When Joshuwu saw the Onslow come into view, he began to think this would be more of an adventure than he’d imagined. Maybe because of the sheer size of the thing—the star ship seemed to go on forever. Maybe the huge solar sail impressed him. It hinted at the long journeys ahead. Or, maybe, the bridge he could just see through the window, manned with scurrying blue-suited figures, overseen by the commander, stiffer and crisper than his dress whites.

But it was probably the black laser-blast scars along her flanks.

“You’re going in that?” sputtered Tippy. A year younger and a head taller than Joshuwu, Tippy’d become his fast friend since Joshuwu’s arrival on the space station, Hokkaido, two days before.

Tippy’s brother, Charlie, pretended to be less impressed. “Aw, it’s not like he’ll see any action with the war over an’ all.” At the wise age of nine he explained to the younger boys, “That’s why they’re letting families on, anyway.”

Joshuwu didn’t know if he’d like to be in a war or not. He liked to play “Blast ‘Em Up” on the Quazar XII, but he thought a real war might be scary, too. He looked back out at the Onslow.

The space carrier stretched impossibly long. It was kind of shaped like a hotdog bun. The center left, or port, side docked to the space station in such a way that the observation deck of the Hokkaido looked across to the bridge. Along where the slit of the hotdog bun would have been ran a line of closed doors almost all the way from the bridge to the large airlock. As Joshuwu watched, one of the doors opened. A light flared inside and a small shuttle craft peeled out and turned toward the planet’s surface. Joshuwu remembered all of the doors along the side led to flightdecks where the shuttles, cargo ships, and troop transports docked. As well as his mom’s ships—the fighters.

Above and below the flight doors lined row upon row of portals. The boys could see people in some of them—some rooms seemed to be offices and others were living spaces. They could only see through the windows shaded by the space station. Where the sun peeked out above it, the windows gleamed gold.

“The windows are gold,” Joshuwu said, wondering.

“Of course, they have to be,” Charlie said. “There’s no air to protect people from the radiation in space. If the windows weren’t protected, the people would get zapped—like in a microwave.”

The hull, or side of the ship, was grey. The space carrier had once been solid light grey, but now patches interrupted the skin, everywhere from bright white to deep black. With all of the different shades, it took some time before Joshuwu could make out the lines of doors in between the windows. They looked like smaller flight doors. He wondered what they were, but didn’t ask for fear of getting more attitude from Charlie.

Another flight door opened and a troop transport headed off to the surface. “Look!” said Charlie, laughing. “A bunch of Marines are going to the beach.”

Joshuwu frowned. “No, I saw a red cross on the side.”

“What’s that for?” asked Tippy.

“Means it’s a hospital transport,” Charlie answered.

Joshuwu turned to Tippy. “It means some guys got hurt during the war and are going to the hospital.” He turned back toward the window. “They must be hurt pretty bad if the hospital on the Onslow couldn’t fix them.”

Charlie called their attention back out the window. “Hey, look!”

“Whoa, no way!” said Tippy, pointing and jumping up and down.

“Whoo-hoo! A real F-135!” Charlie said over him. “Isn’t she beautiful?”

It was Joshuwu’s turn to be under-impressed. “Yeah, that’s what my mom flies.”

“No way!”

“Yeah, that’s why she’s on the Onslow.” Then he saw his chance to get Charlie back a little. “She’s their top pilot.”

Joshuwu pretended to be cool, but he felt just as excited as the other two. Still, he kept up the façade. “Mom’s been flying for years. In fact, that’s probably her now.” The fighter turned in to an open flight door which closed behind it.

“Probably not,” said a voice above Joshuwu’s head. “Considering she’s waiting for us in the Hokkaido’s cargo bay.” Joshuwu nearly jumped out of his skin as his dad reminded him why they were even there. The sight of the Onslow, and then the fighter, had distracted him, but now Joshuwu ran after his dad, straightening his shirt. It had been so long, and he wanted to look good for her. As he ran, he called over his shoulder, “Bye, Tip. Bye, Charlie, see ya later!”

He turned to his dad. “Are we going to get mom, now?”

“Soon. First we have to sit through the debrief.”

“What’s that?” Joshuwu panted as he ran to keep up with his dad’s long stride.

“It’s like a long meeting where the commanders talk for half of forever.”

Joshuwu couldn’t understand why, with the troops finally home, they had to wait even longer to see their families. Still, soon they would. And, almost as good, soon they’d join his mom on the Onslow. He started thinking about all the adventures he’d have, flying around in space. He could hardly wait.

As they approached the cargo bay, Joshuwu asked one more time, “Are we going to live on the ship with Mom? Am I going to go to school there?” Then, as always, he added, “I’m going to miss my friends. And Lexie.”

Lexie was their dog but, as he’d been told a hundred times, a spaceship’s no place for a dog, so Lexie would move in with Granddad.

Once again, his dad’s voice broke through his thoughts. “Yes, boy! We are going to live with mom on the Onslow. You will go to school there and make new friends. I’ll miss my friends, too, but Uncle Kano and Aunt Snoh are probably going to join us in a few months.”

“And bring Tres and Saulie?”

“Yes.” His dad laughed. “And Tres and Saulie.”

Joshuwu could think of a few friends he’d rather see than his emotional classmate and her sturdy five-year old brother. But, somehow, the thought of having them around made him feel better.

“And you know,” his dad said, “a spaceship…”

“Is no place for a dog,” Joshuwu finished with him.

 

It was a long trek and the further they went, the more crowded the corridors became. They reached the station’s cargo bay, and Joshuwu’s dad took his hand.

Joshuwu struggled against his dad’s grip. “I wanna see.”

His dad held on tighter and continued to look around. “You’ll see soon enough. I have to find a place to sit and I don’t want to lose you in this crowd.” They finally found seats on the top tier, half way down the row.

The next hour was one of the longest in Joshuwu’s eight-year life. The space station Hokkaido was the home port for the Onslow, among other ships, and the families of the crew had been steadily coming up to the station from their homes on the planet. Now, it seemed to Joshuwu, every single one of them scrambled for a spot in the bleachers. In the center of the huge bay stood rows and rows of troops—Marines and Spacers. Everyone who wasn’t needed for ship operation formed up, facing the dais, waiting to be dismissed to their families.

When most people had found seats, the officials marched up to the dais and stood at attention. Everyone in the room stood from their seats or paused where they were walking. The color guard, two spacers and three Marines, marched in. The two on the ends held rifles—the one in the center held the flag for the GROUP, the Greater Republic of United Planets, and the remaining two held the flag for the planet, Kerulen, and for Space Command. The color guard faced the audience and the Kerulen and Space Command flags dipped slightly. Those in uniform saluted sharply as the GROUP anthem played over the loud speaker.

The music ended, and the military members returned their salutes, but stayed at attention. The color guard planted the flags in their bases and marched solemnly to the side of the bay. A young Lieutenant walked to the podium and let everyone sit down. Then she introduced the officials on the dais.

Colonel Harp of the Onslow spoke first. He praised his troops for their hard work and sacrifice, and commended the families who’d waited the long, tense year since their last extended port call. General Greaves, the station commander, talked about duty and patriotism. Joshuwu tried to understand how he could feel pride that his mom went off to protect them and sadness at the same time. Then the president of the planet spoke. Finally, they started passing out awards.

While they droned on, Joshuwu tried to find his mom. She usually wore the grey coveralls of a pilot, but he didn’t see any. In the back were Marines in green and Spacers in grey service dress. In front of them sat the officers—Marines in brown, this time, and Spacers in blue.

Finally, as he scanned the lines of blue, she caught his eye. He stood up to get a better look, and she winked. His granddad had been teaching him to wink and, concentrating hard, he winked back. She grinned and slipped him a thumbs-up before turning back to the front. Joshuwu sat down and wondered how it was going to feel to have his mom around again.

At last, all the speakers spoke, all the awards were given, and all the troops were dismissed. Joshuwu started toward the bay floor at a run when his dad’s arm caught him. “Hold up, Boy. There’s way too many people here. We’ll meet her in the room.”

“But Dad, I just want to see her now!” Joshuwu flushed, a little embarrassed to hear his voice get scratchy, but more surprised when he looked up to see his dad’s eyes tearing up.

“Me too. But we’ll never find her in this crowd.”

“But, she doesn’t know where we are!” Joshuwu protested. “She’ll go to the house on the planet…”

“No, Boy. I told her our room number. In fact, she may beat us there.”

At that, Joshuwu stopped arguing and started pulling his dad’s hand. Laughing, his dad tried to worm his way through the small breaks in the crowd Joshuwu slipped through easily.

Once out into the corridor, Joshuwu broke free. He ran past the observation deck, ignoring Tippy and Charlie’s calls, and reached the lift. People crowded the lines so he dragged his dad into the stairwell instead.

“Since when do you take the stairs?” His dad laughed, but Joshuwu saved his breath for the four-story climb.

He reached the door first and pushed in vain against the crash-bar. His dad opened the door, and Joshuwu took off like a shot. He skidded to a stop at their door just as it opened.

“Super-Boy!”

“Mom!” He leapt into her arms and this time he wasn’t embarrassed by the tears.