Summer Rain
By: Tim "Chiang-Ku" Morrison

(Inspired by `Summer Rain' - Belinda Carlisle, 1988)

Whispering our goodbyes 
Waiting for the train 
I was dancing with my baby 
In summer rain 
I can hear him saying 
Nothing will change 
Come dance with me baby 
In summer rain 

  "Zachary Foxx?"

  He nodded, astonished that someone so lovely would even consider looking at him, let alone talking to him.

  "Hi, I'm Eliza Jackson."

  "Uhh - Hi." He stammered, unsure of what else to say. She was beautiful, a head shorter than him, nice chestnut brown hair, and
a figure to die for. Why was she talking to him?

  "I was told by Mr. Edwin that you were the one to talk to if I needed help with my Military History project."

  Zachary blinked, twice, then recovered. She was talking to him, she was interested in talking to him. This was great.

  "Yeah, Military History. Yes. I know all about History - So, what do you want to know?"

  She laughed, a golden tinkling noise like wind chimes in a gentle breeze.

  "What is wrong with you? You're acting as if nobody ever paid any attention to you before."

  Zach looked down at his feet. "Nobody ever has, before." He said quietly.

  Eliza saddened. This brilliant guy, she could see beyond the bruised and scarred exterior to the person inside, was so
downtrodden, as she'd heard, that he had a wall built up around him. She was determined to break through. She liked this shy,
unassuming fellow student.

  "Zachary? Let's go to the library and you can show me what books would be good for me to scan, ok?"

  Zach nodded, and to his surprise, as they walked towards the library, she took him arm and walked beside him like some of the
much more popular guys had their girls hanging off them.

********

  "Where you been, boy?"

  "Studying, sir." Zach carefully answered his father, smelling the stale scent of sweat and alcohol on the large mine foreman's breath.

  "What you been studying that keeps you away from your chores for three hours!" His father roared, and Zach fell aside, slammed by a heavy slap to the side of his face. He bit back the sting and tears that welled in his eyes and waited, listening to his father rant and rave drunkenly.

  "I tried to raise you right, boy. Since your mother died, I tried. But you don't learn do ya! You go to school between set times, boy - outside those times, you are here, doin' your chores and keepin' this place ticking over."

  Zach remained where he was, the side of his face stinging from where his father's hand had impacted until Alan Foxx turned away and sat back down, taking another swallow from his beer bottle.

  "Get out of that corner and do your chores, boy, else I'll give you something to really think about."

********
I remember the rain on our skin
And his kisses hotter than the
Santa Ana winds
Whispering our goodbyes
Waiting for a train
I was dancing with my baby
In the summer rain


  Zach was so happy, with Eliza's support and her family's help, he had submitted an application for the Earth Force Ranger Academy - which was now recruiting at an astounding rate because of the destruction of Ceres Mining base by the Clarke androids during the Android wars the year before.

  Even though his father had forbade it, Zach and Eliza had forged a strong bond, that had grown into love in the past few weeks. Alan Foxx had never thought highly of his son - never having had any support himself since his wife had died - so he never knew how to compliment the boy. Feeling lost and alone himself, he took out his anger and frustration on the only person he could, his son. Until Zach had met Eliza, who had managed to reach into his scarred exterior to find the brilliant diamond inside, he had been so withdrawn.

  Now, for the past three months Zach had even been working out in the school gym, building up his muscle mass and learning how to keep himself in top physical shape so when he went to the Academy next year, he could pass the physical tests and become an Earth Force Ranger.

  He was ready to tell his father what his heart already knew, that he was in love, and wanted to stay with his love. He and Eliza came to the small run-down house that Zach shared with his father, and Zach gingerly pushed open the door. They stepped inside and heard a grunt from the lounge room. Alan Foxx was sitting in the only chair, watching an old holovid set that kept flicking between three- and two-d with an annoying flash.

  "What's she doin' here, boy?" The large man said as he put down the bottle of alcohol he'd been drinking and got to his feet.

  "I thought I made sure you and that slut weren't going to see each other anymore, boy. I thought I made myself clear to you."

  "I'm sorry, sir. But I love her, and I want to be with her." Zach said, feeling queasy in his stomach but knowing that he had to stand up for himself. An Earth Force Ranger had to be strong, tough, and Zachary Foxx was going to be the Best of the Ranger Corps.

  Alan Foxx blinked, confusion warring with anger in his alcohol-soaked brain. His son, defying him? Not afraid? All because of the little whore standing beside him. He shook his head and stepped towards Zach and Eliza, who backed up behind her friend as his drunken father approached.

  Alan raised his hand, and glared at Zach. "You tell that little slut to get out, or I'll give you something you'll remember for a long time, boy."

  "No, dad. I will not."

  Anger flared in Alan's eyes, and he swung his fist to belt some sense into his son's head. But his fist stopped before it connected. He blinked. Zach had grabbed his fist and stopped it - with a strength Alan hadn't faced before.

  "You won't hit me any more, Dad. I'm not afraid, and I'm no longer a little boy. I am a man now, and I am going with Eliza to the Earth Force Ranger Academy."

  Alan laughed. "You know they won't take you, Zach. You're a failure, always have been. You ain't good for the mines, you ain't good for the school, and you ain't even good for your chores. What? You think those aliens might like you? Huh?"

  "I'm going to be a ranger. I'm going to make a difference."

  "You ain't gonna be nothing, Zach. You're a failure - you won't ever be anything!"

  Those words echoed long after Zach and Eliza had left his home, never to return. Six months later, the day after his sixteenth birthday, Zachary Foxx and Eliza Jackson were married. The week after that, he was accepted into the Earth Force Rangers Academy, with honours.

********
I remember laughing til we almost cried
(There at the station that night)
I remember looking in his eyes

  Lieutenant Zachary Foxx came home after receiving his first Deep-Space Assignment. He found Eliza sitting in front of the vid watching the astounding news unfolding at Cheyenne Mountain.

  He had heard of the alien ship landing, but until he got home and saw the news unfolding, he hadn't really believed it. Eliza looked up as he stepped into the lounge room, and slowly got to her feet. Eight months pregnant, she moved carefully, but with much grace and beauty.

  "You got your Lieutenant pips. Oh, Zach - I'm so proud of you. I knew you'd make the grade." She hugged him, and gave him a kiss. He felt all the worries of the day lifting as he held his lovely wife in his arms and returned the embrace.

  "So, what do you think of this?" She asked him as they sat back down to watch the news unfold at the mountain.

  "I'm ... astounded, Lizzie. We trained for it, there's even rumours of a secret project in Texas or Florida raising supersoldiers to fight the aliens that the deep-space guys say are out there. But now we can see some, and they don't look dangerous at all. That big one sort of looks like your grandad."

  Eliza laughed. "You're right, he does look like Pop."

********
Oh my love, it's you that I dream of
Oh my love, since that day
Somewhere in my heart I'm always
Dancing with you in the summer rain

  Zach and Eliza looked down at their baby son, sleeping soundly in his crib. Zach turned Eliza in his arms and kissed her, his hand caressing her slightly swollen belly. Zach Jr. was only eleven months old, and she was already pregnant with their second child.

  "I love you, Eliza Foxx." He whispered into her ear, burying his face in her chestnut hair, breathing in the soft scent of her, his wife, his soulmate.

  "I love you, Zachary Foxx." She replied, hugging him as fiercely as she dared, feeling the strong muscles play under his shirt, and still remembering the nearly broken young boy she had met five years ago in the schoolyard. It felt like an eternity - like something from a different century. And perhaps it was.

********
Doesn't matter what I do now
Doesn't matter what I say
Somewhere in my heart I'm always
Dancing with you in the summer rain

  "Mom, Dad?" Nine year old Jessi Foxx called out as she came home from school, dumping her bag on the table, she opened the cooler and cooed happily. "Uncle Zozo musta been round." She said to herself as she used both hands to pull out one of the two Kiwi Apples that were sitting in the cold container. Each one had a label, and Jessi had taken the one with her name on it.

  Sitting down at the table, she picked up the spoon and used it to open the top of the apple. Scooping out the ice-cream-like fruit inside, she happily sat there, stuffing herself until her parents came back from their walk with Ambassador Zozo.

  "And as I was saying, Zach, you will love Kierwyn - I do hope that your transfer orders come through. You and the kids will really love our planet. Speaking of kids, Here's one who's found my gift. Hello Jessi."

  "Hi, Unka Zozo!" Jessi said around a mouthful of fruit. Eliza tsked and pulled out a cloth which she then used to clean her daughter's mouth and the front of her shirt. 

  "You could have waited until Zach Jr. got home, kiddo." Zach Sr. said smiling while Zozo laughed at the antics of this crazy human family he'd grown so fond of during his eleven years on this planet.

  The front door swooshing open alerted them even as GV popped up on the small screen. "Master Zachary is home, sir, ma'am."

  Eliza smiled as her eleven-year old son came bounding into the kitchen.

  "We know, GV, thank you."

  "Uncle Zozo, Hi! Hi Mom, Dad, Jess - Wow, Kiwi Apples! Can I have mine now?"

  Zozo rolled his eyes. "No matter whether they're human, or Kiwi, children are the same across the Galaxy."

  "Of course you can, Zach." Eliza said, smiling at her husband and Zozo.

********
I can hear the whistle
Military train
I was dancing with my baby
In summer rain
I can here him singing
Ooh "Love Is Strange"
Come dance with me baby
In summer rain

"We're going to Kierwyn? Really?" Eliza asked, her eyes alight with excitement and anticipation.

  "Yes. Commander Walsh finally approved my request. I'm to be in charge of security at the Kierwyn Defence Shield, which should be operational about a month after we arrive."

  "I heard about that, Dad. It's said to be almost as strong as the Andorian planetary dome. Able to withstand attacks by any pirate force." Jessi said.

  "Or, by the Crown." Zach Jr. said.

  "When do we leave, Zach?" Eliza asked.

  "In three weeks. So we'd better get organised. We're moving to Kierwyn, family!"

********
I remember the rain came down
And we poured our hearts out
As the train pulled out
I can see my baby
Waving from the train
It was last time that I saw him
In summer rain

  Zach looked at the cold, uninviting bed. His room, their room, felt so huge and empty now.

  Without Eliza. 

  He clenched his bionic fist hard enough to hear the servo-motors complaining, and it took conscious effort to relax the artificial limb. He had to be careful, Cueball had warned him about strong emotional outbursts being transmitted through the bionics. That was part of the thunderbolt capability. He could focus his anger on the energy surge and feel the release as his anger and frustration was fired in a bolt of devastating force towards the enemy.

  He thought of the Plitskie, Captain Kidd. He'd taken the name from some old Earth vids that his ship had picked up on radio bands some years ago, and had used it to trigger a new era of piracy on the spacelanes, much like the original captain sailing the Atlantic ocean had in the 18th century.

  Zach growled in anger and frustration as he imagined what he would do to the alien bird if he had five minutes, just five minutes alone with him.

********
Every time I see the lightening
Every time I hear the thunder
Every time I close the window
When this happens in the summer
Oh the night is so inviting
I can feel that you are so close
I can feel you when the wind blows
Blows right through my heart

  Once the circuitry in the arm had been realigned and repaired, Zach stopped having the dreams of Eliza, but the memories refused to fade. His experience in the Psychocrypt, as a Prisoner of the Queen and then as a Slaverlord had matured him, engendered him with a caution that he would carry the rest of his life, and forged anew determination - if he had the chance, he would get Eliza's Psychocrystal back and ensure that the Queen would never have the opportunity to forge any new human crystals - even if he had to destroy the asteroid palace himself, stone by stone.


Every night and every day now
Though I know you've gone away
Somewhere in my heart I'm always
Dancing with you in the summer rain

______________________________________________________

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