The Eleusian Effect

August 14, 2169 1530 Hours

Bill and I decided to get in a day trip to Wellfleet. We brought some bicycles and rode around the beaches and the main street area. I’ve always enjoyed the simplicity of the area. The Kennedy was state of the art technology for everything, right down to the toilets. It was somewhat refreshing to enjoy a more bucolic environment. Bill liked it too. He said he gets tired of the office pretty fast. That’s why he works from home. We stopped for an early dinner. I hadn’t had some old fashioned seafood in a long time so we stopped at Moby Dick’s for some clams. We were sitting down to eat when a familiar face came up to us. It was Captain Cleveland. “Afternoon, folks.” He was casually dressed, and a petite woman, with short, dark hair was with him.

“Cleveland. What brings you to Wellfleet?” I was not happy he was there.

“Believe it or not, I am taking some time off. I’m from Philly and I’ve never visited the Cape before. Meet my wife, Sasha.”

“Nice to meet you.” Though he presented her in almost a phony, sarcastic manner, she seemed genuine. “I’ve heard a lot about you.” “Hello.” I really wanted Bill for myself but we both felt a social obligation. “Care to join us?” Bill said it so I wouldn’t have to. Sasha was wearing a light linen outfit. “We just love the Cape. I came here a lot as a kid. Phillip here has no idea about real seafood.” She seemed nice enough, but the whole situation seemed staged. I couldn’t shake the feeling that Cleveland was keeping an eye on us-on me. Bill realized who he was but kept his cool. We were having a nice afternoon (we knew they would be very few) and we didn’t want to ruin it. Bill and I looked at each other and silently relented. Sasha seemed genuine enough.

“Where are you from, Sasha?”

“I grew up in Manchester, New Hampshire. Went to college at Babson.”

“Nice. I grew up in Aberdeen, Maryland, but we have family and vacation property here on the Cape. Nantucket.”

“That’s nice.”

“So Captain-”

“Please, call me Phillip. We’re off duty.”

“Okay, Phillip. How long are you on the Cape?

“Well I took two weeks leave, right after I spoke with you and I figured I was already here and Sasha was at her Mom’s in Manchester. So we met in Boston and took a shuttle down here.” “Ah. I see.” There was a long, uncomfortable pause, then I spoke up. “What do you do for work, Sasha?”

“I’m a biochemical engineer. I own a company in Lexington and we are looking to unlock the genetic codes that produce certain physical traits. We are focusing on birth defects.” “Interesting. Is there an increase in birth defects? I thought they were able to cure most of them.”

“Yes, we have come a long way but there is still a great deal of work to do. We are still learning about things at the chromosomal level. Maybe some of your research from the Venus Mission could come in handy.” Now I understood Cleveland’s angle. He was trying to give his wife an edge. Fortunately, GASA was smart enough to put policies and contractual elements to protect that kind of information. “I’m sure it could but you’d have to go through proper channels. Much of what I do is classified.” “Oh, of course! But I think Phillip can cut through some of that red tape.”

“I’m sure he can.” I was extremely uncomfortable. Cleveland should have known that discussing classified information in public is expressly forbidden. He’s baiting me. As I pondered the next chess move, Bill came to the rescue. He glanced at his watch and said, “Dear, we have to go, I promised my parents we’d meet them for tennis.” “Oh right. Sorry we have to rush off. We rode bicycles here so it will take some time to get back. Nice to meet you, Sasha.”

“Nice to meet you too. Good Luck on your mission.”

I smiled as much as I could and we left quickly. We both exhaled when we got outside. “Thanks. I may have wanted to punch them both.” “Yeah, that was really awkward. Fortunately for us my parents are in Europe and I’ve played tennis once in my life.”

“My hero.” I planted a long, wet, sloppy kiss on his lips and we held each other for a moment. “We should go before they find us again.” We rode back to the car and loaded the bikes. We headed farther down the Cape to Truro and looked around. We didn’t go straight back to Nantucket in order to avoid the Clevelands. Our meeting them may have been totally innocent, but I had that feeling in the pit of my stomach that told me something wasn’t right.

August 20, 2169 1640 Hours

The next few days were quiet. Nothing odd happened. I spent most of the day going over the new specs for the Kennedy’s medical lab. Fascinating stuff. Had dinner with Mom and Dad. Mom was excited for her last Alzheimer’s treatment. “I feel like I’m 35 again!” “Bill and I are really happy for you, Mom.” I was relieved. The cure for Alzheimer’s was about 30 years old. The cure rate was 99% and the one percent that wasn’t cured showed remarkable recovery. This was standard reading at University Medical and quite fascinating. “You know a century ago they would put Alzheimer’s sufferers in nursing homes.” “Those things are so outdated.” Dad was upbeat, and relieved that he didn’t have to use the homes for Mom. “I saw my dad put his mother into one. He cried for a week.” “Well, with the new science discoveries from space we might eradicate every disease.”

“Or find new ones.” Bill said quietly, with his face low in his dinner plate. He seemed on edge tonight. We all stopped and looked at him as if he just swore. “Sorry, but it’s a possibility.” I still have not told him about the Eleusian Virus, or how 230 men fell victim to its gender changing properties. “We know the risks, Bill. We agreed that we’d support that.” “I know. Sorry.” He was brooding. I think I knew why. I tried to steer things back to happier subjects. I turned to my mom. “So are you doing anything to celebrate?” “Your Mom wants to see Europe.”

“Really? That will be fun. Any place in particular?”

“I’d like to start in England, Germany, then The New Grecian Republic, The Asian-Czech Provinces, and more.”

“Things changed a lot when the EU tanked.” I was in med school when all of that happened. It was a political nightmare for Europe and now the European Union was gone due to the gross mishandling of the region economic resources. The Euro failed in a big way and now Europe was slowly building their way back to become a reasonable superpower. The benefit to the US and the rest of the world was that everything was cheap. Flights, lodgings and food; even gift shops were like old timey dollar stores. Elderly Americans were retiring in small villages and living comfortably for pennies on the dollar. “Do you think you buy property there?” “Maybe. Still love it here though. No place like America.”

Bill seemed to perk up. “I drink to that!” Bill held up an iced tea. He hadn’t touched alcohol for since the last time we went out drinking. I think he was embarrassed that his girlfriend outdrank him. I was still trying to lighten the mood. “I wouldn’t mind seeing Europe. There’s a lot of history there.” “You’re going into space! You’ve been to another planet! How impressive is Europe going to be?” Bill was struggling. I looked into his eyes and saw some sadness. He didn’t want me to leave and I must say I was having a tough time myself. “Let’s go for a walk, Bill.” He knew what that meant but he politely excused himself anyway. “We’ll be back in a bit.” We strolled out to the patio then onto the beach. It was a cool evening and we saw the end of the sunset where there was the last line of light over the horizon. “I know what you’re going to say.” “So, what’s going on with you?”

“I think you know.”

“Humor me.”

“I am having a hard time letting you go. I’m sorry if I ruined dinner. It’s just-“

“What?”

“I’m not sure if I can let you go. I mean, obviously I won’t stop you but it’s taking every bit of my self-control to not do whatever I can to keep you.” “I love you.”

That jarred him. “What?”

“I can’t deny my feelings. When you said it before I wanted to say it too, but I was trying not have anything stop me from going into space. The truth is that I loved you from the beginning. I’ve never been in love before. Not like this.” He hugged me for a long time. We continued in silence for a while, walking and holding each other. We found ourselves at a marina and climbed up onto the pier. We sat and he finally spoke. “Promise me something.” “What?”

“You will marry me when you come back from space.”

“Wow, that’s a big step. You are willing to wait?”

“I will wait as long as I have to.”

“We can make subspace calls. At least within the Solar System.”

“Is that a yes?”

“I will think about it. It’s just hard to wrap my head around it right now.”

“Okay.”

Bill seemed okay with a non-answer. Part of me wanted to marry him on the spot. But a strong part of me still wanted to be untethered going into space. I would know better when I was back on the Kennedy. The pull of uncharted space versus the pull of a fulfilling life with someone I love. Damn. This is why GASA wants unattached crew members. I guess if you have someone you aren’t truly detached.

August 25, 2169 1010 Hours

I was deciding what to wear to the Governor’s Private luncheon. I was ranging from semi-glamourous to full military dress. I figured that I didn’t want to stick out so I opted for my day uniform. It was simple clean cut and comfortable. It had enough formality for the Governor without being over the top. I put on simple, basic makeup and styled my hair as if I were reporting for duty. Last night, Bill was still undecided if he was coming. I didn’t push the issue, if he wanted to come, it had to be his decision. I finished my makeup and went out to the porch. I pondered my immediate future and hoped the Governor was true to his word. If not, space viruses will be the least of my problems. I got a call on my tablet. It was Tanner. She was dressed in sleepwear and there was someone behind her fixing breakfast. From what I could see it was a shirtless, well-built man. “How are you, Daria?” “I’m well. Going by Endana these days.”

“Right- sorry I remember the name change request. Ready for pre-inspection?”

“As ready as I’m going to be.”

“Second thoughts about going back into space?”

“Yes. Let’s just say there have been developments.”

“I think I can relate. I’ve had some changes too. Still, I have only been to Mars once and no one has really gone beyond it.”

“That’s the only thing that’s keeping me on board. I just don’t want to wonder about it for the rest of my life. I suppose they will declassify Mars someday.” “It will be interesting to say the least. Who knows? Maybe there will be other planets we’ll be to travel to.”

“Exploration. That’s the business we’re in, right?”

“Exploration. The loneliest profession.”

“We’ll be fine. It’s only a year, right?”

“Right. Anyway see you in a couple of days.”

“Will do.”

The screen went dark as I stood up and turned towards the house. I would check with Bill on the way out the front to the car. I got to the couch and my man stood before me, dressed in a business casual outfit and ready to go. I smiled. “Thanks, Bill.” “Anything for you, Babe.”

We made good time to the State House on Beacon Hill. We landed at the carport and met the Governor’s Assistant, Brian. He was very cordial. “This way, Doctor. Mr. Wallace.” He gestured a little more than he had to. He escorted us to a cart and we rode into the State House lobby. “Please go to that elevator over there and it will take you to the Governor’s Office.” “Thank You.” I said. Brian nodded and drove off in the cart. Bill and I held hands as we walked to the elevator. It was still that old colonial décor so it was dark inside. We rode for less than a minute and entered a large room. Another assistant directed us to the great double doors and they swung open automatically. Standing behind a large, old fashioned wood desk was a tall man, large build and white hair. “Governor Stevens. Hello.” We shook hands, and I introduced Bill. They shook hands and the Governor Spoke. “I can’t thank you enough for saving my boy.” “My pleasure. I just glad he’s okay.”

“He’s better than okay! He didn’t have any direction. He was at college just wasting time and taking up space. Oh, he’s a smart kid, just unmotivated.” “So what’s changed?”

“You changed him. Now he wants to be a doctor and join GASA! He wants to be a hero like you.”

“I just saw an opportunity to help. What kind of doctor would I have been if I let him die?”

“That’s the attitude he has now. You not only saved his life, you saved his future. He studies tirelessly now. I have to make him go out with his friends to make sure he has a social life.” “I’m glad I was able to inspire him.”

“Is there anything I can do to repay you?”

“I didn’t come here for a reward.”

“I know. But I’d like to repay you in some way.”

“I’m going into space in two days. I guess if you could just make sure my parents, family and friends are taken care of, that would be good. I mean they don’t need anything but if something happens-“ The Governor interrupted, “Of Course. Here is my personal number. If you or your family have any problems while you’re gone, just have them call.” “Thank you.”

“Excellent! Let’s eat!”