The softball-sized fireball streaked straight at Ashley’s head. She darted to the left just in time for the fiery missile to sizzle by her and strike the stone wall. She looked across the large cave and could see the dark wizard preparing another spell. The crimson symbols on his dark-green robes glowed with the intensity of his new incantation. Ashley caught another glimpse of the swirling purple orb in the mage’s hand. She knew his magic was amplified by the orb, and that she must either separate him from the orb or destroy it. She made her decision and stretched out her left hand. She then focused her strength and energy into her outstretched fingertips.
Before the wizard could attack again, a bolt of pure white electricity burst forth from the tips of Ashley’s fingers. The charge hit the robed figure—the force knocking him off his feet. As the man flew backward, the orb fell from his hand. Ashley readied another bolt and ran towards the fallen wizard. But, as she reached him, he disappeared into a mist leaving the magic orb unprotected.
Pleased with herself, Ashley picked up the glowing sphere and studied it closely. Embedded within the transparent shell was an ever-changing design of fine silver threads. The interior of the orb was filled with thick deep-purple and charcoal smoke. Or was it liquid? Tendrils of the colors effortlessly slid around each other, constantly changing shape—it was almost as if they were alive. As the woman gazed into the orb, she could make out pulses of amber light—like the soft lightning of a warm summer storm. A smile crept across her face, and she opened her eyes.
Ashley Kingston saw the holosim timepiece floating above her bed. It read, “2626 September 13:0727.” She awoke right on time, like always. She looked over at her husband, who was also just waking up.
“I’m sorry about last night,” Arthur sighed, “Can we talk about it some more?” He looked expectantly at his wife as she rose from the bed. Instead of answering his question, she stood naked, with her back to him, and began unbraiding her hair.
Ashley was born in Lunar Habitat 4, 151-years ago. She chose to stop aging at 28, and so had a 5’2″, 120-pound attractive figure. Her parents had both been born on Earth, from Chinese ancestry, so she retained the beautiful Asian features. Her hair was one of these more striking features. It was straight, black, and reached the top of her butt when not braided. Not surprisingly, it had been her luxurious hair that first caught Arthur’s eye.
Arthur Kingston, on the other hand, was much taller than his wife. At 6’2″ tall and weighing only 145 pounds, he was also very thin. His physique and pale skin were the only obvious signs of his half-Martian ancestry. It was over 14 generations ago that his father’s family had migrated from Earth to Mars. Arthur was an attractive man, with light-brown hair and hazel eyes. At 115-years old, he was also younger than his wife. But, he appeared older because he chose to stop aging at 32.
As Ashley finished unbraiding her hair, she asked, “SANDI, are the kids up yet?” This gave her a few more seconds to consider her husband’s question.
From nowhere in particular came a soft female voice, “Yes, Mrs. Kingston.”
Ashley finally turned to face her husband. “I’m sorry too. I don’t want to fight, but having another child is important to me.” She felt herself becoming defensive again and forced herself to relax. Then she turned and walked to the bathroom, stepping into the sonic shower.
Arthur followed and calmly stated, “Like l said last night, I would like to have a baby again too, but I’d rather wait until Ben and Crystal are out on their own.” Arthur paused while the shower was cleaning Ashley’s face and teeth, knowing that she couldn’t respond. “I’ll tell you what,” he said with the confidence of having come to a decision. “We’ll be at Terra Nova in about seven months. Let’s give ourselves a month to settle in, then we’ll talk about having another kid. A lot will be different then, and… maybe having a baby then will be the perfect time.”
” You do realize,” Ashley began as the shower turned off and she stepped out, “that it could take up to two months for us to be fertile again? That means it’d be ten months before I’d get pregnant.”
As Arthur passed his wife to enter the shower, he replied, “I know, but isn’t it better to wait until we both agree before we have the injections? I don’t want to worry about you getting pregnant before we’re ready.” Arthur then activated the shower and set it to his normal cleaning cycle. The shower hummed as the alternating sound waves cleaned, exfoliated, and disinfected. After the 60-second shower, Arthur stepped out to see his wife dressing. “Well?” he prompted.
“You know I hate it when you’re being so practical,” Ashley said with a resigned smile, “but you’re right.”
“Just remember,” Ashley added as she walked up to her husband, reached up to his face, and grabbed his cheek, “I’m gonna hold you to that.” She squeezed his cheek and shook his face gently, “One month after we land. Not a day longer.” She let go of his cheek to finish dressing.
Arthur grinned, and with affection and exaggerated submissiveness, slowly said, “Yes, dear.”
Arthur began to dress, and then Ashley excitedly said, “I have a great idea for a new holosim sculpture. It came to me in a dream last night.”
“I’m assuming I’ll have to wait for you to make it before I get to know anything about it?” Arthur already knew her answer.
“Of course, silly,” Ashley said as she made the final adjustments to her outfit. “But, since I love you sooo much, I will give you a hint.” Thinking of the orb in her dream, she said, “It’s round, and purple, and it’ll be an animated piece.”
“Let me guess, a singing grape,” Arthur said dryly.
Ashley laughed and headed for the door of their bedroom, which led to the common room of their small 3-beroom quarters. As she passed Arthur she smiled mischievously, smacked his butt, and said in a sing-song voice, “Maybe.”
Out in the common room, food and drink were on the table, and Crystal had already started eating.
Crystal Kingston was the youngest of the family of four. She was three weeks from her 16th birthday. She was slightly taller than her mother, and like her mother, had Asian features. However, Crystal kept her straight, black hair at shoulder length.
“Are you studying while you’re eating again?” Ashley said as she entered the common room.
Crystal looked up at her mother and swallowed the mouthful she was chewing. “Yeah,” came her reply. She pointed to her tablet and said, “I have out-of-home schooling today at the freshwater tanks. I want to make sure I have all the species right.” She looked back down at the tablet, and before taking another bite said, “Oh, you wanted me to remind you I’d be out today. So…”
“Thanks for the two-minute reminder.” Ashley smiled to herself as she thought, “Teenagers.” She sat down and uncovered her food. Glancing up at the holosim timepiece hovering over the table, she noticed it was 0739. “Ben,” she said toward her son’s room, “please eat before school. You only have 20 minutes.” No response came from Ben’s room, which was not unusual. ~
Benjamin Kingston was 17-years old, and like his sister, took his looks from his mother. His black hair was kept very short, and regular exercising had given his body a toned look. The only physical feature he had from his father was height. At 5’9″, Ben was taller than most of the boys his age.
Ben and Arthur came into the common room at the same time. “Good morning, guys,” Arthur offered to his children as he sat down to eat.
“Morning,” responded Crystal without looking up.
“Dad,” Ben started excitedly, “I’m going to be starting quantum warp field theory today. Can you help me with the software modeling?” Ben began eating rapidly while waiting for his father’s response.
“Remind me this afternoon, and I’ll make some time. But… slow down Ben, or you’ll choke.”
“Mmph,” was Ben’s reply. But he started chewing a little slower.
“Ben,” Arthur continued, “I’m not going to go over the modeling with you until you have a good grasp of the math.”
A soft female voice interrupted, “Crystal’s transport will arrive in 90 seconds at shuttle platform E1.”
“Thanks, SANDI,” Crystal said as she gathered her things and stood up from the table.
“Why do you insist on thanking a machine? ” Arthur asked while shaking his head.
“Because it’s polite.” Then Crystal added, “My mother taught me that.” She playfully stuck her tongue out at her father, shared a conspiratorial smile with her mother, then turned and left the apartment.
Crystal walked briskly down the corridors and made it to the platform about 30 seconds before the shuttle arrived. She watched as the 8-car transport slid noiselessly onto the platform. After a moment, a few overnight workers exited, and then a dozen people entered along with Crystal. She sat down in one of the 30 cushioned seats and began to look over her marine catalog one more time.
After another minute passed, a warning tone sounded, and the shuttle doors closed. The automated shuttle took off silently and quickly, but the riders would never have known they were in motion unless they were looking out the window.
The shuttle made two more stops before exiting the apartment complex and heading towards the city center.
“Ship-wide alert,” came a calm female voice from the overhead. “Ship wide alert. Please evacuate public areas and calmly proceed to any designated safety zone.”
The message repeated as Crystal heard a worried passenger say, “I’ve never heard that before. Something must be wrong with the ship.”
Crystal looked up from her tablet as the shuttle lights flickered off.
To be continued…
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