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  “I’m a clone. Except for Ieeb and my daughter, I’m alone.”

  Jao glanced to the right and left, shifting his eyes. “That’s a harsh way to live. If you get sick, you can’t stay with any family member.”

  “Yes, it’s difficult. I’m lucky to have met Ieeb.”

  Jao remained silent, a serious expression on his face.

  “Someday, I want to visit Ieeb’s mother and father,” I ventured.

  Jao smiled. “I’m sure they would love to see you.”

  “How do the Dseo create such great star maps?” I changed the subject, wanting to forget about my problems for a while.

  “Just over four hundred years ago,” Jao began, in a voice that was used to lecturing, “when the great Dseo Astronomer, Dre Sta, was in the Sook, a mountain range in Icir’s southern hemisphere, he updated his spectrometer, and noticed that transverse waves surrounding PL Five were changing rapidly. Gravitational waves inside the solar winds, storms coming from Alpha Centauri B, our star, were affecting each other more than many astronomers had predicted.

  “Here’s an example. Every time a gravitational wave bumps into another, both waves begin spreading out, rather than following a predictable path, because their inertia has been disturbed. Think about this parallel. Throw a rock into a pond. The ripples move outward and hit other waves, creating interference patterns, less predictable movements.

  “If the wind starts blowing, it pushes many ripples in one direction, producing even more interference. In space, unlike ripples on a pond, gravitational waves are traveling at thousands of miles per hour. Despite all of these interactions, the waves are still affected by one or many strange attractors.

  “Realizing how much the attractors affected them, for the next eight years Dre Sta placed more computer syntax methods into his spectrometer. As a result, the device created better star maps, charts that kept updating themselves. And because the latest update included gravitational pull, a force that increases as adjacent moons shift their positions, a space vessel could follow another route, a path with lower gravitational pull, and save fuel.” Jao replied.

  “Amazing.”

  “Yes. He was a brilliant man.”

  “What do you do for a living?”

  “I teach Eih history and Physics.”

  Information came out of my earplugs. Eih was a nation in Icir’s southern hemisphere. For the last sixty years, the Eih race had struggled to maintain its democracy. Four political parties, the Arro, the Subl, the Unre and Itil, had elected many officials. But maintaining peace was difficult because the Arro preferred to talk rather than listen.

  The wall-mounted screen switched on. Near the center of it, in the background, a floating gurney entered the operating room. On the gurney, Ieeb lay on her back, tubes sticking out of her. The gurney stopped close to Ieeb’s new legs and hips, both face-up on an operating table that was likewise fed with tubes. Surgical Assistance Robots, SAR, lifted Ieeb and gently placed her inside a faintly-glowing levitation field. Ieeb’s upper body gradually descended onto the table, the bottom of her torso right over the new hips.

  Using both hands, Dr. Caip lowered a cone-shaped holder, guiding its pointed bottom toward the join of her hips and torso. The screen showed a close view as the device automatically poured nanites into the gap.

  Behind Dr. Caip, Dr. Sma glanced at a Doppler Scanning Monitor. Wanting to project sound waves into her chest cavity, he moved a handheld Transducer, a Doppler Ultrasound instrument, over Ieeb’s stomach.

  Near the top of the monitor, blood kept flowing through her Aorta normally, The sound waves hadn’t changed pitch. The operation was going well, but I knew that if the pitch increased or decreased, that meant blood flow had been interrupted.

  Dr. Sma’s voice came out of my earplugs. “Dr. Caip, Nurse Bim, at this rate, the nanites will finish the operation in eight hours.”

  Both of them nodded.

  But then Nurse Bim announced, “Ventricular fibrillation!” She placed handheld pads, instruments that were attached to a defibrillator, on Ieeb’s chest. After beeping once, the defibrillator sent a biphasic shock into Ieeb’s body. She jerked.

  I flinched, wondering if that would disrupt the joining with the new limbs.

  Nurse Bim, a serious expression on her face, looked at the defibrillator screen. On it, the waveform hadn’t changed. Electrical signals in the lower part of the heart were still uncoordinated.

  If the next shock couldn’t cure that, Ieeb’s heart rhythm would remain the same, and she would go into cardiac arrest. The Nurse repeated the procedure. The defibrillator delivered another shock. Ieeb’s body flinched. The Nurse glanced at the defibrillator. “Normal cardiac activity has been restored.”

  Dr. Caip nodded. “Nurse Bim, good job. And the nanite connection is still solid.”

  She grinned, never losing her composure.

  Jao whispered, “That was too close for comfort.”

  Chills ran down my spine. “Definitely.”

  After studying a database, searching for worn-out conduits on my ship’s telescopes, I looked at my watch. According to it, five hours had gone by. I looked up again.

  In the corner of the screen, at the top of Ieeb’s hip, nanites crawled out of a small wound, moving toward a housing. After all of them went inside the device, Dr. Sma picked it up. “Take the patient to her room,” he said, voice warm with satisfaction.

  A gurney rose and flew toward the operating table. A magnetic levitation device switched on, lifting Ieeb’s body. She floated onto the gurney. It left the room.

  Feeling completely exhausted, I leaned back.

  I opened my eyes and yawned. According to my watch, Jao and I had slept for six hours.

  He rubbed his forehead, trying to wake up. “I feel better,” he muttered.

  The waiting room door opened. An Aito woman, a volunteer in a pink scrubs, entered and handed us wafers and bottles of milk.

  We thanked her.

  She grinned and left.

  I raised my tablet. Close to the edge of my screen, the hospital bill magnified. I scowled. “I’ll have to sell ST Seven. That’s the only way I can pay for the operation.” And then how would I make my living?

  “It’s your responsibility. This operation is exotic, expensive.”

  He was right. In a few days, I would put an advertisement on the Internet. Chances were that someone would buy my ship for good money because I’d recently upgraded it. I bit my lip, grieving.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  A week later, I entered Room Sixty as Ieeb put on her tight white dress, the outfit she had worn at our wedding. I grabbed her arm, steadying her as she sat in an old-fashioned wheelchair, a device that wouldn’t fly.

  I paused. “I wish I could afford to rent a better model.”

  Ieeb frowned. “It’s fine. Don’t worry.”

  Behind me, a little girl shouted, “Mommy.” She ran around me and put her head in Ieeb’s lap. Ieeb reached down and gently stroked her daughter’s arm. “Seeta, this is your father.”

  The little girl peeked at me. Her eyes narrowed because she was scared.

  Ieeb glanced at me, a pleased expression on her face. “She will get used to you. Be patient.”

  I smiled weakly, struggling with mixed emotions, happiness and disappointment. “No problem. By the way, someone is going to buy ST Seven. We need to go there now.”

  “Let’s go. I’m sick of this hospital room. I just wish my legs were stronger. The physical therapist said that if I exercise them every day for a month, I can walk.”

  “Good.”

  Ieeb said gently, “Seeta, you’ll have to walk next to me.”

  Seeta stood and backed away.

  I grabbed the wheelchair handles and turned it, headed for the door.

  Ieeb reached down with both hands and wheeled herself inside a crowded train.

  “You don’t want me to push the wheelchair?”

  Ieeb glanced over her shoulder, a determined ex
pression on her countenance. “No. I need to build up my arm muscles.”

  I grabbed Seeta’s hand and we stepped inside. All around us, Aito men whispered, wondering what had happened to this beautiful woman.

  We reached ST7. Not far away, a flyer, a car-like vehicle, came to rest on the pavement. An Aito man in tan suit emerged and walked toward us. “I take it that you are Jason.”

  “Yes.” I blinked, uncomfortable.

  “My name is Proi. I’ve come to look at your ship.”

  I said, trying to keep the melancholy out of my voice, “Let’s go inside. I’ll show you around.”

  Proi grinned.

  Both of us climbed the steps. After we entered the bridge, Proi glanced around the room. “It’s well maintained. Impressive.”

  I mentioned the recent upgrades.

  Proi gazed at his tablet. “According to my latest scans, there aren’t any problems. I’ll take it.”

  I exported the security password into Proi’s database. He sent the payment into my tablet.

  “I hope you like ST Seven.”

  “It’s a beauty.”

  He didn’t need to tell me that.

  I left the bridge. After reaching the bottom of the steps, I walked slowly toward Ieeb and Seeta, heartbroken. I would never see my ship again. After offering a weak smile, I stooped and kissed my wife.

  Ieeb frowned. “I love you. But knowing that you sold your ship to pay for my medical bill makes me feel bad.”

  I sighed, trying to sound convincing. “I’ll get over it. The most important thing is that we’re together.”

  Behind me, ST7’s engine started. I peeked over my shoulder as the ship headed toward the runway.

  Ieeb grabbed my hand, comforting me. I squeezed hers.

  Seeta, amazed by the sight of a nearby disk-shaped Aito interstellar craft, pointed at it, and shouted, “Starship!”

  I glanced at it. “Yes.”

  Ambassador Yar’s voice, of all people, came out of my earplugs. “Jason.”

  “Yes.” I raised my tablet. The screen appeared.

  On screen, Ambassador Yar smiled. “I’d like to come to your dinner party.”

  Damn, I’d completely forgotten that. After mentioning that I had just sold ST7, I said, “We’ll be moving into an apartment soon. I’ll hold the party there. Do you have enough time? It would be nice to see you.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that you had to sell you ship.”

  “We’ll work our way around it. By the way, I’d like to tell you about a valuable mineral that’s on Danig.”

  “Can we talk about the mineral during the party?”

  “Sure.” Her reaction, one that endangered Icir, startled me.

  “Email me a few days in advance so I can put this into my schedule. I’d like to meet your wife.”

  I smiled weakly. “We have a daughter.”

  “Wonderful. I love kids! Anyway, I have to attend a meeting with Council Member Raas in a few minutes. I’m looking forward to meeting your family.”

  I blinked, surprised that she had called. “It should be fun.”

  Ambassador Yar grinned and the screen went black, then switched off.

  Ieeb’s eyes opened wider, stunned. “I can’t believe that you know Ambassador Yar!”

  “You saw for yourself.”

  Ieeb bit her lip, nervous. “Everyone on Icir has heard of Ambassador Yar. She’s a legend. But we’re poor. I only have four dresses and jumpsuits. Why should she talk to us? We’re just a bunch of nobodies.”

  “She’s not like that. Tomorrow, I’ll tell you how I met her.”

  Ieeb frowned. “She’ll probably be accompanied by a huge entourage. I don’t know if I’m ready for this. Look at me. I can’t even walk.”

  Seeta put her head in her mother’s lap. Ieeb began stroking her daughter’s hair.

  Jao’s voice came out of my earplugs. “Jason, I just found a small studio for you. The manager says you can look at it tonight.”

  “We’ll be there.”

  “Great! See you then.” He hung up.

  “Ieeb, it’s a nice day. Let’s go to Spaic Park and walk around.” I turned toward her.

  “Sure. I love you so much.”

  “I love you.”

  Seeta twirled around playfully, then glanced at me, a curious expression on her face.

  Spending time with Ieeb and Seeta made me feel that the future was still bright. I was happier than I’d ever imagined.

  And who could tell? I might yet get another ship.

  To Be Continued

  Notes

  Some of the technical data, PCR, interferometric telescopes and other information, was inspired by Wikipedia articles.

  Some of the information regarding Pluripotent cells was inspired by UCSF, University of California, San Francisco scientist’s articles, data available on the internet.

  About the Author

  I live in an apartment, one that is located on a busy street in San Francisco.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Notes

  About the Author