A few things randomly considered

It was an interesting situation, explaining Anna to my parents. She couldn't be AuroraBlue, no matter that she looked like a toddler aged version of the young girl I'd sent to live with my folks. My explanation was truthful, in that I was watching after her for a friend, if omitting some crucial facts. Father accepted. Mother? Not so much. But she didn't pry, and was willing to accept that any child traveling with me was probably safer than that same child back on a small mining colony on the Rim.

Unfortunately, we didn't get to stay long. We had to get back to Hale's Moon and take care of a few brief errands on the way. I would have liked more time with 'Brina and my folks but sometimes other duties get in the way of what we'd like. At least Anna got to spend some time on the beach.

The first detour would be Surfer's New Paradise. In the past, Sobi'd handled the acquisition and delivery of both coffees and various quality alcohol's and beers to Fook Yoo's. He'd always managed to keep a good supply on hand to supplement the teiren beer, and what passed for scotch, that'd been available before.

While Fook's was still a Bar and Grill, competition from Starstruck's and Firefly's for the coffee and whiskey crowds made the place more Grill these days than Bar. Though he'd never said anything about it, I knew that was one of the reasons Old Guy had left. That and, I suspect, Lady Jade. She'd never really taken to life on the Rim and I couldn't blame her for wanting to go back a a more hospitable world like Surfer's New Paradise.

But this detour wasn't just to say hello to my uncle and Jade, and pick up some supplies for the station and my personal stash. Sobi was still the best biochemist I knew. At least the best sane biochemist I knew. If anyone could give me insight into what was actually going on scientifically with everything we'd been dealing with, it was him. At least where Anna's biology was concerned.

That would take time though. More so even, since he wasn't actually going to to any poking or prodding of my little girl. In fact, he ended up taking her out with him on a long board in knee-high waves, riding the board like a Kayak so he could hold her. Jiji, teaching Tiny Dragon to surf, as he'd taught me so many years ago.

One more errand, with plenty of time to think en-route.

Watching Anna grow so quickly was a little unnerving. While this incarnation, if you will, wasn't maturing as rapidly as the original, she was still growing a good deal faster than a normal Human child. Mentally, I was sure, as well.

How much like the original was she? How much did the Nurture side of the Nature versus Nurture equation come into play? The form was the same, but the environment was so much different. There were people taking an active part in trying to raise her this time. Good people. I knew Cody'd take a bullet for her in a heartbeat. He thought of himself as her Pa. Genni and Sam treated her as one of their own when she was with them, and there were both right fine folk.

I tried to treat her the way I thought a mother should. But I can't imagine I was all that good at it. I didn't seem to have a very good Mother instinct, regardless of how I felt inside. I guess time would tell on that. I don't know if AuroraBlue had ever thought of my as anything more than her legal guardian. If even that. Her mind was just something I could never get a good handle on.

Even now, Anna spent lot more time toddling in the mines than she did around people. She was never entirely alone down there. She stayed away from any of the active tunnels where the miners were, but there were still eyes on her. If the eyes stopped seeing, someone would go in personally to see what she was up to.

Engineered to be perfect or not, the mines were not safe for an unobserved toddler.

How will she grow up now? I don't really know. I'll try to guide her to wisdom as I did before. Give her a sense of morals, of ethics. The self discipline that came with The Art. But her destiny was something greater than I could see. A dream I couldn't bring into focus, and probably wasn't meant to.

One last errand though, before I got back to Hale's Moon. The way things were shaping up, I could see needing some allies in non-standard places. The person I needed to see already was an ally, even if they didn't realize it. At least, not specifically my ally. But they'd proven themselves honorable and willing to do the right thing even when it meant putting her own life at risk. Good qualities in a soldier.

Just hoped she didn't still have a deep seated distrust of spooks.