with Jo,” he said calmly.
Everyone’s faces turned to him, surprised and curious of his motives. His relationship with Jo had long been over, his conflict with David permanent and well known, not to mention the fact that his wife was supposed to be having their child any day soon.
“All right,” Levi agreed after a moment’s hesitation. “There’s not a second to lose. Get yourself ready.”
Alec ran out and Levi continued towards Jo’s quarters. She was preparing for the dozen or so hours of near lightspeed travel before they’d reach Earth. She was wearing a black uniform. She stood in front of her mirror with a pair of scissors in her hand. With one firm move, she cut her hair, forming a fringe above her forehead, then another cut to shorten the rest of her hair to mid-neck length. She gave it no second look, not caring whether it was even. She walked out of her bathroom, buckled her belt and pocketed the disc containing her memories.
Next, she walked to the safe and took out a weapon, then another and another. After a moment’s hesitation she decided on three types of side-arms, a laser, an atomic and a biological tranquiliser gun.
At the same time, Alec was getting ready to leave with equal haste. He pulled a rucksack from under the bed, threw in his water bottle, meds, weapons and other random elements of equipment, grabbed it all and rushed out of the room without a single thought of Diana or her whereabouts. Completely absorbed, he didn’t have time to be surprised by the fact that his wife was not at home at this time of day.
Levi knocked on Jo’s door and was pleased to see she was all set to go. With a smile they saluted each other and she followed him to the hangar where the technicians were almost ready preparing the space plane for its journey. It was one of the three newest constructions of its type, the CosmicFlight100.
* * * *
Margaret switched the memorial reader on. Diana was breathing heavily and for a moment it seemed as if her labour pains had started. Meanwhile, the nurse produced the access codes from a special stash. She smiled at the memory of her clever deception. She’d predicted Diana’s whim and had made a duplicate of the original key while conducting Jo’s procedure.
All she needed to do later was break into Levi’s quarters, find his key and make sure it was identical before she switched them. No one would ever know. Had she been a few years younger, she’d have made an outstanding spy.
A copy of Jo’s memory disc was already in the drive. Diana was slowly giving in to the anaesthetic and Margaret pressed the enter button. The memorial data transfer began directly into Diana’s brainwaves. Graphic representation of shifting neuron colours displayed on the screen. Diana was breathing calmly, deeply anaesthetised, sleeping through the strain suddenly imposed on her brain. Her mind needed to chew through thousands of images at once but she made a subconscious effort to focus on one of them.
Jo and Alec sitting on a park bench on Earth, hugging, kissing, looking lovingly into each other’s eyes. Gentle rustling of leaves, warm gusts of wind. ‘I’ll always love you.’ Alec’s voice and warm embrace.
Diana’s expression shifted. She began to moan quietly, her breath shallow. Alarmed, Margaret was not sure whether she should abort the transfer.
The woman’s cries intensified. She started writhing on the table. Margaret grabbed her hand, feeling the strained pulse of her body.
Jo slowly walking up the stairs. A woman’s clothing scattered on the corridor floor. A soft, joyful laughter from the bedroom. Jo’s hand pushing the door ajar, the sight of Alec making love to Diana. Shock, running outside. Jo tripping on the stairs and falling.
Diana’s screams grew louder; she struggled to free herself from the cables. “Stop it! That’s enough!” Suddenly, she broke out of her sleep and cried out in agony. Margaret tried to hold her but her convulsions were too
Everyone’s faces turned to him, surprised and curious of his motives. His relationship with Jo had long been over, his conflict with David permanent and well known, not to mention the fact that his wife was supposed to be having their child any day soon.
“All right,” Levi agreed after a moment’s hesitation. “There’s not a second to lose. Get yourself ready.”
Alec ran out and Levi continued towards Jo’s quarters. She was preparing for the dozen or so hours of near lightspeed travel before they’d reach Earth. She was wearing a black uniform. She stood in front of her mirror with a pair of scissors in her hand. With one firm move, she cut her hair, forming a fringe above her forehead, then another cut to shorten the rest of her hair to mid-neck length. She gave it no second look, not caring whether it was even. She walked out of her bathroom, buckled her belt and pocketed the disc containing her memories.
Next, she walked to the safe and took out a weapon, then another and another. After a moment’s hesitation she decided on three types of side-arms, a laser, an atomic and a biological tranquiliser gun.
At the same time, Alec was getting ready to leave with equal haste. He pulled a rucksack from under the bed, threw in his water bottle, meds, weapons and other random elements of equipment, grabbed it all and rushed out of the room without a single thought of Diana or her whereabouts. Completely absorbed, he didn’t have time to be surprised by the fact that his wife was not at home at this time of day.
Levi knocked on Jo’s door and was pleased to see she was all set to go. With a smile they saluted each other and she followed him to the hangar where the technicians were almost ready preparing the space plane for its journey. It was one of the three newest constructions of its type, the CosmicFlight100.
* * * *
Margaret switched the memorial reader on. Diana was breathing heavily and for a moment it seemed as if her labour pains had started. Meanwhile, the nurse produced the access codes from a special stash. She smiled at the memory of her clever deception. She’d predicted Diana’s whim and had made a duplicate of the original key while conducting Jo’s procedure.
All she needed to do later was break into Levi’s quarters, find his key and make sure it was identical before she switched them. No one would ever know. Had she been a few years younger, she’d have made an outstanding spy.
A copy of Jo’s memory disc was already in the drive. Diana was slowly giving in to the anaesthetic and Margaret pressed the enter button. The memorial data transfer began directly into Diana’s brainwaves. Graphic representation of shifting neuron colours displayed on the screen. Diana was breathing calmly, deeply anaesthetised, sleeping through the strain suddenly imposed on her brain. Her mind needed to chew through thousands of images at once but she made a subconscious effort to focus on one of them.
Jo and Alec sitting on a park bench on Earth, hugging, kissing, looking lovingly into each other’s eyes. Gentle rustling of leaves, warm gusts of wind. ‘I’ll always love you.’ Alec’s voice and warm embrace.
Diana’s expression shifted. She began to moan quietly, her breath shallow. Alarmed, Margaret was not sure whether she should abort the transfer.
The woman’s cries intensified. She started writhing on the table. Margaret grabbed her hand, feeling the strained pulse of her body.
Jo slowly walking up the stairs. A woman’s clothing scattered on the corridor floor. A soft, joyful laughter from the bedroom. Jo’s hand pushing the door ajar, the sight of Alec making love to Diana. Shock, running outside. Jo tripping on the stairs and falling.
Diana’s screams grew louder; she struggled to free herself from the cables. “Stop it! That’s enough!” Suddenly, she broke out of her sleep and cried out in agony. Margaret tried to hold her but her convulsions were too
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