With this segment of Chapter Six of Repairing the Legacy, we continue the serialization of Repairing the Legacy. This is a rough draft work in progress and may not reflect the final form. Time period: set after the ending of The Martiniere Legacy main trilogy, before the Epilogue (for this chapter). I’m breaking longer chapters into sections for readability. This is the third part of Chapter Six. There will be four parts to this chapter.

New to the series? Chapter order:

Return of the Prodigal Son (2 parts)

Conversations and a Dinner (2 parts)

Dancing into Change (2 parts)

Sisterly Compromises (3 parts)

Conspiracies at the Rodeo (3 parts)

PASSING THE BATON

October, 2061

GABE

Gabe was absolutely, fucking exhausted by the end of the testing. Ruby’s was less thorough and resulted in a verdict of no accelerated fading of the anti-aging serum, no cardiac problems. She went to Justine’s house to be with Mikey.

But it was worth the draining fatigue to see the subtle signs of relief on Amy Caruthers’s face when the results came back.

“We can rule out reoccurrence of post-G9 viral syndrome, Gabe,” she said. “No traces of G9 left in your system at all. I threw everything at you while stress testing, which should have brought it out. No remnants in your muscles, none in your nervous system, and your antibodies are high enough that you don’t need a booster vaccination this year. I’d recommend one next year.”

“Well, that’s some good news, at least.” He steeled himself. “And the cardiac issues? Did the serum accelerate them?”

“Unfortunately, yes.”

Then he was doing the right thing. Gabe exhaled. “Please send me this assessment in writing. I need to submit it to the Board.”

“Doing that right now, Gabe.”

They discussed management of his cardiac issues next. Eventually he’d need another bypass operation, but for now—things were not that advanced. Fortunately.

But it meant quarterly doctor visits. More medication. Those chest pains were definitely angina attacks, so he needed to pay attention to them.

“You’re already pretty active on the ranch, and your diet is, frankly, damned good, as I remember from visits,” Dr. Amy said in conclusion. “Not a lot of changes there, Gabe. Meds and monitoring. Reduce your stress load. We’ll see how long we can keep surgery at bay, all right?”

And keep you alive went unsaid. But Gabe was thinking that.

#

He fell asleep on the way to Justine’s house.

Ruby met him outside. He took her into his arms, burying his nose once more in that beloved juncture of neck and shoulder.

“No post-G9 likelihood,” he said finally. “The cardiac issues are accelerated by the serum, which is fading.”

“Oh, Gabe.”

“Meds and monitoring right now,” he sighed, kissing her.

Gabe ended up falling asleep again on the deck after dinner, rousing only slightly when Mikey climbed into his lap, curling up to sleep. Ruby shook them both awake at bedtime.

He was just so damned tired. Had it always been this way, or was he finally admitting to the fatigue?

#

To Gabe’s surprise and pleasure, Justine rented a yacht for a Saturday trip to Anacapa Island to swim, snorkel, and lounge. More pleasant memories from childhood—taking a day off like this was another thing that Angelica and Saul had loved to do.

Fatigue still pulled at Gabe, and he tired easily. But he managed to show off a little bit for Ruby and Mikey, after a few tentative dives to reassure himself that he could still do it before launching himself into the ocean from higher spots on the yacht. Gabe’s last dive was the highest yet. A thrill raced through him as he smoothly slid into the water, easily angling up to the surface and breast stroking back to the yacht.

Time to quit, before he got too tired.

But he still was able to dive.

No more cliff diving, though, like he had done as a young man. The top deck of the yacht was high enough.

“Wow,” Ruby said as Gabe ambled onto the shaded outdoor deck to find a towel. “I didn’t realize you could dive like that.”

“Not something I’d do in Thunder.” Gabe toweled his hair—he wore a t-shirt to cover the scars on his back and chest from Philip’s beatings. Ruby was still the only one besides his doctors who got to see them. “But Tine and I grew up doing this regularly. Mom and—Saul—would take us out for the day like this, several times a month. Me, Louisa, Tine, Serg. Saul taught us. I used to dive off of cliffs as well, when I was young and wild.”

“Do you think I’ll be able to do that?” Mikey asked. “It looks like fun.”

“Not right away, and probably not the cliff diving. Listen to Tine. And Nick. I did a lot of low dives before I started doing the high stuff.”

Gabe kissed Ruby, then stretched out in the sun to let his t-shirt dry. Donald joined him.

Ruby stayed out of the water and out of the sun for the most part—she had never been a swimmer. Gabe and Donald finally tired of the sun and lounged with her in the open but covered deck area. Soon enough, Justine and Mikey joined them. Mikey eventually went below for an extended nap in one of the bedrooms. Justine curled up with Donald, and Ruby with Gabe on the shaded outer deck. Eliot and Nick retreated elsewhere.

“You know,” Ruby murmured at one point. “This is the most stereotypic rich person thing I’ve ever done.”

“I’m slacking,” Gabe said. “We should be doing more of this. We have this damned fortune; let’s use it to make our lives more pleasant once in a while.” He kissed her hair. “I promise you, my love. More goofing off and less work in our future.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” she said, giving him that look that was purely his warrior wife.

Gabe didn’t answer but nuzzled her again, suddenly all too aware of time running out.

*************************

Like what you’ve read so far? Check out the other stories in The Martiniere Legacy—all links here, both Amazon and other sources.

Justine Fixes Everything: Reflections on Mortality is now available at Amazon, Apple, Barnes and Noble, and Kobo!

What’s it about?

EVEN THE MOST POWERFUL PEOPLE HAVE TO START SOMEWHERE....

Over the years, Justine Martiniere has become the fixer for the Martinieres. Have a problem? Go to Justine to get it remedied.

But it wasn't always that way.

First, Justine needed to escape the abuses of her father, Philip. She didn't expect to fall in love with the man she married, Donald Atwood. But she did–and then she faced the choice between remaining married to Donald, or stopping her sociopathic, megalomaniac father.

Justine Fixes Everything is in part the unusual love story of Justine and Donald–and in part the saga of her rise to power, viewed in retrospect as she tells the history to Philip's clone Mike, as he recovers from surgery. It's about what she sacrificed to become powerful—and, at the same time, how that past comes to haunt the challenges she faces toward the end of her life.

Want more? How about an alternative Martiniere world where Ruby and Gabe meet in a different manner and meet more challenges?

ANOTHER MARTINIERE LEGACY STORY ON KINDLE VELLA—A DIFFERENT LIFE—WHAT IF?

https://www.amazon.com/kindle-vella/story/B09LH72GQG

One of the turning points of the Martiniere Legacy series is the death of Gabriel Martiniere's family in a plane crash when Gabe was twelve. That put Gabe's biological father, Philip, into the leadership of the Martiniere Group and the Martiniere Family, and expedited Philip's megalomaniac ambitions. But what if that crash hadn't happened? What would Gabe's relationship with Ruby, the love of his life, look like?

Billionaire nerd with a conscience, unlucky at love, striving to overcome the shadows of his past while trying to find agritech means to fight climate change.

Former rodeo queen, just trying to get her degree in agricultural robotics and make her mark on the world while trying to find agritech means to fight climate change, also unlucky at love and struggling with a shadowy past.

Can Ruby and Gabe successfully negotiate the complexities of the Martiniere Group and launch Ruby’s world-changing biobots without interference from competitors, while maintaining a relationship?

UPDATES ON A DIFFERENT LIFE HAPPEN EVERY WEDNESDAY, THROUGH DECEMBER, THEN MONDAY-WEDNESDAY-FRIDAY STARTING IN 2022. EPISODES CURRENTLY SCHEDULED THROUGH JANUARY.