Callisto 2.0, Susan English [i love reading .TXT] 📗
- Author: Susan English
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Olivia finally caught her breath. “I believe you. Something like: Oh, how we love our synthetic microalgae, employing photosynthesis if they dare, absorbing light and belching air, and our tiny bacteria bots, busy, busy with their toil, eating rocks and pooping soil.”
I broke into laughter. “That was so beautiful. A woman of many hidden talents.” I sat back down on the couch.
“That’s me, Olivia the Poetess.”
“I love it that you’re here, Olivia.”
“I almost forgot how crazy you are, and goofy. Good to see you haven’t changed.”
“We had some good times, didn’t we?”
“We did, we really did.”
◆◆◆
The next morning, Olivia was just strapping herself onto a treadmill when I came into the gym.
“Perfect timing,” I said. “I’ll join you.”
“Cool!”
I changed my clothes, then went over to the treadmill next to hers and buckled the strap around my waist. “That was fun last night,” I said, turning on the machine.
“Yeah, it was.”
“So how are you liking the work here? I mean, your lab, the crew, everything.”
“It’s exactly like you described it. It’s great.”
203
She increased her speed slightly. I did the same. We were both running now, a slow, easy pace.
“How are your folks?” she asked.
I shrugged. “They’re fine.”
“Still crazy?”
I gave her a wry smile. “Yep.”
Olivia had met my parents when we first started dating. They had made the “long”
trek (a forty-five-minute ride via maglev train, but according to my father, it was almost as far as the Moon) to visit me in Pasadena, the first and only time. There was no hiding the fact that I was a lesbian, but it was their first time seeing me with a girlfriend. They were on their best behavior, but it was a strain for them both. What would Reverend Talbert say? The Bible was very clear about it: wrong, wrong, wrong. We had the apostle Paul to thank for that, among others. But Paul was always a bit of a prude, in my opinion. My parents were opposed to my “lifestyle,” as they called it, in principle, and tried their best to keep smiling, which became more like a grimace after a couple of hours, and were unfailingly polite with Olivia. Thankfully, they only stayed the afternoon, or else I think their faces would have cracked from the strain.
After that, I never mentioned Olivia, not even when we split up, and neither of them ever broached the topic of my personal relationships. In any case, I had never felt comfortable sharing that part of my life with them, or any other part, for that matter.
“How about your family?” I asked Olivia. Her family was the polar opposite of mine.
Her parents, two gay men, had adopted Olivia and her twin brother, Diego, when they were infants. They were the model gay family—loving, supportive, and genuinely fun to be with. Diego was hetero, and there was no end of good-natured banter about him being “different.” He loved it, and would play up his woebegone luck, straight as an arrow, nothing he could do about it, a total drama queen. He was his fathers’ son. I adored all of them.
“They’re fine.”
I felt a tiny twinge of jealousy, seeing the trace of a smile on Olivia’s face. I mentally chided myself. We play the cards we’re dealt and make the best of it. We can’t all come from open, supportive homes. And my parents did love me, as best they could, I knew that.
“Still crazy?” I asked, arching my eyebrow.
Olivia laughed. “You know it!”
204
There wasn’t too much to do in the lab at the moment, just a few calculations to rescale the warp drive, this time large enough to encompass a vessel the size of a module, Diana’s suggestion. Since we’d already successfully scaled the drive for Soteria with the helical geometry that resulted in such a mind-boggling decrease in energy requirements, it was only a matter of plugging in numbers and running a few simulations. Hadley had offered to do it, so I spent the week working on my warp drive manual and catching up on my reading.
On Sunday, I decided to go to the Moon for a mini vacation. I was looking forward to some down time. After my morning workout I went to Olivia’s quarters.
“Hey,” she said when she opened the door. Her hair was tousled, and her face had that sleepy look I used to love when we were a couple. “Come on in.”
I followed her to the couch, and we sat facing each other. “I’m going to the Moon for a vacation. Want to come with me?”
“I’d like nothing better than to spend time alone with you,” she said, smiling. “But I’m excited to finish getting my lab set up. How about a raincheck?”
“Of course.”
She followed me to the door. “You have no idea how tempting your offer is.” She bit her lower lip.
“Next time,” I said, smiling at her. I could just imagine how happy she must be to have her own lab, to pursue her research interests, unfettered by the usual funding limitations, the pressure to publish or perish, the burden to produce marketable ideas.
I knew from living on Shambhala that the intellectual freedom was exhilarating.
Later, on my way to the shuttle bay, I stopped by Naomi’s lab and peeked through the window. I wanted to let her know I would be heading to Arcadia but wasn’t sure if she would be in her lab yet, after returning from her weekend on the Moon with Simon.
Naomi was there, working at her console. She must have come straight from the shuttle to her lab. I opened the door and headed to the mouse condo, opening the hatch. Aster jumped onto my arm. I stood for a moment, stroking her silky fur. “Hey, Naomi, how was the Moon?”
“It was good.” I caught a flicker of a smile on her face.
“I’m taking the shuttle this afternoon. I’ll be back in a few weeks.”
“Sounds lovely. You deserve a break, after everything that happened with Amélie.”
I nodded. “I’m still freaked out about that.”
“Me, too. But it’s all in the past now. I just hope Diana and Izumi can fix whatever’s going on.”
I gave a little smirk. “The truth is, Naomi, I’m tired of thinking about it, tired of worrying about it. It’s frustrating they won’t tell us anything, but that’s their choice.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” She shrugged. “It’s beyond us. If they want our help, they can 205
ask.”
After gently placing Asteria back in the condo, I started toward the door.
“Hey, Calli, hold on! I almost forgot. I’ve got great news!”
I turned to look at her.
“The Foundation finally found a candidate for another biologist here on Shambhala.”
“I didn’t even know there was a position open.”
“Yeah, they’ve been looking for a while now. Would you like to see her profile?”
“Sure. I have a few minutes.”
She motioned me over to the conference table, which, like the one in the physics and engineering labs, doubled as a computer screen and holographic projector. We sat down, and Naomi palmed the surface. The screen lit up. “Profile of Pavani Nampeyo,”
said Naomi. A holographic image of the head and torso of a woman appeared, hovering above the table, and text appeared on the table’s surface.
I looked into the woman’s eyes—the color and luster of tigers-eye quartz, with pupils as dark as deep space and equally alluring—and a sudden jolt of electricity coursed through my veins. “Her eyes—” I murmured.
“Huh?” Naomi peered closely at the image, squinting slightly. “What about them?”
“Nothing,” I said quickly.
“Look at this!” Naomi said, pointing at Pavani’s curriculum vitae. “Graduated with honors from Cambridge, then she did her PhD at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her specialty is genetic resurrection.”
I could feel her eyes on me, but was having a difficult time pulling my gaze away from Pavani’s image.
“In case you don’t know what that is,” she continued, “it’s a process of reviving a species using their DNA. It’s been used extensively to repopulate wilderness areas where species have gone extinct. And look at all her publications! She will be a wonderful addition to the biology power lunches. I can’t wait to share the news with Raven, though she probably already knows.”
I heard Naomi speaking, but I barely processed her words. Something about Pavani drew me in. She was beautiful, to be sure, with her copper-colored skin, silky black hair, high cheekbones, sultry lips, but it was her eyes that held me captive. I could see the Universe in those eyes.
“Hey, Calli, are you listening?”
“Sorry, I guess I’m a little distracted.” I tore my eyes away from the image.
Naomi studied my face. “It’s good you’re taking a break from work. You truly deserve it.”
“Yeah, you’re right. I need to run. Don’t want to miss the shuttle.”
She gave me a quick hug. “Okay, see you when you get back.”
My head was filled with Pavani’s face as I hurried to the shuttle bay. What was it about her I found so riveting? Clearly Naomi hadn’t shared my reaction. I shook my head. Weird.
206
◆◆◆
It was nice to be back on the Moon, once I recovered from my space legs. As before, I divided my time among Delphi Park, working on the farm, and sitting with the chickens. At mealtimes I enjoyed catching up with my Arcadia friends, here in my second home. Berit invited me to go with them to the women’s bar my first Friday, but I told her I wasn’t interested. I still felt sick inside about Amélie, and didn’t want the reminder of being in the bar where we had met.
During my second week at Arcadia, on Thursday morning, Berit found me sitting on
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