Drax trotted over to Hixxx and did his thing there, too. Actively chose not to pay attention to whatever it was on the grounds that my head didn’t want to hurt. Happily, my music changed to “The Sounds of Science” by the Beastie Boys, because Algar was cool that way. It was nice to be understood, after all.
“Okay, so we’re about to get out of here, because we have that appointment somewhere else to get to. However, Sandy, I hope you realize that Harvey is now your problem, and by ‘your’ I mean all of you from the Eagle Nebula. It’s time to get involved, so that your child here doesn’t screw up again. Like ever. Most kids get second chances. Harvey does not. I hope I’m being clear.”
“Crystal,” Sandy said. “And we agree.”
“Harvey, here’s your sentence, as in how you make reparations for all the bad you’ve done. You’re staying on this planet, but you’re not in charge. You’re going to learn from Hixxx and Neela and what you’re going to learn is how to be a good, caring, and compassionate leader. I don’t know how long their lifespans are, so you may have to learn from their successors. Maybe many successors, maybe only a few. But your job for the foreseeable future is to learn. And to protect this planet and all the life on it, and any new life allowed on it by Hixxx and Neela. You’re part of them, now, but you serve them, not the other way around.”
“But,” Reader said, “remember that giving people what they want isn’t the same thing as giving them what they need. Wants are rarely necessary. Needs, however, are vital.”
“We understand, and agree with, those concepts,” Neela said. “As a race, we have few wants.”
“Our race is similar,” Hixxx said. “As are the elephants, horses, and squirrels. Especially after what they have experienced.”
“Do you understand and agree?” Jeff asked Harvey.
“We do,” Harvey said slowly. “And that all seems . . . right and fair.”
“We agree, as well,” Sandy said. “And yes, we will interfere as we have to, but only as we have to.”
“Super. Then, one more thing. ACE is off parole. You’re done being his jailers in any way, shape, or form. You broke all the rules you were punishing him for, and you did nothing to fix your errors, unlike ACE. ACE is only focused on good. You were only focused on noninvolvement. I’m done with ACE having to be scared of anything, all of you in particular.”
Sandy nodded slowly. “We agree. ACE is . . . free to act as ACE sees fit.”
“Forever?” Hey, I wanted to be a hundred percent sure.
“Yes, forever. However, you must remember that ACE is still bound by the rules we all live by. ACE cannot break those.”
“How about bending them?”
Sandy chuckled. “We all bend as we see fit, do we not?”
“True enough.” And probably all I was going to get, so that meant it had to be good enough. For right now. “Then our work here is done, and it’s time for us to get back to our fun galactic road trip.”
We said our good-byes, my airwaves now playing “So Long-Farewell-Good-bye” by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. Hugged Neela—thereby making myself an official tree-hugger—then forced myself to go over and give Hixxx’s head a hug, too. Focused on the fact that Hixxx seemed like a great leader and a cool guy, not that I was hugging a giant water snake’s head, with limited success. But I managed not to shudder or anything while giving him his hug, so one for the win column, which was, at least right now, not that empty.
“I look forward to the next time you visit,” Hixxx said when our hug was over. “Courage like yours is rare.”
“Oh, not really.”
He chuckled. “How many others embrace that which terrifies them, merely because they know it to be the proper thing to do?”
“Um, sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude. And I know it’s silly to be afraid of something that has, quite frankly, never hurt me.” Because I’d never given an Earth snake a chance to be near me, but why quibble?
“You were not rude—I knew you were afraid of us before we actually met, and your fear remains, though you hide it well. I am aware that you are not actually afraid of me in the specific, but are afraid, in a general way, of things without legs. It is not a rational fear, but that does not make it silly. It would be a silly fear if it stopped you from being a leader or your full self. But it does not. It is just an aspect of who you are.”
“You really are a cool dude. The folks that I’ll be sending over to help you guys leave the water if you want will love you and, I think, vice versa. They’re pretty philosophical, too. I think you and the Shantanu are going to get on great. They look like what we call penguins on Earth, by the way, and they’re great in the water.”
“I look forward to meeting them. Now, journey safely and remember—should you ever need it, Nazez and all those who live upon it will always be a place you can call home. And should you ever need us, we will give you whatever aid we can, and all that we can, because we owe you all that we have, and none of us will forget that debt.”
Gave him one last hug, and this time I wasn’t all that afraid. Maybe it was because he’d understood the fear and hadn’t felt it was insulting. Most likely it was because Hixxx was really a great leader.
Everyone’s good-byes said, green and black chlorophyll in hand—or whatever scientific equivalent we actually possessed—Eagle Nebula Neighborhood problems solved and the Nebula System saved, and “Come Go With Me” by The Beach Boys in my ears, we got back into the shuttle and finally returned to the Distant Voyager.
Butler showed us Tropea on the way, just so those of us who hadn’t seen it could get a shot. Was glad he did, so that I would always be able to remember what a scorched earth really looked like. It looked horrible, worse than the moon, because I knew that people had been living there. We hadn’t asked Neela or Hixxx how many of their people had been killed by Dopey and Grumpy. Just hoped that Harvey had learned from this. At least he’d have good teachers on the planet.
We returned to the ship to find that it was Easter in Space on the Distant Voyager. Apparently SuperBun hadn’t exaggerated—all the rabbits were hanging out with all the people. Literally everyone had a rabbit, some had several.
My music went off, so pulled out my headphones just as Jamie rounded the corner, Lizzie carrying Charlie trotting right behind her. “Mommy! Daddy!” Jamie came running to us, clutching Peter in her arms while her Poof, Mous-Mous, rode on her shoulder. “Can we keep all the bunnies who don’t have people to love them like we keep the Poofs who haven’t chosen their people yet?”
Heard Jeff mutter about living in a zoo, but good-naturedly. “Yes, we can,” he said in a resigned tone. “Because I know that saying no in this instance won’t work.”
“Yay!” She gave Jeff’s legs a hug, then came to me. Squatted down so I could give her a real hug, which was a relief—thankfully, the thought that we might not see our kids ever again seemed like it had been a long time ago now.
“Cool,” Lizzie said, as she brought Charlie to me so I could give him kisses, then handed him off to Jeff. “Because that’s what Peter said to do, so all the unattached rabbits are in our rooms.”