One Day

            “Ah, Admiral, you’re doing very well, very well,” Phlox noted. “Your vision is almost normal. How’s the night vision?”

            “I’d say improved, not exactly like a cat but I can get around well enough with a little light.”

            “Perfect. You’re making excellent progress. But when we’re back in San Francisco I think if we meet weekly that will suffice. Keep visiting the gym twice a day, 30 minutes. You can cut back on the hand-eye coordination exercises, but there is still some mild cognitive impairment so keep up with the brain training games.”           “Hey, it’s my turn to see Phlox,” said Riaan as she walked into sick bay. “Then we can take a shuttle down to the planet. French said there are lots of lakes and trees but it’s on the cool side, about 15 degrees.”

            “I’ll ask the chef to pack us some food and we’ll just bring cold weather gear. I’m ready to get off this ship and breathe some real air made by real trees.” The admiral slid off the exam table and left. Riaan took his place, but with a little more difficulty getting on.

            “So two more weeks,” Phlox said. “The Captain said we should be back to Earth in 8 days, so we’re cutting it close.”

            “It can’t be soon enough. My brain doesn’t even work anymore. I can’t think. I feel like I swallowed a melon that won’t stop moving around.”

            “No more time in sick bay unless you’re here for an exam. You’re off duty. Stay off your feet, don’t pick up Ariannaa, and come see me daily. The baby has turned, he’s almost ready. And no transporter travel! I don’t care if protocols have been revised down for people, understand?”

            “Anything else?” she asked dryly, smiling with her eyes but not her lips.

            “No, I’ll talk to your only ‘problem’ myself.” Phlox slapped his knees and stood up; Riaan wasn’t quite sure what he meant, but concluded that perhaps he meant Jonathan.  

Jeopardy

            “I’m so glad we can stop at Akal. Ariannaa can see my home world, and I can say hello to some old friends.”

            “Well, I’m the ranking officer. If I say we go, we go. It's only a day off our trajectory,” Jonathan told his love, pulling the bed covers up and nestling as close as her body would allow. “I want you to be careful. This is not a time to be running through open fields or taking long konji cart rides.”

            “Aren’t you coming? It’s just for the day.”

            “I’ll just be in the way. You go down and have a great visit. French can take you down.”

            “Why not you? I might like to introduce Ariannaa’s father to people.” Riaan scrunched the pillows, placing one between her knees to keep her from rolling over; she did her best to be comfortable but it wasn’t easy anymore.

            “You look a little pale; do you feel okay?”

            “If I’m pale it’s your fault.”

            “Doc said you are not supposed to, let’s see, how did Phlox put it, ‘engage in strenuous physical activity’.”

       “You know what he meant, not visiting friends,” she chuckled, burying her head on Jon’s shoulder and enjoying the feel of his unshaven chin on her forehead, the rough hair of his bare chest on her cheek. So many sensations stirred her desire to join with her protector, her provider, her passion. Somehow the obligatory prohibition on making love to each other only intensified the craving to do just that.

            “I felt that!” Jonathan put his hand gently where a foot or a hand had nudged him from inside Riaan’s body. “And that one, too.” No matter how many times he’d felt the movement of another life in this way it never lost its fascination. Through the most primitive of emotional actions a new person appeared in less than a single year from within another. 

   “You go nowhere near the nuclear plant,” Archer said to Riaan, placing a Jo-Ann firmly on her face.

            “I have some things I want to buy and places to show Ariannaa. The factory is someplace I never want to go again; don’t worry about that.”

            “Take care of my girls,” Archer said to Hoshi since he wouldn’t allow Riaan to go alone in her advanced condition with a toddler in tow. He wasn’t sure Brannigaan would enjoy sticking close the entire day.

            “Of course, sir,” the commander agreed.  The four passengers climbed into the shuttle pod, French making certain that he was extra careful to help Riaan into the vehicle. When the launch bay was clear, the shuttle left for Akal.

            The trip to the surface was routine. Given that the planet had been introduced to Tellarites and Orions landing the shuttle craft near the town facilitated the women’s visit without causing any undue panic. The biggest difference Riaan noticed was the extent of the electricity that reached to the farthest corners of the city. Oil lamps, street corner fireplaces, candles in the windows were gone. Without open fires people could walk the streets safer, but some of the ambiance of the community was also gone with them.

            “So where will we find these verdanas?” Hoshi asked.

            “They are available at gem shops. What I want is a hair comb that I can have them set into. It’s kind of a special piece of jewelry. And I knew the jeweler, so I’d like to say hello.” Ariannaa skipped alongside oblivious to the environment.

            “Mother, can I go out to our old home and say goodbye to some friends, and pick up a few things we left behind?”

            “Our private things are all at The Okana’s. There’s not much but you can retrieve what you like. Don’t take more than you can carry.” He kissed his mother and jogged off toward the road that led to the country homes. “Be back before the sun is gone, Mr. French will be back then with the shuttle,” she called after him. He waved but didn’t look back.

            “This is a beautiful town. I remember the shop over there that brought us here all those years ago.”

            “That’s right, you came along, but I never met you then,” Riaan recalled; a smile appeared on her face followed by a giggle. “You were the one in charge of the translators. Thank you, Hoshi.”

            “I don’t understand.”

            “Jon’s translator stopped working, but he didn’t want me to know because he was still pretending to be an Akalli.”  Hoshi shook her head, still not understanding. “He kissed me so he could fix it behind my back.” Hoshi began to laugh. “So thank you.” They wrapped arms around shoulders and hugged while walking towards the center of town.

            On their way, Riaan dragged Hoshi and Ariannaa in and out of shops looking for people she knew to say hello and goodbye to. They stopped in the library, and Riaan was astounded to find the volume of books was three times what it was before. The electricity ran printing presses and no longer did publications have to be hand set and manually rolled. She found the building busy with eager readers, many of them children.

            They walked up the street to glance at Riaan’s former city home where she’d been when the humans came to earth. Windows in the roof let in streams of light that made it easy to peer in the windows. No longer was it a single room dwelling but had been divided into a small family dwelling. Ariannaa looked in all the windows she could climb to, touching the worn wooden sills and marveling at the antiquity of the structure.

            As the orange sun travelled higher in the sky, it seemed to shrink as well. Riaan sat often on public benches between their ins and outs until they decided to stop and eat at a café. Cafes were a relatively new industry in Tammalynnia once the electricity offered opportunities to preserve and serve food most any time someone desired to eat. Electric lights hung on cords draped over open air seating areas in front of many of the restaurants, some were only indoor or outdoor; in any case, the choices were plentiful.

            In the distance white plumes of steam from cooling reactions could be recognized above the 10 story cement cylinders of the electric plant. The accident hadn’t slowed any progression, it just drove a need for better safety, which, was of course, provided by additional electricity to run those safety features. Each new invention created another dependent invention. Akal had embarked on its Industrial Revolution with gusto and passion rarely seen in other civilizations.

            “I remember the jewel shop just up this street,” Riaan said as the three ladies left the café.

            “What is it you’re looking for, exactly?”

            “I want to have a piece made to wear in my hair,” she explained. “And I can’t get the gems on Earth, only here. They’re called verdanas.  I think on Earth they are like emeralds, or jade, or something in between.”

            “This is such a great city,” Hoshi remarked. “It’s quaint.”

            “I’m not sure I’ve heard that word before.” They found the jewelry shop and went inside. A few rows of tables covered in soft dark fabric took up most of the floor space. Items were sorted into rings, necklaces, ear cuffs, arm bands, and hair pieces. Most were simply the empty settings, waiting for the buyer to choose what precious stones or gems to have set which made each piece unique.

            “Ladies,” the woman at the far end of the shop called to them. “What are you looking for today?” The woman was older than Riaan, but not so much that she would have been a second generation mother. Her clothes were plain, much simpler than Riaan remembered dresses from a few years back. As in the restaurant, Riaan had to think quickly to respond in her native language.

            “I need a hairpiece,” Riaan told her, “in bronze.”

            “Riaan?” the woman asked.

            “Famkee?” 

            “Hello, I haven’t seen you in so long. Well congratulations, dear, that’s wonderful! I have many styles.” The woman and Riaan gathered at the hair piece table, and Hoshi watched their interaction, trying to ascertain what was so special about what Riaan wanted. Ariannaa skipped from table to table, looking at all the different ornaments but obeying her mother’s order to keeps hands off.