Family

“What am I looking at, Dusan? The moons are alive!” Hands splayed on the protruding viewing bubble speckled with luminescence, Scotia laughed and choked a little before a hydrobot spout slipped between her lips. Recalling her early courses when Parnus was still referred to as “new earth”, waterfalls on shimmering individual spheres she’d expected, but undulating infinity patterns within them tweaked her curiosity. Parnus did not resemble Earth even slightly from space, but then this was not the sun’s elliptical orbit, she reminded herself. Three life-sustaining moons created a less oval, more triangulated, and boundaried orbit.

“Everything is alive, like on Earth, but on Parnus life is louder”, Dusan left the com station to appreciate her first views. “You’re going to be amazed from this moment forward and…”, he paused until she turned to look at him, ”maybe scared a few times. If you weren’t frightened, you’d be the first, Scotia”. His concern for her was evident in the worried lines around his dark and earnest eyes.

“Where are the stars”? she asked, determined to learn as much as possible before they landed. “The moons radiate heat, right”? As the effects of cooling dissipated, incomplete facts drifted toward her then away again. Scotia frowned as she tried, and failed, to remember.

Dusan waved one long-fingered hand toward the moons that did not resemble any moon in the Milky Way. “You cannot see the stars in this section of the universe due to Parnus’ moonslight, but on rare occasions the moons dim, and the sky is wonderfully familiar for a little while”.

His nostalgia surprised Scotia. “I remember them saying the moons have pink waterfalls, fantastic enough by itself, but THIS”! Dusan’s worries were forgotten as uncharacteristic laughter burst out of his betrothed. Scotia’s delight easily became his as she continued, “I can’t believe I’m finally here. I never thought I’d see it”, she paused, “or you and Zehmy again”. Her voice cracked on the last bit. The, stranger yet, tears welled in her silver eyes.

Dusan retained his usual stoic façade, but inwardly a seed of hope grew with Scotia’s glee. “We were surprised, too, but I don’t believe anyone was as delighted as you are seeing it for the first time”. He couldn’t help chuckling a little himself when she turned to him with a rare smile. “And you’re right- they’re more elaborate and interdependent than our lessons portrayed. The Parnus scientists were earth-bound by a single planet model. They didn’t imagine a multi-planet ecosystem and entirely overlooked mutualism for human survival here”. At her look of concern, Dusan gave her a smile of reassurance, “I promise to answer your questions while we adjust to the difference in gravity and evaluate bio” He ran a hand lightly over her silver hair. “I’m glad you’re here, too”.

Scotia felt his concern through his touch- exquisitely so. More spcaious than she recalled from their boarding on Earth, the interior of the craft hummed with equipment recessed behind pale walls. A petite oval disk unfolded on the opposite wall while a pair of round padded seats rose from the floor on silver spindles and caught her attention momentarily before she turned back slowly in order to full take in Dusan’s form. He seemed to have lost the lean hardness he once prided himself on, yet a measured danger lingered. She did not imagine a new world softening Dusan and decided to keep her own foreign feelings to herself. “Can I have something to eat before we do that?”, she glanced over at their newly-arrived seating which looked made for spinning to her.

“That’s a positive indication!” Dusan moved her aside gently and made a series of hand motions not unlike sign language. For a split second she imagined his fingers trailing down her back in the cave on earth. Scotia assumed the holographic panel that appeared held her health log. “Two Nutriquids, Delbert”, he practically shouted with a grin. Her laughter was all the reward he needed for naming the spacecraft after their kindergarten class’s pet turtle.

“When do we go to Parnus, Dusan?”

Here came the hard part, he thought, his hesitation a red flag for Scotia. In her usual manner, she pushed, “What did you mean “mutualism to survive here”? For humans?” The hydrobot slipped between her lips, programmed for 20 spoken words. “This is a little annoying, by the way”.

“You need to listen more than talk anyway”, Dusan said and put up his hand as she took a breath to protest. “Your esophagus is fragile, so the hydrobot will remain at that setting for a couple more days. I won’t take chances with your reorganization, Scotia”. The table between them retracted with a button and he moved closer. “Do you remember mutualism from our bioengineering courses”? Scotia nodded and gave him a small smile. Adaptation equals survival, she reminded herself. She had adapted in Eudaimonia and she’d adapt on Parnus for Zehmy. Unfortunately, she hadn’t left her nail-biting habit on earth but instead of giving in to it, she sat on her hands and forced herself to focus on Dusan’s surreal words regarding how humans, and every other living thing on Parnus, relied on “Ixkeeb” as an operating consciousness which assisted their survival, but required certain evolutions for humans.

Why did “Ixkeeb” sound so familiar?

Taking her trembling hand from under her thigh, Dusan guided it behind his ear to what felt like a gill that moved in sync with his breath. Scotia wanted to run, but where could she go? She made herself stay still, her breath only stopping for a moment in surprise. Then he took the same hand behind her own ear to a small slit. Scotia’s heart raced as she tried to grasp that somehow she was growing gills. Gills!

“Do we breathe underwater, Dusan? Tell me what to expect. You don’t look that different…”, Scotia realized she could only see so much.

“Ixkeeb lives under the surface, which is similar to water. I have gills because Ixkeeb chose Zehmy as his diplomatic envoy, Scotia”.

“Zehmy is only six”, she muttered, confusion creasing her forehead.

“Zehmy is uniquely gifted, Scotia. Ixkeeb may have…, no I’m sure, Ixkeeb contacted him before we ever left Earth. I don’t know when or how, but Zehmy recognized Ixkeeb while everyone else was initially shocked, if not terrified”.

Scotia thought of Zehmy in his crib babbling in the sunlight after his naps, his little fat hands reaching upward. Her baby boy. “I’m ready to meet Ixkeeb and hug Zehmy, Dusan. I need to see my son before you tell me more. I can face anything afterward, but right now I need love more than intel”.

He wanted to protest, but knew it would cost him her trust. “As long as you agree to let me help you, to not shut me out, we can start descent. Three levels of decompression enables the entire craft to land. It would be best if you inhaled calming mist for a while… ok, nevermind on the mist”. Her vehement head shake at his last request let him know she was still herself.