It was a dark and stormy night but few residents of Massapequot-Atlan would be aware of that. Aneelya stepped out of the elevator and turned left along the perimeter promenade gazing at the storm through the droplets on the transparent hull. The waves were breaking just above the handrail, adding their patterns to the droplets. The wind whipped the ocean into white caps as far as he could see.
None of the twenty-nine thousand, nine-hundred, ninety-nine other people who inhabited the Massapequot-Atlan ocean colony were taking advantage of the dramatic spectacle nature offered them just beyond the wrap-around window of their home. Of course, some would have taken the commuter sub from the edge of the Atlantic continental shelf where they were anchored, destination Boston or New York or Baltimore so they were not home tonight to enjoy the storm. Others might prefer the more tranquil deeper views. Storms rarely penetrated more than twenty feet below the surface. But submarine vistas were always available and almost always the same. The fish and other marine life came and went. The varieties were different on the east side that hovered over deep water beyond the continental shelf than in the west where the bottom was close by. But for Aneelya the fury of the storm was a reminder that human existence hadn\u2019t always been so tranquil. He longed for challenge and danger.
The next viewing lounge was about a kilometer ahead along the gently curving promenade. Aneelya hoped the lights would be off so he could clearly see how the lightning lit up the clouds as the storm passed over them. Rough weather posed no danger to the mostly submerged structure. The greater bulk of M-A, as they called it, was so deep that even hurricanes and the fabled Nor\u2019easters passed over them without so much as a ripple in a cup of coffee. He walked quickly, drinking in the excitement just beyond his reach.
The viewing lounge was as dark as he had hoped. Jerking the door open he switched the motion sensor off before it could flood the room with light. He followed the curve around, took a front row center seat and leaned back in the padded theater chair. He was glad the room was empty. There would be no inane comments about how civilization had again conquered raw nature. Maybe humans had conquered here on Earth but there were plenty of planets where colonists were discovering that Nature\u2019s repertoire was much more extensive than Earth-dwellers imagined.
As an atmospheric scientist, Aneelya understood a great deal about the lightning display he expected to observe tonight. He also knew about the large scale electrical discharges known at \u2018sprites\u2019 and \u2018blue jets\u2019 that were likely to be happening above the clouds and so could not be seen from sea level. Taking account of such phenomena was important for safe launches into space from Earth. They were even more critical as a ship approached a planet from above whatever kind of clouds Nature had waiting for unwary astronauts. He was intimately familiar with computer simulations of Earth\u2019s atmospheric acrobatics as well as those in the rest of the solar system and those hypothesized to exist on several exo-planets. But nothing computer generated could thrill him like watching the real thing in real time.
The storm approached rapidly, made more dramatic by the external microphones that brought both the snapping of the thunder and the slapping of the waves into the viewing room. Rain squalls to the left and right cut visibility down to less than 100 meters. But in the middle the sky was clear so that the lightning bolts illuminated the structure of the clouds. The thunder followed each flash more closely as the winds closed in. Flash. One-one thousand, Two one-thousand, Three one-thousand, Four one-thousand\u2026Ten, one-thousand. Crash. Pause. Flash. One-one thousand, Two one-thousand, Three one-thousand, Four one-thousand. Crash. Pause. Suddenly the whole viewing room lit up as lightening hit the empty flag pole of the marina just out of sight leftwards of the viewing room. The huge thunder clap was immediate and Aneelya heard a gasp behind him. There was someone else in the room. He cast his eyes around in the darkness but couldn\u2019t see anyone. The next flash, several seconds later was little help. The storm had passed over them going southwest and the lightning in the clouds was no longer visible. For the most part the show was over so he felt his way back to the switch and brought up the house lights.
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/loopcntr.net\/musings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/image_1cecfd01.png?ssl=1\")
<\/a>It was no wonder Tarik had been hard to pick out in the dark room. Her skin, although brownish, was as dark as the purple velvet of the theater seats and her short brushy hair and large eyes were even blacker. Almost everyone in M-A was some shade of brown but this woman was exotic looking. Aneelya smiled and waved at her. \u201cHi. How did you enjoy the show?\u201d\u201cSpectacular,\u201d she said. \u201cHold on and leave the lights on. I\u2019ll come down.\u201d She rose, sidestepped to the aisle and strode down the ramp to the door where he waited for her. She extended her hand to him. \u201cI\u2019m Tarik. I don\u2019t think we\u2019ve met before.\u201d
\u201cMore\u2019s the pity,\u201d he replied, responding to her greeting gesture. \u201cAneelya, here. Do you come here often?\u201d
\u201cNot usually,\u201d she replied. \u201cI was hoping for some inspiration for my work.\u201d
\u201cHow \u2018bout we go grab a cup of coffee or something and you can tell me about what you do \u2013 and about yourself too. I\u2019m sure you\u2019re aware of how striking you look. I was wondering whether you\u2019re a purebred or a throwback.\u201d
\u201cYes on the coffee and yes, I\u2019m purebred. Fifteen generations that we know about. Originated in Ethiopia. Want to hear more?\u201d
\u201cI\u2019m all ears,\u201d he said guiding her along a radial toward his favorite caf\u00e9 on this level. \u201cDo you feel as special as you look? \u2013 if you don\u2019t mind talking about it to a stranger.\u201d
\u201cTalking is fine. Actually, that\u2019s part of my work. I\u2019m a music historian specializing in ancient Africa. I do lots of public speaking and perform whenever I can so I\u2019m used to explaining stuff to people I don\u2019t know. I certainly look the part, don\u2019t I?\u201d<\/p>\r\n
They both laughed as they entered the empty caf\u00e9 and approached the sleepy barista. \u201cI\u2019ll have the Ethiopian dark roast,\u201d he ordered with a grin. \u201cWhat\u2019s your pleasure?\u201d
\u201cSweet hot chocolate, actually,\u201d she said, sliding onto a bench near the window. \u201cSometimes I need a break from Ethiopian.\u201d
\u201cI was wondering about that. Maintaining a purebred family must be quite a commitment. And it\u2019s something the kids don\u2019t have much choice about until it\u2019s too late.\u201d
She nodded. \u201cUh huh. My nieces and nephews look just like you. My older brothers think the purebred movement is too much like a cult so they married out. My parents are very disappointed and they\u2019re hoping I\u2019ll follow their tradition. I do want to have kids but I haven\u2019t made up my mind. Sticking to purebredism really narrows the field.\u201d
\u201cHow many of you are there on M-A?\u201d he asked.
\u201cOnly six resident families if you count my brothers\u2019 separately. I live with my folks. My second cousins moved here about five years ago and their kids are all little. The other two families aren\u2019t Ethiopian but they\u2019re as black as we are and they\u2019ve bred true for three generations so we let them register. So if I didn\u2019t travel and wanted to stay purebred there would only be three husband-candidates. Fortunately I get around quite a bit. I lecture on all the continents and a good number of ocean colonies even though I\u2019m not attached to any one university.\u201d
\u201cSounds like a pretty exciting life,\u201d Aneelya said wistfully. \u201cHave you ever been off-planet?\u201d
\u201cOnly once, to the Pan-Mars Music Festival three years ago. The conference was a blast but I hated space travel. I was sick the whole week enroute. Earth is quite big enough for me.\u201d
\u201cReally?\u201d He sounded surprised. \u201cI go out three or four times a year and I love every minute of it. I feel so confined here. That\u2019s why I watch the storms. They give me a sense of distance. And, of course, planetary weather is my business and every storm is a little different. You said you hoped watching this one would inspire you. What\u2019s that about?\u201d
\u201cOh, simple. I\u2019m working on a show about how native peoples tried to use song and dance to control rainfall. We have a few recordings of ancient rituals of this kind but not enough for a whole show so I have to improvise. They used drums to represent thunder but the rhythms are tricky. I thought listening to the real thing would help me compose. It\u2019s so rare to actually hear thunder and rain these days. My audiences can\u2019t make the association with the music unless I make it extremely obvious. I have to lead them from recordings of the real thing through my compositions that mimic the weather sounds very closely to the authentic ancient music. That way they get it. If we don\u2019t work at it humanity will lose its history.\u201d
\u201cSort of like it\u2019s losing its racial diversity,\u201d he mused. \u201cSometimes I feel so ordinary, so anonymous, being brown like everybody else. There are a few throwbacks in my family. I have an aunt who is very white and a cousin on the other side who is a lot darker than the rest of us. But mostly we\u2019re pretty homogenized. My aunt\u2019s husband is pretty light-skinned too but their kids are like me. How did you say it? They didn\u2019t \u2018breed true.\u2019 \u201c
\u201cExactly,\u201d she nodded. \u201cThat\u2019s why we have the registry. Sometimes a very dark throwback will want to marry into a purebred family. There\u2019s nothing wrong with marrying whoever you want, of course. But if you choose to participate in preserving a racial line that shows the old traits you can\u2019t afford the genetic dilution brought in by a throwback. If you do there\u2019s no telling how the kids will turn out.\u201d
He scanned her elongated face and tall, thin frame. \u201cYeah. Like I said, the kids don\u2019t have much of a say in it do they? Did your parents choose music for your career too?\u201d
\u201cNo. At least I don\u2019t think they did. Everyone in my family dances and sings but nobody is compelled to do it. It just seemed to fit me easily. I studied jazz in high school because I liked it. Since my purebred relatives were always swapping folklore and stories about Earth\u2019s racial history I knew a lot about that too. It wasn\u2019t always a good thing to be black or brown you know. There was an era in North America, and South America too, I guess, when having dark skin meant you could be owned by a lighter skinned person.
\u201cI heard about that \u2013 Negro slavery by European descended whites.\u201d Aneelya drained his coffee cup. \u201cBut on other continents it was more a matter of who won the war than what color the loser\u2019s skin was. The white Greeks made white prisoners into slaves and lots of dark Africans enslaved other Africans. So slavery wasn\u2019t always a racial thing. It was more political sometimes.\u201d
Tarik nodded in agreement again. \u201cYou\u2019re right,\u201d she said. \u201cI wish everybody had as wide a grasp of history as you do. It\u2019s bad enough here on Earth what with people forgetting the stupid things humans have done to each other over the millennia. I think purbredism is a little over the top but I\u2019d hate to see us lose all our cultural diversity.\u2028 \u201cNot much chance of that,\u201d he said, shaking his head. \u201cYou\u2019ve been on Mars. The settlement is only fifty years old and they\u2019re already starting to think Earth people are weird. They think we must be crazy to leave our colony habitats without a space suit. The kids don\u2019t understand that our outside air is breathable. Mars already has a new culture.\u201d
\u201cI know, I know. I saw a lot of it at the conference. They have to adapt to conditions there, I understand that. But they don\u2019t have to forget where they came from. I\u2019m just so afraid they\u2019ll forget all the lessons humanity has learned and have to experience the bad stuff all over again. You know, like wars and slavery, ecological disasters and, well, they could get xenophobic and begin to think Earth people are dangerous. They might decide genetic manipulation should be regulated by the government instead of letting parents decide like we do. I don\u2019t think I want to leave Earth again. I have enough challenges trying to make sure the other continents know about African history.\u201d
Aneelya gazed out the window of the caf\u00e9. He could just make out the outlines of the garden plots across the avenue. The clouds must have cleared because moonlight was streaming through the dome. The conversation was becoming difficult for him. Learning about Earth\u2019s history and its different cultures was an amusing pastime for him but he wasn\u2019t passionate about it the way Tarik obviously was. His excitement came from puzzling out what Nature would throw at humanity next. He and his fellow scientists had a pretty good idea of how to predict future conditions on Earth. They knew that they needed to monitor the jet stream and the magnetosphere to get input data for their weather and climate models. They had gotten pretty good at forecasting volcanoes and earthquakes by tracking movements in the crustal plates and magma flows. Sunspots and solar flares were well enough understood to anticipate electro-magnetic disruptions. Even nearby comets, meteors and asteroids were no longer mysterious collision hazards for Earth dwellers. The idea that humanity might pose a significant danger to itself was not something he had thought much about. He wasn\u2019t so sure he wanted to know a lot about how people had been cruel to each other in the past. Human nature might be significantly more difficult to understand than Nature\u2019s nature.
\u201cHey,\u201d he said after a pause, \u201cwould you like to go down to the marina and see if we can get a boat? The storm is over so it might be safe to motor around for a bit.\u201d
She looked shocked. \u201cYou mean leave the colony hull in an open craft? In the dark? At this hour?\u201d Such a daring adventure had never crossed her mind before. \u201cI\u2019ve taken the sub to the continent hundreds of times and I\u2019ve flown all over Earth but I\u2019ve never been in a motor boat. I didn\u2019t know you could do that. You really think it\u2019ll be safe?\u201d
\u201cWe won\u2019t know until we go out and look,\u201d he replied. \u201cCome on. Let\u2019s go see what it\u2019s like. The marina\u2019s always open but the harbor master won\u2019t let us rent a boat unless he thinks the sea is flat enough. I go out all the time. It\u2019s beautiful at night.\u201d
\u201cWon\u2019t it be cold?\u201d
\u201cMaybe,\u201d he smiled. \u201cWe\u2019ll get sweaters and waterproof jackets with our life vests. And we won\u2019t be out long \u2013 maybe 15 minutes or \u00bd hour. Let\u2019s go look around. If it\u2019s too rough we\u2019ll just walk on the docks.\u201d
She stood, gathered her purse and wrap, then followed him out the door of the caf\u00e9. The temperature on the streets of Massapequot-Atlan was kept about 68 degrees Farenheit during the day and allowed to drop 7 or 8 degrees at night. When the external air was near these levels the portals would be opened and ocean breezes wafted through the colony. Most of the time, however, the climate of the north Atlantic was considerably colder than M-A inhabitants found comfortable so the portals were closed and the heat pumps regulated ambient temperature. Inside apartments, offices and shops there were thermostats that allowed residents and proprietors to control their immediate surroundings. The submarine port was a little above the equator of the cylindrical colony hull, about halfway down the vertical extent of the structure. Passengers boarded through a lock so the external weather had no impact. For children born on M-A their first trip to the continent was often their introduction to the vagaries of Earth\u2019s climate. Before leaving M-A for the first time kids might have seen and heard weather from one of the viewing rooms but never have felt it. Although anyone was welcome to take advantage of the 5 surface marinas located around the exposed top of the hull, few did. Motoring, fishing, sailing and swimming in the open ocean were considered extreme sports that only the most daring engaged in.<\/a>The ocean colony hull was shaped like an elongated egg. It had twelve levels, nine of which were used by inhabitants. The top level protruded above the ocean surface with its deck about two feet below sea level. Much of its domed roof was transparent so Level 1 housed both garden plots and recreational facilities. The perimeter promenade circled the inside of the hull, interrupted by four viewing rooms. The six floating marinas were positioned around the outside of Level 1, three small facilities for recreation, one for the fishing fleet, another for the fish farms and one for sea-surface cargo. Level Two was mostly taken up by storage facilities and industrial processes that required air cooling since it was close to the surface. Both the cargo and the passenger submarines docked on Level 6 near the halfway depth of the hull. Passengers usually preferred the two- to three-hour subsurface rides to US dryland cities because they were smooth and independent of storms and seasons. Level 7 housed the automated machinery that sustained conditions necessary for habitation of the hull as well as automated manufacturing that functioned for months at a time without human intervention. Level 11 was ballast storage. Keeping all heavy items not currently in use near the bottom of the hull made the whole structure remarkably stable. People lived, worked, shopped, learned and recreated on the other levels. Like Level 1, Level 12 had a transparent dome that provided a 360 degree view of the ocean floor. People visited Level 12 for recreation, education and to conduct scientific research. Residential living rooms and executive offices occupied the circumference of most levels making maximum use of window area. Shops, restaurants and workplaces filled the interior spaces. Avenues were laid out in concentric circles on each level and were intersected by radial Streets that ran from the central circular plaza to the hull.
Aneelya guided Tarik to the left along the arc of the avenue in front of the caf\u00e9 and took the second right one block to get to the perimeter. At the outer door he pushed the call button to request exist to the marina. A sleepy operator answered.
\u201cDoes the harbor master know you\u2019re coming?\u201d asked the operator.
\u201cNo, we just decided to go out on the spur of the moment. He won\u2019t be expecting us,\u201d Aneelya replied.
\u201cWe could go another time,\u201d Tarik cut in. Her enthusiasm for this adventure was ebbing away rapidly.
\u201cBetter call him first,\u201d said the operator. \u201cDo you have his code?\u201d
Aneelya pushed on the door with his fist to express his frustration with being so completely regulated within the colony and then noticed Tarik\u2019s frown. \u201cOf course,\u201d he said in a cooperative tone that hid his disgruntlement. \u201cI\u2019ll ask the harbor master to call you for door release.\u201d
\u201cI\u2019ll be right here,\u201d laughed the operator. \u201cI\u2019m not going anywhere.\u201d The intercom disconnected with a click.<\/p>\r\n
The harbor master answered Aneelya\u2019s ring with a friendly yawn. \u201cSure, come on out and take a look around,\u201d he said in answer to Aneelya\u2019s request. \u201cI don\u2019t know about free motoring in a run-about though. It\u2019s still pretty choppy after the storm and, well, you know the models. My screen says there\u2019s another rough cell about an hour out from us. It could miss us but the sims aren\u2019t that accurate. What would I tell the guard captain if a squall capsized you and he had to take the cutter out to rescue you? Say, it\u2019s pretty chilly out here. Do you need me to grab a couple of jackets for you?\u201d
Grinning broadly through the window at the white-capped swells that were still slapping the colony hull, Aneelya finished the arrangements. He put his hand on the door handle to wait for the unlocking click and looked up at Tarik. Horror was written on her furrowed brow and her knuckles showed even blacker than the already dark skin of her clenched hands. \u201cThis whole idea frightens me,\u201d she said in a small voice. \u201cI\u2019m sure I don\u2019t want to risk my life in a boat but what if the wind comes up while we\u2019re out on the dock? Won\u2019t we get blown away?\u201d
His grin faded. \u201cIt\u2019s perfectly safe on the dock. And we could just sit in a boat while it\u2019s tied up. That way you could get used to the feel of it bobbing in the water.\u201d The lock clicked open and he held the door for her as a blast of cold air invaded the exit platform above the promenade. She pulled her light wrap around her shoulders and followed him down the swaying ramp steadying herself with the railing. She stumbled as she stepped from the ramp to the contrasting movement of the floating dock and he put his arm around her waist to offer stability. She started to pull back, uncomfortable with the intimacy of his touch but then leaned against him to keep her footing.
\u201cI\u2019m gonna\u2019 freeze out here,\u201d she muttered. He pointed to the harbor master\u2019s hut thirty steps farther up the dock and pushed her along gently.
Reston, the harbor master, dropped a warmed jacket over her shoulders as they entered the toasty warm hut. \u201cYou\u2019ll want to take that off in a minute or two but it will make you think you\u2019re warmer immediately.\u201d He indicated two folding canvas chairs for them and reseated himself in a large wooden chair that looked like it had been molded to his ample backside. \u201cHow did you get mixed up with this crazy wanderer?\u201d Having caught her breath, Tarik glanced quickly around the room and brought her eyes to rest on the harbor master. Reston looked like an illustration of an old fashioned sea captain from one of her Bristish or American history books. He had a full grey beard and windblown hair that touched his shoulders. His trousers sported more embossed gold buttons than needed to keep them in place and his white shirt had blousy sleeves with long cuffs and hung open at the neck. His weathered, wrinkled skin suggested he might be very old but his smooth movements said otherwise. Both men baffled her.
\u201cWe\u2019re not exactly \u2018mixed up\u2019,\u201d she replied. \u201cWe just met a couple of hours ago. We were both watching the storm in the East viewing room. You two seem to be old friends.\u201d
\u201cWell, I\u2019m old, no doubt about that. And I guess he\u2019s a friend. A former shipmate anyway. I was crew on a research vessel and he was part of the science team. We must have been off Earth for about three and a half years. Saw four planets and better than 20 asteroids. That was my last voyage. The doc said I could either die miserably in space or find myself a healthy occupation Earthside. There\u2019s not much excitement on the continents. Out here in the ocean is the closest thing I could find to an alien environment.\u201d He shrugged and turned his attention to Aneelya. \u201cWhen are you going to ship out again?\u201d
\u201cMy 3-month gravity rest is up in about 3 weeks, Res. I\u2019ve been hanging out with my parents and ragging on my sister for choosing the wrong man to marry. I\u2019ve got three gigs lined up and I need to decide which one to take.\u201d<\/p>\r\n
Tarik must have warmed up some because she opened up her jacket. Reston reached for an old fashioned tobacco pipe. \u201cGo on,\u201d he said. \u201cTell us about your options.\u201d
Aneelya glanced at Tarik. \u201cAre you comfortable here for a few more minutes? We were going to at least walk the docks.\u201d
She glanced at the dark water visible through a small window behind him. \u201cOh that\u2019s ok. I\u2019d like to hear your plans.\u201d
\u201cWell, SSM, that\u2019s Sol System Mining, is expecting the outer asteroids to open up soon for exploration. They want to send out an advanced science team to survey conditions on several of the larger ones. The small ones don\u2019t have any atmospheres so there\u2019s no climate to speak of. They won\u2019t need me there. The materials people do the prospecting and all the habitats have to be basically space-hardened. But the larger bodies have all sorts of interesting atmospheric changes depending on what gasses there are and how far from the sun their orbits take them. That would be a 5-year contract.\u201d
\u201cThen there\u2019s an opening for someone with my skills at the Ramada Mars Colony. That would probably require me to become a Colony citizen and I\u2019m not sure I want to do that. Fixed colonies, no matter where they are, have a certain regimentation that begins to irritate me within a year or two. I grew up here on M-A and I\u2019m usually fine here for six months or so. But once I know the routine and most of the people I get antsy. So, Mars would be safe, steady work and dull as dishwater in short order.\u201d
\u201cThere\u2019s also a spot on the Exo-planet Expedition IV for a climatologist. Now that would be real adventure \u2013 and I\u2019d need to close down my affairs here because I wouldn\u2019t be coming back. I don\u2019t know whether I\u2019ll qualify or not \u2013 I\u2019ve been studying a lot to prepare for the interviews.\u201d
Tarik gasped and put her hand to her mouth. \u201cWould you do that? Aren\u2019t the chances of getting killed on a trip like that really high?\u201d
\u201cYup,\u201d he grinned. \u201cThere\u2019s been no contact with the previous three teams since the first one left 5 years ago. We don\u2019t know whether they\u2019ve been destroyed, are still traveling or are happily colonizing some rock somewhere. They don\u2019t call the volunteers Kamikazes for nothing.\u201d
\u201cI wish I were younger,\u201d Reston said wistfully. Tarik shook her head.
\u201cI don\u2019t understand why anybody would even consider such a thing,\u201d she said. \u201cI can see Mars or even the asteroid thing but why risk your life like that? Don\u2019t you want to have a family? I thought you really liked your career. There\u2019s so much work to do here.\u201d She got up and walked the few steps to the window. The wind was picking up again and little waves slopped onto the surface of the dock. \u201cMaybe we\u2019d better go back. It doesn\u2019t look like walking out there will be very pleasant.\u201d<\/p>\r\n
Aneelya and Reston looked at each other for a long moment as if they could share thoughts without speaking, then Aneelya shrugged and turned toward the door.
\u201cYou can leave the jacket on the hook just inside the hull when you go in,\u201d Reston offered. \u201cVery nice to meet you. Come back on a calm clear afternoon and we\u2019ll get you that boat ride.\u201d He shook hands with Aneelya and slapped him on the back. \u201cYou come back and tell me what you decide, YaYa. I might be able to introduce you to some helpful folks. We sure had some fun last time.\u201d He held the door for them as they dashed into the wind heading for the hull.
The iris scanner had them identified and the door unlocked before they could reach for the handle. Any known person could come into M-A even though there were safety restrictions for leaving that required human decisions. Tarik found the hook for her coat, left it and looked down the promenade.
\u201cIt\u2019s pretty late,\u201d she said, \u201cand it\u2019s certainly been an \u2013 ah \u2013 interesting evening. Thank you and the very best of luck to you.\u201d She turned toward the radial street.
\u201cWait! I mean, please don\u2019t rush off. Did I do something to upset you?\u201d Aneelya\u2019s expression was half way between puzzlement and dismay.
\u201cOh no,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m not upset. I\u2019m still a little cold but I\u2019ll warm up. And this really has been a change from my normal activities. I meant it when I said it was interesting.\u201d
\u201cMe too. I mean your story is interesting. I\u2019ve heard about purebreds before but you\u2019re the first I\u2019ve ever met.\u201d He paused and looked back toward the outer doorway. \u201cWe could go out on the docks again when the weather is better. The ocean is really beautiful on a calm day.\u201d
\u201cI don\u2019t think so.\u201d She shook her head.
\u201cOK. Maybe you could play some of your music for me. What\u2019s you number? I\u2019ll give you a call next week after I\u2019ve had my next interview.\u201d
She looked directly at him and cleared her throat. \u201cAneelya \u2013 YaYa, is that what the harbor master called you? \u2013 I don\u2019t think there\u2019s any point in our getting together again. We\u2019re really on very different trajectories. I\u2019m going to stay here on Earth for the most part, continue my historical research and try to keep ancient African culture from being completely forgotten. It isn\u2019t because you\u2019re not Ethiopian or not an attractive guy. You\u2019re a fine person. It\u2019s that \u2013 how did the harbor master put it? \u2013 You\u2019re a wanderer. Yeah, I travel and what I do excites me. But you\u2019d be bored to tears after the first 10 minutes of one of my conferences. Even though I was born in this ocean colony my idea of water recreation is wading up to my ankles in the Red Sea. You want to go motoring in the North Atlantic in a thunder storm.\u201d
\u201cBut if we got to know each other we might find more things we like to do in common.\u201d He was grabbing at straws.
\u201cAnd then what?\u201d she asked. \u201cJust when we get comfortable with each other\u2019s company you\u2019ll take off on a one-way trip to Planet X. No, this was a chance encounter. It\u2019s been a pleasant, if a little challenging, evening. I\u2019ll remember it. I\u2019ll remember you and we might run into each other again before you leave for good. But I don\u2019t want you to call me.\u201d
He couldn\u2019t think of an effective counter argument. \u201cYou\u2019re probably right,\u201d he said. \u201cThere were a couple of times tonight when I couldn\u2019t think of what to say next \u2013 like now. I guess \u2018thank you\u2019 would be appropriate. I was having a good time before we met and these last couple of hours have been good too. I\u2019m glad you\u2019re doing the work you do. People like me probably would forget where we came from if people like you didn\u2019t remind us. And what I do is important too. Human beings are going to continue to colonize space and my work really does improve their chances of success. But you\u2019re right. I\u2019m addicted to wind and waves and weather and electrical storms. I don\u2019t just want to study them, I want to be out in them as much as I can. Wading on the shore is just what I do before I dive in.\u201d He put a hand on each of her shoulders and gave her a quick kiss on the check. \u201cYou have a wonderful life,\u201d he said and started clockwise down the promenade. After about 10 steps he looked back to see her back disappearing through the door to the elevator to the lower levels.<\/p>\r\n
It took him about 5 minutes to jog back to the viewing room where they had first encountered one another. This time he looked carefully around the room before dousing the lights. This time it really was empty. The first lightening flash was faint and the thunder that rolled out from the speakers many seconds later was only a low grumble. It would be a while before this second storm front reached the hull. He took a front row seat again and leaned back to wait for the wind to whip the ocean into another frenzy.
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