Chapter 55

Honolulu daylight savings time: 7:18 AM Tuesday, October 20, 2044

West Virginia time: 12:18 PM Tuesday, October 20, 2044 (EST Aina baseline)

Aina time: 3:29 PM day 173 of 1451

Mayoni grunted softly, lifting her legs up higher so that her knees were almost touching her breasts, providing Keona deeper access into her. Mayoni was lying on her right side, and she lifted her left arm up without thinking. So in tune with Mayoni's desires that he wasn't even conscious of doing it, Keona left arm slipped underneath hers a moment later and he started to caress her breast.

Mayoni felt Keona's penis stiffen and lengthen as it slid in and out of her vagina. Realizing her husband was just seconds from orgasming, she speeded up her own sexual arousal, and started to climax just at Keona made a final swift thrust deep inside her and started to splash his semen against her far back wall. Mayoni drifted for a while in the pleasure and the intimacy. When she opened her eyes, she saw the very last seconds of the Aina sun before it disappeared behind the snow-covered hills. The view out the bedroom at the top of Spirit House was spectacular. The winter sunset was sparkling. Mayoni sighed and took Keona's hand from her breast, kissing it gently.

Keona nuzzled the back of her neck. "Mayoni, it'll only be for two days, three at most."

"I know. Still, I'll worry about you. I have a really bad feeling about all these delays."

"I'll be fine. The Kilauea guys are a great crew to work with. We've gotten very close to each other."

"Do they wonder, about what's really going on?"

"Oh of course. The slip-ships are magic. But there's an old Earth saying, about not looking a gift horse in the mouth. To all the other personnel, they're The Builders. They're very good actors. You should see them. Nobody else realizes the ships are building themselves..."

Mayoni frowned. "All these delays though... I still suspicious... Really suspicious..."

"Well... What else can we do but test? It'll only be a couple of days... It's nice to have some R&R. I love these rooms at Spirit House."

Mayoni nodded. "Yes, they're very nice... Such a change! Walking around the campus in short sleeves, it brings back so many memories, when I was here as an undergrad. Ha! Having the Kilauea enlisted personnel salute me! And then playing in the snow outside Spirit House a few minutes later... The dichotomy! Ah well, as you say, it'll be just a couple of days. But I wish I could go with you."

Keona sighed. "So do I... Kalea has trained me very well. Don't worry; I'll be able to do the mission. Still, it's a shame Pilialoha is so paranoid. I'm the only one allowed to leave the JABSOM center now."

"These delays frighten her. I don't blame her... Keona, come back to me. I can not live without you."

"I will. I promise. You have my word..."

Honolulu daylight savings time: 8:31 AM Friday, October 23, 2044

West Virginia time: 1:31 PM Friday, October 23, 2044 (EST Aina baseline)

Aina time: 5:48 PM day 176 of 1451

Three days later, Mayoni walked onto the rooftop observatory of the JABSOM center in Honolulu, having just walked through the bubble entrance from Aina in the basement. She walked up to three people standing near the edge of the roof and said to her husband, "Aha! I thought I'd find you here!"

Keona smiled at her. "Hi sweetie! What's the weather like back on Aina?" He surrounded Mayoni in a hug. After the absence, it felt wonderful to have her in his arms again.

Mayoni hugged back and kissed him. "You don't know? A big blizzard, largest one we've had in a century. People are predicting it'll last for a week! Thank the Spirit the control teams volunteered to stay overnight in Spirit House. I heard on the afternoon news, reports of hexaped tigers seen at the bottom of the pass by the Northern Plateau."

"This that unusual?" asked Kekipi. He and his wife Kaimana were the head people of Kilauea security at the JABSOM site, and also Aina's interface to the Hawaiian government. There were among the seven Hawaiians who knew of Aina's existence, including Kaimana as the only female.

"Unheard of..." said Keona, as he came up for air from kissing Mayoni. He and Mayoni gave each other affectionate pats on their rumps, and then let go.

Kaimana blushed and looked politely away. She smiled to herself and thought she might finally be getting used to how affectionate Keona and Mayoni would be with each other in public. "It still boggles my mind," said Kaimana., "how I could take a walk downstairs and in a few minutes be standing in a blizzard... Is it night there?"

"Oh yeah," said Mayoni. "Sunset at Spirit House was two hours ago." Mayoni sighed. "You could play in the snow for about half an hour, and then you'd be very close to dying..."

"Oh, I know. Evacuation to Aina is not an option for us... Mayoni, any word yet on why the slip ships aren't working?"

"Kalea and her team will be running some new diagnostics today. I just passed her in the basement. The data Keona sent back from the shipyards eliminated a lot of concerns. We think we have the problem narrowed to just a few possibilities."

"We're more than a month behind schedule," commented Kekipi. "We were supposed to be through with testing and doing exploratory flights now. And look..." Kekipi pointed across the bay to the Martian Planetia shipyards. "There the fleet sits, not even moveable."

"It was a gamble," sighed Keona. "When we popped the Ring from the core bubble back in June into the Earth bubble, we knew it was a risk. The primary ring is now firmly in the JABSOM basement. Bifurcation went as planned; growing the neutronium shells went as planned, over fifteen cubic millimeters per ring. The X-tree ships grew as planned..." Keona gazed across the bay. "They look awesome! Sleek and ready to go. They're just not responding to the control sequences..."

A buzzer sounded on Kekipi's and Kaimana's comm links. They both listened for a moment. "What?!" said Kekipi. "How could they both go down at once?" He turned to Mayoni and Keona. "If you'll excuse us..." He and his wife hurried off to their security center.

Keona looked at them with a puzzled look on his face as they disappeared into the building. "I wonder what that was all about."