21. Carter

TWENTY-ONE

CARTER

T iny fingers struggled to press the frets on the Photonic flute. I waited, patient, knowing that if I intervened too early it would be worse than not doing anything at all.

The girl sighed and looked up at me with tears welling in the corners of her lavender eyes.

"I can't do it, grandpa."

I gestured at the flute with a gnarled hand.

"Yes, you can. It just takes practice."

She blew air out of her lips, making her bangs dance.

"I've been practicing. I'm not getting any better."

"You are getting better. A few days ago, you couldn't even make a spark. Now you can make four colors, that's incredible, Rolli."

She gave me a look that suggested she'd never heard anything so stupid in all of her eight years of life.

"Gramma Arael says you were playing whole epics the first time you picked up a flute."

I tilted my head back and laughed.

"Your gramma doesn't always remember things right. I had a hell of a time learning to play the Photonic flute. When I first tried to make your grandmother's face, she looked like a razormaw slug."

She laughed, almost falling off her stool. I checked the time, and realized it was time to get my youngest grandchild ready to go home.

"All right, Rolli, Put your flute away, and don't forget to wash your mouthpiece. Your mother will be here any moment."

I went to the window and scanned the horizon. An azure blue sky stretched out over a gently rolling green sea. I struggled to remember when we'd moved to the beachside house. Back before the founding of Moon Base One, for certain.

The Traditionalists hadn't wanted us to build a base on the moon, out of fear of angering the gods. Of course, there just had to be an earthquake the week after the ground breaking on the lunar surface, and the Traditionalists took this as proof they were right.

Rolli finished putting her flute away and raced back into the living room. She reached up and held her arms out. I knew it would hurt, but I bent low and scooped her up into my arms anyway.

"Is Mommy here, yet?"

"Not yet. But soon."

The comm unit on the living room table flashed. I carried my granddaughter into the den and struggled to push the button and receive the call.

"Yes?" I said when the green light came on at last. "Is that you, Daki? I told you not to head down the coast from Starlost, the tradewinds are murder…"

"President Gro?"

The voice on the other end of the call sounded young. Too young to have been alive when I actually served as president. He was so young he could not mask his trepidation at speaking to me.

"No longer am I president, lad, but I am Gro."

"My apologies. Your lifemate has collapsed and is at the medical intervention facility on Candle Island."

My heart stopped in my chest. I carefully set Rolli on the floor and picked up the handset, changing the call from speaker to private mode.

"What happened?" I asked, my voice edged with panic.

"She was performing well at physical therapy, but after she took a hydration break she complained of pain in her chest before collapsing."

"Didn't you idiots take her vitals before you let her work up a sweat in therapy? You know she just had surgery."

"Her vitals were well above the established parameters. There truly was no warning, sir. The doctors want you to come in straight away."

"I'll be there within the hour."

I ended the call. When my youngest daughter arrived and our eyes met, she knew there was trouble.

I kissed my daughter and granddaughter goodbye, and then took the air car out to Candle Island. I no longer piloted the vehicles myself. There was no need. The computer did a much better job than I did.

Unfortunately, it gave me time to worry and brood over the worst possible outcomes. Arael was only a few years younger than me, and I had passed my second century long ago. The Physicker had told us her time was limited.

My vision blurred with tears. I broke down, my body wracked with heavy sobs.

I managed to compose myself when I arrived at the medical facility. The head physicker met me personally at the landing pad. That was not a good sign.

It only got worse as he walked me to my wife's room. Complications from the surgery and advanced age. A prognosis impossible to pin down. I'd say about four weeks on the long side…

I entered the room, and she looked up at me, a big smile on her face.

"Hello, beloved. You're just in time for dinner. Would you like the red paste or the green paste?"

I had intended to be strong for her. But seeing her there, so cheerful and smiling and full of life, was more than I could bear. I let go with an ugly sob and raced across the room, throwing myself across her frail form.

"Don't die," I begged between sobs. "Please, don't die. Don't leave me, my love. Please."

"Oh, Gro…or should I say Carter? Please don't be sad. I'm not. I've had the most wonderful life, and it's all because of you."

I lifted my face from her bedsheets, now damp with my tears.

"Arael, it's not right. It's not fair. I don't want to lose you."

"I know. But you should know that I'll never leave you. Not really. I'll always find you, my love, no matter where your soul roams in this galaxy. Time and space are no barrier to those who share a soul."

She kissed me, tender and sweet. I embraced her, careful not to squeeze too hard.

"Arael, I love you so much."

"I love you, too," she said, her voice faint and soft, as if she were on the verge of sleep.

I sighed, trying to see the bright side. Four weeks. We still had four weeks to spend together. It wasn't over, not yet.

"Did you tell Rolli that I mastered the Photonic Flute overnight? Because that's setting the bar a little bit too high, don't you think?"

I waited, but she did not answer.

"Arael? Did you fall asleep?"

I lifted my face from her shoulder. Arael's face was turned to the side, her lips slightly parted, eyes shut as if in repose.

Fear gripped my heart. I shook her, oh so very gently.

"Arael? Arael, can you hear me?"

My shaking grew more frantic.

"Arael. Arael, wake up! Wake up now! You have to wake up, please, wake up…"

My voice grew hoarse, and the ringing in my ears seemed to indicate I'd been yelling at the top of my lungs. Suddenly, there was masari all around me. Some of them, big lads with thick arms, pulled me away from Arael. Others wearing Physicker garb struggled to save a life that had already fled.

I fought the orderlies, trying to reach my dead wife, but soon I realized the truth. I sagged in their arms, and they went from restraining me to supporting me.

At last, the Physickers stepped back, and they let me go. I stumbled, half falling across my lifemate's body.

Arael was gone.