"Daddy?" A small voice asked in a hybrid tone of fear and delight through The Ambassador's laptop. He cranked the volume up to its max so that he could hear her over the jet engines that carried him towards Florida as the morning sun rose outside of his window.
The words came to Butler's ears in the form of a rhythmic hums and whines -- the natural tongue of The Keepers. The sounds comforted him... he hadn't often heard them throughout the past several years. This was due to the fact that most of his day-to-day activities were handled in the presence of Humans, who generally didn't appreciate being left out of a conversation.
When he had first met Tomlinson, The General found it endlessly disturbing that he couldn't understand the tones and vibrations that made up the strange language. As a show of respect, he tried to learn how to mimic the sounds so that he could address The Council properly when the time came to introduce himself for the first time.
The formal greeting traditionally used contains some of the more difficult sounds for human vocal chords to reproduce - but Tomlinson gave it a hell of a shot. His attempt was the culmination of nearly a full year's study under the tutoring of The Ambassador, and The Council gave him endless respect for even daring to try.
Just about all of the Council sessions, communiqués and memos were issued in English or the predominant language of the region in which they were issued; so that men would feel included in the dialogue.
Hearing his daughter beckoning him in this somber time, though, made The Ambassador's heart heavy... she was so sweet and innocent. It had been thirty of what men called years since he'd seen her; her childhood was slipping away quickly. As he looked upon the shining golden orb that represented her life force on the display of his laptop, he remembered the day she had been born.
In those times, men were still riding horses through dusty towns in search of the best moonshine a piece of silver could buy. He remembered having to hide in a small barn under piles of hay to keep the light from his communication device from tipping off the locals. They would've strung him up from a tree had they found him there, holding a futuristic video screen showing images of cell mitosis that eventually resulted in the bioluminescence that symbolized the arrival of her soul.
She had grown so much since then -- he was always amazed when he made it home every two decades or so. Each time, she was more aware; more self-sufficient. Having advanced now to roughly the stage of a twelve year old human, she really didn't need her daddy much at all... he had spent his useful parenting years speaking to her only by telecom -- and now, he would say goodbye in the same impersonal manner.
"Hi, sweetie!" He replied, trying to maintain an upbeat tone despite the fact that his heart was breaking for her. "I heard The Council Leader came to visit you today!"
"He was very nice to me." She answered. "He even brought me a sweet treat!"
"Mommy let you eat it right away, I hope?"
"No, she said I had to wait until after dinner! You would've let me have it, if you were here..."
"Probably, but mommy's right -- don't want to spoil your appetite."
"Are you coming home now, daddy?" She asked sweetly and hopefully. "Will you be with us when the bad guys get here?"
"I'm so sorry, honey, I can't." He said, that terrible human notion called sadness tugging at his heart. "I still have work to do here -- there are lots of people counting on me."
"Mommy says it's just The Neephis!" His daughter retorted. "She says nobody cares about them anyway!"
"That's not true, baby, they care about each other... little Neephis children love their mommies and daddies just the way that you love us -- and the grownups love their children too. It wouldn't be right for us to discount their bonds simply because they aren't as advanced as we are..."
"But I need you home!" She wailed. "I'm scared, daddy! I don't want to die!"
"I know, baby -- and I'm so sorry! Daddy tried, he really tried! I wish more than anything that I could be there with you, but I must do whatever I can to help save all the Neephis children! You would want someone to try to save you if they could, wouldn't you?"
"I guess..." She conceded. "What happens to us, daddy -- when we die? Do we go somewhere nice like The Councilman said we do? Somewhere with lots of toys and games to play with? Where no one wants to hurt us?"
"That's what they say, isn't it?" He replied. "If so many people believe it, who am I to argue?"
"But you don't believe it, do you daddy? I remember you telling me that you didn't... What do you think happens to us?"
"I'm not sure, sweetie... I hope it's something like that... a place where we can be together. I've just seen so much fighting for so long -- it's hard for me to look at the universe as anything more than a giant battlefield. Believing in a place of peace is hard when all you know is conflict. If there is something after we leave this place, I only hope that everything there is at peace..."
"Like your friend?"
"Exactly like my friend! He fought so hard to protect the people he cared about -- he deserves peace now, so I hope that he's found it... I hope that we all find it when this is over with."
"Well, you have to believe, Daddy! If you make a wish and don't believe that it will come true -- then it won't! That's what you used to tell me, isn't it?"
"Yeah -- yeah, I guess it is!" He chuckled.
"Then -- will you believe, daddy? Will you believe in a beautiful place where we will be together after the bad guys come? Please believe, daddy -- I won't like being there if you don't come too!"
"I will, sweetheart!" He sobbed now, unable to control himself any longer.
"You have to promise, daddy!"
"I promise!"
"What do you promise?"
"I promise that I believe! That there is a place like Heaven... that we'll be there, together!"
"Don't stop believing, daddy! No matter what, okay? Believe until the end!"
"Okay, baby! I will!"
The voice of Butler's wife gave him reprieve from his tears, breaking in softly to close out the conversation. "Okay, dear -- it's time to let daddy go... he has a lot of work to do."
The Ambassador said his goodbyes, presumably for the last time, and told his family again how much he loved them. Despite the best efforts of his wife in a long talk before his girl was put on the line, he was still convinced that he had failed. Nothing could convince him otherwise, except perhaps some miracle that was entirely inconceivable at the time.
He wondered how much longer he would have to deal with that feeling; how much longer he would live... the landing strip at The Cape was just a few hours away.
Chapter 25