She-What hears

the crystalline splashes

of laser-processed water,

and the restrained buoyancy

of market news

as she finds her father,

Dauntius Spode,

the Supreme Executive,

rinsing off the hull

of his one-man sailboat

in his boathouse.

He is dressed in a navy-blue shirt,

tan shorts, and worn gym shoes

without socks,

as he steps through the puddles

of hose water

and peers

at the glistening white

female form

of the boat.

“Hello father,” She-What says,

interrupting

the Supreme Executive’s thoughts.

He looks up from what he’s doing

and smiles.

“Hello, Adena,” her father says.

He steps across the wet concrete

and turns off the hose.

“Thank you for coming tonight.

I know there are a lot of

two-faced assholes

who come to these dinners.”

She-What smiles mischievously

at her father.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way,”

she jokes.

The Supreme Executive chuckles.

“They suit their purposes,

but like all machines,

they must be maintained.”

He turns off the news

and She-What kisses him on the cheek.

“How are you, dad?”

“Tired,” he answers.

“I’m sorry I failed in my mission,”

She-What tells him.

Her father does not meet her gaze.

“There will be time

to deal with that problem

later.”

He rubs the back of his neck,

which she can see

is a bit sunburned.

My father looks old,

her mind says.

He has gotten old.

“I know,” she says.

“I just don’t want

to disappoint you.”

Her father smiles,

but says nothing.

This is something she has noticed

these past few months,

a new sentimentality

for a man

notoriously cruel.

“Adena,” her father says,

abruptly,

“You couldn’t possibly

disappoint me.

You have surpassed all my expectations

as a child, and as a woman.”

She-What blushes,

feeling pride rush through her.

But it is unusual

for her father to be so...

casually

kind.

“You’re going to make me cry,”

She-What murmurs.

“I apologize,” her father says,

“I just don’t want you to doubt

my affection.”

“I don’t, father.”

“Because, Adena,” he says,

his eyes lost in a corner

of the boathouse,

“I’m not going to be around forever.”

“Don’t say that, Dad!” She-What pleads.

“You’re going to be around

for a long time!”

Dauntius Spode frowns

and chuckles

at the same time.

He bluntly changes the subject.

“Did you see that fire

at the Sector 1 reactor today?”

“Yes, I did,” She-What replies.

“Do they know what caused it?”

The Supreme Executive took a breath.

“It was a bomb.

Remotely detonated.”

“A bomb?”

“Yes.”

“But who would —”

“I don’t know.

Not yet.”

“No one has ever been that brazen,”

She-What points out.

“Not even Otai.”

“No, not since the war,” he agrees.

“But it wasn’t Otai.”

“How do you know?”

Her father’s face clenches in thought.

“I just know,” he says.

“The treaty is intact.

For now.”

“The news is saying it was

some kind of accident,”

She-What says.

“Of course it is,”

the Supreme Executive tells her,

“We need time to plan

our move.”

“But we don’t know who did it?”

“No,” her father tells her.

“Nothing is clear.”

“Father,”

She-What says,

but she does not know

how to express

what she has been feeling,

the words tumble out of her head,

revealing an anxiety

that is so alien to her.

“I...” she continues.

The door between the mansion

and the boathouse

sweeps open.

“Dauntius...”

It’s Melissan Spode,

the Supreme Executive’s wife

and She-What’s stepmother.

“Your guests are missing you...”

She-What’s father grimaces

and nods.

“I’ll be right there, hon.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it, darling,”

Melissan says,

as she pulls the door shut,

never glancing

at She-What.

“Well,”

The Supreme Executive sighs.

“I better change my clothes.”

“Okay, dad.”

“We’ll talk later, alright?”

He smiles in a way

she has never seen before.

“Alright.”

Dauntius Spode

exits out through the door,

leaving She-What in the boathouse.

She can hear the water dripping

from the sailboat,

the distant hum of the party,

and the last calls of the birds

for the day.

She knows something is wrong

with her father.

She knows something is wrong

with their world.

She is all alone.

to be continued....