The Initiative: Book One of the Jannah Cycle Read online

  Susan and Matthew didn’t come down until after the rush, the one-year-old tottering across the floor to grab at anything that was put within his reach. He found himself picked up by Joseph before too long, and squealed in protest a few times before Joseph managed to settle him down with a spoonful of oatmeal from his own dish. The smile on Joseph’s face was that of a very happy grandfather, even if the man behind the smile knew he only had a short time to hold his grandchild.

  “Oh, Anna.” Her father said as she finished washing out her mug and started to leave the kitchen after the breakfast madness. “I almost forgot, Liam sent a message last night, sounds like he’s coming down to help out for the day. Just wanted to warn you.”

  Anna’s initial reaction was to roll her eyes, but she didn’t have a huge problem with Liam. Nothing more than a chronic annoyance, at least. His twin brother Logan had been her childhood best friend, and for years, people had teased her and Logan that they would end up together.

  It hadn’t worked out that way.

  Logan married someone else, Melanie, a beautiful, quiet girl who was nothing like Anna, and life had moved on.

  Until his wife had killed herself nearly a year ago.

  After that, Logan’s life had changed drastically, along with his personality. Changed or not, though, Anna would always be there for Logan whenever he needed her. That included dealing with his playboy twin brother on occasion. “I guess I don’t really need to worry too much about him making a visit. Emily and Ginny are too young for him.”

  “I think Emily’s got her eye on the Roth boy. Steven or Steffan or some such.” Joseph rolled his eyes and got up to go with Anna out into the morning. The sun still wasn’t up, but it was time to get to work anyway. “And no, I’d worry more about him being a bad influence on Ben than anything else. Even if that bad influence goes both ways sometimes.” Ben was as loyal a son as any father could ask for, but his bad temper still caused more problems than it solved. “And I’m not even thinking about Ginny’s matchmaking yet. That’ll be your problem to deal with one of these days, not mine.”

  “I’m not thinking about my six year old sister getting married when I’m not even there yet myself. That’s just wrong.” Anna gave her father another kiss on the cheek once they were standing outside the house. “Don’t stay out here too long. I don’t want you to get worse.”

  “Uh huh.” He gave her a quiet look at that, but he wasn’t going to give her the same response that he had always given her before. Worse was the only thing he was going to get for the rest of his life. What was killing him wasn’t the kind of thing anyone got better from. “Come find me and let me know what Liam wants later when he gets here. I have to drive Emily and Ginny up to see Doc Weber later for their checkups.”

  Anna nodded slowly but she stared at her father a little longer. “See what Doc can give you too while you’re there.” She let that linger between them before she headed off quickly to the barn to help with the cows.

  She found Cory there, already busy with the milking. “You beat me out here. How did you do that?”

  “Oh, I’m actually a mutant. Forgot to tell you. Superspeed. Forgetfulness is a side effect.” He smiled up at her as he worked, then nodded to the cow beside him, which already had a stool and a pail set in place for her to start helping. “I also woke up like three hours ago and broke into Susan’s muffins, so I wasn’t hungry.”

  “Three hours ago? What in the world were you doing up that early?” She went to the stool and immediately sat down to get working, since there was really a lot to do. “You didn’t sneak out to see a girl, did you?”

  He looked guilty at her comment, but then shrugged. “I got stood up. Nancy Baxter. She said she’d leave her window open for me, but she wasn’t there when I got there.” He shook his head and sighed dramatically. The Baxter estate was their closest neighbor, at five miles away, but apparently Cory and his bike had been dedicated to the midnight meetup. “So if I pass out later, just try not to judge me.”

  Anna laughed softly and shook her head. “I have a truck that you know how to drive, even if you’re not good at it. Five miles isn’t too far, you could have asked.” She smiled at him, turning her attention back to the cow. “Nancy, huh? She doesn’t really seem like your type.”

  “I don’t need a type, I need a girlfriend. Freaking Danny…” he looked around for a moment just to make sure they were actually alone in that section of the barn before he continued in a lower voice, “freaking Danny’s already got his girl talking about what they’re gonna name their kids, and I can’t even get Nancy Baxter to hang around for me instead of jumping out with somebody else?” Cory didn’t usually have a problem with self-confidence, but Danny and his girlfriend had recently gotten serious. He was definitely feeling the pressure of being behind his game.

  “That’s disturbing. Mostly because Danny should not have a damn girlfriend.” She looked cross as she looked back at Cory, but she knew she shouldn’t say much. Sooner rather than later she would be turning nineteen, which meant Ben would be seventeen, Cory fifteen and Danny fourteen. No one would bat an eye if he got married, and it turned her stomach. Her siblings all seemed so young, even though she knew they weren’t, not by any Earth standards. It was commonplace in their life, commonplace on Earth. “Forget Nancy Baxter. There are other girls. Prettier girls. Hell, even Larissa is about your age.” Larissa also happened to be the girl that Susan wanted Ben to consider as a second wife. Larissa was young, but her personality matched Susan to a T. She was also Liam and Logan’s younger sister. “I know it feels like a race. But I’m not married either.”

  “I know, and I want to personally thank you for not leaving me here to deal with Ben all by myself.” He gave her a sarcastic grin, knowing that wasn’t her reason for not being married. He wasn’t going to bring up that can of worms, though. “It’s just different. I don’t know. I don’t think I’ve ever actually talked to Larissa outside of schoolwork. But that’s not exactly talking either. She seems nice, I guess.” It was hard to make any real connections with people when all their schoolwork was done by online correspondence and two weekends a month in each other’s physical company at a school four hours away.

  “Well, maybe you should.” Anna didn’t want to interfere with Susan’s plans to try and bring Larissa in as a second wife for Ben, but she had more than one brother to worry about. Especially as she considered the acceptance letter still taunting the back of her mind. “Liam is coming over today. Maybe the next time I go visit, you can come with me. Or I can talk to Logan about it. I know she’s quiet, but she’s incredibly smart and pretty.”

  Cory scrunched up his face at the mention of Liam. “Yeah, but then Liam would be my brother-in-law. That’s…blech.”

  Anna briefly thought about all the times that she had hoped Liam would be her brother-in-law. It wasn’t much of a secret that she’d had several crushes on Logan throughout the years, but anytime she wasn’t seeing someone or she was interested in him, he had been with someone else. When he ended up getting married, she knew it was the universe telling her that she and Logan would never be a thing. “Liam isn’t that bad. You already have Ben as an actual brother. At least Liam can be funny now and then. And since when does a brother-in-law trump the idea of a pretty girl? What’s wrong with you?”

  “There’s nothing wrong with me. It’s just weird.” He made a face, but she could tell he was clearly thinking about it. “I guess let me know what Logan says. I’ll brush up on my love poetry in between…everything else around here.”

  “Poetry? Why doesn’t anyone write me poetry?” Anna smiled at Cory and continued milking the cow. “I’ll put in a good word for you with Logan.”

  “Make it a few good words. I need all the help I can get.” He finished with the cow he was working on and patted the animal’s back a few times as he moved away, heading to the next in line. “I um…I heard from Holly last night.” Anna didn’t even have to turn and look at him to see how red
his face got every time he talked about this particular friend. The fact that Holly lived quite literally on the far side of the world hadn’t stopped him from developing a ridiculous crush on her by the time he was ten, nor had it kept him from staying in touch. The distance also hadn’t stopped him from getting mopey a few months earlier when he found out she had a boyfriend. “She and her boyfriend got their acceptance letters for Jannah. Both of them.”

  “Oh yeah?” Anna tried to seem as surprised as possible so that she didn’t give anything away about her own letter. She definitely wasn’t ready for that conversation yet. “I heard that they sent out the letters yesterday. You can’t be too mad at her for it, though. You didn’t want to apply.”

  “I still don’t.” Cory didn’t sound completely convinced of his own opinion, and he must have taken it out on the cow, since he had to stop and calm the animal before he continued. “She said they have to go to space for like, a year. And that’s before they even launch. And then after that, who knows what’s gonna happen.”

  “I don’t think it sounds terrible.” She admitted softly, but loud enough for him for him to hear. “I mean, these people are going to lead the way to Jannah. For the rest of the world. She could have a life longer than forty years on Jannah.”

  “Or a life shorter than forty if she never actually gets there.” Cory shook his head. “There’s no guarantees. I know there aren’t any here either, but it’s just…” he huffed in frustration. “I tried to talk her out of it. She wouldn’t listen.”

  Anna quietly continued milking the cow in front of her, clearly conflicted about what she should say. She didn’t like keeping secrets from her family. Secrets about her lovers and sex life, sure, she wasn’t going to share those. This was bigger than that. “What did you say to her to try and change her mind?”

  Cory gave her a confused look at that question, but Anna was his big sister. She could interrogate him however she wanted. “I asked what her parents would feel like watching her run off to the other end of the galaxy with no guarantees and no idea what she’s really in for. I asked her if she really wanted to throw away her life for that. That is what it feels like she’s doing.”

  “What if it isn’t throwing away her life? I mean, maybe she feels like it could be important. Maybe she feels like she could make a difference?” She patted the side of the cow in front of her, then closed her eyes for a minute. “I’m sorry. I know you have feelings for her.”

  “I do. But it’s been impossible since I started talking to her. I always knew that.” He tried to shrug off the thought, but it wasn’t going to leave. “And if anybody can make a difference, it’s her. She’s probably the smartest person I’ve ever met. No offense.”

  “No one would say that I’m the smartest person they’ve ever met. That’s for damn sure.” She eventually got up from her stool and picked up the bucket of milk she had collected. “I’m sorry that you don’t get your dream girl, and that she’s leaving for Jannah with someone else. But I hope it will work out with Larissa. Even if she’s not your dream.”

  “I’m realistic enough to have flexible dreams.” He grinned over at her and took the pail from her to combine them into one for processing. “I’ll take care of this. Ben and Danny could probably use your help out on irrigation. Tell Danny he still owes me for the other week. Which makes it his turn to muck out after the horses.” He said with a smug smile of satisfaction.

  “I’ll tell him.” She smiled at Cory and gave him a quick hug, grateful that he wasn’t quick-tempered like Ben. Cory was going to be a good husband and father. Ben was already those things, but he always looked pissed about it.

  Anna walked out of the barn only to see Ben in the distance standing next to a truck that wasn’t one of theirs. The truck belonged to the Bickford farm and Ben was talking to Liam, who clearly hadn’t wasted any time getting down to their farm. Anna made her way toward them, crossing her arms against the morning breeze when she got close. “Hey, Liam. You’re out early. I didn’t know you could be anywhere by sunrise.”

  “I can be all kinds of places before sunrise.” Liam promised with a wicked grin. Pleasant a day as it was, he hadn’t bothered with anything resembling a shirt, and his hair hung in shaggy waves around his clean-shaven face. Liam and Logan were identical twins, and it was incredible how much he could look like and yet be absolutely nothing like Logan at the same time. For all they shared in DNA, they shared almost nothing in temperament. “And yes, that’s a promise. Ow!”

  “That’s my sister you’re talking to, asshole.” Ben pulled his hand back from the punch he’d given Liam’s arm, but he was smiling anyway. “Behave. You’ve got bimbos aplenty already without bothering decent women. Knock it off.”

  “I’m going to mark this day as a triumph. My brother called me a decent woman.” Anna grinned, since she was grateful for the punch on her behalf. “Liam, you are not even a little bit tempting, so save it for your women. My legs will never open for you.”

  “I’m heartbroken. Really.” He just rolled his eyes at her with another grin. He’d known Anna just as long as his brother had, and in all that time, they had never been what either of them would call friends, but he didn’t have any reason to dislike her either. He was closer with Ben, and she was just too easy to mess with.

  He nodded to the back of the truck, which was loaded with half a dozen massive water tanks. “I meant to bring these back a month ago, but I just kept getting sidetracked. Your dad said he wanted them hooked up on the south reservoir. Once we’re done with that, I wanted to see if you’d be willing to get borrowed for a few days. Logan’s marching out the harvesters and could use your help. I just build the things, I could never drive them worth a damn.”

  Anna consented with a nod. She knew their own lands had plenty that needed tending, but there were more members of the Prince family than there were of the Bickfords. Logan’s parents were both gone already, which left Logan, Liam, and Larissa running the whole farm. Not to mention the Bickford property was several orders of magnitude larger than the Princes’. “Dad wanted to see if we could use the machines as well, so maybe once we get your farm done, Logan can bring them over here?”

  “That’s a plan.” Liam agreed without hesitation, which meant Logan had already had the idea and told Liam about it before he left to come down to the Prince farm. “If they work half as well as Logan seems to think they will this year, harvest should be done in a couple of days and we’ll get this place finished in time to spend the rest of the season partying like we were born to do it.”

  “Partying. That’s all you ever think about.” Anna just shook her head, but she secretly agreed that she could do with some alcohol and a good time. It would help her forget about the letter and the conflict still brewing in her head. “Can we get to work? You can focus on planning your party later. It’s going to take you time to map out how you’re going to manage a party with all of your girlfriends.”

  “Hey, the logistics are tough to keep up with, alright? Show some respect.” He pointed a finger in her face, then put the truck in reverse to get himself moving in the right direction to drop off the water tanks, leaving Ben and Anna to follow.

  “He’s got three now.” Ben said as soon as Liam was out of earshot. “He picked up another one not that long ago. Crazy bastard.”

  “Three?” Anna’s voice cracked incredulously. “What three women would agree to that circus, and how good must he be in bed to convince three women to date him at once?” She shook her head and looked at her brother again. “I just talked with Cory. I’m going to help with both of your problems and talk with Logan about Larissa for Cory. What do you think?”

  “For Cory?” Ben stopped walking for a second and looked back and forth between her and Liam, who was still maneuvering his truck into the right place. “God, that would be crazy. Two people that quiet? Married to each other? Their entire life would just be one long string of silence.”

  “It would not.” She glared at Be
n, since she thought that Cory and Larissa would be good together. “Larissa is only quiet until she gets comfortable with someone, then she can talk your ear off. I think they would be good together and good for each other. Better than some Nancy chick who stood him up and and some girl across the world who’s going to Jannah and already has a boyfriend.”

  “So his girl did get accepted.” Ben said sadly, shaking his head as he ran a hand back over his hair. The hat he replaced on his head afterward had been beaten up by time and at least three generations of Princes, but at least it kept the sun off him. “That’s a shame. I swear Cory’s been about ten steps from trying to hop on a plane and fly halfway around the world ever since he met her. She goes upstairs, she’ll be a little out of his reach.”

  Anna felt guilty that she hadn’t paid close enough attention to know that Cory was that into the girl across the world, but she didn’t want to admit that Ben had been paying closer attention than she had. “That and the boyfriend he said she has. Anyway, Cory doesn’t need to go across the world to find someone good for him. He said he tried to talk her out of going.”

  “Well, yeah, of course he did.” Ben said with a laugh, giving her another look as if he was wondering if she was really awake yet or not. He was too perceptive for his own good sometimes, even if he wasn’t always aware of what he was seeing. “If he cares about the girl, why would he want her to hightail it off-planet like that?”

  “If he really cares about the girl, why wouldn’t he consider going with her?” She countered, but not to start a fight, only to try and see what Ben thought about the whole Jannah issue. “Maybe it’s been her dream to go.”

  “Well, if it was this girl’s dream to go up and live her life in a big open sky of icy nothing, I say it’s a good thing she and her dreams are on the other side of the world. Might leave Cory heartbroken, but leastways he can find somebody closer to home with dreams worth having.” Ben very rarely made eye contact with anyone when he was talking. He instead spent the entire conversation examining the plants growing along the side of the long dirt road that led from the main thoroughfare in the county to their house’s front door. The beds to either side were all planted with flowers and herbs that their father was teaching Emily and Ginny how to work with. Many of them looked like nothing more than weeds if someone didn’t know what they were looking at. Ben clearly knew what he was looking at.