CHAPTER 182: THE "EASY-GO WHORE" WAS ACTUALLY A DEVOTED PARTNER

Mr. Zach congratulated them on their upcoming transition and told them to listen to Lex because he could explain any and all of their questions.

Seeing Eli and then Mr. Zach helped ease their nervousness. Their dad was no help at all—he told them that it happens to all of them, just get what you get and go on with it. When you hit your three-month cycle, you’ll get knocked up 90% of the time because you’ll just let it happen; it’s just part of Genmen nature.

Lex carried them to the office and sat both of the boys down. "I found something stuffed in the lining area of the pod that contained your dad. It was addressed to the O’Malley boys." Mason and Madison exchanged questioning looks.

"Let me start," Lex began, reading from the letter. "To all my sons, I hope that everything finds you well, and if you’re reading this or someone else is reading it to you, that means one of two things: I have not been revived yet, or something has gone terribly wrong. To my Heart and oldest son Mason, I was there for you all the way through your development. I was there when you were born—in fact, I was the first to ever touch you, and you were the first to touch my heart. I am your father and I will always be your father, no matter what."

The letter continued: "Madison, my Soul, I know you’re sitting with your brother because you two boys are the oldest and always together. You’re going to be a bruiser just like your Uncle Shamus. You were even larger than Mason when born—you stretched your Dad’s vent horribly, but that’s okay. A couple of ice packs later, it was almost back to normal in three days when your brother Shamus Glen was conceived. The twins Ronnie and Lucas came along next, then the last one so far, Riley Jo. You six make up my sons, the best sons any man has ever been blessed with."

Lex paused, then continued reading: "Don’t be mad at your dad. When we found out he was expecting Madison, we went to your granddad Walt and I asked for his hand. He asked me what I did for a living. I told him that I was a propulsion engineer with a lot of training, a lot of education, and I made a good living so I could support a family. He abruptly called me a piece of low-class grease monkey who was not good enough for his son and was too far beneath him in status. Your dad was very upset—he was prohibited from seeing me ever again. But with the six of you boys, even Walt’s best-laid plans, we found a way around."

The letter went on: "Your dad would never divulge who the father of his children was. Walt tried to set him up with other men to impregnate him, but even that failed. Good old Walt had your dad so terrified that he would not even speak to his father about me and our love. Your dad was made out to be the station’s easy-go whore, so as he was pregnant, he decided to capitalize on it and opened up the travel sleep quarters. He made quite a bit of money and stuck it back, but only he and I knew the truth."

"Mason, you look like yourself. Madison, you favor the family of O’Malleys. Little Shamus favors grandma O’Rourke and her flaming red hair. The twins Ronnie and Lucas favor your dad, and once again the O’Malley bloodline hit Riley Jo head-on."

Lex’s voice softened as he continued: "Boys, don’t blame your granddad Walt—he was only doing what he thought was right. He was a stubborn Goran, and your grandfather Kevin wasn’t around enough to make a difference. But when he was there, he loved you boys, and every time Walt got after you, he was standing between you and he’d call Walt down: ’They’re Earl’s kids, not yours. Quit trying to raise them like they are. He may not be perfect, but he’s their dad, and somewhere around the station they have a father, and he knows it.’"

"Every time Kevin called Walt on the carpet, Earl beamed with pride. Did he make the best decisions concerning you boys? What parent does? We do the best we can—we’re going to make mistakes along the way because nobody is perfect. I hope one day to see you again, but until then, remember that I love you all, and especially that crazy daddy of yours. I can’t wait until I can hold him again."

Lex finished: "And it was signed: ’With love from your father, Shannon Mason O’Malley.’ P.S.: Mason, as long as I’m letting the secrets out, your full legal name is Shannon Mason O’Malley II, but we call you Mason because the other is a mouthful."

There wasn’t a dry eye in the room when Lex finished reading the letter.

"Boys—excuse me, young men—I would like to take you to a research and development area. There’s something you must see since you’re the oldest two O’Malleys." Lex stood up and the boys followed him. He went through several different hallways and a couple of sets of doors until he reached one and slid his card through. The doors opened up.

The boys looked through the open doors and saw in the center of the room, connected by lines, ten stasis pods. "We have been working almost around the clock since your arrival. These pods were hit by an electrical surge sometime during the voyage, and their control panels were damaged—we’re unable to unlock them. This is one that you need to look at. All it says on the panel is ’S. O’ and the rest of the display is shorted. We don’t know if we’re going to be able to unlock it," Lex explained.

The boys looked at it and wiped the front viewer screen. Inside was their father, Shamus O’Malley. They both started to cry—he had made it, but like he said, something went wrong.

"These things are glitchy at best," Madison said, looking at Lex. "Take a stasis pod that is operational, get in line, reroute the master switch, and use the touchpad on the fully operational one and you can unlock the second one. We used to do that to the Captain’s bird—freeze that sucker hard as a rock for up to a month or so, and we’d unthaw it from the next pod. You have to understand, the bird talked—he let out everybody’s secrets, and when somebody got in trouble, the bird went to the freezer. All you need is an interface cable—we had them all over the station."

"We don’t have one here, so there’s no way we can loop them up," Lex responded.

"Take one of the other pods apart," Mason replied. "There’s at least fifteen to twenty of them in each one of these pods. Now you have to go slow, not to overload them since they’ve been in stasis as long as they have. You must take a long time—it’s low-voltage, but in two to three months you can have everyone out. You just can’t rush it."

One of the technicians was listening to the boys talk and began to question them about the process they used, taking notes as the two brothers chattered away. When he got enough information, he thanked them and started feeding the data into the computer system.

Lex noticed a pained look on Mason’s face. "It’s starting, isn’t it?" Mason nodded yes.

"Let’s get you to the room so that you can change into a robe and we can get you settled."

Madison was right behind him, complaining that the pains had started and his clothes were getting tight.

"Well, looks like both boys are going to go through it tonight. I’ll call your dad and tell him you’re here in the clinic and will be here all night until your transformation is finished. There’s nothing anyone can do, and not knowing how you will react, I don’t want to put anybody else in harm’s way by having them sit with you. Sometimes transformations go smoothly, and other ones not so smoothly—things get torn up, people have been hurt. But I can loop the two viewing panels together that way you can see each other and be there for each other," Lex explained.

Mason and Madison both thanked Lex as they went into their rooms. The boys were recorded for a matter of record as the transformation started. Lex was hoping that maybe Mason’s body would catch up so that his vent would be protected after transformation and not fully exposed like it was now.

Lex called Chris just to let him know that it was going to be a long night at the clinic as he had two just starting their transformation. Chris offered to stop by and keep him company for a while, but Lex told him to stay with the boy and he’d see him in the morning.