Chapter 7: Second History

Time: January 15, 9570 6:03 AM

Their meeting was the reverse of two days ago. Basel rode the elevator up to the observation dome carrying a picnic lunch and saw Eliana standing by the southern wall.

"Weather report is clear for tomorrow," he called out. "One more day till sunshine!"

"Basel! You're just in time! Come take a look at this!"

The pale blue sky and the landscape at the southern horizon suddenly appeared to be deeply tinged in green. It looked as if someone were shining a bright beacon of green light right at them from the distant horizon, a tiny oval of diamond bright green light floating just above the interface line between the distant greenish snowy land and the greenish sky.

"How beautiful..." Eliana whispered.

"It's as if the Holy were trying out some new finger paints..." Basel whispered back.

The phenomenon lasted for about two minutes. And then the beacon was gone and the southern horizon back to its usual whites and grays. Basel and Eliana turned to each other and said simultaneously, "Wow!"

"It's the refraction phenomenon, right?" asked Eliana.

Basel nodded. "Exactly. The top of the sun's disk has to be edge-on to the horizon with just the right atmospherics. Usually when it does occur, it's just for a second or two, a green flash. But right now the sun is traveling perfectly horizontal with the horizon. We had exactly the right conditions for almost, what, two minutes?"

Eliana nodded. "I've talked with military pilots who have played sunset tag with the green flash. They would fly west supersonic with just enough speed to balance the Earth's rotation and keep the sun motionless at just the knife-edge of setting. They could see the green flash again and again." She smiled. "So, Basel, how have you been the last two days?"

He laughed easily. "Oh, I'm fine. I know I've been quite a hermit doing all the Level-0 certification." He gave her a playful smile. "Did you miss me?"

"Well, not just certification. You're being too modest," Eliana replied. "A month from now, we would have been in serious trouble with sewage recycling." She leaned over and gave him a quick peck on his cheek. "And yes, I did miss you. And I would have hated all the crawling you had to do."

"Ah, it was a one-person job. You know, the odds of what happened are almost zero. I've heard rumors the Guild will intentionally muck something up for an isolation trial, nothing the candidates can't handle if they do the certifications correctly, but if they're sloppy about it..."

Eliana nodded and peered at his picnic basket with a playful smile. "Something good I trust?"

"Um hmm. An Aleppo delicacy."

Eliana leaned over and cracked the basket open and sniffed. "Lobster for lunch!"

"You got it."

As Eliana helped set up the table, she asked. "There can't be too much of this in storage."

"You'd be surprised. I pulled some strings. Or rather, Varda did."

"Really? Great! Still, what's the occasion?"

"Well, this is Day 9, the 5% mark of the survival test. Within the next eighteen hours, we're going to have to send the final go / no-go to mission operations. There's no turning back after this."

Eliana nodded as she bit into a piping-hot piece of lobster wrapped in a light buttery pastry. "Oh, this is fabulous! You're a much better cook than I am Basel!" After a few more bites she asked, "Who's Varda?"

"A really nice CL3. We were going to do our isolation testing here together, starting last September."

"Oh... May I ask? What happened?"

Basel sighed. "She's engaged to join another marriage, becoming wife number four. At the last moment, her husband-to-be complained and she switched partners. She's now doing her testing with another woman CL3. They should be more than halfway through now, the largest island of ancient Japan."

"Oh hell Basel. I don't mean to pry, but that must have hurt."

"Oh, Varda and I are good friends, and I've met her other wives. They're really nice people. I didn't want to upset... well... Anyway! This is my day to ask about you!"

"Okay! Let me start by telling you about my family."

Basel listened with interest as Eliana talked about her family tree. The descriptions lasted till the end of lunch.

"Wow," he said at last. "I knew Abdul Hadi never sired any children. His wives were too old by the time he was cured of his eternal virginity, and he didn't want to procreate during his infliction. But his legal descendent through Kefira, yes... Didn't he also have an adopted son through Michal?"

"Yes. His wives traced the child from the medical records at Dalma. He was killed at Jericho in the Judgment of 8244. He was eight-years old, culled at the first childhood gate."

"Hell..."

"I know..." Eliana shrugged and then tried to smile. "I think most people today have forgotten what sacrifices my ancestors made, what a horror they saved us from."

"I know what you mean. Life is so incredibly easy now. The horror before Abdul Hadi is almost unimaginable."

A deep sigh from his companion. "So, Basel, what else would you like to know? I can start with another monologue, or I can answer questions about my life."

"Any questions?" Basel asked with a playful grin.

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Actually, before we start, I was wondering..." Basel began to blush.

"Yes?"

"Eli, may I take you to the mat?"

Eliana gulped. "Huh?"

"I've been thinking, these last two days, all the love you offered me. I'd like to return the affection."

Eliana gulped again and surprised Basel by looking a little nervous. "Uh, okay."

They went over to the Judo mat and took off their shoes and socks. "What do you want me to do?" asked Eliana.

Basel sat in a lotus position. "Just lie and let me hold you, as you held me." Basel made a soft pillow out of a clean picnic towel for her head, and as she lay on her back, he pressed a bare foot against her soft hair and his hand was gently holding the other side of her head. He unexpectedly felt her trembling. "Hey Eli, you okay with this?"

"Yes!" she squeaked back, and then in a more normal voice, "Ask a question!"

Basel was at a loss why she was so nervous, and tried to think of something non-stressful to talk about. "So! Where did you live growing up?"

"Well, it's a tradition in my family to be half-shifters, four times as fast as yours. We moved to a different township every six years..." A long period of silence followed.

Basel was perplexed and tried to keep the conversation going. "Yeah. It's an interesting custom, everybody registering for the township rotations. I believe it was a personal idea of Abdul Hadi for people to shift every Holy Decade."

Eliana nodded. "And his wife Abigail. Her study of history taught her that when a population sits in one place, especially over generations, people get territorial."

"Which leads to nationalism, which leads to wars. Yeah. I think the shifting is a good idea. And it lets you see more of the world."