Chapter 28

Earth time: 10:11 PM Monday, September 21, 2015 (EST)

Aina time: 6:30 AM day 96 of 1414

Mayoni felt warm and secure, surrounded by delightfully warm blankets. As she drifted up from sleep, she realized that her head was being petted. She blinked her eyes open, looked up and saw her rescuer sitting on the tarp in her tent by her side. "Hi mom!"

"Hi sleepyhead!" said Va'an. "The sun will be up in one hour! Planning to sleep the day away?"

Mayoni yawned. "Sounds like a plan to me!"

"Ha! Did you pick that up from Kara?"

"Yeah..." Mayoni frowned. "Is everything okay?"

"Oh yes. Your father and uncle radioed the village, after you fell asleep last night. Everybody is rejoicing you and Keona made it out. I hear they're planning quite a celebration when we get back."

"Ah, sounds like fun... Too bad Orna won't be able to see it..."

"Yeah..."

"I was so beat last night, I didn't even see how many people are here. How did you ever know to come get us in the gorge?"

"Half the tribe... No, I take that back. The whole tribe wanted to come out here to look for you, but that would have been ridiculous. Kikapua ordered that the rescue effort be no more than the prospecting team. We're ten people. We have four husbands with six wives. All the women all Paleo. Ura is here with Leon. Did you see her?"

"Yes. I saw her helping Keona put on the snowshoes. What a brilliant idea!"

"A simple one. All of us women were amazed none of the men thought of it. Snowshoes are such common gear on the plateau in winter."

"I bet."

"The other women and I were marveling how well you walk in them. Better than we do, and we grew up in them!"

"Well, you're looking at a genuine Hawaiian surfer girl!"

"Huh?"

"It's a sport back on Earth, at my college in Hawaii. You swim out in the ocean on a board, and then stand up on the board and ride the waves into shore."

"Ha! You're joking, right?"

"No. I'm serious."

"You'll never convince me of this! What's to keep the board from sinking into the water?"

"Well, if you put it like that, it does sound kind of strange. But mom, what's to keep the snowshoe from sinking into the snow?"

"It's not the same thing!" said Va'an.

"It is the same thing! Sort of... I'm sure there are films of this in the tribe's video library. I'll find some examples for you to watch when we get back."

"You're not joking, are you?"

"Ha! No! I love you mom!" Mayoni sat up and kissed her mother

"Mayoni..." Va'an stared lovingly at her daughter for a long moment for continuing. "I know you're a full adult in the tribe now, have been for years... But can I still ask you something as a mother? As a mother might ask her child?"

"Sure mom... What's up?"

"I remember how exhausted you and Keona were when we got back here yesterday evening. But Keona didn't go right to sleep... He came to Mark. He asked for permission to commit to you. Of course it's just an honorary thing now. Keona and you need no one's permission to marry. But Mayoni..."

"Yeah?"

"Well..." Va'an struggled for words...

Mayoni blinked her eyes and suddenly looked worried. "Mom! Dad did give his permission, didn't he?"

"Certainly! Keona is a fine young man. Your father thinks very highly of him. Mark was actually thrilled you and Keona are thinking of marrying. But Mayoni..."

"Mom! WHAT!?"

"You were isolated with him on the plateau. Of course you bonded with each other. You needed to, to survive. But a lot of the other boys in the 1414 class will be very happy to date you. I know time is getting short. But there's always the 1415 class. There's no need to rush..."

Mayoni thought quietly for a moment and then sighed. "Mom... Do you have any other objections, other than we forged our bonds as an isolated couple?"

"Well... No... I do think it might be dangerous, committing to marriage under such stressful circumstances. But this would be nothing, if you really loved him."

"I do. I do love him. Keona and I are perfectly amiable with each other. I can't imagine a more perfect husband for me. He's kind, smart, courageous, humorous... He is so gentle with me! Sometimes when we were cuddling at night, I would brush against him and feel his stiff desire for me. But he never pushed me for sex, not once! He just called me his angel instead..."

Va'an smiled as she reached out and caressed her daughter's head. "I've read some Earth books. I'm familiar with the concept."

"Mom, I think of Keona as my angel, my big, beautiful, male angel. And when I'm lost in the arms of an angel, sometimes I just shut up and dance! I do love Keona mom, so very dearly..."

Va'an was silent for a long moment, and then she leaned forward and kissed Mayoni's forehead. "Then he deserves you. I could not bear to part with you otherwise." Va'an gave her daughter a brief hug and then left the tent.

Mayoni spent the remaining time before sunrise dressing, packing up her tent and eating a quick breakfast snack with the team. They then began their long journey south at the break of sunrise. Mayoni was delighted to have Leon walk by her side, both of them trailing bikes and loaded with backpacks.

"Ah, Mayoni! It's so nice to see you again! We haven't had a chance to talk together in years."

"Ah, you're right, Uncle Leon. Thank you so much for coming to rescue me and Keona! Did my parents tell you about us?"

"About your marriage plans? Yah. Va'an told Ura who told me. Congratulations! We won't mention it to others though. You two should have that pleasure."

"Ah, thanks. You know, I asked my mother Va'an something that she never got around to answering. How did you know to rescue us in the gorge?"

"We didn't. Here, take these binoculars. Look back at the gorge."

Mayoni focused the binoculars for a second and then gasped. "Yikes! It's packed with snow! Must be at least twenty feet deep!"

"Oh, at least. Ura told me the pass usually gets blasted with snow around a month before winter. This was a little early, but not unheard of to her... We got here just two days ago. When we felt the wind rising yesterday morning, we all knew you were in big trouble."

"The women risked their lives for Keona and me, didn't they?"

"Well, don't say it that way. We were under clear verbal orders from Kikapua not to risk our lives in the pass. He was expecting us to stay completely out of the gorge. But as yesterday morning wore on, Ura and Va'an proposed a slightly more liberal interpretation of Kikapua's orders. They argued that with snowshoes, they would be completely safe waiting a few hundred meters into the gorge."

"More than a few, I think at least half a kilometer."

"Well... Try to keep quiet about that... All six women wanted to do it. We guys stayed here at the base camp. We were all pretty worried, but we didn't have enough skill with the snowshoes to follow the women. It's amazing how fast they make them. They use branches and lashings, takes less than an hour... Mayoni?"

"Yeah?"

"Before the summer, how long did it take you to get to the pass from the village?"

"We made it on the morning of our eighth day."

"Wow! You three kids were really hauling ass! Oh! Pardon my language."

"Ha! Uncle Leon! You are so cute!" Mayoni stopped to give her uncle a warm hug and a very affectionate kiss on his cheek. "Remember, we left shortly before the summer solstice. We had more light than we knew what to do with."

"Still... Well, our plan to use all the available light now. We have nine hours of light now, and we plan to hike and ride throughout the day. With good weather, we should be back at the village in twelve days. By then, a day will have eight hours of sunlight."

"Yeah. The light variations on the northern plateau are really something. At the top of our journey, when we found the white antelope, we were more than 1800 km north of the village... Did it take you long, Uncle Leon, to get used to these sunrise variations? I know Cider Junction is not nearly as dramatic..."

"Yeah, it did take some time. It's nice though, in a way. So much of life changes, depending on the amount of sunlight. All the variations makes life more interesting. Especially all the planning for the work schedules for the dam project."

"Oh yes! I can hardly wait for the power to run my equipment! How's the dam coming?"

"The dam itself is completed. The bypass tunnel for the river has been sealed, and the lake in back of the dam is rising nicely. We're working almost exclusively on the powerhouse now. Primary turbines and generators are already in place. There's still a lot of work in the switchyard to do, plus tons of shakedown testing. Another team is involved with the transmission lines to the village. We've come up with a new, super good insulator for the wires. Best case scenario, we'll be up and running sometime in the third month of spring. My best guess is it'll be the fourth month of spring."