Chapter 14

Future Interlude I: A Day At The Water Park...

Aina time: 9:17 AM Day 36 of 1467 H.E.

It was the start of the midsummer school break on Aina, a full week with no school. In the early morning, the two mothers currently parenting the twins asked them where they'd like to go for the day.

In one voice, Kalea and Mayoni answered with a shout, "L&M's!"

So Jennifer and Kara packed box lunches for everybody and they took the subway to the Aina's one and only Water Park. The two women joined their daughters for a few of the gentler rides, but then bowed out and settled down with some books in a shaded lounge area by the side of a large diving pool. Mayoni and Kalea continued to play with a large group of their age mates.

Kara watched her daughters for a while, admiring their athleticism and grace in their diving. She smiled at her sister-wife Jennifer who was reading a book, "Ah, to be young again!"

Jennifer looked up from her book and smiled at Kara. "Feeling your age?"

Kara laughed. "A little I guess! In another month I'll be eighty-eight, sixty-eight in Earth years. How the time has flown Jennifer! But my body is starting to notice the years. I can feel myself slowing down."

Jennifer nodded thoughtfully. "You still look great though, very healthy."

"Well, you too."

"Do you think so? Lately I've been feeling so tired. And... I got a call from Dr. Aikane last night. I've been meaning to tell you..."

"Jen... What's up?"

"Hopefully it's nothing. Dr. Aikane wants to do some more blood work. I have another appointment at 4 PM today."

Kara was silent for a moment. "The girls will be fine without us. I'll come with you."

"Oh, there's no... well, thanks..." Jennifer sighed and settled down in her soft patio cushions. She admired all the children at play for a while. "Look at this place! It's packed! Remember all the resistance people put up when Leon and Mark proposed building it?"

Kara laughed. "Sure do! There's no word for amusement park in the traditional Hopewell vocabulary. And those were difficult times, the years before L&M finally got the tribe's approval..."

Kara gazed out at her daughter on the high dive. Kalea waved back happily before making a very graceful jackknife dive off the five-meter springboard. There was almost no splash at all. The boys nearby applauded good-naturedly.

Kara frowned. "Jennifer, do you think it was wise to let Mayoni and Kalea wear bikinis here?"

Jennifer looked at Kara and blinked in surprise. But then she remembered Kara's own torturous childhood, being molested and later raped by her step father. "Relax Kara! You know all these boys, don't you? Don't you trust them?"

"Yes, I do... Still..."

"Still what? Kara, look at it this way. The twins are old enough to vote!"

"That doesn't mean anything!"

"Of course it does!"

"Yeah? Well, look at it this way. They're not even teenagers yet!"

Jennifer raised her eyebrows. "What?!"

"In Earth years, I mean. Think about it."

Oh, Earth years..." Jennifer was silent for a moment. "My gosh, you're right. But they're close. In another month, they'll be thirteen... I guess I really don't think in terms of Earth years any more..."

Kara smiled. "Jennifer, forgive me. I think I was being rude. And it's funny in a way. You lived much more of your life on Earth, yet I'm the one who likes keeping time on Earth's clock."

"Well, not surprising at all. The plague years were a horror on Earth. I have a lot more memories that I'd like to forget..." Jennifer took a deep breath and sighed. "Kara, it's not really the bikinis, is it? Isn't it really the fact that in one week our daughters are heading off to Athens University?"

Kara was silent for a moment and then nodded. "I'm not the only one worrying about this. Anuhea shares my concerns, Va'an and Mark are sitting on the fence on the issue. It's really you and Leon and Hiapo that have championed the girls' cause. And... I guess that's enough for me. I respect all of your opinions immensely."

Jennifer leaned over and kissed Kara's cheek. "I don't think you were being rude, but of course I forgive you anyway... Kara, the reason I support the twins going... I lived through the plague years on Earth in the 2020's. Things got really brutal, and the last generation of kids mostly lived through it. Those not killed in the wars I mean. Kids are tough. And Mayoni and Kalea are so smart it takes my breath away. Not just in math either. I'm talking about their insight into the human spirit. Trust them dear wife. They really are ready for this..."

Kara smiled at last. "Cluck! Cluck! Cluck! Am I being a mother hen? Perhaps!" Kara settled back in her lounge chair as Jennifer returned to her book. Watching the children playing so joyfully with the rides, Kara's mind drifted to philosophy.

"It's idyllic now," she thought, "But it hasn't always been like this. I remember how happy we all were, when we ended our war with the WFM back in the winter of 1451. We thought all our problems were over..." Kara closed her eyes and sighed, her mind skipping back through the years...