Eighteen

                                                                                              Quadrant 7

      Ian had stopped the ship. “It is time I fill you in,” he said. In front of us was an image of the earth. “How familiar are you with your planet’s mythology?”

      “You mean like Bigfoot, or the Loch Ness Monster?”

      “I mean what is known as the Bible.”

      ”Wait right there, buster.”

      Oh great. Dad’s here. That’s all I need.

      “Scripture ain’t no myth. It’s been proved by many.”

      Ian backed off a little. He sensed he had gone too far.

      “What I meant, Sir, is that it is a myth because not everyone believes it.”

      “Not ever’body believes everythin’, Mr. god-guy.”

      “Dad, please . . . “

      “Junior, bein’ dead don’t mean I ain’t gonna say what I think.”

      “I’m sorry, Mr. McCoy. I will begin again.” The image of the earth disappeared and was replaced by words. I had to look at them for a few seconds to figure out what they were. They said, “God has granted me another child in place of Abel, since Cain killed him.”

      “These are the words written in the book of Genesis. The first book of your Bible. In earth mythology . . “he stopped and saw dad was staring at him. “According to your Bible, After Cain killed Abel, Seth was given as a replacement for him. It was a descendant of Seth that killed Cain. That’s where you come in.”

      “I don’t have any descendants.”

      “But I do, Junior.”

      “Both you and your father have been being watched for a long time, Detective McCoy. Your family history is similar in many ways to that of your name sake. Your parents were farmers, they both lost their homes. There are many, many more similarities that your father may wish to tell you.”

      “The universe has been preparing for this time. This final judgement between Cain and you, Seth McCoy, Jr.”

      I looked at dad. I was sure he had never lied to me. But he also hadn’t answered my question earlier.

      Ian sensed that we needed to be alone. He blinked and was gone.

      “That’s one funny critter, Junior.” Even dead, dad smoked his cigars. They were a cheap brand that he picked up on his weekly trips to the store. I remember I saved up my money once from all the summer jobs I’d picked up and bought him some expensive ones. Well, more expensive than he had. I had spent quite a while in McGort’s Mercantile and ask him to light each cigar so I could smell the smoke. I walked out with a six pack of the best smelling ones and a contact high.

      I was excited. This was the first time I had gotten him a gift on my own.

      I remember he really seemed to love them. He smoked them very slowly. Although years later I’m not sure whether he loved the cigars or the fact that I picked them out.

      After those six were gone, he went back to smelly ones.

      “That’s one way of putting it, dad. You’re also changing the subject. What was he talking about?”

     The way dad looked at me, I wasn’t sure he was going to answer me.

     “When you was a kid, I didn’t wanna talk about this. But your mama and I knew this day was comin.’”

            “What day?”

      He took a long puff. “My granny was a healer. Some folk called her a see-er. Your ma’s folks called her other stuff.” Smoke swirled around his head. “Granny Earlene told us that God had his finger on ya.”

      “What did she mean?”

      “She pointed to this in Holy Scripture. ‘There were giants in the earth in those days; and the daughters of men bore children to them.”  

      I thought for a minute. I thought I understood, but I hoped I was wrong.

      “So we have giants in our family?”

      “Holy Scripture contains many things us common folk can’t un’erstand. We just it that they are true.”

      “So Granny Earlene was saying that we have a giant in the family?”

      “She was ne’er wrong.” He laughed. “That was sum’thin else that drove your ma’s folks daffy.”

      “Anyway, after she told me that, I started tryin’ to trace our family tree. I spent years and talked to folks all over the world. I got the last letter the week afore I died.”

      “Who were these giants?”

      “As best as I can figger, they was the disciples of Muah.”

      I didn’t know what to think about that. Being related to the most evil being that ever existed didn’t feel me with excitement. As usual, dad knew what I was thinking.

      “Ya ain’t happy bein’ kin to someone like him, are ya?”

      “Well, I can think of several others I’d rather be related to, dad. Hitler, for instance.”

      “I’ve spent my entire career chasing evil. I’ve been shot at by evil. I have shot at evil, and have killed a few.”

      “You have taught me that there are good guys and bad guys. You have taught me that there is a clear separation between the two. Now you tell me that we’re kissing cousins.”

      Dad started shaking his hand at me, his first two fingers outstretched. He did this whenever he was trying to impress a point. The cigar was in the hand being shaken, so the cigar smoke circled me. It was a very comforting smell that reminded me of my childhood. “One thing I learnt, Junior is that we can’t pick our kin. ‘Cause of you I’m kin to that snooty branch on your ma’s side.”

      “Do you think Ian likes bein’ Cain’s brother?”

      “I don’t suppose he does.”

      “But he also can’t change it. Just like you can’t neither.”

      “So all of this means that I’m the only one who can kill him?”

      “Yup.”

      “How do I do that?”

      “Well, hell if he knew that, he wouldn’t need you, would he?” He took a puff and thought. “I have watched ya over the last score and a ha’f. You have figgered out how to solve stuff that other folks have thought unsolvable. I don’t have the answers. I barely got thru the six grade. You’re the one who always says you like puzzles. Go figger out the solution.”

      “Gee thanks dad.”

      With that, dad disappeared. Once he was gone, Ian appeared out of thin air.

      “Your father wanted to be the one who told you that.”

      I stared at him. “This mean you talked about this.”

      “I first met the elder McCoy before his death. Our first conversation was held prior to your mother’s untimely demise. He has an understanding of things without having to explain them to him. That is rare with the apes. When we met, I told you had an 83% average of truthfulness in your day to day dealings.”

      “Yes. I thought that was low.”

      “Your father has a 92.5%. That is the highest I have found in my dealings with your people. I will respect what he asks of me because I have a high respect for him. He is one of very few that I wish was my father.”

      While I knew what Ian was telling me was the truth, I was trying to stay focused on the task at hand.

      “Now what do we do?”

      “Now that you know why you are my secret weapon, as you call it, we work on a plan.”