And What of Earth

Chapter 20



Jennifer woke with a start. She found herself in her bed. It was light outside. A turn of her head let her see that it was almost 8 AM. She had no idea how she got there. The last thing she remembered was being comforted by her father on the orange sofa in the basement walkout. Somehow, her father had been able to get her upstairs and into bed sometime overnight.

She looked up at the wall opposite at the poster of a European actor, newly discovered by Hollywood. Marco di Angelo. As always, his brilliant eyes seemed to twinkle at her, and his smile with those oh-so-perfect teeth radiated warmth. "I don't know why you're smiling, Marco," she told him. "This is the day we all die."

Once she got outside, she discovered that the previous day's cirrus clouds had turned into a high thin overcast sky. The show she had seen the previous morning failed to appear. The line of shadows was indistinct, and the skies made everything look uniformly grey. She didn't notice her father come out and sit down beside her.

"Morning Tiger," he said, as he eased himself down.

"Dad." She continued to stare out across the street, though it was unlikely that she was actually seeing anything. "I failed, Dad," she suddenly confessed. "I failed and everyone is going to die because of me."

He gently brushed back some stray hairs blowing near her eyes. "That's not true, honey. They came, intent on destroying whatever they found here. Odds are, if you hadn't joined or whatever with that thing you're wearing, they might have destroyed us then and there. You were our best hope. Our only hope. And since they haven't started firing yet, I'd say that we still have a chance."

She said nothing for a few moments, then said, "I hate proving Mom right. I am a failure. I lost control last night, Dad. I barged into the office where he was, and practically yelled obscenities at him. Instead of engaging in enlightened debate, I called all of them hypocrites and cowards." She looked at him. "I'm sure that that helped to persuade them to not destroy us." She looked away again.

He tried again to brush the unruly hair back. What he said next caught her by surprise. "I think you're beautiful, Tiger. Not just on the outside, but what's on the inside. Every time I look at you, I am amazed that I helped make you. So kind. So gentle. So considerate. So marvellous. Despite what your mother did to you with all of her insults and screaming, you've turned out marvellous."

A weak smile formed briefly, then quickly faded. "All the weirdoids with their 'The End is Near' signs are going to be proven right. Not that anyone will ever realize it."

He kissed her temple. "Stop talking like that, honey. Stop thinking like that. You have to believe and hope that we'll survive. Somehow or other, they'll decide to not destroy us. You can't give up now. The finish line is in sight. You've got to believe that God is going to stop them. Somehow. There is always a way. If you give up, you won't see it in time to use it."

She didn't see the point in continuing to try, but she didn't feel like arguing the point. She didn't feel much like anything. "Why did it have to be me, Dad? Why couldn't it have been someone else?"

He tickled her chin, just like he used to when she was a baby. "Like who? Jimmy? Can you imagine what Jimmy would've done, if he had been the one dealing with the aliens?" She tried to hide a smirk. "Or, how about Candy Underhill? Can you imagine what she would've done?"

She snorted a laugh. "She probably would've tried to seduce every male on the survey team. Not realizing that most were not in cycle, and that those that were would've been horrified by her advances." She looked his way again.

He smiled his best fatherly smile. "They probably would've fled immediately and started firing right away. 'Sex-crazed lunatics!' they would've shouted to the ships in orbit. 'We must cleanse the galaxy!'"

She giggled briefly, then stopped. "People who know what's been going on keep telling me that I was the perfect choice. The General, Bethy, David. You. I just don't see it. Maybe the perfect choice still isn't good enough."

"Perhaps," he told her. "But maybe this time, it is. Just maybe--." They didn't say anything more the rest of the time they sat outside. They didn't have to.