“Howcome women do not get pregnant, then? Or to rephrase it, how do women get pregnant?”
“Descendantsdon’t get pregnant.”
“Why?Aren’t you—I mean, Descendant women—able to carry a baby?”
“Ido not know the details, but from the information I have, I can tell you thatthe embryos are fully developed extracorporeally.”
“But…do you—ah, Descendant woman—have female internal organs, likeuterus and ovaries?”
Iquickly searched through my nanoprobes. “Yes. The organs are there. But theirfunction has been lost.”
“Oh,”he said, an indecipherable expression on his face.
“Thisinformation is important for you. Why?”
“Ah,”he said and waved his hand, “old habits die hard.” Then he smiled a crookedsmile and looked at me.
“What?”I asked.
“Yourtent or mine?”
Iblinked. “I do not understand.”
Heleaned in and kissed me on my nose. “You’re so sweet, you know that? Where doyou want to sleep tonight? I am ready to set up one tent for us, not two.”
Iunderstood and smiled. “All right. My tent, then.”
“Riseand shine, everyone!” We heard Peter shouting outside.
“What?”Frank moaned from his tent.
“Thesun’s not out yet!” Now Rick was complaining.
“Itis,” said Peter, “a little bit.”
Ismiled at that, my eyes still closed.
“Ifwe hit the road now,” Peter continued, “we’ll be home by late afternoon.”
Iheard J shifting his position next to me. I opened my eyes and turned to lookat him. He was already looking at me.
“Goodmorning, sunshine!”
Sunshine… Sweet. “Good morning. How did yousleep?”
“Perfect.I wish we could lie here longer.”
“Metoo, but I think it’s time to go.”
Iplaced my hands on the ground to push myself to the tent door, but J moved hishands to my arms to stop me. He looked at me for a long moment without words,and then he moved his gaze to my lips.
Wheneverhe did that, it raised my heartbeat in an instant because I knew exactly whathe was going to do next. It had nothing to do with my Senthien Visionairecapabilities, but everything to do with that fine and instinctive premonition Humansseem to have.
Hepropped himself up on his elbow and then bent forward to kiss me. We stayedlike that, his lips on mine as if glued together by some invisiblemicrogravitational force. Then we both smiled, our lips still touching, each ofus knowing what was on the other one’s mind.
Ilooked at him again and said, “We should go. I wouldn’t want them to peek inhere because we’re delaying the start.”
“Yeah,yeah… you’re right.”
Thenhe looked at the floor for a moment and then back atme.
“Westill have time to try the Uni speed, you know.” He smiled a mischievous grinand winked at me.
Ishook my head, but smiled as I said, “I prefer the Earth speed.”
Aftera midmorning break, we continued our trek. Although we now walked in the shadeof a dense forest, it was still extremely warm. J and I walked hand in hand afew IPs behind the rest, hearing a lot of good-spirited talking and laughingahead.
“Whatare you thinking about?” J asked, seeing me watching the group ahead.
“I’mstill wondering about the cryo-preservation,” I said and then looked at him.“How can a person living in a truly life-rich world, with no two trees thesame, with no path symmetrical, with magnificent animals all around, believe thereis no other choice for them but to stop living for the next hundred years? Whatcould be so bad? Apart from the medical cases…”
WhatI really wanted to know was: Why had hechosen this path?
Iwanted to know, but I was scared to find out. J looked at me and smiled, butdid not answer.
“J,why did you freeze?” I finally asked.
Helooked down and sighed. Then he raised his gaze to look at our path and said, “Iwas among the people who hoped there would be a medical miracle in a hundred years.”
Istopped, a sharp stab in my solar plexus. “Why?” I looked at him.
“Itdoesn’t matter anymore.” He smiled sadly, squeezed my hand once, and continuedwalking.
“Idon’t understand. Do you need some kind of a cure?”
“No,no!” He shook his head. “I’m fine.”
“But?”
Hesighed and his face saddened even more.
Hetook a deep breath, held it in for a few seconds, and then began. “Monica… Monicaand I wanted to have children, but we couldn’t. Everything we tried had failed,so we decided to jump forward time. We hoped that in a hundred years there wouldbe some medical miracle that would enable us to have children. So that’s whatwe did.”
Iremembered our talk the previous evening, and how he wanted to know more aboutpregnancies in Uni worlds. I now realized he wasn’t interested in the pregnancyof Descendant women. He wanted to know about me.
And I… I lowered my gaze. “I am… sorry,” I said, answeringhis unspoken thought.
“Hey!”He looked at me, then hugged me with one arm and squeezed me closer to him.“That’s past. It’s time for a new beginning.”
Andat that moment, my breath was ripped out of my lungs and my sight blinded, a whiteveil concealing the real world around me.
AVision: fast, unanticipated, and so strong that the only thing I could do was watch the scene unfold before me.
Long red hair. She’s hugging J, covering hisface with her kisses.
What does his face tell me?
Happiness. Surprise. Shock, maybe? I cannot tell.
Who is she?
I know this.
Monica.
Why is she here?
I know this too.
I brought her here.
“I can’t believe all that’s happened…” Her red hair bouncesas she shakes her head in excitement. “Jonathan, I am so happy that you arehere, and I am here, and we are together.” She hugs him tight, folding herhands around his neck. He hugs her back, her red curls partially trapped underhis arms.
Jonathan.
I frown. I never realized J wasn’t his full name.
Jonathan.
I look at him again. His face is bright withexcitement and joy, as is everyone else’s. They are talking excitedly.
But I don’t hear anything anymore. Silence on themoving lips of the people I had grown to love.
I feel it, deep in my chest. The pain. Wild firing ofthe synapses in my solar plexus—breaking my heart.
Iinhale sharply. My lungs, devoid of air for too long, hurt sharply as I push theair inside. My eyes are stinging.
J’shands are on my shoulders, his expression worried as he looks at my face.
“Dora!Dora, what’s the matter? Are you okay?” He comes close to me, moves a strand ofhair off my face,
