The Ja'sa
By Selma McCrory
Copyright 2003

Katie looked up as an elderly human man approached her. She wondered what he was doing in a restricted area, but then she spotted the visitor's badge. "Hello?" she asked.

"I'm Ryan. I'm waiting for Trip." The man smiled. "You are?"

"Katie."

"Katie?" Ryan asked. "Pleased to meet you. I'm Trip's grandfather." He studied her. "You don't look surprised."

"Trip said one of his grandparents is human," Katie offered.

"Well," Ryan chuckled, "Biologically, anyway. Ask my family and suddenly I get green hair."

Katie nodded. "How did you end up being adopted by a Xybrian family, anyway?" she asked, the curiosity getting the best of her.

"That, my dear, is a very long story." He smiled. "Got a minute?"

Katie glanced at the clock. "Or two," she agreed.

"Okay." Ryan settled down on the chair. "Happened before I was born. Y'see, my mom was... unconventional, even by human standards. Took a liking to a Xybrian named Nil. Don't know why. Had some good times together. Well, Nil had the misfortune to be on a ship that exploded, and his parents learned that my mom and he had been... well, intimate. There's a particularly nasty Xybrian custom that kicks in when that happens."

Katie leaned against the wall. "What's that?" she asked, trying to keep the man speaking.

"Well, mom had this boyfriend. They... well, they were married for a while, and I came along. Dad disappeared after I was born. Anyway, Nil's folks found out about mom when I was about six years old. They came to her, told her about the custom, and demanded she rename me Lonri. That's what male kids under this tradition are named, anyway. Mom fought them. They demanded custody. My mom and her family fought them over that. Mom lost, so shortly after my eighth birthday Mom and a couple of law enforcement officers saw me off on a ship bound for Xybria."

Katie nodded.

"I got to Xybria, got handed to... well, Nil's parents, and they took me home. I became Lonri instead of Ryan, and I suddenly got a lot less active. Y'see, ja'sa like me... we're not active folk. I had a terrible time doing the sitting in the room they wanted me to do and I was never allowed outside except in the presence of my family. I was a hellion to be sure. Eventually, I got old enough to marry, and I had the luck to meet my wife, Elli. She was an avid jogger and she wanted a partner... well, it was better than sitting on my butt all day like my family wanted to."

"But why did they want you to...."

"Sit on my butt? It's all part of the ja'sa custom, m'dear." Ryan was off again, spinning through memories. "'Supposed to be because we have one purpose in life, substituting for the grandkids the grieving parents will never have, continuing on the family line, and be honored the rest of our lives for upholding that. But the main purpose is to make it so ugly that you'd never want to take a lover like my mom did. I can't hold a job. I can't go outside. I just hang around the house, don't do chores... I'm a drain on the family. My mom's lover's family, because they're the ones that take care of me the rest of my life. Kinda makes people think twice about the lover thing."

"I would," Katie said.

"Most would," Ryan said. "But... I'm still Ryan, and that's what counts. And I've been able to do some good, at least with Trip. The least tradition-bound of my grandkids. At least he's happy." Ryan's eyes were distant. "He has a life."

Katie nodded. Ryan seemed to snap back to the present. "Or at least I hope so. Does he? Is he?"

"Yes," Katie found herself responding without hesitation.

"Good," Ryan said. "You gotta break the rules sometimes." He chuckled. "You aren't the Kate he was going for at the academy, were you?"

"Going for?" Katie echoed, frowning.

"Couple of relatives said... oh, never mind," Ryan said. "You'll have to forgive me. I'm a bit known as an armchair scholar. Had to be to keep from going mad. Anyway, could you do something for me?"

"What is it?" Katie asked.

"Well... Trip's sometimes a little lacking in resolve, and I know he wouldn't be happy with the girl my son and his wife have got picked out for him. So... if he doesn't seem like he can say no, can you say no for him?"

"I can try," Katie said, knowing that she could do only that.

"Thanks," Ryan said. "That means a lot to me." And she could see it in his eyes that it did. "I'd better be going before my kids scold me for disappearing. I'll have to meet you later... hopefully at some point in the future."

With that, he left her staring after her in the corridor.

-end