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  Rachel finally got her nerve together and said, “Nate is a friend of Jason’s from the university. He’s a lonely nerd, well, sort of an athletic nerd. Anyway, Jason is taking pity on him by getting him to have dinner with a beautiful girl.”

  “Okay, I get it. You’re trying to set up your pathetic sister. What about Judy? I don’t want to leave her out. She traveled all the way up here to hang out with me.”

  “It’s no big deal. Let’s just have a good time with Mom tonight and see how it goes. I’ll talk to Judy.”

  Debbie led Rachel into the coffee shop. Jason sat at a table with Judy on the far side of the café next to the wall. Jason’s hair was light brown, with dark eyes and angular features that made him look serious when he wasn’t smiling. On the far side of the table was a bench and on the wall an art display by a local artist. Pictures of Seattle city scapes showed animated characters superimposed in different locations throughout the pictures. Jason was studying the picture of the animated pigs sitting in the middle of Pike’s Place Market.

  Rachel noticed that Judy was very pretty in her own right but just about as different from Debbie as you could get. She was several inches shorter, with a dark olive complexion; black hair framed her tiny little nose and small dark eyes with just the hint of a fold in the corner of her eyes. You could see the Japanese heritage from her father mixed with the western features from her mother. Rachel knew Judy’s last name was Takei but she would not have guessed her lineage if she hadn’t stayed with Judy and Debbie in Pullman last year.

  Rachel went to the counter to get everyone’s order before sitting down next to Jason to visit. Debbie wanted everyone to talk for a few minutes before going to see Louisa. She leaned over to whisper to Rachel, “How long are you going to stay home with Mom?”

  “I’m taking off the spring semester. I probably don’t need that long, but I can’t just take a month off either. I’ll take some summer classes and be able to finish up my teaching degree in the fall.”

  Judy smiled with a look in her eye that always made Rachel nervous.

  “That’s why I wanted to meet first,” Debbie said. “I have some news. I finished up my degree and will be starting grad school here in Seattle this spring. Judy is done with vet school and has a job offer in the genetics department at the University of Washington as well. So basically we will be here to help soon if you didn’t want to take the semester off.”

  “Wow, that’s great news, Sis. It’s just that Mom will be home any day now. If I know you are really coming back, maybe I can take a few classes. That will make my summer easier.”

  Jason cut in, “Rachel, I have a pretty easy spring, I can certainly help you and your mom until Debbie gets here. Why don’t you go ahead and take some classes?”

  “First Mom, then Debbie, now you!” Rachel spoke angrily but was smiling at Jason.

  Rachel smiled as Debbie’s head popped up from her cappuccino to stare at a tall, thin, man walk in. He was about six feet tall with short, blond hair and glasses. He wore jeans and a T-shirt with old Converse sneakers.

  Debbie whispered to Rachel, “He is cute. Maybe I do need a date. I don’t remember the last time I caught myself checking out strangers at the coffee shop.”

  “Hey, Nate, glad you found us,” Jason yelled over to his friend.

  Rachel looked on in amusement as Debbie’s face turned a brilliant shade of red. Jason made room so he could sit down and spoke to Debbie.

  “Hey, Debbie, this is my friend Nate.”

  Debbie looked up. “Hi, Nate, my name is Debbie, but I guess you know that already.”

  Nate put his hand out to Debbie. “Yeah, Jason told me your name. He also told me to be nice or you might hurt me.”

  Debbie blushed again— a shade of red that could have lit up the room if they had turned the lights out.

  Judy took this opportunity to add to Debbie’s embarrassment. “Wow, Deb, are you feeling Okay? Looking a little flushed there.”

  “Thanks, Judy. Don’t worry, I’ll kill you last.”

  Rachel was smiling from ear to ear as she tried to get everyone’s attention. “Now that everyone has met, let’s finish our coffee so we can go see Mom.”

  Louisa looked around the hospital room and sighed. She knew Rachel was just trying to help, but she didn’t want her to stall her college degree. Rachel worked hard but school didn’t come as easily for her as it did Debbie. Her thoughts were momentarily interrupted.

  “Louisa!”

  Louisa looked up., There, standing in the doorway was a short, stocky man with dark hair and a slightly fraying goatee. He wasn’t fat, just thick with an almost square head and huge smile. Standing behind him was a beautiful woman with long blond hair, easily six inches taller than the man. She looked to be in her thirties and could have been a model when she was younger.

  “Randal, it’s so nice to see you.”

  “Do you remember my wife, Missy?”

  “How could I forget? She saved me from that terrible friend of yours, Henry Geller.”

  Randal gently laughed. Louisa felt his gaze on her and knew she must look so much older since the last time they had visited.

  “I know Henry isn’t really my friend,” Randal said. “His social skills definitely need some work. Fortunately, Missy’s social skills have been expertly honed.”

  Missy grinned at her husband.

  “In any event, Randal, I am very happy to see you,” Louisa said. “I think I should be going home soon. They are just kind of watching me now. I also wanted to get a chance to personally thank you for helping get Rachel into the study. After Liam got sick we were so worried.”

  He sat down beside her. “I know. I’m glad to see you getting better. I also wanted to talk with you about the study. We have had some preliminary data come back that I wanted to talk with you about. Missy, can you give us just a sec?”

  Missy looked down on Randal with a look of frustration, but stepped out into the hallway.

  After Missy was out of the room, Randal reached down to take Louisa’s hand. “I’m sorry Louisa. I’m sorry I couldn’t help Liam, and I’m sorry about my project.”

  “What are you talking about Randal?”

  “It’s just that, well, we have some preliminary data on our flu study that’s concerning. This is really hard, Louise. Some bad things have happened as a result of our vaccine. Not everyone has been affected, but we’ve had to pull the vaccine trial.”

  “I haven’t heard anything about this, Randal. How could you let this happen? You let me enlist Rachel!”

  “I would never have done anything to knowingly endanger your family. This hasn’t been released to the public yet and we don’t really know what the implications or problems are yet. Many people have been saved; there are just some inconsistencies that we can’t account for. I wanted to do some testing with Rachel but wanted to talk with you first. Gibson would go insane if he knew I was talking to you about this.”

  “Randal, are you crazy? We have to tell everyone in the trial.”

  “I know. Why do you think I’m here? Rachel may be fine. We certainly kept her from getting the flu. I just wanted to make sure she’s okay.”

  “Debbie!” Louisa yelled at the doorway as her daughter entered with an entire entourage, including Missy.

  Louisa noticed Randal look up when he saw Missy and seemed to give up on their conversation.

  Debbie pulled Rachel over toward the bed. “Mom, you look so much better. Rach here tells me you’re going home soon. I have some good news, too.”

  Louisa looked anxiously at her daughter. “Don’t hold back. Tell me.”

  “I got accepted to grad school at the University of Washington. I’ll be moving back to Seattle in the spring.”

  “That’s wonderful. Are you going to live with me?”

  “No Mom, Judy is moving back for a job as well. We already have an apartment over by the university. I’ll see you a lot though.”

  Louisa tried to hide her di
sappointment by changing the subject. “Come in everyone. I’m not sure I know all of you.”

  Rachel took Louisa’s hand, then introduced Nate and reintroduced Judy since it had been a while. “We can’t really throw you a party in the hospital, but I wanted to have people here who care about you. We brought a small cake and presents.”

  Louisa looked up. “I’m sorry guys. I forgot to make my introductions. This is Randal Lemay and his wife, Missy. Randal is the friend of mine I told you about when Dad was sick.”

  The girls said in tandem toward Randal and Missy, “Hello.”

  Rachel then turned to her mother. “Let’s get the cake so you can open your presents.” She took a small package from Jason. It was a box with a clear top. Everyone in the room looked hungrily at the box. Jason pulled over the table that was supposed to fit on the hospital bed. Judy held the plates and utensils, and as she brought them over, she said, “I think we have enough, but we’ll have to cut the pieces pretty small.”

  Randal look down at the box, “Ooh cake, an unexpected surprise.”

  Rachel opened the box and took out a moderately large pie with a double crust and red juice flowing over the sides.

  Randal looked down, “Pie?”

  “Yeah, Mom loves pie. She and Dad always had birthday pie instead of cake,” said Rachel over the rumblings of everyone’s stomach.

  Debbie, Rachel, and Louisa made tearful eye contact at the thought of birthday pies as Judy proceeded to cut a small piece for everyone. The pie was divided into eight small pieces and passed around. The only thing missing was ice cream. No one mentioned it.

  The room was silent as they ate their pie. Rachel took out a napkin and wiped the bit of red berry sauce that had dribbled down Louisa’s chin.

  A nurse walked in. “I’m sorry everyone. I know it’s her birthday, but it’s time to wrap it up.”

  Louisa looked up. “Thanks, Nancy, will do.” She watched as Debbie took a step toward the nurse. She smiled as Rachel swooped in and held her sister’s arm.

  “Come on, Debbie, it’s Mom’s birthday. Let’s give her the present now.”

  Debbie pulled an envelope out of her purse. “Mom, here you go. Happy birthday. This is from all of us. Judy, Jason, and even Nate chipped in.” Louisa noticed Debbie look over at Nate and give him a winning smile.

  Louisa took the envelope from Debbie with a confused look on her face. As she opened it, her eyes widened and her mouth fell slightly open. “Oh my, guys, this is too much.”

  Inside the envelope was a plane ticket to Hawaii. With the ticket was a small brochure for a resort.

  Rachel held Louisa’s hand. “It’s not for a few months. You and Dad loved Hawaii so we wanted you to have a getaway when you’re feeling better.”

  The nurse popped her head into the room again, “Okay, guys.”

  Louisa looked at everyone in the room. “I love you guys so much.” With tears rolling down her face, she said good night to everyone.

  As Louisa said goodnight to Randal he leaned down to her and whispered quietly into her ear, “Don’t worry, Louisa, I will take care of thing; you enjoy your family.” He placed his hand on her shoulder and said more loudly, “Good night. Louisa.”

  Everyone said their goodbyes and made their way out of the room. The younger gang had decided to go out and have dinner together at a place downtown close to where they had parked.

  Randal led Missy over to the gang as they headed toward the lobby. “It was very good to meet all of you tonight,” he said. “Your mom is pretty amazing. She really is a brilliant lawyer.”

  Louisa watched as Missy and Randal turned hand in hand toward the parking deck while the rest of them walked back down toward Pike’s Place Market.

  Louisa watched the slow rhythmic pattern of her heart on the monitor as she fell off into a restful sleep thinking of Liam and birthday pie. He loved marionberry pie. As she fell deeper into her dream, she could feel Liam taking her hand. “It’s going to be all right my love.” His grip was warm, then tingly, then she felt it burn just a little bit. She awoke just enough to see a shadow. It wasn’t the girls… it must have been Liam. Liam was gone, so how could it be Liam? It was so warm, the stinging had stopped, and she drifted back. Liam was there again, and she smiled deeply to herself as her breathing slowed.

  Beep! Beep! Beep!

  The noise in the restaurant floated around the group of friends gathered at the corner table. The noise was interrupted when music became audible over the conversations around them: “Don’t stop believing.”

  “Rachel is that really your ringtone?” laughed Debbie.

  “Quiet, I can’t hear. Yes, this is Rachel Connery. What! What do you mean? We were just there. She is getting discharged tomorrow!”

  Rachel could feel the color drain from her face.

  “Rach, Rachel, what’s wrong?”

  Rachel looked up to Debbie and the whole world tunneled in on just the two of them. “Mom is gone.”

  5

  SEATTLE—2330

  “The great irony of unlocking our genetic potential was finding that our greatness was found in our love for one another.”

  —Trispero

  Alucia looked to Olivay with a look of sadness “Papa, is this really how the story starts?”

  “I am sorry, dear. As I said, it is a difficult story which begins in tragedy. This is partly why you have not heard much of it before. Why don’t we go for a walk? Some fresh air would be nice.”

  Olivay got up to lead Alucia out to their favorite walk. The trail they enjoyed most took them through a small park with trees and small bushes lining both sides. The trees that grew near the bushes appeared to grow freely with no organization. The sun was still low enough in the sky that there were long shadows that stretched across the path. With every step there was a flash of light between the trees. The trees to the other side of the trail were taller and easier for him to enjoy without being blinded with the flashes of morning light. The pathway was a very hard clay with a dark orange tint to it that reflected the early morning sunrise.

  As he walked along the path, Olivay wondered what his world looked like from above as his wife, Genovesse, watched down on them from orbit. Trees and bushes with mountains in the distance. The water was farther away, but was visible from her vantage point. To a stranger, this would appear to be a forest or park as all of the dwellings were at least partially underground, and what was above ground was built to reflect and interact symbiotically with its surroundings. The dwellings were like biological mirrors. The city was mapped out so that everyone who wanted to access could pull it up on their personal display. If you had no destination in mind, you could wander with the sense that you were strolling through the forest. The biologic mirrors were not a feat of technologic trickery but a layer of hybrid plants that absorbed light energy and converted it to electricity. The mirror effect which led to the sense that the town was camouflaged was but a simple side effect, albeit an amazing one.

  Olivay took a deep breath and wondered what it would be like to walk through the jungle of humanity that he had seen on many of those early pictures.

  “Papa, come on. What are you thinking?”

  “Sorry dear, we are almost out of the park. Why don’t we sit over there?”

  Olivay pointed to a small bench in a clearing right beyond the park. There was still a bite in the air that Olivay hadn’t noticed until leaving the park. It was clear that Alucia was feeling the chill as she sat on the bench. Before Alucia began to shiver, Olivay put his arm around his daughter.

  Alucia looked up. “Papa, please continue. I am ready now.”

  “To continue, we have to move forward a few years. Be patient with me. I have to tell it all.”

  6

  SEATTLE—2004

  Jason’s 1994 Honda was ten years old but it glided smoothly over the newly paved road, seemingly knowing the route itself. He could not afford a ticket, so he was careful to stay beneath the speed limit despite the f
act that every ounce of his being was pressuring him to stomp his foot on the gas.

  I didn’t realize how many traffic lights there were. I must be hitting every single red light in town. The trip should have taken a few minutes. Today, a day when it actually mattered, it seemed like it was taking hours. There was no traffic. It should have been easy. Jason knew he should have left when she called.

  Finally, a green light. Another green light, my luck is changing. As he rounded the next corner, the huge building of the main hospital wing came into view. Glass and metal interspersed with brown brick made it look like any other university building. This one was different, because Rachel was inside and so was his future.

  Jason’s luck held. There was no line for parking tickets so he pulled into the parking deck without wait. It was midday, so finding a space would be the next hurdle he would have to cross. He circled deeper and deeper into the concrete cave, level B, level C, eventually finding a spot to park on level E. He made his way to the elevator. Everything he needed was already in the hospital. The halls were wide and well lit, so despite the number of people it was easy to move quickly. He didn’t need signs. He’d done this enough times to know exactly where he needed to go. The colors were bright and intended to bring feelings of happiness, but instead reminded him that this was a hospital, and bad things happened in hospitals.

  Labor and delivery. What a strange description. It always reminded Jason of a Federal Express package station, not someplace where new life came into this world. There was a large information desk where you had to check in before you were allowed to go back and see your loved ones. Jason’s luck was holding because there was no one in front of him. The woman sitting at the desk was used to dealing with crazed fathers. She’d spotted Jason before he even knew he needed to talk with her.