Steven decided to fill in the gap, quoting directly from Tynabo, “Intimate contact.” When the time comes that we have our first …” Ashlyn paused as she fought to find the words. Steven took a deep breath preparing himself for the conversation that he’d known was coming.Īsh continued, “Right now, time is our enemy and you have important decisions to make. I do …” Ashlyn seemed to slip away, lost in thought as she watched a large, crashing wave strike a rock just off shore, “but we have important matters to discuss.” “Steven, I wish this moment could last forever. Once installed, it was just a matter of giving Gena access to my memory of this moment and having her download it into the unit and voila, you have paradise. Apparently, they were part of the original design for the auditorium, but the attack interrupted things and they were never installed. Then late one night, I was searching the storage dome for the materials to make a few outfits and I came across an inventory list that showed there were some advanced interactive holo-units gathering dust in storage. Being able to see you then, was a blessing.

“One night, when I came to you, I saw all of this in your dream. “To explain this,” said Ashlyn, spinning a circle and extending her arms so that she encompassed the entire scene around them. “Ash, this virtual re-enactment, how did you do it?” It was exactly the way it happened before, when he was nine. When he saw it dive below the surface, he smiled. Giving it a gentle push, he watched it swim away into the deeper, almost glowing, turquoise colored water. Turning back to the snagged turtle, Steven knelt and after freeing it from the fishing-net, he carried the turtle out into the water.

Earth's Last War by Glenn Van Dyke