Haven: Journey's End

Found: Another Son ~ March 4, 2324

Zane was fighting his irritation and doing his best not to let it show as he entered the Sperm Bank. ‘Just my luck,’ he grumbled silently finding no one manning the reception desk. Trying to harness his impatience he leaned and elbow on the counter and waited.

“You have to take him back!” a woman said loudly. “He is not want we wanted… not at all. He’s dark and we are both fair. Why he looks like a pirate or one of the gypsies… You have to take him back. We will not keep him any more… he’s a freak, why he might even be one of those horrid Esper people.”

“Mrs. Van Horn that boy is your child. You gave birth to him… we can’t take him back… especially after fourteen years.” A female caseworker explained.

“We will not keep him another day! Do you hear me! Give him to the orphanage or send him to the orphan’s home in that village in the south.”

“My gawd…what kind of that bitch is that creature?” Zane mumbled unable to understand how anyone could give birth to child and then want to return him after fourteen years. At that moment he picked up the unmistakable feel of rage and he looked around the corner into the waiting room — a boy stood at the window and his body seemed to vibrate with anger and a deep hurt at his mother’s betrayal. His dark head was bowed and his hands clinched into fists.

“Well I am not taking that unnatural monster home and I do not care what you do with him!” the woman screeched.

“Mrs. Van Horn!” the doctor or nurse called.

A thin pinched face blond headed woman stormed out of the conference area and headed toward the door. Zane stepped in front of the charging woman blocking her exit. “What kind of unnatural female are you!” he demanded in a dangerous snarl.

Josephine Van Horn gasped as she stared at the wide chest of the mountain blocking her path. Her mouth worked like a fish out of water but no sound emerged.

“Well!” Zane snarled. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed the white uniform of the caseworker the Van Horn woman had been with but he ignored her presence. “Answer me!” he demanded harshly.

Josephine Van Horn took a step back and look up, right into the blazing green eyes that seemed to shoot sparks at her. She gasped… “You!” she croaked and pointed at his eyes as she back up several feet.

Zane glared at the woman coldly and did something he had done in over twenty years. He projected a heavy dose of shame and self-loathing into the Van Horn woman’s mind.

“Make him take Beaumont! You have to make him take that boy… it’s his fault… it’s all his fault.” Josephine cried as she pleaded with the caseworker.

“Mrs. Van Horn, you are Beaumont’s mother and he is your responsibility. I certainly can not make this gentlemen take responsibility for your son. ”

Zane’s attention and turned from the woman to the boy knowing instinctively that this boy was another of his children thanks to the Sperm Bank. “I’ll take him,” he said without hesitation. Ignoring the Van Horn female and the caseworker in walked over to the boy’s side. “Would you like to come home with me?”

The feeling of rejection was tearing Beau up, he realized he hadn’t been getting along with his parents for some time but he never thought they would just throw him away like the garbage. He had been doing his best to cover the hurt at his mother’s betrayal with anger and he didn’t want anyone to be nice to him right now, he might cry and he didn’t want anyone to see they could hurt him. “Why?” He rudely asked the man without turning around. “You heard her… I’m a freak.”

Zane chuckled softly. “By her standard I’m a much bigger freak.”

Taken off guard by the man’s remark, Beau turned around to face the man. Looking up into eyes identical to his own he could only stare.

“Yes,” Zane replied to the unspoken question. “I am your biological father.” He smiled encouragingly and asked, “Now… will you come home with me?”

Beau stared at the man that he knew was truly his father. He had learned at a young age that Hector Van Horn was not his true father, a point Hector had never failed to point out as Beau got older. He also knew he was a product of the Sperm Bank, a point his mother had made clear to him many times. She had also stressed that the man would never want anything to do with him. For many years Beau had dreamed that the man who had sired him would come and take him away from the Van Horns and their narrow mindedness. Now, after his dreams had died, it was really happening. Too choked up to speak he swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded.

Seeing the added sheen in his new son’s eye and sensing his emotions, Zane smiled and put an arm around the boy’s shoulders and led him toward the door.

Zane stopped at the reception desk where the Van Horn caseworker was still standing in apparent shock. “You know who I am and what I came for?”

The caseworker paled. “Commander Kelso. Y-you want the information on the history of your sperm,” she said. “We… we really can not give out that information.” She grew even paler as she imagined she felt the heat from the sparks shooting from the big man’s eyes.

“After what I just heard… you will have that information ready and available the next time I come in which will be next Monday. Do I make myself clear?” Zane demanded coldly.

“Y-yes…” the caseworker nodded. She wouldn’t put it past this man to take the clinic apart if he didn’t get what he wanted. She had never been so scared of anyone in her life and he hadn’t even raised his voice.

With a brief nod Zane left the clinic, his arm still around Beau’s shoulders. “Is there anything you want to pick up from the Van Horn residence?” he asked once they were outside.

“M-my clothes I guess…” Beau replied after swallowing again.

“Are all you clothes like what you are wearing?” Zane asked and at the boy’s nod he continued. “In that case we’ll stop in Pelle Grove on our way home and get you outfitted more appropriately. You sure there isn’t anything you want to take?”

“Nothing I care about,” Beau replied, realizing that he had not acquired a thing in his entire life that he cared about keeping.

“W-where do you live? I’ve never seen you around here before.” Beau asked.

“We live on a farm over a thousand miles south of here.” Zane smiled.
“I’m not popular with the Tribunal so when I come to Terrace I don’t usually linger.”

“Why don’t they like you?” Beau asked.

“I told them they were damned fools when they discontinued planetary defense. Only a fool would leave a planet without even an early warning system against alien attack.” Zane replied, his temper rising at the Tribunals stupidity.

“There really are aliens out here? That’s not what the teachers say.” Beau asked.

“Oh yes… hundreds of different races. Most of them friendly but there are enough that aren’t that it is the height of stupidity to bury your head in the sand and leave you ass sticking up to be bitten.”

A boyish giggle escaped before Beau could stop it. His father was actually speaking to him like an adult, not like a kid that didn’t understand anything. “Have you ever seen an alien?”

“Of course… twenty six years ago we were fighting the Triclons. Anyone that was on the Lustre or had been captured by the Triclons knows this, how in the bloody hell can they deny the existence of other races?” Zane asked in irritated disbelief. “You will be meeting one of the friendly alien when we get to the farm. His name is Olli and he’s one of my best friends.”

“Wow… that’s neat. I never thought what they were teaching made sense. If you question what they are teaching they act you’re some kind of stupid freak just like if you were an Esper — they don’t like them either, they say they are dangerous.”

Zane laughed. “Well son… your father is a freak anyway they look at. I know there are aliens, I’ve told them their teaching is a bunch of crap and I am an Esper and a strong one at that.”

“You are?” Beau asked wide-eyed. “Am I?”

“It’s very possible.” Zane replied. “The Van Horn woman,” he refused to refer to her as Beau’s mother, “said something about you knew what they were thinking… why did she think that?”

Beau shrugged. “I just looked at them and just seemed to know… I don’t know how.”

“My guess is you were hearing their thoughts without realizing it. Did that happen with other people?” They had reached Landing and Zane motioned to Beau that they need to walk around to the far side of the field.

Beau looked around the landing field with interest. He had been forbidden to ever come this far. “Sometimes… I was sort of unpopular because of it.”

“We’ll do some testing when we get home and see if we can determine what talents you do have. You have a half sister that will be a big help.”

“You have more children?” Beau asked.

“You have a pretty good size extended family… seven sisters and three brothers… that I know about,” Zane chuckles, “plus some of their half brothers and sister that we claim as extended family.”

Beau smiled as he thought how great it would be to have a family that didn’t think he was weird. “Wow… what’s that?” he asked wide-eyed as he eyed the small air-ship that seemed to reflect the sky on the top and the ground on the underside.

“That’s our transportation,” Zane replied with a smile. “Did you get a good look fellows?” he asked the two security personnel that were walking around the Mini-Ray.

“We need to see inside,” one of the guards demanded, puffing out his chest.

“Nope… that’s my private property and there is nothing inside that is any of your business.” He casually touched the implant in his arm that controlled the invisible force field protecting the Mini-Ray.

“I could force you.” The overweight guard smirked.

“When pig fly.” Zane chuckled. With his arm back around Beau’s shoulders he stepped between the guard and the hatch — if necessary he’d port them inside although that was not what he preferred.

“Don’t try it. I’m twice your size and a hell of a lot tougher.” Zane warned the second guard who was attempting to slip up on his side without looking at the slight guard. “You really should join your fat friend.”

The second guard let out the breath he had apparently been hold and did as Zane suggested.

“Hatch open.” Zane ordered. Silently a opening appeared just behind the Mini-Ray’s wing. At Zane nod Beau climbed into the air-ship. Both guards glared at Zane as he also backed inside. “Shut hatch.” The opening slid closed just as the guards started toward the ship.

Following procedure, Zane requested clearance from Landing’s tower. Warned the guards not to stand too close before activating the anti-gravity controls that allowed the ship to lift straight up before heading south.

“I’ve never been in anything that flies,” Beau remarked looking around in awe once they were away from Terrace.

“This ship is called a Mini-Stingray… Mini-Ray for short. Although they are concealed, this mini has a lot of firepower. It and its big brother the Stingray are our only line of defense against enemy invasion. We have eighteen Stingrays and twelve Mini-Stingrays in our fleet. We don’t have enough men for full crews for all of the Stingrays, thanks to the Tribunal.”

“Will I ever be able to fly one?” Beau asked, trying to contain his excitement.

“You bet… I would be very pleased if all my children were interest in being prepared for an enemy attack… god willing it never happens.” Zane added.

“Beau, I’m going to let a couple of your siblings know we’ll be home in two to three hours.” That said Zane concentrated on contact Fame and JR.

{{I’m bringing home a new half-brother. His name is Beau and he’s fourteen. He’s not had a happy home life so I’ll need your help getting him settled in and also with his Esper training. I don’t know how much talent he has yet.}}

{{Is one all you found?}} JR asked.

{{So far… but there are more and I don’t know how many yet.}} Zane sent back.

{{No problem Dad. We’ll take care of him. I did actually listen to some of the psychobabble Mom and Fallon tried to teach me.}} Fame sent to her father and brother with a mental laugh. {{Who knew it might come in useful someday?}}

{{I’ll let you both know when we leave Pelle Grove.}} Zane sent.

Beau had been waiting to find out how you contacted someone from the air-ship but nothing had happened. “When are you going to talk with them?” he finally asked.

Zane looked at his newly discovered son and smiled. “I already did. I spoke to them telepathically. I expect you’ll be able to do that in the not too distant future.”

“It’s that simple?” Beau asked. “You don’t feel like you’re strange when you talk that way?”

“Not at all… I don’t feel one bit strange using any of my Esper talents. You won’t either after your training. You wouldn’t now if it wasn’t for the narrow mindedness of the so-called Normals, which I suspect is really jealousy because they don’t have any talents. You will notice that I call all of our abilities ‘talents’ because that is what they are.”

“Espers can do more than just read minds and talk telepathically?” Beau asked.

“Espers have different abilities and we’ll go over the various ones later. We don’t deliberately read people’s mind. Invading someone’s privacy is not ethical.” Zane said. “Look up ahead… that’s Pelle Grove.”

Beau looked at everything during the approach and landing and asked questions non-stop until they entered the store. It took them close to an hour to make the necessary purchases to outfit Beau for his move to the farm.

As soon as they were once again airborne Zane contacted Fame and JR to let them know they would be arriving at the farm soon but he was talking Beau for a fly-over of the valley before landing.

Keeping the Mini-Ray in stealth mode so none of the animals would be frightened into stampeding by their low altitude. Zane answered all of Beau’s questions as they flew from one end of the valley to the other.
Zane hovered over a small herd of Bovaks and was surprised Beau had never seen a live Bovak.

“We only have cows from Earth. The teachers tells us that the Bovak milk isn’t good for us because it alien,” Beau explained.

Zane shook his head at the stupidity before asking, “What about the Arastangs… are they allowed Terrace?”

“No… the Tribunal has ruled they are too dangerous to be allowed in the Capital. I’ve heard the farmers use them but they can’t bring them into Terrace. There are a few horses from the Earth stock around but they can’t be inside Terrace because they’ll poop on the streets.”

Zane laughed. “Gawd forbid that there should be horse shit on the streets of Terrace.”

Beau grinned and decided that he really liked his sire. He fervently hoped the rest of the family was similar to his new father. It was really great not to be talked down to like you were brain damaged, plus it was ever better not to be treated like you were some sort of freak.

“From what you’ve said I gather you have never ridden even a horse.” Zane remarked and looked at Beau who shook his head. “I hope you’ll be willing to learn — we all ride and do most of the work with the livestock that way. Arastangs are smarter than horses, they are easier to train and if they like you they will do anything you ask of them.”

“I want to learn everything,” Beau said his eyes reflecting his excitement.

“What do you want me to call you?”

“You can call me whatever you’re comfortable using,” Zane replied with a smile.

“It’s okay if I call you Dad?” Beau asked to be sure.

“I’d like that very much,” Zane answered solemnly.

{{We’ll be landing in less than ten minutes.}} Zane sent to Fame and JR.
He pointed out the route they would take for Beau to meet Olli, the alien he had told him about. He then pointed out where Jocko, his best friend lived and identified the others house the boy could see as they hovered and then landed. At his ‘open’ command the doors slid back into the side of the ship.

Zane alighted first with Beau right behind. “I want you to meet Beau, his last name is Van Horn at the moment. Beau… from your left to right is Fame. Kelsey and JR.”

Beau smiled hesitantly, unsure of his acceptance.

Fame smiled at her new brother and sent a little reassurance his way. “Nice to meet you brother Beau,” She said as she walked over. She hugged him quickly just because she thought he could probably use it. “I’m the resident freak of the farm, so if you need anything, just let me know.” She said with a wink. “Kelsey is the quiet one so far, but she’s still new to the family too so I full expect her to become obnoxious any day now. And JR… well JR’s been obnoxious since he was born.” She winked at JR then. “Probably why he’s one of my favorite brothers.”

Beau’s smile broadened, he’d been here not more than a minute and already he felt more at home and more at ease with these people he had just met than he had felt before in his life. The amazing part was he was truly related to all of them and he felt a bond… a bond that he had never felt with the people that had raised him for all of his fourteen years and certainly not with the mother whose blood he did share.

“We are glad to have you Beau,” Kelsey in her soft musical voice. Knowing that Beau had just discovered his biological father and wanting to assure him that it was a good thing she added, “We’ve got the best Daddy in all of Haven.”

JR laughed. “Kel is rights but Dad’s not a pushover but he is always fair.”
Beau nodded. He didn’t know how he knew but he had no doubt that JR was right.

While Kelsey’s remark gave Zane a warm feeling it was also embarrassing. He knew he was a long way from being the best father even in the valley and certainly not on Haven. To cover his discomfort he started unloading the purchases they had made in Pelle Grove.

“Any suggestions as to which room should be Beau’s?” Zane asked. It was certainly fortunate that when Zo was expecting Zuleika they had added the third story to the house, thanks to Olli, and they now had ten bedrooms plus the master bedroom and the downstairs guest room.

Fame smiled. “There’s the room next to mine that’s open,” she said. To Zane alone she sent {{I’ll keep an eye on him Dad. I know Terrace at least so I can help him get passed all that anti-esper crap they’ve probably been feeding him.}}

{{He’s been made to feel like a freak because it seemed he could sense what was going to be said before it was said. I told him some of my abilities and said I didn’t feel like I was a freak.}} Zane sent along with a mental chuckle before nodding his agreement. “I’ll take Beau’s stuff up to the house and then I probably better tell Zo all about Beau. Why don’t you show Beau the Arastangs… he’s never seen one.”

“Never seen an Arastang?” She smiled at Beau. “You’re in for a surprise then — And a lot of fun. Have you ever ridden a horse before?” she asked.

“Nah… they stopped letting horse come inside Terrace because the crapped on the streets. I’ve only seen some at a distance,” Beau said with a shake of his head.

“They are really big but they are so sweet and gentle that you won’t be afraid.” Kelsey smiled as she picked up some uneasiness from Beau.

“We’ll all teach you how to ride.” JR volunteered for everyone.

“I won’t be long.” Zane finished loading himself down with all their purchases, looked toward the house and vanished.

Beau stared opened mouthed at where his father had been.

Fame smiled. “Porting. It’s one of those freakish things we do here at the farm. Well, Dad does. And I do. I don’t know if anyone else can.” She looked at JR then. “You know if any of the other sibs port?” she asked.

JR shrugged. No way was he going to admit to more abilities than he had already let slip since Kelsey’s first trip to Terrace a few days before.

“D-dad…” Beau stammered with the name that he wanted so much to call his newly discovered father and took a deep breath before continuing. “Dad just thinks where he wants to go and goes?”

“Well, it's something like that. He taught me to do it a few months back when I moved out here. But he’s a really strong Esper and he can do a lot of stuff. Espers come in all degrees,” she explained, knowing how little was really taught about Espers in Terrace outside the whole ‘Espers are bad’ thing. “Most Espers can hear thoughts, but not much else. Others, well… everyone can do different things. Dad ports and I turn colors and my Mom can slip into people’s dreams and my Grandpa could hypnotize people with his voice.” She didn’t mention that she could do all those things. “But it’s not scary, not like they taught us. I went to school in Terrace too. It’s not like they say.”

“I guess I hear some people’s thought—” Beau said with a frown. “It just seemed like I knew what someone was going to say before they did it… but not everyone. It was mainly the people I lived with and my teachers… they thought I was really weird and why Mrs. Van Horn wanted to get rid of me.”

“For a long time I head sounds like mumbling I couldn’t understand but I got used to it and then I started getting really bad headaches. Daddy and Fame discovered it was when they talked to each other with thoughts. Fame’s mother build me a mind shield and it keeps out all the noise but I can still hear anyone that thinks directly to me,” Kelsey explained.
“Can you talk back?” Beau asked Kelsey.

“I’m just learning… but I’ve still got a lot to learn.”

“You’re doing very good too!” Fame said proudly to her little sister. “We can teach you too Beau,” she said. “We’ll teach you how to control it and we’ll help you find out what else you can do. Maybe you’re like us and you can be a really big freak!” she said with a wicked smile. “And just forget what you’ve always been told about the freaky people and the people who live outside of Terrace. You can tell for yourself, I’m sure, that the people here aren’t what Terrace teachers tell you. It’ll take a while for you to meet everyone, but in time you will and you’ll see how wonderful everyone out here is.” She winked at JR then. “Hell, it’ll take a while just to meet all your new siblings.”

{{Dad… what all am I allowed to tell the new boy? Are we keeping him on a Kelsey-like information or does he get the full thing?}} She asked her father, including JR on the send. She wasn’t comfortable with the secrets being kept from Kelsey still, but until her father was willing to come clean, she’d keep her peace. At least for a while.

{{Ease into everything and include Kelsey. It’s time she started learning everything. I’ve probably already told Beau more than Kelsey knows but he wasn’t as protected from the world like Kelsey}} Zane sent back.

“Is everyone that here Espers?” Beau asked and wondered if there was any guys around his own age he would be able to pal around with… it sure would be great to have some real finds to do ordinary thing with.

JR laughed. “We’re the only Esper family except for Olli but everyone else knows we’re Espers and it doesn’t make any difference. Between the Chambers’, Jones’ and MacBrays’ you’ll find plenty of guys… and gals close to your age.”

Fame nodded. "Yep — Plenty of people to get to know. And we have a rec center that's much better than Terrace has. We meet up pretty regularly there. Maybe we can take you up there soon and you can have a look around? Get all the guys to come out and play." She said with a wink at JR.

“And one hell of a holographic suite.” JR added with a wink at Kelsey.
Beau had disliked most of his teachers because their narrow mindedness but he still wanted to learn. “What do you do for school?”

“We have a way better school here than Terrace or anywhere else on Haven,” JR said. “We’ve got extensive computer programs and teachers that will answer any questions. We can learn about Earth, where we came from and about the trip to reach Haven on the Lustre. We can also learn about several hundred other races, their cultures and home planets. If you want to learn something really fast there is always “The Teacher” machines at Olli’s compound.”

“Wow! That sounds really neat.” Beau smiled broadly.

“Ya it’s pretty cool out here. Which of course is why I moved,” she said with a wink at Beau. “And here are the Stables. They’re really smart. You can take a look at any of them. They’re big, but as long as you treat them good, they'll treat you good.”

For several minutes Beau looked around in amazement. “They’re beautiful,” he finally whispered.

Fame smiled at him. “I think that every time I see one. Which is quite often living out here on the farm." She looked back at JR and Kelsey and smiled broadly at them. “I’ll show you mine. They’re at the other end,” she said to Beau. “Not all of them in here are claimed yet. At least I don’t think they are,” she said, pointing out different histories as they walked through the stalls.

Fame was walking him through when a silver-gray mare reached her neck out toward Beau and whinnied softly. He stopped and reached out to stroke her soft muzzle as he looked into her big liquid eyes and without another thought he move closer but his arms around the mare’s neck and buried his face in her silky black mane.

“Looks like Beau’s been claimed,” JR chuckled.

Fame laughed. “Didn’t think it would take long,” she said in obvious approval.

“This one can really be mine?” Beau asked in pleased surprise.

Fame smiled warmly at him. “Yep. They claim their own. She seems to like you.” Then she sent to Zane, Kelsey, JR and Beau. {{Hey Dad… Apparently the Arastangs find your breeding practices acceptable. Our newest brother just got himself an Arastang}} She winked at the others and waited to see what Beau’s reaction would be.

{{Too bad everyone doesn’t think like the Arastangs.}} Zane sent back to the group along with a mental laugh.

Beau’s mouth dropped open and he looked around for Zane just to be sure. “I heard you and Dad in my head… is that how Espers communicate?”

Fame nodded. “Yep. Simple as that,” she said with a grin. To everyone she sent to her father {{That’s okay Dad. I don’t mind so much. At least I never get bored with all these siblings around.}} “Not at all scary like they say in Terrace Town, huh?” Before he could answer though she patted the neck of the Arastang he was with. “She’s really pretty. You’re lucky. I don’t have a mare. I have a stallion and a colt, but no mares.”

“Your stallion looks even taller than my mare.” Beau’s smile broadened as he said the word ‘my.’ He’d never been allowed a pet before in fact there had been very little in his life that he had really felt was truly his.

Fame laughed. “Yep, he’s a big boy. I think my colt’s gonna grow even bigger, but that’s just a mother’s pride,” she said with a grin. “My colt’s name is Wild. The stallion is Rampant.”

“Your mare’s name is Silver Star. Her sire is Dad’s old stallion, Gray Ghost. That’s him over there…” JR pointed down three stalls and across the aisle. “He’s about thirty years old but he’s still got spirit and energy to spare…” he grinned, “Just like dad.”

“Hello Silver Star,” Beau whispered into the mare’s ear as she nuzzled into his chest.

Fame smiled. “She really seems to like you. Think you’d want a lesson on riding today? Or would you rather get settled in before we make you sore?” She teased. “Cause make no mistake about it, the first couple times you ride, you will be sore, not matter how good a shape you’re in.”

“Will it be okay with Dad if I have my first lesson today even though it is getting late?” Beau asked.

Fame thought about it. “I don’t think he’' mind, but maybe you wanna wait until we can give you a full lesson?” She suggested. “Besides, you haven’t gotten to meet Zo yet. She’s our step-mom— Well, yours, mine, and Kelsey’s. She’s JR's real Mom. My Mom is a psychologist in Terrace and my step-dad has a shipping company based out of Seaside. And I’ve got a twin brother back there and two half-brothers. Oh, and my stepsister Saki who you’ll meet too. She came out to cause trouble with JR.” She said with a wink JR. “She’s laying low until we get into the house. But what about you— Got any siblings back in Terrace?” She knew the boy had a rough life, but she felt it was better to get it out in the open now. Let him say what needed to be said about it and then she’d know how bad off he really was.

“It probably would be best to wait until tomorrow,” Beau said with a sigh. His expression lost all animation. “I don’t have anyone back in Terrace. Mr. Van Horn couldn’t father any children and that’s how come Dad is my real father. Mother said it’s my fault I don’t have any siblings. I was so big when I was born that she couldn’t have anymore babies.” Beau explained is a flat tone.

Fame snorted at that. “Just as well. You have more siblings now that you’ll know what to do with,” she said, smiling at him and wrapping an arm around his shoulder. “I always swore I should have been an only child. I just had too much personality for one person, so Fallon got the other half.”

“Too much ego I think,” Saki said, coming out to the stables. She smiled at the new boy. “I’m Tenno Sakima. They call me Saki.”

“I call her brat.” Fame piped in.

“I’m real glad to meet you,” Beau said and could keep from laughing at Fame’s outrageous remarks. “I sure hope this is all real— This is just like I used to dream about,” he said softly.

Fame beamed at him. “Hear that. He dreams about a sister just like me. You heathens should take a note from him.”

Saki groaned. “You’ll learn to ignore her soon enough,” she said winking at JR. “I don’t happen to be related to you, but you can consider me… well… whatever. If people thought of me as a sister around here you,’ she pointed at JR "would be considerably more trouble when you get caught.” she teased. “Fame and I share my Dad.”

“So you figure the least I could do is share a brother?”

“Trade is more like it. You want Dai?”

“No thank you! Your brother is way too Tenno for my tastes!”

“See, I tried for a fair trade JR. Fame just wasn’t buying,” Saki teased.
Fame shook her head. “Ignore my sister. She’s a Tenno,” she said, as if that explained everything. “Now there are definite advantages to being an only child. I’ve often contemplated killing my twin and asking Uncle Zee to help me hide the bodies, but I figured I’d have to go on a killing streak that would make me a mass murder to get to only child status, and then Dad just keeps showing up with more so I’d probably end up having to commit murder to keep up with him. In the end I decided being one of the Kelso gang wasn’t so bad.” She winked at Beau then. “Aren’t you glad I didn’t become homicidal?”

Beau was getting confused. “Who’s Uncle Zee and why would he help you hide a body?”

“We come from a warrior clan,” JR laughed. “With the exception of my mom and Kelsey’s mom the rest of our folks were either soldiers and or secret agents,” he rolled his eyes and laughed. “That includes Uncle Drago, Uncle Zee, Uncle Mike and Uncle Jocko. Uncle Leja and Uncle Brock were the gypsy rebels.”

Although Beau hadn’t been allowed to play the games at the community center very often he had a few times and his favorite was called Secret Agent Man. “I played a secret agent game a few times— do they really do any of that stuff like they show in the games?”

Fame looked at JR then smiled back at Beau. “You must have the Kelso genes to pick up that one,” she said with a wink. “It’s… something like that. Let’s just say that the bad guys in those games wouldn’t stand much of a chance against our family.”

******

After depositing everything they had purchased to outfit Beau in the room next to Fame’s, Zane walked down the stairs and called for Zo. He found her in the kitchen.

“I found another son today while I was in Terrace trying to find out who, if anyone received my sperm.”

Rolling out the crusts for the last of the stored berries, Zo sighed deeply. Years living with Zane had taught her, she couldn’t keep him to herself. So this was just one more person to share him with. ”Well, tell me about our latest addition.”

“His name is Beau and he is fourteen. His mother was at the Sperm Bank demanding they take him back so I brought him home. He has at least some Esper ability and in Terrace and to his mother that makes him a freak.” Zane had intended to keep his tone neutral but was unable to block the fury he felt hearing Beau’s mother trying to dump her own son.

Zo ground her teeth, picking up on Zane’s anger and her own, she began beating the pie crust mound with the roller, “We are not freaks!!! Poor boy, he must feel like someone lifted a rock up, found a slug and dropped the rock back down on him. Did he accept you for his father?” Zo paused, her back stiff and tense waiting for a painful hurt to Zane, if the boy hadn’t accepted him.

“The Van Horns let Beau know early on that he wasn’t Mr. Van Horns natural son. They are real snobs so Beau never had the normal friends. About the time he started school it also seemed like he knew what someone was going to say before it was said and that’s when they started telling him he was odd.” Zane said angrily and then his expression changed and he chuckled. “Beau tells me that he always dreamed his real father would find him and take him away from the narrow minded Van Horns.”

Zo visibly relaxed, turned around and smiled at Zane. “Poor Beau. He won’t know what to do around us after living with such people. But mark my words, he will end up being the worse of the bunch once he realizes his new found freedom.”

Zane chuckled. “You may be right about the worst of the bunch with Beau being indoctrinated into the valley by the likes of Fame and JR. Of course JR still won’t admit he has anything but minimal Esper abilities…” his grin broadened, “but he screws up ever so often. I ported out right in front of the kids and left Fame to make the explanations — that should convince Beau that around here he’s perfectly normal.”

Zo raised an eyebrow, then laughed. “Is that what you call what we have around here, normalcy? Huh, and here I thought it was one step away from an insane asylum.”

“Now normal is a matter of relativity,” Zane said as he worked to keep from laughing. “Here, he’ll be perfectly normal.”

Zo stepped closer to Zane, with a smile on her face she placed her floured hands on his cheeks and pulled him down to give him a quick kiss. “Then I say, the more the merrier our house will be. I am anxious to meet Beau.”
“I’ll go get him along with the rest of the gang now. They are at the stable showing Beau the Arastangs. The Arastangs aren’t allowed in Terrace any longer so Beau’s never seen one,” Zane explained.

******

“And you’ll be learning those high flying kick too,” Zane said as he walked into the stable.

“Really!” Beau exclaimed wide-eyed.

Fame smiled at Zane as he entered and then put on a pout. “Awe… if he gets to learn high flying kicks, what do I get to learn?” She winked at Beau though. He was still new enough to not know her teasing side well enough and the last thing she wanted was for him to think she was competing with him.

“And just what is it that you don’t already know?” Zane asked with a chuckle. “Between your mom, Damian and me I don’t know what else you could possibly need.”

“Well I need to learn how to handle the broadsword… and a few of those killer blows that you keep skipping.” JR grinned slyly and winked at Beau.
“After Beau has his riding lesson tomorrow morning we’ll all go down to the Community Center and you all can show Beau just what you do.”

“Will all be what Espers can do?” Beau asked.

“Fame and I may do a couple Esper related abilities but everything else will be learned abilities. I’m a firm believer in being prepared for what ever comes up.” Zane stated firm. He looked toward Kelsey and smiled. “You’ll learn some more too.”

Kelsey’s eyes sparkled in anticipation.

Fame laughed at the enthusiasm in both Beau and Kelsey. She had her own fair share as well. “I want to play your spy games. With you…” she said a hint of steel in her voice. “I want a real test. The HP players are one thing, but someone who can sense the same things I can? I want to see how long I last before you’d kill me…” she said with a wink.

Zane’s mind raced over his programs and locked on female victims. “Which one? I only executed one female, that I know of, in all my missions?”

“But you didn’t know you’d killed a women until her head rolled out of the lift. So that shouldn’t count.” JR remarked.

“Damn it JR… you were told never to run any of that set of programs. They are too damned violent for anyone without special training.” Zane glared a warning at JR.

“But Dad, if you hadn’t lopped her head off either you or the hostage would have been hurt or killed.”

Zane rolled his eyes. “Damn it I know that… I tried every option to see if there was anything else I could have done.”

“Who were the bad guy?” Beau asked.

Zane sighed. “Political enemies of Earth who had kidnapped one of Earth’s high up official’s daughters and was holding her as hostage in a peace negotiation.”

“Political difference can be violent?” Kelsey asked. “I thought they had meetings so they could discuss their differences and work out a compromise.”

“That’s how it should be but never was. Most of the Politicians were too greedy for power or money to even consider the other side. Government agencies spied on each other. When you worked for one of the Government agencies you could never be sure if you would be sacrificed, brain washed or used as a genie pig in some manner.” Zane cast a knowing look at Fame.

“Is the government here on Haven that bad?” Beau asked.

“Not yet… but think how they are treating Espers. The attitude toward Espers had progressively gotten worse especially in the last ten year — What will happen in the next ten?” Zane replied giving food for thought.

Fame sighed. “Much worse. But you won’t get out of a fight with talk of politics,” she said with a wink. “Notice I didn’t say fair fight. As Mom taught me, the only people who talk about a fair fight have never had to fight for their lives.”

“That’s true… the object in addition to completing the mission is to get yourself and your team out alive.” Zane agreed. “I had a partner on most of my Sanction missions so which one do you have in mind?”

Fame laughed. “I didn’t yet. I didn’t think you’d agree to fight against me,” she said with a smile. “What do you think would be best?”

“There is one I would very much like for you to do with me but it’s not at all what you have in mind.” Zane replied. “I’d like you to take the part of my partner, Simon LaCroix, on the mission where I was capture by Wu Tang.” He looked from one of his children to the other. “It was thanks to Tang’s experiments that our eyes are like they are.”

Fame nodded. “I can do that. I’ll make you fight with me some other time.” She said with a grin. “I’d like to see what happened there. Grandpa thought Tang had something to do with the experiments they did on he and Mom too.”

“It’s very possible,” Zane agreed. “Even if he wasn’t present the compounds used could have been from his lab and even at his instructions. I still expect to hear he’s causing trouble.”

“What did this Wu Tang do to you?” Kelsey asked, he face showing a deep concern.

“Other than have microscopic nano-bots none of the doctors or scientist have been able to determine what else was done.”

“Though it does seem to be a little hereditary. How many of us have your um… altered… genes? Fallon and I do, or at least I assume we do. Don’t know how much of ours is from you or from Mom.” She said with a smile. “Do the others show any signs of it too?”

“The four of you have the eyes and that’s a sure sign but no one has ever been able to isolate the gene. Neither Shawn, Zuleika or the other two girls have the eyes.” Zane turned his attention to Beau. “How fast do you heal when you get hurt?”

“Pretty fast I guess. If I cut myself it usually heals by the next days but a bad bruise doesn’t go away that fast.” Beau answered.

“Know what you mean.” JR laughed. “My broken arm just about healed faster than the bruises.”

“Fast healing is also one of the good side effects.” Zane stated.

Fame smiled. “To bad I couldn’t pass Mom’s genes on to them,” she said. “Think of all the wicked fun we’d have playing invisible tag.” She winked at Kelsey and Beau. ”Guess I have to leave that game to Fallon though. Any other perks of the blood I don’t know about?”

“Not that I’ve been told and I’ve lived with it so long I’m not sure what’s natural and what’s generic alterations.”

“You are going to show us how you become invisible aren’t you?” Beau asked.

Fame smiled at Beau. “Sorry Beau, that’s a Dawn trait. My Mom was part of a genetic experiment that increased reflexes and gave her the ability to camouflage herself so she can hide from enemies. Or targets as the case may be. Though Dad’s pretty wicked with sneaking up on things even if he can't turn colors.”

“I only want to see you change… I know something like that is different from Esper abilities… I have read all the science fictions stuff I could find.” Beau grinned.

Fame looked at Zane for a second, then smiled. There was only one way to disappear completely and that was for her to strip out of her clothes. She opted for a slightly less dramatic presentation though. She let her pale coloring go and turned her skin a deep shade of blue. She let the color go from her eyes too and instead of the plain green she normally showed the world, they glowed — Especially against the blue of her skin. She thought about turning her hair blue too but decided against it. She was pretty sure Beau would be OK with it, but she'd never shown this part of herself to Kelsey before. She hadn't shown anyone at the farm, except when she'd been training with the Uncles so she wasn't even sure how JR would take it. "Well, what do you think? Do I look good in blue?" She asked, flashing a dazzling set of white teeth their way.

“Oh WOW!” Beau exclaimed. “I don’t know which is the most fantastic… Dad porting or you changing color.”

“Oh my…” Kelsey said in awe. “That’s really amazing.”

“I’ve seen you change colors before but I never saw your eyes glow before. That really looks neat.” JR laughed.

Fame beamed at JR. Saki laughed. “And you say Fallon got all Grandpa Alan’s dramatics.”

Fame laughed then and went back to her normal skin color. “It only really comes in handy if you’re naked or have an alligator suit, which I don’t have.” She said pointedly at her Dad. “Being able to port is much more helpful. Once I get it figured out. It does come in handy to change my eyes though. They sorta stand out a bit in a crowd. And as proud as I am of my freakish background, I really don’t need a big sign on my forehead that reads ‘Stone Me’.”

“It’s about time for us to go up to the house so Beau can meet Zo,” Zane said before turning his attention to Beau only. “Zo is looking forward to meeting you. You’ll also have time to check out your room and clean up before supper.”

Fame smiled. {{At least you get to room by me.}} She sent strictly to Beau. {{You don’t have to worry about doors and people sneaking around right outside your door. The entire farm knows what sort of trouble they get up to. Only a couple people try to stop it. They’re pretty open-minded out here, you’ll see. And if you need anything at all, you just let me know. Even if you just feel like you need to get away for a bit. I know the Kelso family can get a bit… well… invasive at times. Not in a bad way, but they love us and want to make sure we're all good. Sometimes it can be a bit smothering, especially when you’re new here. And when people like me keep talking to you and not letting you think.}} She sent a mental laugh and then winked at him.

“I’m ready for food,” Saki said with a grin. “Anyone else?”

“You know me… I can always eat!” JR grinned.

“I doubt if supper will come too soon for any of us,” Zane said as they started toward the house.

Fame wrapped an arm around Beau’s shoulder as they walked. “Be prepared for anything,” she said with a grin. “You never know when Zo is gonna just wrap you up in a hug or just stare at you until you confess all your wrong doing. I swear she knows just what to do to make me confess my sins,” she winked. “Though considering the amount of trouble we…” she indicated all of them, including her father, “get into, it shouldn’t surprise me. She’s had a lot of practice.”

“Just wait until you meet our cousins,” JR said with laugh before he nudged Kelsey. “Even you don’t know everything yet.”

“JR!” Zane admonished ignoring Kelsey’s puzzled look. “All in good time.”
Once everyone was in the kitchen Zane put his hand on Beau’s shoulder. “Zo, this is Beau Van Horn but we’ll be changing his name to Kelso. Beau, this is my wife, Zo and you new mother.”

“H-hello…” Beau mumbled nervously and looked intently at Zoagee.

Zo was just sliding in the last of her four pies into the oven with a fleeting wonder if she would have enough for everyone, when she heard the sound of multiple voices. She smiled to herself, as she stood up wiping her hands on her apron and turned towards her new son. One look at Beau and she quickly glanced at JR and shook her head slightly. On a very tight closed path she humpfed to Zane, {{If I hadn’t suffered through JR’s birth, I would have sworn they came from the same womb!}} At the same time she stepped forward extending a hand to Beau, “Hi Beau. If you were younger I would have picked you up and hugged ya, but I think that would embarrass the young man that you are. You can call me Zo or Zoagee, welcome to our home.”

{{Surprised the hell out of me when I got my first good look at Beau.}} Zane sent back.

Beau exhaled the breath he had been holding and with a smile he grasped Zoagee’s hand. “Thank you… I’m really happy to be here…” with a slight hesitation he softly added… “Zo.”

Zo laughed softly, as she pulled him in a hug anyway. “Oh Beau! You just are going to have to speak up around here or the others will run right over you. Now, I hope you aren’t a vegetarian? I mean if you are, there is certainly enough to eat but I will have to look up some new recipes for you.” She released Beau and looked sternly over at Zane, “And Zane doesn’t like it when I experiment with cooking.”

Zane snickered.

“I don’t want to be a vegetarian… I like meat!” Beau declared as he took a deep breath of the wonderful cooking aroma. A secret smile flashed across his face as he thought about never again being forced to eat the horrible vegetables his birth mother cooked and forced him to eat.

Zo cleared her throat, “Well that is good! I serve a well-rounded meal, that means everyone has to eat their vegetables, even Zane. They contain vitamins we need to stay healthy, you know.” She laughed at seeing Beau's fallen expression, “Don’t worry, as a reward for eating veggies you get to have dessert, and there is always something sweet around here.”
Zo looked at her growing brood, especially JR, “JR, can you get another chair from the cellar, and Fame can you show Beau where the dishes are and set the table?”

“Sure mom,” JR agreed and trotted out of the room.

“Come on Beau. You get your first stint at chores today,” Fame said with a grin. “Everything’s this way.” She said, taking him in hand and showing him where everything is.

{{He has had no training has he? I can pick up his emotions very easily. We have to work with him tonight Zane.}}

{{None at all… no one ever told him he had any Esper ability, they just said he was weird and as well as calling other derogatory names.}} Zane sent back.

Beau grinned and followed after Fame. It was the first time he had actually followed her he couldn’t stop from watching the way she filled out her jeans and the way her hips swayed as she moved. He ducked his head to see if he could get a further view of her skin between her crop top and jeans.

{{Ahhem, See something you like? Yes, I am speaking to you mentally. I think I should remind you that those highly sexually motivated thoughts are about your “blood” sister!}}

Beau gasped and stumbled to a halt, his face turned blood red. “I didn’t mean t-too,” he mumbled wishing the floor would open up and swallow him whole.

Fame looked at him and cocked her head to the side. “Didn’t mean too… oh. Talking to Zo?” she asked. She didn’t wait for him to answer. “Come on, the sooner we get the table set the sooner we eat and I’m starving — Just a growing girl and all that. Gotta keep up my energy,” she said with a wink.

Beau hurried along with Fame so relieved that she wasn’t mad at him that he had a hard time breathing. One thing for sure he decided, he was never going to look at Fame or even Kelsey from the neck down ever again.

“Come on Beau. I’ll show you where you can wash up for dinner.” She said as JR came in with the extra chair. “Up this way,” she said, taking his hand and heading for the bathroom to clean up.

Zo had turned her back towards Beau as she heard his mental comment, her shoulders gave her away though as she muffled her laughter with a dish towel. Ahhh to be so much like Zane… hopefully JR hadn’t ruined Beau’s chance’s with some of the good eligible girls around here.

Zane ducked his head and turned so Beau wouldn’t notice his amusement before sending to Zo. {{It appears Beau is more like JR than just in looks but at fourteen I was more interested in sports than in girls.}} He ended with a mental chuckle.

“Soups on!” Zane called after he finished helping Zo transfer all the dishes and platters to the table.

Fame smiled at Beau as they walked into the room. “Just in time,” she said as she led him to the table. She pulled out a chair and sat down, motioning for him to sit beside her.

******

Beau stared at the table, he had never seen so much food on a table at one time before. He took a deep breath and smiled. “There’s so much! It all smells so good but nothing looks like what we had back at the house,” he whispered to Fame.

Fame’s smile grew. “You work up an appetite working on a farm. Or just playing on the farm,” she added with a wink. “What’s your favorite food?” she asked.

“I don’t know…” Beau admitted. “Back at the house I like the bakery bread better than anything else. She put some kind of herbs in everything that made them smell and taste funny. I don’t smell it here.” The aroma was causing his mouth to water. “Can I try a little of everything and see what I like best?”

Fame laughed. “You can have more than a little if you want. Eat your fill. But remember to save room for desert.” She teased.

By the time all the dishes had been passed around Beau’s plate was loaded. He first took two of the green things and tentatively put them in his mouth and chewed. “These are good… what are they called?” he whispered to Fame.

“Green beans,” she said, trying hard to control the amusement in her voice. “I like those too. I’m particularly fond of mashed potatoes, but that’s me. The carrots are good too,” she said, pointing to them.
Beau did his best not to show his confusion… these were some of the vegetables his birth mother had cooked but the taste and smell of what was on his plate had nothing else in common. He finally cut a piece off the chicken fried steak. “Oh wow!” he said softly after chewing and swallowing his first bite.

“Wait till we have a barbecue!” Fame said with a grin. ”We fix the best cheeseburgers. And that happens to be my absolute favorite food.”
From then on Beau didn’t raise his head until his plate was clean.
Fame watched him eat with barely contained amusement. It made her appreciate just how good the food really was. She winked at her Dad when she caught his eye. {{We’re gonna need more hands to keep up with his stomach if he always eats this way.}} When he finally looked up she was finishing off the last of her potatoes. “Did you save room for pie?” She asked.

“Uh huh,” Beau nodded as he ate the last bite of his bread. “That’s why I didn’t have seconds. He took a drink of milk and then looked at Zoagee. “I never had any thing this good before. Thank you.”

“Thank you Beau,” Zoagee said with a smile as she got up and motioned Zane to help bring the pies to the table.

Once the pie was served Beau forced himself to eat slowly so he could savor each bite. He shut his eyes and took a deep satisfied breath when he finished.

“Glad you enjoyed the meal Beau, would you like anything else?” Zane asked.

“It was great…” and with only a slight hesitation he added, “Dad but I’ve really had enough. Can I help with the clean up?”

“Not tonight son. Fame can show you to your room so you can put your things away. We’ll get to your regular chores tomorrow or the next day.”

Written by TaeaDawn, Zane Kelso, & Zoa Kelso