Shoshone Station: The Galactic Consortium season 2

Episode 7: Homecoming #6

Sophia and Shaelynn arrived in Casper, Wyoming, late that evening. It was dark; the air crisp and cold. Despite being the second largest town in Wyoming, Caspar was a mere fifty thousand people—little more than a small town. Shoshone Station itself could hold as many people as this whole town, and then some.

One skeevy-looking fellow passenger pulled a threadbare coat tight around himself and slunk down the street toward some unknown destination. Otherwise, they had the area around Black Hills Coach Station to themselves.

Sophia wore a heavy blue coat that she kept for when she had to meet patients at the surface for her work. It was a Consortium civil-service jacket and plenty warm, even against the cold night. Her legs and face were still cold.

She looked over at her sister. Shaelynn had to be freezing in her lighter jacket, but she didn't show it, intently focusing on her old flip phone. She put to her ear and held a short, whispered conversation.

"Micah," she said as she put it back in her pocket. "Said he will swing by in a moment."

"That's good of him."

"He's not thrilled," Shaelynn cautioned. "About you. I didn't tell him everything. But there were rumors before you left, that you were—"

"Gay?"

Shaelynn nodded. "But you're not, right?"

"I'm transgender. And straight. As a woman."

Her sister's brows scrunched together. "But—"

"Now that I'm a woman, I am only interested in being with a man. Before I left, I was nothing. I didn't do anything with anyone, boy or girl. But it didn't matter what I did or didn't do; I wasn't manly enough, ever. And you know how guys act about that. I got teased plenty. I know what they thought, believed about me."

"But now you're only interested in men. Like that Ban . . ."

"Bankim? Yeah, well he is . . ." Sophia fought for the most appropriate word.

"Hot?" Shaelynn finished. They both broke out laughing.

Sophia nodded enthusiastically as she grinned. "He is. Very hot."

"I can't believe I'm talking to my brother about hot guys," Shaelynn said between laughs. "But it feels right. You know?"

Sophia hugged her. "Thank you. Yeah, Bankim's hot. But it's more than that. He's so serious. It's refreshing. Trust me, when you're like me, you attract attention from the wrong guys, the guys with only one thing on their minds. Bankim isn't like that. He only wants something real."

"Good, you deserve that."

"You don't think it's a horrible sin?" Sophia challenged.

Shaelynn shrugged the question off. "Couldn't say. But I don't think it's for me to judge. Besides, even if it is, being in a relationship with one serious guy has to be less of a sin than sleeping around with a bunch of them."

A battered pickup came roaring down the street and coasted to a stop in front of the building, Shaelynn's boyfriend Micah at the wheel. His face was dark and lined, more masculine, but he was still the same Micah that Sophia had known for years. Shaelynn ran and climbed in the passenger side of the truck, with Sophia on her heels. Moments later, they were roaring off into the night.

"Do you want me to go in?" Micah asked as he pulled up in front of their house.

Shaelynn was looking less certain now. "No," she said. "That will only be one more person for them to be mad at. Besides you know what they will assume if they think you went along."

"Yeah," he replied.

Sophia climbed out of the truck and hoisted her overnight bag. She had returned home with as few possessions as she'd left with. It felt fitting somehow. Shaelynn climbed out and stood next to her. "This is it," she said.

"This is it," Sophia echoed.

Shaelynn had the key. The front room was dark, but there was a light in the kitchen and sounds coming from the den in the back.

"Brevick?" Mom's voice called. "I thought you were staying at Jenny's."

Jenny was Dad's second wife. So it was true; they were going to let Brevick stay with her, and let Mom die. A cold anger burned in Sophia.

"It's me," Shaelynn called out.

There was the sound of feet, and then Mom was there. She'd lost weight and looked sickly, or it might have just been Sophia's mind playing tricks since she knew mom was sick. Mom rushed at Shaelynn and pulled her into a hug. "You came back. I was so worried. Where did you go? Why?" She choked back a sob.

"Look who I brought with me, Mom."

Mom stepped back and looked uncertainly at Sophia. "Zach?"

"Yes, Mom, it's me."

Mom then hugged Sophia, pulling her in tight to her bosom. "Oh my God, Zach! I worried and worried. We all did."

"You and sis," Sophia commented.

Mom let her go and stared at her face. "Same old Zach." She put one hand on Sophia's cheek. She looked around Sophia's face. "Your hair, it's so long."

"That's the way I wear it now."

Mom stared into her face again for a moment but didn't comment further. "So where have you been? We've been worried sick. You're so thin. Your face . . . Are you on drugs?"

Sophia shook her head and frowned. "I'm not on drugs, Mom."

"Sick? Do you have . . .?"

Sophia gulped. She knew what hung at the end of that sentence. "No, Mom. I'm fine. In perfect health."

Her sister intervened. "Zach was on the station, like I said. Remember the packages at Christmas? I could tell them came from the station because of the zip code."

"So that's how you found me," Sophia said, impressed at her sister's attention to detail.

"And you won't believe what he's been doing up there." For a split second, Sophia thought her sister was going to spill the beans about her being transgender. "He's been helping on that special medical unit. Talking about getting training to be a doctor or something. Isn't that great, Mom?"

Mom stared at Sophia. "Seriously?" She shook her head, and the hint of a smile played across her face. "Always said you were smart. Too smart, maybe. Too smart to hang around here and work construction, I guess. I kind of secretly hoped that . . . that you hadn't left because of drugs or some perverted lifestyle. That you just couldn't see yourself doing construction the rest of your life, like your father."

She gripped her mom's shoulder. "I want to be a healer. I want to help people. That's my calling in life. And I'm making it happen to. Shaelynn told me you've been sick." Sophia had a momentary wild hope that she could talk her mother into coming back to the station that very night. That way Sophia could avoid seeing anyone else.

Mom merely looked away and changed the subject. "Are you two hungry?"

Sophia and her sister exchanged a look. Shaelynn gave a shrug. "Famished. Actually." Sophia nodded. They hadn't eaten a meal since the mall in Colorado, and that had been seven, eight hours ago now. They followed their mother into the kitchen, and she dug into the refrigerator for something to serve.

While they ate, they made small talk, nobody mentioning Mom's sickness. Mom asked Sophia dozens of questions about her life since she'd left. Regarding the year between leaving and going to the station, Sophia was vague, stating only that she'd been in Denver most of that time. Shaelynn gave her a sharp look, as though wanting to interrogate her further about that part of her life. But she didn't, thankfully. Regarding her new life on the station, Sophia was much more talkative, more detailed. The three engaged in a lively conversation about the fascinating turn Sophia's life path had taken.