The team gathered for lunch around a long, narrow metal table on the observation deck of Station 49-Beta. Light streamed in through thick tinted, plate glass windows. Through the glass, the corner of Saturn’s belt glinted in the distant sunlight. I took my plate of food to the table. The reflective surface of the table revealed muscular arms in company overalls and a pointed beard. I brushed back long, greying locks with one hand. Grabbing salt, I liberally covered it. Synthetic food supplements again for lunch. Tall and graceful, Nomen sat down beside me, shifting her short, cropped hair behind an ear. "I want to have a baby,” she said to no one in particular. That got our attention. Futura’s brown eyes widened, fork frozen in mid-air. Hogarth stared. Sirius’ head abruptly surfaced from his hologram. The rest of the team sat in stupefied silence. I watched her from the corner of my eyes. Nomen eyes sparkled, that impish grin on her face. Her hair bobbed around her face as she looked around the table. I sincerely doubted the crew knew what she meant. We both emerged in the late twenty-third century when concepts like birth were not such a distant memory. Now conception was genetically engineered and the resultant fetus grown in a birthing tank until it was time to emerge. Each tank contained a group of twenty. "What's a baby?" asked Tranquilus confirming my suspicion. "You don't want to know,” I said, stabbing my fork at his meat supplement. "Not while you're eating at any rate." Nomen banged her fist on the table. The plates jumped. “I don’t understand,” she said. "Why is it such a big deal?" "It's not that it's a big deal,” I said. "No one has done it in eons, that's all. Physically we're quite different from our ancestors." "I think it's a splendid idea,” said Mazlo. She always secretly admired Nomen, though lacking her spontaneity. Nomen was the rebel. She was not. Together they ganged up on Sirius and anyone else who got in their way. Sirius’ lip curled up in a grimace, revealing pearly white incisors. "It's disgusting,” he said, figuring it out. "Why would you even want to, Nomen? I mean it's so bestial and primal." "Shut up, Sirius. The rest of you are just as bad." She got up abruptly leaving her plate for the others and stormed from the table. I let her go. There was no sense talking to her now. She would have to cool down first. I sighed, watching her go, then turned my attention to Sirius. "You shouldn't have said that. You know how sensitive she can be." He waved a calloused hand at her empty seat. "She's always throwing fits. Last year she said she wanted to be a Christian, remember." "I know. She's difficult. We just have to be patient, that's all.”
DownloadThe year started well enough for me. Back in those days things seemed so simple like a dream almost now. I lived near the beach and it suited me well. After work I liked to surf and swim and had couldn’t be happier. There was romance too with the girl in the coffee shop. If I concentrate real hard I can almost picture her face and beautiful body. There aren’t many of us now. We can’t be sure but most would not have survived the transition too well and hanging on for vengeance did not seem a sufficient reason to live. We have few children amongst us and those that are find it hard to cope, many die in childhood. Sometimes I am amazed at the fact that I have made it this far. I never really thought I would but I am a survivor and that kept me going. There is always talk of places where men and women live freely and don’t fear them. Maybe Europe is getting back on its feet. But it’s only talk and it soon fizzles out. I don’t know why God turned his back on us. Were we really so bad as to deserve this? I have been asked by the commander to set down in writing what happened as best as I can recollect it. I am the wordsmith and it seemed appropriate that the task should come to me. Everyone remembers what they were doing when the ship first appeared on our skies. It was enormous. Our astronomous calculated that is was a mile in diameter and over four miles long. Of course they would have known much about us from monitoring our broadcasts. They knew of homicidal divisons and our competitiveness and our fractious polity. Where they came from we never found out. Of course we were wary and when their ship attained orbit around Earth our leaders were very concerned. There had been no communication from the vessel despite constant efforts to establish contact. I was a teacher back then and I taught in a small, mixed school down the Peninsula. I remember being glued to the TV set. It was like the greatest show ever to be on television.
Download"Seamus sends his love," Father Garvey read in his slow, ponderous voice "and says to tell ye all he's in excellent health and will send a Mass card on the anniversary." "Oh, God bless his heart, father" said Ma, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye. That boy was the greatest son a mother could wish for. It's hard, father, what with all the boys in America. Only Jimmy left now. " Ma leaned back caught on a wave of emotion. Father Garvey took a sip of his tea. "I understand he's doing quite well, over there,” he said. "Oh, yes, father. I always knew he would amount to something, not like this lay-about, here " she nodded at Jimmy, “getting into trouble, calling me terrible names, Father. Oh, I'm sorely tried, I can tell." "Jimmy wouldn't be thinking of joining, Seamus, would he?" "God bless me, no, father. He would never think of leaving his home. Would you, Jimmy?" Jimmy didn't answer. His mouth was too full of pie. He took a big slurp of tea and belched loudly. "Oh, Jimmy, have some manners. Don't mind him, father. You wouldn't leave your mother, all on her own, would you Jimmy?" Ma persisted. "Of course he wouldn't, father." "Quite so, quite so.” said Father Garvey. Ma never used the big room now unless Father Garvey or some other dignitary came to visit. It had a cold, unlived in smell. There were never many visitors. Seamus used to have friends over. But Seamus had been in New York for a year now and all his friends were in America too. "Well, come again father, " said Ma, showing him to the door "and thanks for reading the letter, my eyes aren't what they used to be, you know."
DownloadA pale winter’s morning light streamed in the attic window. Julianne sat, back straight, on a wooden stool at her dresser. She rapidly combed long blonde locks with a pearl covered brush. She paused while one painted finger nail reached to scratch her jutting, prominent nose. Her white bed covers lay tossed back hanging down to one side beyond a wooden wardrobe spilled clothes out onto the floor. The floorboards creaked as she rocked back and forwards on her stool. Every so often she glanced slyly in the mirror. Now to make herself beautiful. Her only addition was mascara. She arose standing tall in her five foot ten inches. From the wardrobe she chose a sequined pair of jeans and cashmere sweater. She needed to get a move on. She swung open the door and raced down the corridor, bounding gazelle-like down two flights of stairs to the kitchen. “Mama I must leave soon.” A greying, skinny woman raised sunken eyes, face creased into a smile. Dressed in black she sat hunched over a newspaper at the kitchen table. “Another boy Julianne? When will you attend to your studies?” She poured herself a glass from the bottle, hand shaking, slightly. “But you like this boy” she turned to face her. “He is charming. I will admit. And much better looking than that Irish boy.” “Mama“ she cried. She tried to snatch the bag. “Not smoking too at this hour.”
Download