FAMILY BROKEN
By
Doc Heller
Timeline: Years later
Author's E-Mail: DrHellar@aol.com
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
This story does not revolve around any member of Eden Project, but rather a family member of the Heller family (not a sibling). It took on a different tone than I originally intended because as I wrote, I made Katherine Heller even more multi-levelled than I originally planned.A couple people that I would like to thank for proofing this story (remember way back when?) and giving me honest (and wonderful feedback). Lisa and Rosa, first off. You caught so many things I never would have noticed and pointed out things that made no sense. This story owes a great deal of what it is to you. And if everyone hates the story, I'll remove all proof of your involvement with this story. :)
Enjoy and send all feedback to Dr Hellar@aol.com. -Doc Heller**Disclaimer: The Earth 2 idea belongs to Universal (as does Julia Heller), but Katherine Heller, Darcy, Samuel Davidson, Bradley Smith, Jennifer Heller and the rest of these characters belong to little old me.**
Family Broken
Doc Heller"The Centuri Base should be completed in two months, at which time the Council will move in first, with the public opening happening at earliest, a month later."
Katherine Heller was hardly listening to the young Level 3 official giving his report on the Centuri Base. She had already read the notes and found she had better things to do with her time than listen to some kid trying to make a good impression.
"Councilmember Heller, what do you think?" Katherine snapped back into reality and looked at the young exec. "About the base?" The young exec nodded. "I think it sounds like a good plan. Proceed with it."
"Thank you ma'am."
Katherine nodded, dismissing the man. Left alone in her spacious office, she turned and looked out the small porthole into space. Her mind centered around a recent report that one of the most powerful resistance groups, the Council Resistance Forces, was responsible for a recent bombing at the Maxwell Scientific Outpost. Dealing with the CRF at this moment was not what Katherine was looking forward to. She hated dealing with them. In their minds they were revolutionaries, but in reality they were solely terrorists. They didn't understand they had the Council to thank for their lives. If it hadn't been for the Council, they would still be stuck on Earth. "Ms. Heller?"
Katherine snapped out of her plans and answered the small speaker on her desk. Speaking impatiently to her personal secretary, "Yes Darcy?" "Something just came through on the news you might want to see." "Very well. You know where to patch it through to." The reporter Katherine hated so much, what's-her-name, was on. Oh God, was there another rumor going around about her personal life? That was exactly what she didn't need.
"Ms. Adair's private expedition had been in the planning stages for six years, despite virulent opposition from both the medical and scientific fields. To repeat..... the Eden Project, bound to set up the first colony in the G8 system, met with disaster this morning, exploding upon departure." This was not what Katherine expected. She knew her daughter's mission had been launching this morning, but she hadn't paid much attention because she and Julia weren't extremely close. She continued listening and one sentence caught her by surprise.
"There were no survivors."
"Councilmember Heller, over here!"
"Councilmember, how do you feel about your daughter's death?" "Ms. Heller, can you describe what it is like to lose both of your children within such a short time in such similar incidents?" "Councilmember, are you still going to run for another term?" "How is this going to affect your performance?" "Please ladies and gentleman, give the councilmember some space. She will answer all of your questions," Samuel Davidson, Katherine's PR manager, announced to the crowd of reporters.
Katherine waited until they had calmed down before stepping up to the podium. She knew the amount of questions she was going to get surrounding Eden Project might top the number of questions she had gotten after Jennifer's death.
Once Samuel saw his boss was ready, he took the first question. "Ms. Heller, what are your feelings about Eden Project's destruction?" Katherine cleared her throat and began to speak, "It is quite a shock. To lose so many people is a great loss. Many of the passengers were not even over nine years old. I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say it is a tragedy that will not soon be forgotten. Next question." "Councilman, how are you handling your daughter's death?" "I am overcome with grief," Katherine replied tactfully. Truth be told, she felt no grief yet.
"Councilman Heller, can you describe what it is like to lose both of your daughters in so short time?"
"It is quite an unfortunate situation. Both of my daughters died at such young ages, before they even got the chance to live," Katherine told the reporter.
"Will you be remaining on this station?" another reporter shouted out. "Yes, I will be. I will also be continuing my job with the Council," Katherine told the crowd of reporters.
"Are you going to move from your present quarters?" a reporter from the Star Tribune shouted out.
"No I will not be. Moving takes up so much time and energy, I would just as soon stay where I am," Katherine said flatly. She gave Samuel a look that meant she had had more than enough of this. Seeing the look, Samuel abruptly stood up. "Ladies and gentlemen, I am terribly sorry but I have just been informed Councilmember Heller has another appointment. Good day."
Katherine and Samuel left the conference area, a flood of holovids and cameras following until the last possible moment.
Years passed. Eventually most of the public forgot about Councilmember Heller's tragic loses. Some still remembered, but most thought of the councilmember as a tight lipped old maid who never had any family. Katherine for her part tried to forget about her lost daughters. She had been brought up to believe looking back never did any good, a rule she firmly believed in. Looking back was unneeded, and unwanted. The only time Katherine Heller ever thought of the past was when thinking about her mother. Michelle Michaels-Heller had been the exact opposite of her daughter, Katherine. Michelle had preferred to stay home rather than work. Her husband had been on the Board of Regents, and that had been enough for her.
Michelle loved her child more than she loved her place in society, a rarity among the spouses of Regent members. She had wanted several children, but her husband only wanted one. Or, even though he would never admit it, he needed only one. Only one Heller would take his place on the board one day, and as long as the child was healthy and strong willed, he would be content. Michelle had remained quiet, knowing it was pointless to argue with her husband. She became pregnant soon after her husband's declaration and after seeing her newborn daughter, knew that she could focus her life around just one child. Her daughter was named Katherine Danielle, after a paternal grandmother.
Katherine Danielle Heller grew up a very privileged life. Her mother had been everything for her, and Katherine was one of the few children who did not have a nanny. There was only part of her life that was imperfect. Her mother had decided she didn't want her daughter on the Board of Regents. Her parents' arguing had been constant, and Katherine had secretly blamed herself, even if it wasn't her fault. Michelle was the opposite of her husband, but in a negative sense. Living together became next to impossible. As soon as the marriage contract expired, Katherine's parents separated permanately, her father getting sole custody of her. Her mother became a smaller and smaller part of her life, until the memories of Michelle Michaels seemed a distant dream.
When her father died, 24 year old Katherine barely mourned his death. Instead, she set out to find her mother, while at the same time taking the Heller seat among the Board of Regents. Katherine's search was halted two years later when she had her oldest daughter. Katherine's other half, Bradley Smith, had been killed two months before the birth of their daughter in an explosion in a medical lab aboard a scientific outpost. In his will, he had left everything to his lover and had but one wish: that his daughter be named after her maternal grandfather. So, Katherine had named her daughter Julia after her much-hated father, Julian, in honor of her love's memory.
Katherine's interest and love in Julia was hindered because of her duties to the Council and the search for her mother. Soon Julia became only a sideline in Katherine's life, as the Council involved her in more and more of their affairs. When Julia was five Katherine discontinued the search for her mother, and decided her job was enough to keep her content. A few months after the search had been called off, the Council suggested that Katherine have another child. A daughter also chromo-tilted towards the medical arts, as Julia had been. Katherine had agreed, and used Bradley's DNA to have her second daughter. She hastily decided to name her youngest daughter Jennifer, and then added her middle name, Bradley. Jennifer, like Julia, was a sideline in Katherine's life. Both girls received little attention, except from each other, and began to depend on each other. But as Julia became older, she depended less and less on her younger sister and learned how to survive on her own. Jennifer on the other hand depended on Julia more and more as she became older. When Jennifer had died, it had been Julia who had openly mourned the youngest Heller's death, while Katherine kept her mask in place. At least while she was in public. At night, she felt the sting of Jennifer's absence. While Julia was a mixture of both parents, Jennifer was like a female version of her father in personality. On the surface she was quiet and studious, but Katherine could see an adventurous and spur of the moment person beneath the mask. Just as Bradley had been quick to judge, Jennifer often jumped to conclusions. Katherine frequently felt Bradley's presence in Jennifer, and had been determined to make Jennifer exactly like her father. It had been that goal that caused her death. It tore Katherine up inside, for she blamed herself for her younger daughter's death. After Jennifer's death, Katherine's relationship with her elder daughter was strained even more. Julia felt her mother had pushed out the memory of Jennifer and hated her for it. Julia began to hate anything that represented her mother, except for the Council. She still remained loyal to the Council, but the Council couldn't keep her on the same Station as her mother. Instead, Julia's hatred for her mother and grief over her lost sister drove her to join Eden Project. The very project that eventually led to her death. And once again, Katherine did no mourning in public. She saved it for the privacy of her quarters where she once again blamed herself. It was then she began thinking of her mother again. If only she had been like her mother, both of her daughters would still be alive. No, she hadn't been. Instead she had been like her father, cold and unloving. It had been then Katherine had realized the hatred Julia had carried for her, as she had carried for her father. Jennifer had been too young to hate her own mother, but Katherine wondered frequently if Jennifer had blamed her in those last seconds.
Grandchildren. Katherine hated the word. Everyone she knew was a grandparent. And then there was her, alone and childless. When people asked her if she had grandchildren she told them she didn't have children. It was better than explaining the whole story and getting those looks of pity. After one particularly frustrating baby shower, Katherine was not looking forward to the ride home in the transstation transport. Sitting down in an empty seat at the back of the train, she eagerly awaited getting home. "Do you mind if I sit down?"
Katherine looked up to see a woman younger than her standing above her. Not wanting to be rude, even though every fiber in her body screamed out to be left alone, she replied, "Not at all."
"Thank you," the woman replied, sitting down. "I'm Mike." Katherine turned and nodded. "I am Katherine." "Nice to meet you Katherine. You going home?" "Yes."
"You live close by or is it a long trip for you?" "About halfway."
"Why were you out?" Mike asked.
"What?" Katherine replied halfheartedly. "Why were you out? Shopping? Visiting grandchildren?" Mike suggested. "I was at a baby shower," Katherine told the woman coolly. "A daughter's?" Mike questioned.
"No, I don't have any children," Katherine explained. "You don't?" Mike echoed.
"No, I do not," Katherine sighed.
"But...well here I thought you were Katherine Heller," Mike laughed, and Kathering noticed a hint of disappointment. "I am Katherine Heller."
"Then you have two daughters," Mike prompted. Katherine turned. "How do you know my daughters?" "Well, most people know about them..." "No one has mentioned them in a long time. They have been dead for over twenty years," Katherine informed the younger woman. "Oh...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be so insensitive. You see, I just returned from a cold sleep mission three days ago and it was over thirty years round trip," Mike replied sadly. For once, Katherine felt the pity was genuine.
"That's all right."
"Yea, well, I'm sorry," Mike told her, as she stood. "Well, this is my stop. Nice meeting you Katherine."
Katherine nodded, and looked down, noticing a slip of paper. Picking it up, she tried to get Mike's attention, but the woman didn't see Katherine and exited the transport.
Turning the paper over, she read a business card: Michelle Michaels
Cold-Sleep Pilot
Contractor: Intergalactic Pilots
Contact us at: IGP-cardinalbusinesscentre/Folding the card, she slipped it into her purse and smiled a sad, tight-lipped smile. Her search for her mother had finally come to a finish. Only instead of telling her mother the things she wanted, she had shown her mother what she had become: a lonely old woman who was alone, the only people who had ever cared, or could have cared, dead.
-The End-
Comments: Dr Hellar@aol.com
This text file was ran through PERL script made by Andy. Original text file is available in Andy's Earth 2 Fan Fiction Archive.