw a happy, little girl in both of their minds, “Daddy, let me try. Hi, grandpa.”

“Who is this?”

“Hi, it’s Katryna. Doesn’t Daddy look cute? I want to show you show you gramma’s gift, maybe you will let me.” Tran visualized a three-month-old baby girl floating in front of him, then she smiled and said, “hi.” 

Ando smiled and said, “Hello, little one,” Jan could tell that between his transformation and Katryna vision, he calmed down. She then ‘touched’ his forehead with hers and said, “This is from gramma.”

Tran saw the blackness of open space, then he saw the stars resolve into points of light. He then saw one of the points of light move towards him. It came close enough that he could see it was a silver dolphin that had a glowing aura around it, and that’s when he heard the most beautiful voice in the universe. 

“Tran, my love.” It transformed to a nude Tania. He tried to say something, but she put her finger on his lips and said, “Shush. I am so deeply sorry that I caused you pain. I loved you from the first moment we met. When I heard about what happened to your mother and father, I was so angry because I knew that they could have gotten to you and killed you before I even had the chance to get to know you better. At that time, I decided to do something about it. I already had the training from my father, and so I decided to visit your father to see how I would be of service. I regret nothing because I did it for you. You can hate me all you want, but please don’t hate Jan or his daughter. They are innocent.” 

She kissed him on his forehead and said, “Live well, Tran and remember that I love you.” Before he could say anything to her, she turned into a dolphin and swam off.

Tran opened his eyes, and saw Jan returning to human and putting his shirt on. They  said nothing but hugged for some time.

On Earth, Katryna saw in her mind her daddy, grandpa and grandma. She talked to grandpa, and then gramma started to glow.  She smiled happily and thought, “bye-bye, gramma.  I love you.”

She then joined her brother and sister dolphins off into space.  Then...

Suddenly…

Everything went blank!

The little baby looked at her mom who looked at her with a concerned look in her face.  She thought, “Mommy?  Mommy?  Daddy?  WHERE’S MY DADDY?!”  When she heard nothing from her mommy in her mind and did not see her dad’s face, she started to cry uncontrollably and flapping her arms and legs in a frenzy. 

Christina Ando tried to hold her daughter still, but with her crying so violently, she could not keep her grip.  She wrestled the baby to keep her still and put her in her crib but could not stop her crying.  In desperation, she tried to comfort her.  Her husband, Jan, told her that since she inherited his ability to heal fast, sedatives may not be useful.  She talked to the house staff doctor and explained what was going on with her, then he suggested that they try sonic sedation.  He placed a head band on Katryna’s head band and the soothing sound waves calmed her down to the point that she fell asleep.  The doctor told Christina to apply it on her daughter’s head when she started to have those bad crying spells. Christina nodded, but continued to be concerned about her daughter and wished Jan were there.

Jan saw the vivid picture of his mother leaving with Terav and Arkia and then the visions stopped.  He thought, “So, mom, you returned my block. At least, I still have my instinct.  I have to get in touch with Tina, Kitten won’t know what happened.” Jan stayed with his dad for some time and told him that he would enter the reserves after the war ended. His father understood and gave his support.

Jan walked to his quarters when he was intercepted by the operations officer in charge of Devil Ray  tasking for the Task Force. Jan asked, “Can I help you, Lieutenant?”

“Commander, I have a mission for you.”

“I thought with the war being over, I would go home,”

“Not yet, Sir. There is a classified mission that we need you to do. We are going to dock with a ‘Ray that will pick you up, and they will have your mission tasking on board. This is so classified they didn’t want it transmitted to you via the normal channels. It should be here tomorrow.”

“So, I have time to contact my wife to let her know I am okay?”

“Yes, Sir.” Jan nodded and walked away.

Jan went to his quarters and dialed his personal channel, and he saw Christina Ando on it. She said, “Jan, thank god you are all right. When your dad told me you were shot down, I thought the worst. Kitten said that you were okay, but I was so worried.”

“I’m okay, honey. I have a lot to explain when I get home, but unfortunately, I don’t know when I will be back. I put my request to join the reserves but don’t know when I will be transferred.”

“I hope it’s going to be soon.”

“I hope so too. How is Katryna?”

“Something happened. She went silent in my mind and started crying. I could not stop her at all.”

Jan looked concerned, “How is she now?”

“She’s sleeping. The doctor had to give her sonic sedation. You know she heals so fast that regular sedation doesn’t work, but the sedative band seems to be working.”

“That’s good. Maybe if you tell the doctor to send a message, I can come home. I know how to calm her down.”

She looked stern as she said, “Oh no you don’t, Jan Tran Ando. We can take care of each other. You finish what you started and get home to us like you promised.”

“Yes, Ma’am. Kiss the Kitten for me. Love you.” He signed off

Katryna woke up and heard her mommy singing to her. She tried thinking to her mom, but she didn’t respond, then she opened her eyes and smiled. Christina asked, “Feeling better, honey?” Katryna nodded and pointed to her mom’s pad repeatedly, then her mom handed the pad over and she typed, “Mommy, what happened to me?” Her mom stared at her.