Wecontinued on our trek. J and I were the last in the group, several IPs behind therest, but J made sure we didn’t lag too far.
“J,how did you all start living again after being de-frozen?”
“Whatdo you mean?”
“Iam curious: how do people rebuild the society when they have nothing? No power,no clothes, no food, no living quarters… not being where or when you thoughtyou’d be.”
Jgave a half smile that didn’t reach his eyes.
“Itwas difficult. Really difficult. Some people had realissues adjusting to reality. Psychologically, it was very challenging. We lost somepeople then…
“Also,there were several dozen people who went into cryo because they had a terminaldisease. And so they died soon after we woke up… ”
Therewas silence for a few moments. All I heard were leaves cracking under our feet,birds chirping in the trees, and faint talking a few IPs up ahead.
“Wehad to pool all the knowledge from each and every one of us, figuring out howto build stuff, how to hunt, how to grow crops without any power. You would notbelieve it”—he smiled now—“but a lot of information came from thebooks people had read in their lives before the freezing. And luckily, in a lotof the fiction literature, a lot of the information was accurate. Like, one ofthe girls read some cheesy love-story books before the freeze, and apparentlythe story happened in a prehistoric time—a time before power, when peoplelived… well, I guess they lived like us now. Anyway, in that book, a lot of thestuff was described really well. It was really lucky that she read it, and alsothat she loved it enough to remember it so well.”
Withouta pause, he continued.
“Butsome people also had direct knowledge either from their hobbies or rememberingstories from their parents or grandparents. Patrick, for example, was a world-classarcher. I think he was even at the last held Olympic Games.”He looked down, slowly shaking his head to remember. “I’m not sure, I need toask him. At any rate, he knew how to make the first weapons for us.
“Franceshad a jewelry shop. Not just selling the jewelry, but actually welding andmaking the jewelry pieces. Spoons and forks—and knives, for that matter—wehave thanks to her. She did an amazing job at teaching us, although I’m sureshe didn’t enjoy it as much as making jewelry.” He smiled at the thought.
“Allof this hands-on knowledge was important; in fact, it was essential to asociety,” J continued. “But what I think really pulled people together was Mike’sbonfire sessions. He is a real leader, although you wouldn’t think it the firsttime you see him.”
Jwas looking at the ground now, almost talking to himself. “He really showed usthe incredible lottery we all won. The fact that we’d actually survived afterall that had happened to Earth, and what a real adventure it was to start a newlife, the way we actually wanted it, because most of us were not very happybefore cryo…that’s why we all decided to freeze in the first place.” He turnedto look at me with a half smile.
“So…what made you not very happy?”
Hissmile broadened. “Curious, aren’t you?”
“Yes.Senthiens always are.”
“Letme tell you about it some other time.”
“ButI would like to hear it now.”
Hemoved his gaze away from me, his smile fading. He sighed and said, “It’s just… not the happiest part of my life, and Idon’t want to dig out those feelings again. They’re past, that’s all.”
“Doesit have to do with a woman?” I surprised myself with this question.
Jlooked at me, the side of his lips twitching slightly upward. “Hmm, this doesn’tsound like Senthien curiosity. It sounds more like Human curiosity.”
Ilooked down.
“Yes,there was a woman. Monica. She was my wife… but she is gone now.”
“Iam sorry.”
Ididn’t ask him for more details, but he told me anyway. “We… we froze together,but when we woke up, she wasn’t here. And it wasn’t just her. There werehundreds of other people that went cryo, but…” He shrugged his shoulders. “Idon’t know, something went wrong, and they were not with us anymore when wewoke up.”
“It…must have been very difficult for you,” I said.
“Itwas, for a few years. But it’s all right now. Time heals all wounds.” He triedto smile, but his eyes were still sad.
“Doyou miss her?”
“Idid miss her… a lot. I loved her very much.”
Therewas a moment of silence again, and I wished I hadn’t brought up the subject.
“But,she is in my past,” he continued. “You are my present. And my future, if youwant to be,” he said, glancing at me sideways, weighing my reaction.
Mylips parted into a huge smile. I was speechless. And overwhelmed.
Hemirrored me, broadening his lips to the limit, until there was almost no morespace for the cheek between his lips and ears.
Hemade a step forward, then turned toward me and offered me his hand to take it.I looked at it for a moment, and then reached out with my own, sliding it intohis rough, warm palm.
Wewalked, holding hands, not talking, every now and then sneaking a look at eachother and smiling whenever we caught each other’s eyes.
Iwas happy.
And I don’t think I have ever been ashappy as right now.
Chapter 16
Inthe middle of the day, we reached a wide-open space where the grass grew thick,completely covering the ground. Peter called out for a break, and we sat downin a circle. Simon handed over plates and Patrick sliced bread and dry meat. Wewere all hungry and ate in silence.
Iwas sitting next to J, and I didn’t mind the silence at all. I had all thesensual input I could wish for: his warmth, his scent, hiscloseness.
Rickfinished first. He left his plate on the ground.
“Dora,”Rick said, still chewing his last bite, “I wanted to ask you about the News. I’veheard several things from our Jumpers, but I can’t really make a story out ofit.”
Helooked at the others for approval, then looked at meand continued, “What do you know about it?”
“Whatwould you like to hear?”
“Well,what was the News about? I’ve heard something about solar
