Free Advice

Alan landed the craft on Dover's pad and de-eagled. As he exited he spotted Tony standing off to the side. He had a small bag with him which he lifted as Alan approached.

"I wasn't expecting to find you waiting for me."

"You don't make cargo runs that often. I assume you'll stay the night." Tony smiled.

"Just as long as you're the one cooking. No offense to Maya but..." Alan hesitated.

"Maya's cooking is an acquired taste." Tony helped Alan out. "Maybe one of these days I'll actually acquire that taste. Of course, I'll probably be senile by then." Tony gave Alan a slap on the back. "Have no fear, I will cook. Come on, Maya will want to see you."

Alan hesitated. "I was hoping for a bit of a walk before heading in. As you say, I don't often get a chance to be outside. How about we head to the lake?"

"The lake..." Tony looked dubious. "It's a good hour's walk."

"Oh yeah, I forgot you're an old administrator - used to sitting behind a desk all day, probably can't handle the exertion." Alan sighed.

"Someone who flies for a living should watch what he says. Fine, let's see how those soft pilot feet of yours do on unpaved soil." Tony pointed the way to the path.

"Beautiful here this time of year." Alan started to walk towards the dirt path that led down the cliff. "Hey when are you going to get around to making a real road down this thing?"

"Eventually. Everything takes time. So what's the news from the city in the sky?" Tony raised his eyebrows.

"Same as usual: Been working on developing better landing gear for putting down in the ice. Make it a little easier for you to escape in winter." Alan said.

"How's, what's her name - your lady friend with the blonde hair and the three little brats?"

"Oh, you mean Claire. Well she took off for Ceres. There was a position open and she grabbed it." Alan looked off to the distance.

"You don't seem too upset." Tony asked casually.

"It wasn't going so well. I mean she was nice enough and pretty and well you know we had a good time, but we didn't have a whole lot in common. We had nothing to talk about."

"And conversation has always been at the top of your priority list." Tony retorted.

"Hey, you get older, you want more than great sex. I mean, well...I still want great sex, but there's got to be more, right?" Alan looked at Tony questioningly. "You've got more?"

"Yes, well, I've got my hands full."

"So you know what I'm saying. I want..." Alan stopped. "This is ridiculous. I'm too old to be whining at you like you're my shrink."

"You might as well, it's not like we got the world cup to discuss." Tony looked at Alan. They walked in silence for a few steps. "Alan, what's going on?"

Tony's question took Alan by surprise. "Nothing."

"Sure, nothing. The chief pilot of Alpha makes routine cargo runs every day..." Tony's voice sounded suspicious.

"That's the beauty of being in charge, you can do what you want." Alan said. His voice sounded false to his own ears.

"Umhum. This is a long walk." Tony had stopped. They had made it about a third of the way to the lake. The late afternoon sun was already beginning to set. "At this rate, we'll get to the lake at sunset and will have to make the walk back in the dark. Why don't you just cut to the chase and tell me what the hell is the matter?"

Alan hesitated. He spotted a large rock and sat down. He wanted to change the topic. "So, what's in the bag?" Alan indicated the sack that Tony had been carrying.

"What this?" Tony opened the tote and removed a bottle of clear liquid. "I brought this for after dinner, but maybe it would be more useful now. It could help you loosen up-talk about whatever it is that is bothering you...."

Alan looked from the bottle to his hands and back to the bottle. "As long as you brought it pour me a drink."

Tony opened the bottle and poured small amounts of the vodka into two cups. He passed one to Alan. He paused as he was about to recap the bottle. "Are you dying?"

""What?! No, it's nothing like that. Why would you think that?" Alan took a swig out of the cup.

"Well you look so tragic, I thought it must be fairly serious."

Alan looked at his friend and swallowed. "It is. I'm in love. " Alan looked at the ground.

"Isn't that a good thing? Hell, it's taken you long enough."

"You don't understand, there's a problem." Alan reached for the bottle and poured himself another drink.

"Is it another man?"

Alan practically choked on the vodka, "What? Jeeze man, it's nothing like that. She's definitely a woman."

Tony smiled, "Well I thought I'd check. So what's the problem, is she married?"

Alan shock his head, "No, she's... she's young, very young."

Tony gave Alan a hard looked, "How young?"

Alan took a deep breath, "Sixteen, almost seventeen." He ran his fingers through his thinning hair. "What am I going to do?"

He turned to find Tony with his hand over his mouth, trying to contain his laughter.

"Hey it's not funny. I came to you for some advice, some sympathy from an old friend. Instead you're laughing at me."

"I'm sorry Alan, it's not funny but," Tony paused to take a breath, "it's just ironic."

"Ironic? I don't see anything ironic about it. Now pathetic, that would make sense."

"It's ironic that at sixty-something we should both be having troubles with teenage girls." Tony stated. Perhaps seeing the questioning look Alan shot him, Tony continued, "It's not anything untoward. It's just a child with an obsession. But, we're here to help you. Is it just physical?"

"No, no. I mean she's beautiful, but I've known my share of beautiful women. It's more. She smart and funny. She's... we just have so much in common." Alan knew he wasn't expressing himself well.

"How does she feel?"

"I don't know. We've never discussed it. I know she enjoys our friendship, but she has dated other boys," Alan caught himself "I mean men."

"Hmmm, well if you want my advice, here it is. Ready?" Tony had picked up a twig and was doodling in the dirt.

"Ready, mate." Alan watched the stick swish around.

Tony stopped and looked straight into Alan's eyes. "Think of her as a cop."

"What??"

"You heard me. She's underage. Every time you see her, picture her as a cop, waiting to arrest you for being a child molester"

Alan jumped up. "This is not helpful. You are not being serious."

Tony sighed and joined Alan, "All right, seriously, you only have two options. One, keep it under wraps. Avoid seeing her, let her live her life, wait till she gets a little older. She's not THAT young, if you wait no one could accuse you of taking advantage of a minor."

"What's option two?" Alan prompted.

"Tell her how you feel right away. Maybe she feels the same. Of course than you'll have to deal with what people think, but you can handle it if she's worth it."

"She is. There's another thing though." Alan hesitated. He didn't know if he should put Tony in the middle of this.

"Her parents?" Tony prompted. Alan nodded. "Alan, who are we talking about?"

"Emma."

"Emma, as in Koenig, who thinks of you as Uncle Alan?" Tony looked at Alan and shook his head. He was muttering something to himself in Italian.

"I told you it was complicated." Alan had sat back down. He was holding his head in his hands.

"Complicated, no! What's complicated about waiting till after your mid-life crisis to fall in love your best friend and commanding officer's teenage daughter? You have got to be out of your mind."

"It's not like she's a baby." Alan said quietly.

"To John she is. Of course she always will be." Tony paused. He sat back down next to Alan. "Do you really think she has feelings for you?"

"Maybe, I don't know. I think so." Alan was feeling less sure of himself.

"Then, let's just go back to the top. Do nothing. Put your hormones in neutral and wait for her to get a little older. Maybe she'll give you a clearer signal. But don't push it. "

"And if she doesn't give me a sign?" Alan said.

"Then you get to play grownup and forget it. If she finds someone else then just accept that it wasn't meant to be." Tony stood up slowly.

"Could you do that?" Alan asked.

"I don't know. I've been with the same woman for a long time, it's hard for me to put myself in your place. You just have to..." Tony seemed to be looking for the right words, "You just have to see what develops."

"I was hoping for something more exact," said Alan.

Tony smiled. "Sorry, that's the best I can do. Come on. we'll eat and drink. My father always said the best wisdom came over food."

"Really?" Alan looked skeptical.

"No, I just made it up, but I'm hungry so let's go." Tony started to move off.

Alan got up and started to walk. A thought suddenly hit him. "Hey, you won't mention this to anyone. I mean, you won't tell John, will you?"

Tony stopped and looked straight at Alan, "Well you're either really in love or have gone completely daft. Me tell John?" Tony shook his head and started to walk again.

Alan took a quick look at the distant lake before starting to walk. Tony was right. He needed to give it time. He had to wait and give her some more time to finish growing up before telling her how he felt. After all he had waited this long, what was a few more years. 

It was the next morning before they had a chance to speak alone again. Alan had stayed in the family's "fair weather" living room. In truth it was just a temporary room built on the roof. It was constructed of prefab walls and one large window, that was sufficiently insulated for the fall and spring seasons. It would be dismantled and stored before the harsher weather hit.

Tony had thought Alan was still sleeping during the family's breakfast routine, but when he went upstairs to retrieve some files he had brought home he found Alan staring out the window at the wide expanse of blue sky, the lake and plains below him. He looked like a lovesick schoolboy. Tony slipped below, found the pot of coffee he'd left for Alan and two cups and returned to the living room.

"So, have you become a morning person?"

Alan startled and grinned. "Not really. Just a lot on my mind. Emma always..." He started to say more then stopped himself.

"Emma always what?"

"Well, I was going to tell you that Emma's a morning person. Always gets up and runs with John before coming to work...Hey, that coffee smells great."

"Tell me about her." Tony passed Alan a mug before taking his own coffee and settling into his usual chair. "Good god, I do sound like a shrink. I haven't been around her since she was little. What's she like?"

Alan seemed relieved, and quickly warmed to his topic. "Well, like I said, she's a morning person. She usually gets up early with John and they run a couple of miles before breakfast. Most days, I meet them for breakfast in the cafeteria. Then John goes to his office and Emma and I go to work together. She's always so cheery and has this wicked sense of humor. Never forgets anything you tell her, so things are likely to come back to haunt you if you say the wrong thing."

"In a lot of ways, she's a typical teen. She fights with her brothers-- especially Alex. The two of them mix like oil and water. And she gossips with Dinah Fraser about clothes and boys. They go to that hang-out the teens have cobbled together. She swears me to secrecy when she talks about the boys."

"She swears you to secrecy?" Tony raised an eyebrow.

Alan rolled his eyes. "She may not want her folks to know just who she's going out with that week, but I generally get a detailed description. Sometimes more detailed than I want."

"Such as?"

"Such as the time she decided to lose her virginity and thoroughly outlined all the available boys and their attributes, then selected her chosen one and seduced him." Alan shook his head and took a sip of coffee while Tony digested that statement.

"I can see where you might find that..." Tony wasn't sure what the right word would be. "...distracting."

Alan grinned, "No, that one was almost amusing. She planned that campaign like a military general. There was a complexity to it that just astounded me." He took a deep draught of his coffee. "The distracting part was when she showed up at my door asking to use my shower before she went home. Then she sat there, on my bed, describing to me in detail what she liked and disliked about it. Rated it a three of a possible ten. Then she kissed me on the cheek and left." Alan sighed, "I spent the rest of the evening taking many cold showers!"

Tony didn't laugh until Alan did.

"So is she still seeing this 'three'?"

"Off and on. She's had a couple fours and a five. One would have rated a bit higher but he kept trying to force her to read. She hates that."

"She doesn't like to read?" Tony's voice filled with sarcasm.

"When was the last time you read Sartre?"

Tony grinned, figuring he hadn't been much older than Emma the first time he read the philosopher in college.

Alan continued. "She'll read any engineering texts she can find. She loves technical manuals and tearing engines apart. We've been talking about making a larger Eagle, something with more cargo capacity and a larger command section. She sent me a couple of files on it last night and I spent some time going over them before I turned in. She signed the note 'miss you, love Em'."

Alan rubbed his eyes. "I came down here to get away for a while. Try to clear my head. But it's not working. She's all I can think about".

"Not to be redundant," Tony began," But I still think you could use a little space. Why not have her do a "residency" at Dover for a while. We could use a good pilot down here."

"Well, it's a thought." Alan paused, "I've also considered putting her higher in the pilot rotation, but having her fly the birds back and forth is a waste of talent. The cargo ship should take priority. She's the tops in design engineering. I want her on that project with me."

"Are you sure that's why you don't want to let her go?" Tony asked. He leaned forward, "Send her over for a couple of months. You two could do preliminary designs on the cargo ship by email while she's here. Sounds like she might enjoy checking out the young men at Dover too..."

Alan shot him a look that could have killed.

"At the least it would get you a couple of months closer until she's eighteen. It might give both of you a chance to think about what you mean to each other." Tony studied the grounds in his coffee.

"If she meets someone down here and falls for him..." Alan trailed off.

"Alan," Tony said as gently as possible. "That might be for the best."

Alan's slate beeped before he could answer. He pulled it from his belt.

"Good morning. I didn't wake you did I?"

"No, I was up."

Tony watched Alan smile and visibly relax.

"Good. I hate to disturb you, but I've got a couple of issues up here that need your attention."

Alan was holding the slate so that Tony could see Emma's picture on the screen, but he wouldn't be in the pickup. Her long black hair was pulled back from her face, but several curls had been left deliberately out to fall over her forehead and around the ears. Her features resembled her fathers, but when she looked directly into the pickup, her eyes were her mother's. Her manner was business-like and she seemed older than her almost seventeen years.

"Go ahead, Princess."

"We got two Eagles in from C-2 last night. One is in need of a serious overhaul, but we have two rebuilds in progress from the Loki run. I told C-2 it would be a delay of a week, but they don't like that and wanted to be sure you're aware of it."

"How fast can we really do it?"

"Five days, but I don't want to lose my hedge time."

"Any of the Alpha Eagles we can trade out?"

"I can get an Alpha Eagle ready in three days, but you know they're the oldest and the least dependable. That's why we keep them close by, to baby them."

"Give Andy Johnson the choice, but keep the hedge time. Tell him you talked to me. Or have Pete call him."

"Pete hates to talk to people. I'll handle it."

"Andy will scream and shout, but eventually choose to get his own Eagle in a week. Don't let him steamroll you."

"Not a chance."

"Next issue?"

"Personal. Richard and Alex said you promised to take them rock climbing. How's next month sound and can I come too?"

"How's the schedule look?"

"We could do it."

Tony shook his head no. Alan ignored him.

"Is Dinah coming along?"

"You know Dinah. If Alex is there, she's there too. But you won't catch her climbing rocks. She's a great cook though."

"True. Why can't you cook like that?" Alan teased.

"I have other talents," Emma replied with a wickedly flirtatious smile.

Alan cleared his throat. "Yeah, well, and I'm sure some of them are quite useful."

"Thanks a lot. When are you coming home?"

"Tomorrow. I'll be in late."

"I'll wait and meet you for a late supper." She gave him a smile. "We can talk about those plans I sent you."

"Yeah, I'll probably send you some comments today, but it's a good idea and we should get started on it right away."

"Great! I'll see you tomorrow night." Emma grinned and signed off.

Alan turned to Tony. He seemed calmer than Tony had seen him so far.

"She's worth the wait, Tony. And I'm not sending her away."

Tony nodded. He had known that almost as soon as he had seen the two talking together.

A little over a year later, Tony was alone in his office, wading through a series of reports. When a call rang through he was glad for the distraction. Alan grinned at him from the screen.

"Hey Tony."

Tony glanced at the clock. "Isn't it a little early for you to be up?"

Alan grinned. "I just wanted to call and ask you to be my best man at the wedding."

"Wedding, eh?" Tony leaned back in his chair. He'd seen Alan only a couple of times in the last year and never alone so they could discuss the subject of Alan's visit again. "You asked her to marry you?"

"Well, she asked me. Or told me. I don't remember actually being asked. No matter. We're getting married in three months."

"What did John say?"

"That's probably not something that should be discussed on a clear channel," Alan said, his grin fading, but not vanishing. "We've started on that land car prototype and should have a working model in another month. We'll come down for a visit and I'll give you all the bloody details."

"You seem to still be alive. How much blood was there?"

"Not a drop, but it was a close call. So, will you be my best man?"

"I wouldn't miss it." Tony was about to sign off when he remembered a

piece of their conversation from the year before. "Say, Alan. On

Emma's rating scale, how does she rate you?"

"A ten, my friend. She says I'm definitely a ten."