Alive: Beretta

by Ethan Solomon

A love story involving people that have the gift of eternal life, and then squander it.

Authors Note: This was originally supposed to be a 4 or 5 page story, but who am I to argue? Enjoy, and feel free to leave comments.

Earth, Washington D.C., 2149, The White House.

Marcus Salinger was the son of the current appointed President. He was 13 year's old at the time and had been living in the White House for just over 2 year's at this point. When his father had been appointed to oversee the Americas they had previously been living in New York, where his father had been a State Representative. When he had been appointed to office, it had come very unexpectedly, as did they all at the time. He had been taught about how things had been done before the U.N. had taken complete control over the globe, and how officials had been elected back then. Officials were still elected, but the head of the U.N. made overseers, such as the President. So overnight, he had gone from being the son of a State Rep, to the son of one of the most powerful men left in the world. It had become a real bother for him. First he had had to move away from all he knew, his friends, his school, his activities, which there were so much of in New York. When he was ready to go out on his own he would certainly choose New York as his hometown. It was an addictive city, with all the people constantly passing through. Not that there weren't new people to meet her in D.C. but it was all dinner party's to meet his dad's partner's from around the world, and none of them were interested in talking to him about where they were from. So he kept mostly to his schoolwork, unable to go out into the city now without an entire entourage of security trailing after him throughout the city. And while the people did not fear him, nor did they now welcome him. He lived in a different world then they did, by a different set of rules. He was taught in a virtual classroom and he had only one teacher, Toby. Toby was also his bodyguard, his cook and one of his only friends in the area that he actually saw on any regular basis.

Today was a special day, for him and for his father and much of the rest of the world. The Mars U.N. Representative was coming to Earth, the first Rep to actually make the trip to Earth. Rep. Madison would not even be landing on the planet, but would be meeting President Salinger on Transition Station 1 equidistance to the moon. Representative Madison had never been on Earth and was 2nd generation Martian. Having been born on Mars his body could not support itself in the relatively heavy Earth gravity. Although there were exo-skeletons that could be worn to compensate, in the interests of diplomacy, the President would meet him on the station, which was also one of the largest of its kind in use now. However, there was something that piqued his interest when he received his schedule from Toby for the week On Wednesday afternoon there was a "penciled" in lunch with someone who was only represented by the Martian flag. When he tried to ask Toby about the appointment, all he got was a terse "You'll find out when the time comes". He tried to order her to tell him in every way that he had been taught to manipulate a caretakers mind, but he was unable to get any more information, and after he had gone through all the routines he knew, Toby turned to look at him. He had been eating lunch at one of the local eateries with Toby sitting next to him keeping watch of the surroundings. He had tried his last weapon on her, threatening to bring harm to himself if she didn't answer. She had never before refused him at that point; it was built into her to look after him. But she had been prepared this time, and had obviously been forewarned that he may try this, and she turned to look at him, her eyes flashing with menace, and she told him simply not to ask again. He just didn't get it.

Later that evening he had tried to get his Father on the phone, which was next to impossible even when he wasn't ultra busy like at the moment, and he was transferred to his mother. The fact that he even got through meant that Toby must have let her know that he had been curious, to say the least. His mother did work in the U.N. Developmental Research Division, which meant that he knew absolutely nothing of what she did, like most kids his age. They were all brought up by their sitters, carefully watched and prepared for their life. Children could not really be risked by being raised by their biological parents, not with the potential consequences. Instead, professionals were brought in for each and every child, and the problem was virtually solved. Costs were negligible due to the low manufacturing cost of the nanny model's and their easy reprogramming and reuse. Toby was the same model as anyone else's his age, but with a different set of programming instructions, on order for her to be able to serve in such capacities as his bodyguard. His mother only had a few moments, but she used them to reassure him not to worry, and that he was going to meet someone that he would enjoy meeting, and that it would be a useful relationship in his future, and he must take care to be on his best. He of course promised her this, not that he had much choice in the matter. She was off the vid before he had a chance to say another word, not even a quick good-bye tossed out before her soft visage was replaced by the U.N. International Communications logo. He didn't even know where she was.

He put thought of it out of his mind until Wednesday came about. Toby had a special suit picked out for him, no slacks today. The suit strapped itself unto him and then activated itself, tightening perfectly and activating its inner seal's. In an emergency, the suit could provide him with a Level 10 Bio-Hazard rating, much like the rest of his clothing. Some designers preferred not to use any micro chips in their clothing, and this was all referred to as "Vintage", and he was never allowed to wear anything of the sort, the danger being to high as Toby would tell him each time he brought it up. After he was properly suited up and his Neu-Net was up and running in sync with the suit, he made his way out of his room in the center hall and walked down the stairs to the ground level and into the kitchen. It was a 3 minute walk, and by the time he arrived, Chef Paulie had his usual breakfast ready, which he scarfed down before thanking the whole staff, then headed to his morning Virt-Class. First class was always Chemistry, and he couldn't relax enough to focus his mind on the task at hand, which was the delicate re-splicing of a combitant DNA strand, which kept unraveling every time he ran the simulation, his parameters off in almost every checkpoint. After almost an hour of this, Toby granted him the rest of the morning for recreational purposes, realizing she wasn't going to get any serious work out of him until he had his fun for the day. He used the time to do some painting, his favorite use of his personal time. He headed to the East bedroom which was how own painting room now and sketched the morning away, the hours sliding by him like the brush before him, in time with the music that was playing in his Neu-Net lace. At 11:45 precisely, Toby came for him.

They headed to the Heli-Pad in the South Pavilion where there was an air streamer and an entourage of military flyers standing by to transport him to his destination. He clambered in with Toby right behind him, ever watching her surroundings, trusting not even the military presence. In fact, for Toby, even a U.N. soldier raised a red flag, for any human being with a weapon that was in his vicinity registered to her as a potential threat. The Heli lifted off smoothly, its attitude jets firing short bursts of super charged and heated air silently below them until they were at proper altitude and the thrusters turned to fire behind them, while simple repulsor pods that kept them magnetically propped up with huge magnets implanted under the ground at strategic locations, while the thrusters continued to moved them forward. The pilot's main control panel, which was easily visible from his seat in the middle of the rear said that they were headed north, with an estimated time of travel counting down from 27 minutes now. That left only a few options, and a smile grew on his face, because the most likely was New York. He couldn't think of anywhere else he would be going to meet someone important. The ground began to pass below them quickly now, the speed beginning to pick up. He settled back and closed his eyes, his implants allowing him to access their trajectory from an orbiting ATT satellite. He switched of the tracking cam that allowed him to watch the aircraft from space, and tried to look around the New York area for incoming traffic. When he couldn't spot anything from his eagles eye perch, he proceeded to check into the air traffic control system for all incoming flights. Most of the flights were listed, but there was an entire convoy of unlisted ships that were due to dock at the Empire State air dock facility, floor 42, at 1:00 P.M. He would likely be arriving there about 15 minutes shy of that. This was now only about 10 minutes away according to his internal chronometer.

As they pulled into the New York area the Air Comptroller cleared them in for a landing at the top floor of the State Building as opposed to the main docking facility. As he recalled, there wasn't even a landing spot at that particular floor. They slowed down to the local speed limit and pulled into one of the government use lanes. The flyer swung around the building directly in front of one of the 4 large terraces on this floor. He tried to peer out of the window, but he couldn't get an angle to actually see below him. The flier adjusted its course and began to lower, carefully edging its way close to the edge of the building. He had never seen anything like this. This violated every air traffic rule he had ever read of. When they were level with the building the side panel slid up, the frigid, open air rushing in to fill the warm cabin with its chill. He peered outside while still harnessed in and all he could see was a table with 2 chairs set further unto the patio. He looked over at Toby, wondering what the hell was going on. She motioned for him to get out. He unbuckled himself and hopped out of the vehicle then turned around to wait for Toby. But she was still sitting strapped in, and the vehicle was already starting to pull away. With a quick hand symbol, Toby motioned to him that it was safe, and that he was being watched from all around. Although this somewhat calmed him, he wasn't used to being anywhere with her. He sighed, trying to calm the nervous butterflies in his stomach. He turned around and moved over to the table, which was enclosed in a thermal bubble, so as soon as he crossed some invisible threshold, he was now indeed protected not just from the elements, but from any other trouble out there.

He looked around, waiting for something to happen, but it was deathly quiet. He sat down at the table, which had a 12 piece setup, indicating a 4 course lunch. He sat down and poured himself some juice from a chilled decanter and sipped from it as he enjoyed the New York skyline. A few minutes went by and he watched the sun move by him on the horizon, the shadow creeping closer and closer to him. Suddenly there was a loud commotion behind him, some loud screaming and banging, and then a loud flash and a bang. He cursed and jumped, not sure if he should head towards the noise, or try to get as far away as possible. Suddenly, a small girl was running out the door that the noises had come from on a beeline directly for him. As she came closer, he started to move, not sure what was going on. Two things happened at once then. First, his eyes tracked a new incoming, a young man about 25, maybe 30, came running out of the same door behind them, a frantic, crazed look in his eyes. The other thing that happened, right as the panic shot adrenaline into his system from the look in the guy's eyes, was this little girl coming flying at him, a single foot finding its way straight into his crotch. The pain was immediate and blinding, dropping him instantly to his knees, driving all thought from his mind. In the background, he heard what he thought was laughing, as well as a male voice shouting. When his mind cleared a bit and he was able to sit up, there was the girl, looking at him quite concernedly now. "Are you ok…I didn't meant to hit you that hard, and Gabe was chasing me trying to make me change before I got up here and I didn't slow down". It seemed that she kept talking for a few more seconds, but his brain was tuning it all out. Finally strong hands gripped his arm and helped him pull himself to his feet. His junk was still killing him to the point that his vision wasn't quite clear yet. He gave himself another few moments before pulling his vision into focus. Before him there was the girl, longish jet black hair framing her heart shaped face, an irresistible grin adorning her face. She was short, maybe 5 foot, quite a few inches shorter then he was. The man standing next to her was quite obviously her caretaker, from the very presence that he emitted, the same way he looked about as Toby did. But the man said nothing, turning heel and marching stiffly out. The girl in the meantime sat down, while a stream of uniformed waiter's came out and quickly and silently lay down on the table an endless assortment of foodstuffs. When they were done, they too quickly marched out, leaving the two of them alone. He sat down across from her and eyed her, then began placing samples of a few of the dishes on his plate, and took some sips from the nectar that was still in his glass. He nibbled at his food, while she did the same thing eyeing him. After another few moments, the silence began to grow uncomfortable, and right as this thought crossed his mind, she spoke. "So who are you?" He finished the little piece of sweet meat in his mouth and taking that moment to bring his thoughts together. "I'm Marcus…My dad's the President of the U.S. region. Who are you?" She seemed to have no need to compose her thoughts, and the way she spoke, it was like her words came pouring out all at once, completely uninhibited. She laughed first, a light quick laugh that came from her stomach. "Well, you can call me Beretta, but my full name is Beretta Sar-Cora Areos Ma'adim." He blinked, and then picked up a piece of cheese and took a few bites from it. "Does that all mean something?" At this she grew stiff, seeming to take umbrage from his seeming insult. "It means I'm the daughter of the President of the Polaris region on Mars. That's also the largest region on Mars, in case you didn't know". He nodded his head and grunted out a short yes as he began to tear apart a piece of chicken. She seemed like she was already done eating, having picked at a few things on her plate, but not really eating too much. "So I guess our parents wanted us to meet or something…get to know each other?" Again he nodded his agreement, not really saying much of anything. She was certainly very cute, and he was a bit short of words for…that reason, he guessed. "Do you not say anything, or what?" He dropped the bone from the chicken, took a sip of his drink, wiped of his face, and then sat back. "I was eating…sorry…I was taught that one doesn't speak while eating". "They tried to teach me all that garbage, but I don't listen to that stuff. I do my own thing in school." "Your own thing, huh…what exactly does that mean?" Now she did seem to pause for a moment. "Well, I guess I hang out with my friends and try to get into trouble". Now he leaned forward in interest. "You actually go to school?" She nodded her head quickly, her bang's bouncing up and down and that smile coming back to her face, but a confused one. "Do you not go to school?" He sat back, his face clouding over a bit. He hated the fact that he wasn't allowed to hang out with the kids his age. All he had was Toby to look over him and a few meet and greets such as this one. "Aren't they worried about security there and stuff?" Now she just looked more confused. "Security…why would they worry about security?" He shook his head at this, trying to wrap his mind around the world that this girl lived in. Even her name…Beretta? Who actually walked around with a name like that? It was almost a joke, but the look in this girls eyes was serious, much as that smile came to adorn her face so often. She obviously had her share of problems, and had to walk around with a special Mark just like he did. "What?" She was impatient as well, something that had been drilled out of him a few years before. "How old are you" he asked her. "10, what about you?" "I'm 13". She was definitely very cute when she smiled, and he felt something whenever she did direct that smile his way. At the same time, the pain in his nuts reminded him that she could be at the very least a tad unpredictable. But he was curious why he was here, why it had been deemed necessary for them to meet. "So what are you doing here?" Her eyes had wandered off in the past few seconds and she had started to hum something to herself during the quiet. Her gaze darted back to meet his. "The peace talks I guess, although it's not like I'm needed there. It's mostly for show I guess, a…symbol". She was talking about the yearly interplanetary peace talks that were held on the moon and involved all the outer rim moons as well as Earth, Mars, the Moon base, and the Plutian Ship Yards in the Koeippler belt. They were mostly for show nowadays, anything of real importance having been decided long ago. They still met though, and ratified the treaty on a yearly basis as a show of camaraderie, a way of keeping the different branches of humanity together. This was the first time in 10 years that actual representatives were being sent, instead of diplomats and couriers. Again, for the sake of keeping everyone together.

Now that he had time to study her striking features, a face that he knew he would see quite often in the future, if everything played out according to the plans set about for the two of them, he noticed the differences, the oddities about her. Her bones seemed to show right through her skin, which was extremely pale and almost translucent, to a point. Because her bones jutted out so, this was what caused her cute face to appear somewhat sharp, almost like the portraits that he had been shown of the royalty of old times. But she was small, much too small for her given age of 10. She looked as though she was barely an eight year old, and yet carried herself as though she was much older. But this girl had come from Mars, and that trip alone would have likely been enough to give her this privileged air that she carried, for the fares to and from Mars were exorbitantly high, for just cause however. It was an extreme feat still to move such far distances through space, and was still fraught with hazard. He knew that the ship that the Martian envoys had come in on had been of the Olympia class carriers, and were relatively large, dwarfing by far Eisenhower Station in orbit over Earth. The Olympia carriers could carry only a crew of 300, and most of her space was allotted for fuel and food stores and oxygen and everything else that went along with transporting relatively fragile human beings.

The waiters now came bustling through, eight of them, four to clear up their plates and dishes before them unto large trays that they balanced on their shoulders, then whispered away. The other four began to place new dishes, desserts from all across the world, alcohol free liquors that were pungent and sweet, and filled the air around them to an intoxicating degree, making him a bit light headed. He could only imagine what it was doing to the little girl if the fumes affected him so. But she seemed almost used to it, and to have anticipated it, and now she sat back with her eyes closed, peacefully breathing in and out before she languidly opened her eyes. "They tell me I'm gonna come here a few times, and then when my bones finish developing, I'll be just like my mom and dad, and I wont be able to come down here ever again, for the rest of eternity…I really like it here, its so much different then back home. This feels so much nicer, the air against my skin…this feels more like home then Mars. It speaks to me, deep in my bones". She didn't seem like she was done talking, but she trailed of anyways, melting back into her chair, which smoothly flowed around her as she curled up inside of it, her eyes closed. They sat there for a few minutes in silence, and then he realized with a start that she had actually fallen asleep. He watched her sleep, her small chest rising and falling, but laboriously, her breath having a small wheezing sound when he listened closely. Even breathing was difficult for her here, and it certainly explained why she seemed so tired and reluctant to move about after her initial spurt of energy.

Gabe came out at that point, making his way over to them in that smooth way that all the Marks moved in. "I apologize for my lady's behavior…although it is somewhat in the norm for her. She is a bit…eccentric, I believe is the term." Marcus smiled at this. "Yes, that's one way I would put it." Gabe tapped a few times at the control panel placed on the chairs armrest, and without a sound the chair gently lifted up and turned about. He caught one last glimpse of her before the chair made its way inside. Right before they were both out of view he called to Gabe. "Will I meet her again?" Gabe turned around, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "If all goes as planned". The last little glimpse of her was the one that stayed with him for the next few years, her hair caught in the breeze outside of the Bio-Shield, her eyes closed and a somewhat intense expression on her face as she slept, as though even sleeping was something difficult for her. He was left somewhat confused by all that had happened, and when he looked at his watch, he saw that at exactly that moment, one hour had passed since Toby had left him. And of course, as he even thought of her, the small, sleek airship hovered into view, its door sliding open, and Toby leaping out to the ground even before the ship had settled into position, motioning for him to make his way over quickly, which he did, keeping his eyes open for any possible threats just as he had been taught.

Part 2: 4 Years Later, Sydney, Australia

The occasion was ostensibly the new VCSS (Virtual Colony Sleeper Ships) launches to Alpha Centauri. But there was always occasion for the leaders to get together, this was merely the most convenient. However, this was no small event either. Millions of man hours of research and development had gone into the sleeper ships and the virtual technology that they ran on, along with her steam engines that had been developing for about 20 years at this point. The engines used a combination of hydrogen infused water and solar energy to power themselves, but the technology was much over Marcus's ability to understand, suffice it to know that he knew that the ship's would arrive relatively quickly. There were four million people on each of the ships, and there were three such vessels, each having been built at one of the three out of four of humanity's shipyards. They were now all poised and ready to leave from the Martian Alta Planitia shipyards. To move about in this solar system was cumbersome for these enormous ships, their gravity signatures wreaking havoc in the standard ship lane's, and each had to calculate its own careful trajectory, first to the wasteful meeting at Mars, and then out of the solar system. But the scientists and military men and all their family's and the civilians aboard, they all went out at the whim of these politicians who had pieced this project together, so if the pols wanted to have a final party and wanted to foot the bill, the cosmonauts were more then happy to oblige them. So the ship's had gathered at Mars, and the crew's were now intermingling on each other's ships, as well as the giant city of Olympus Mons, which up until this point, had never had occasion to ever even come close to reaching its huge capacity.

Marcus had never been to Australia before now, as big of a player it now was in the international politics that still dominated the planet. There were parts of the world that he had been forbidden to step foot in, at least until he was old enough to make his own decisions, which was now just under a year away. Not that he would ever willfully visit any of these said countries, there were reasons no one went to them. But he was certainly enjoying his stay here so far. His entire family had come along for the launch festivities, his father coming along making the whole affair all the more tedious, extra security, extra endless breakfasts lunches and dinners with an endless parade of dignitaries who were honored, and who all expected to be remembered the next time they met, and whom Toby would force him to memorize of course. But there had been one high point of this entire experience, which was that he knew that the girl was here also, and he knew that eventually, inevitably, their paths would cross. He could feel it in his chest, and it kept his heart cheerful throughout all the endless endlessness of these deathly boring parties. But that parting image that he had of her had stayed with him always, throughout these last few years; he had not forgotten her once. That beautiful smile that had adorned her face, and that sad, serious expression that had come upon it as well, they had all conspired together to draw him in, never letting him forget her. And now, hopefully tonight would be the night he would see her once again. He had checked the files on people coming in from Mars, and there had been her name, Beretta. As soon as he had seen it, and this had been almost 5 months prior, the anticipation had been building slowly but surely inside of him, the pressure mounting until it became a fierce knot in his stomach that would not subside. But it was a good type of fierce, the type of fierce that Marcus enjoyed, for this was not the feeling he got before a test, those "butterflies" as they were called, or even a sense of dread. No, this was an anticipation of a happy occasion, to a being that had but few to celebrate. He had spent the intervening years studying, mostly alone with only Toby to teach him, rarely seeing much of anyone. This isn't to say he didn't go outside or walk the streets, but he was markedly alone otherwise, with no retinue of friends that he would want to call on. All the people he knew his age were also children of important people, in one way or another. And they were much as he was, isolated among their own kind.

Beretta was his own kind as well, although a world apart from anything he knew. He had wondered constantly what she had been doing with her time, if it was much the same as what he was doing here on Earth, or if the type of training she received was entirely different then anything he could imagine. He had tried to contact her a few times, but calls to Mars were heavily regulated, it wasn't as though one could just life the receiver and place the call. The world government regulated inter planetary calls, and while they would not necessarily monitor them, they had to be scheduled through the proper Department, and each time he had done so, his request had been denied. When he queried Toby on the matter, she told him that his father and mother had both seen no reason to allow them to talk. They had met as a courtesy the first time, so that they would remember each other throughout their eternal lives, but each had their own respective places in different societies, and no amount of time could change how different their worlds were. Her parents had apparently agreed, and that was the end of that. There was no arguing with the parents, or with Toby. By now he understood better then this, and just made sure that his schedule intersected with hers. If it hadn't, he would have hacked into whatever computer system he needed to and would arrange for it himself, whatever trouble that may bring later. Luckily that had not been needed as they would be seeing each other tonight.

He was in the middle of preparing for the evening, his tuxedo all in place, and Toby was helping him with his cufflinks and shoes and all that other stuff that he was useless at. If there was one thing he did not posses, it was a sense of style, and he always relied on Toby to help him pick out what to wear, especially at occasions such as this one. Toby had cut his hair before he showered, and when he was done getting ready, the reflection in the monitor showed a 17 year old gangly teenager, with black hair and brown eyes, about 5"4, fully dressed up and looking as sharp as could possibly be, given where he was going. The party was being held in the Sydney Planetary Congress, a massive building that had designated one of its halls for ambassadors and presidential appointees from all over the world and the different colony's to come in. With all her history, never had Sydney blazed as bright as it did tonight. The amount of air traffic was staggering, and it was all crawling slowly toward the SPC as the air comptrollers brought them in. The different lanes indicated where the different shuttles were coming from and how important they were. He and Toby stood before the window silently for over a half hour, and then suddenly, without being questioned, Toby raised a hand and pointed out a shuttle, long and wickedly curved, with black and white lines streaming down it. It was in the lane for the incoming Mars designates, and he smiled, for Toby had known what he had been looking for without him even once breathing a word of it to her. The shuttle made its way to about the 30th floor of the building, about halfway up, and slid into its designated berth. Even with the magnification on the window that he was using, he wasn't able to see anyone come out, the angle being entirely wrong. But if anyone would know what he was thinking about, it was Toby, and he trusted her implicitly. At 8 o'clock his shuttle pulled up to the port that was part of his suite. He went into the next room and opened the port door and stepped out, the weather warm and inviting, smelling of some fragrance that wafted around these parts, some natural flower that emitted them, the name escaping him, although he recalled the lesson when he had learned the name. He stood out there for but a few seconds before Toby hurried him into the shuttle, that almost manic expression that could come over her when she thought there was potential danger, which seemed to be whenever they were outside and unprotected in a fashion. There had never been any attempts on his life, but he heard of them happening occasionally, fanatics from all of the different sectors of the planet, for all different reasons, had want to hurt the Governments rule as much as possible. In the end, what they believed mattered little not, and these small attempts were the best that they could pull off, for they were all very closely monitored, and were literally only tolerated at the goodwill of the ruling party. Most felt sorry for them, but not Marcus. He was one of the few people that actually had to worry about an attempt on his life, so he viewed these things quite differently. This made him again think of Mars, and Beretta, and the life there. He wondered if they had similar problems there, and if she also had to worry about threats such as that. But he thought not. He never heard of any such episodes, not that one really would through the normal channels. The U.N. kept all such matters as quite as possible, for the men and women in charge had no desire to retaliate most of the time, content to keep those little filthy countries as bottled up as possible instead.

He sat down in the spacious shuttle and was offered a drink by the onboard computer, which he refused. It was a bit early to start with that, and he wanted to be able to remember every moment of this night. There were 2 couches running alongside the interior of the cabin, and 2 large chairs facing across from each other on either end. He sat in the chair facing the rear, with Toby across from him. The ship pulled smoothly away from the building, the inertic compensators built into the bowels of the ship making it feel as though they weren't moving at all, and only by looking out one of the little windows could you tell you were moving. There was little traffic in the U.S. air lane and they moved along quickly, and he could hear the reports from the cockpit ordering them in. When they were about halfway through Toby spoke coughed nervously, a tic he noticed that she had whenever she had to discuss something of importance with him. "I have to talk to you Marcus. About something pretty serious, ok?" His heart bumped hard at this and he got a little nervous, as he always did when she spoke like this. Nothing that he wanted to hear was coming up, but he nodded his head and tried not to show his sudden anxiety, which Toby was easily able to see anyways. He wished he knew himself as well as Toby knew him. "I am speaking to you now, personally Marcus, as a friend, because this is something that I don't think your parents quite understand. You must know this, and know this now, fore it is to late. I think you know this already and if you paid attention in our classes, then you would have pieced this together yourself. Much as you might like this girl, this Beretta, you absolutely must understand that you cannot be with her, not now, and maybe never. Her body is the body of a human who is a second generation Martian, and who is in the midst of adapting to the Martian gravity, which as you know is significantly lighter then ours. She will already be very weak when you see her, and aided by some form of mechanical apparatus. You must put any personal feelings on this matter aside, and you must understand that she will soon be a very valuable friend, who you will count on to keep the peace on Mars, as you will soon be helping to keep the peace here on Earth. Do you understand me?" It took him a moment to process this all, and the first thing that he thought was that she said this almost jealously, as though she was happy that she had him all to herself, and he would not be surprised if that was the truth. Her feelings were very complex, and he was unable to ever read how she really felt about anything at all.

"I understand". This was it. This was all he said. He didn't know quite what else to say. He could only go along and see what happened. He knew how he felt, this much he was sure of. Everything else was up in the air as far as everything was concerned. It didn't matter, for they were approaching the building now, which was bedecked with huge lights flashing all over the night sky, and fireworks were going off all around the city. It contrasted heavily with the feeling in the cabin now, Marcus's thoughts of his evening had been dashed rather well, but he recovered quickly, for he had not expected much other then seeing her anyways. The ship's airjets smoothly slid them into the airport which required them to dock sideways. The door slid open and he stepped out, into a giant personal entryway, the same his father would soon be coming in on himself. His mother was again absentee, as she so often was, even at occasions such as this one. He hadn't seen her in almost seven years, and honestly couldn't care less at this point. He knew her as much as he knew a stranger of the street, and he knew nothing else. Toby led the way down the chamber, clad in a dress that was in fact a phase laced armorhide. The chamber ended in a pair of airlock doors which cycled through in only a few seconds, and when the door slid open, they entered into a huge hall, filled with gleaming gold striped all along what seemed to be the whole hall, and just about everything else. The theme for everyone else, as was the style this season, was clean and pure white, as was his own tuxedo. The blending of gold and white seemed to stretch on for miles, with hundreds of people milling about, guests from all over the solar system in attendance, for probably the last time in 20 years. This was no easy feat to accomplish, and it was a huge undertaking. Even the Olympics were held on the Moon these days, because it was no longer an international competition, but a galactic one. The next time a conference such as this one would take place, it would be third generation Martians visiting and the Alpha Centauri mission would be halfway through towards its goal. But all he could think of was that there was no chance that he would be able to find her, let alone a seat next to her for the short dinner that was planned. He tried using his lace to find a presence of her in the room, but there was just to many people. He made his way further into the room, picking up a small raspberry extract pop to nibble on as he looked about the room, Toby waiting patiently at her side. He could ask her to help him find Beretta, but he didn't think that she would. And then his neural net flashed with an incoming short range signal that was asking for a virtual session. He secured and opened the channel, and he heard her voice, that voice that he so remembered, low, husky, but there was a different sound, the sound of someone who was struggling to breathe. "Hello there. I wasn't sure if you were going to be here. Gabe wouldn't let me access the guest list. Anytime I asked about you, they told me to forget about it and concentrate on my studies." He was grinning broadly as she said all this, his heart leaping in a joy he seldom was able to achieve. "I wouldn't have missed it for the world Beretta. I made sure we would be running into each other". He heard her laugh at this over their link, and he was looking about, trying frantically to actually find her. But he could see nothing, just nameless faces breezing by, some nodding to him as they passed, others intent on meeting with their own groups. He couldn't help it and mentally blurted, "Where are you?" Again, that same laugh over the communication link. "I'm around here somewhere, but I would suggest the 17th table in the very western line of tables, facing east, and third seat from the right…That is, unless you had somewhere else you were planning on sitting that is?" He could practically hear that smile, and his heart seemed to be trying to beat out of his chest as he pictured her face once more. He couldn't even bring himself to understand why he felt this way, why he remembered her so. If there was one thing that he was encouraged in, it was to find a suitable girl for him to prance around with, but none had caught his eye, they seemed to be an endless parade of girls who were all the same, their parents always scheming to arrange this one with that one in their unknowable ways. Usually for naught, for no matter the age or time, love strikes where it will, as it always had in humanity's history. That was one thing that had certainly stayed the same. With a start he realized that he hadn't answered her. "Oh, no um, I'll be there, for sure". It came out stuttering almost. There was no response, and checking the link, he saw that the link had been terminated a few seconds after he had spoken.

So he slowly headed over to Table 17, observing all the diplomatic niceties that had been drilled into him ever since he could speak. He was good at it, and it came easily to him, the names, the faces, small talk, breezing in and out of conversations within a minute or two, yet leaving the impression he had been their for 20. And so he arrived at the table within about a half hour or so, and had greeted a solid quarter of the guests. It was tiring, and exhilarating, to play the game so quickly and well. Toby was a shadow behind him, unspeaking, tense and alert, a wraith following in his footsteps. There were Marks all throughout the room, but they were easily spotted and barely noticed. They never interacted with each other, and in situations such as this one, entered a background trance mode, their A.I, mind's alert only for threats, their interaction protocols running peripherally. He grabbed a seat at the table, the mini dinner already half way through. Already at the table were 2 pilots sitting across from him, one of the many that was attending. These were Martian transit pilots and spent their life almost entirely in space, with Earth standard gravity. They were able to land on any territory in the U.N. and move about easily, for a few weeks before; the gravity on their section of whatever ship they were flying in helped adjust their bodies to the local gravity. The two pilots were conversing with themselves animatedly, but his senses were tuned elsewhere. As he sat down, a few seats further down on his side sat two more young men and their dates accompanying them sitting across from them. They jumped into the conversation that the pilots were having, which now that it had grown in volume, he began to listen to. One of the pilots was explaining to the 4 that had just sat about having made the decision to join the Armstrong Moon Base Space Training Program. The program was the only one in existence, and it churned out over 100 pilots a year, almost an overflow for the current amount of traffic, but the space lanes were always expanding, and as the pilot continued to explain, it was adventurous and well paying. It was the new explorer territory. 200 years ago, the type of people that signed up to fly out to Alpha Centauri were the ones living in Antarctica for research. He listened interestedly, as he had only been out of his atmosphere twice, once to the I.S.S. and once to the NASA facility on the dark side of the moon, both had been for observation. And then there she was. He had been looking all about for a glimpse, and when she came into view, it was not a disappointment. She was wearing a simple white plaid dress that came just over her knees, and a simple white blouse, a high collar raised while her jet black, semi curly hair spilled over her shoulders. She was serious, no sign of that smile adorning her face. And she was small. Too small for her age, but he had expected that, had been mentally preparing himself for her seemingly fragile appearance. Her clothes were surely much more sophisticated then they seemed, and likely laced with duranium filament strips that would be helping her walk, otherwise she would probably have to be wheeled around. When she saw him, she didn't smile, but her eyes showed her pleasure in seeing him. She sat down at the table directly across from him, facing the other way, and proceeded to pay him no attention at all. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to be doing, and in the meantime a waiter came over, dressed in casual black pants and white shirts and white blazers. He placed a plate of different meats and condiments in front of him, and a sparkling hard cider, what looked to be apple. He picked up the beverage and sipped from it, and immediately picked up on the enhanced toxicology, his internal lace listing the ingredients and singling out the abnormalities, which was a basic party cocktail puff that had been placed in the beverage and was slowly dissolving, which was also producing the seeming carbonation. The cocktail was a mood enhancer, with a mix of some sort of relaxer whose toxicology report was 3 pages long and scrolled past his eyes. His mind was on none of this however. It was all on the presence behind him. When he thought it over, he realized she had probably sat behind him for a reason; after all, she had been the one who told him where to sit.

So he decided to make the most of the situation, sat back and began to chew slowly on the plate of food before him, enjoying the fact that she was with him in some way. He could feel her presence behind him, and he yearned to sit by her, and talk to her for hours, and see what she felt about everything and everything. Suddenly he became aware that she was speaking to someone in front of her, and he cocked his head a few degrees to better catch the conversation. It was not her Mark, that much he was certain of. Gabe was visible in the plane of vision to his left when he glanced about, but he couldn't see Beretta nor whom she was speaking too. So he listened to them speak, and it was clear after a few minutes that the young man had come along as her date, a Martian like herself. They spoke in a casual, familiar term that suggested at the depth of the friendship between them. He didn't know quite how to feel. It's not that he had been expecting anything to occur, but at the same time he was a bit disappointed. In point of fact, he wasn't really sure how he was supposed to be feeling, but he vowed that he would spend no more time wasting his brain power on this little girl, who he technically should have a problem with, considering how their last meeting went. But this was all well in saying, but in actual execution, much different. Life had thrown him this curious girl, and she had caught his attention, and through no fault of her own, kept it captive. He couldn't blame her for being with someone, especially given the circumstances that they found themselves in. For Christ's sake, they had met once, for an hour, years before. He had wondered if she would even remember him, although their little communiqué before had answered that. This brought him inevitably to the fact that she had wanted to see him, that she had gone out of her way to speak with him. So he opened his communications array and chose a light beam directed packet transfer that would allow them to send messages back and forth, and not be picked up by anyone but the intended recipient. "So, I'm here…It's good to see you…you look…good. I wasn't sure I would see you again." He compressed the message and directed exactly where it would be sent, which was easy, since the line of sight was directly behind him. Almost immediately there was a response. "I was waiting for you to say something already. And it's really good to see you again too. I on the other hand had no worries about us meeting again. I had a feeling, I guess." He was happy again, the emotion flooding in to him with warm comfort and relief. She had been thinking of him, in some way. He composed another short message. "I almost wish we had never met, I'm sorry to say." "I know me to". He was almost embarrassed, or shy, and he felt that he had no right to ask, but he needed to know. "Who's your friend"? A minute passed this time, and he wasn't sure if it was because she was intent on her conversation, or because perhaps she had taken offense at the question. Martian custom was much different then his own culture's, and the truth was, that guy could be any number of people, or someone who had randomly sat with her. But he believed his original assessment was essentially correct, given how they were speaking. He was trained in these arts, in sensing the currents of life, as was to be his job in the foreseeable future. Although the future was as hard to predict as where love would strike.

Finally, after an eternity a response. "He's my mate. He is assigned to me, and we will marry when we both turn 21, for an assigned period of 100 years." He felt nauseous. He couldn't even bring himself to look at the message again. Instead he got up and began to walk away, making his way back into the bustle of the crowd, again doing the meet and greet. He would be scolded later if he didn't meet at least half the 5,000 people here tonight. And so he went around now, taking his time, allowing himself to enjoy it, which showed in the conversations that he had with the visitors and the people he himself knew from working with them. They would remember him, and it was important that they did. If anything, that was much more important than the ostensible reason for tonight's party, which was the Alpha Centauri launches, which were scheduled to occur in less then a half hour's time. The time passed quickly when he had these sessions and it was locally just past midnight. The launch time quickly came up, and he headed to the front of the hall, where he would be expected to be seen with his father. Toby was there every step of the way behind him, silent. Suddenly a new message, but not from Beretta, but from Toby, also using the short range bursts. "It was foolish. You should not have sent the messages. They may have been intercepted by the young man's Mark". He didn't respond, the anger now growing inside of him, at the situation, at Toby for knowing about it, at everything. But still he plastered that pleasant smile on his face and made his way to the leading dignitaries section at the head of the hall, where he couldn't even find his father amongst the throng up on the podium until Toby pointed him out. So he made his way up to where his father was standing along with many other U.S. diplomats, all who were speaking mostly to their Martian and Plutian counterparts, using the chance of this rare face to face contact to become closer friends and allies rather then discuss the business which they always did. They showed off their lives and their wives and their kids, and they all discussed their future plans. Everyone wanted a planet of their own one day. That was the current running joke and fad amongst the relatively elite, although in a few thousand years it would likely be no joke. When the time for the launch came, the middle of the floor was cleared, a good half mile of space now given to the holographic display that suddenly jumped into being, live from the Mars shipyards. The huge ships, behemoths in their own right in scale next to the actual shipyards, with perfect timing, ignited their massive plasma burning engines. It was a sight to behold, the plasma leaving a blue ethereal wake behind it that would take years to dissipate. After 7 minutes, when properly cleared from the station, the engines lit up properly for their first burn, and the computer controlling the image automatically dimmed the flaring lights against the sudden intense burning. When the first burn was completed, in almost three years, the solar sails would be deployed to augment power on the ships, and they would all connect together to become in effect one giant ship, carrying a total of almost 100 million human beings combined. And that didn't count their Marks and all the other artificial beings aboard, whom while not needing resourced per se, other then the power they required, which was extremely negligible, required no other resourced. That was besides which, technically speaking, the mission had begun seven years ago with the original launch of the Ark, which would touch down on Eden 4, the chosen planet for colonization. By the time the 4 Olympia class vessels arrived, their homes would be awaiting them, crops being grown, cities built and so on. There would be little for them to do but move on with the real work, which was the slow process of terra-forming the 6 other potentially inhabitable planets in that system. None of this would happen for more then a hundred years however and there was little point in speculating on it.

He smiled for the photographers and took a few pictures with his father, who put a warm hand around his son. "Having a good time son?" "Not getting into any trouble I hope?" He said this with a smile on his face, but he did spy Toby giving his father a subtle nod, whatever that might mean between the two of them. Most people kept their Marks once they hit 21, but he was sure that he would be rid of her at the first chance that he could. Much as he loved Toby, she worked for his father, and had for all of his childhood, and he wasn't sure he could ever forgive her for that, and given the chance, he would give her up. But she didn't know that, nor did he know how truly and completely loyal to him his Mark was, much as she was not supposed to be. She had been given strict orders not to allow the two to speak other then the normal hellos, and she had allowed Marcus's tight beam encrypted messages to get through, and had even gone so far as to make sure that the messages were indeed only received by the young girl. She could not understand her young charges fascination for this girl, but it showed, as it had in the previous years where he had continually mentioned her, much as she tried to maneuver the conversations away, or even to introduce him to other women that she thought he would find acceptable. But nothing worked, and she loved her master, and so she aided him, much as she shouldn't. She had signaled to the President that everything was A-OK in their previously discussed terminology. She couldn't help it. Love was love, always was, and always would be. When humanity created what amounted to their counterparts, they had passed on all their inherent traits as well, although the replications had a much easier time getting a handle on their emotions then their masters.

He managed to extract himself from the mass of people surrounding his Dad, and made his way of the podium, trying to draw as little attention as possible now. He just wanted to get off the stage and out of here, back to his hotel room so he could just pass out. He didn't even want to think of the evening at this point, just wanted it to be over. His duties here were over, and he could justifiably leave. So he began to ponderously make his way back to the outer hall, which was a full half hour walk away from where he stood, given the crowd he had to get through. So he began to make his way through once more, but quickly this time, an unmistakable purpose in his stride. A few conversations were necessary, such as when a U.N. scientist of one sort or another tried to pull him aside and began to discuss the Gorkon crew and why at least one of them wasn't at an occasion such as this one, and why they hadn't even been seen in so many years. But he extracted himself quickly, promising to check into it and get back to the professor, whose name he didn't even catch. People were still fascinated by the whole ordeal of the Gift, and wouldn't give up on the crew of the Gorkon, at least people of that generation. He was a 4th generation eternal, and for him, it was a matter of rote, a way of thinking that previous generations didn't have, and that each new generation grew more accepting of the Gift, and the possibilities that it offered. All that he cared about right now was leaving. He didn't want to say good bye to anyone, not to Beretta, not to his Dad, he just wanted me to be alone, not even Toby by his side. He was sick of her being their, watching his every step. He wanted solitude. He wanted privacy. And then there she was again. She was silhouetted against the shadows in the hallway that led to his port, her small frame almost completely hidden. He moved closer towards her and saw that she was alone, Gabe nowhere in sight, nor her date. When he turned to Toby for reassurance, she too was gone. It was just the two of them; some occasional passerby's paying them no attention. She jumped into his arms, light as a feather, and then wrapped her arms around him, pulling him in closely she whispered in his ear. "I'm so sorry it has to be this way". Then before he even had the chance to utter a word in return, she placed the most gentle of kisses that he could possibly imagine on his lips, and his heart became hers for then and forever following. She held unto him tightly, keeping her lips pressed tight against his. He slowly slid his arms around her, bringing her body even closer to his before she tore herself away, and without looking back, she was gone, and he watched her move quickly and silently away. There were tears on his lips, and he realized that she had been crying as they had kissed. Then Toby was there again, and they were moving out, and into the shuttle, the ride to the apartment a blur, with Toby wisely choosing to say nothing. When they arrived and docked, he climbed out, his mind and muscles weary, unable nor willing to process anything else for the day. He climbed into bed and was asleep in moments.

Part 3: 5 Years Later, The Moon, Ash-Sherenita Valley, Armstrong Base

It was sunny outside. It was always sunny outside here, for the most part. But certainly here at Armstrong Base, which had gone from being a 3 mile wide structure, to a full scale city, 150 square miles in diameter. He used a armor suit under his clothes, an extremely high tech suit that could become a self enclosed living world. From what he understood, most of the clothing here was designed this way anyways, in the unlikely event of decompression. But his suit was a bit different, instead of a suit designed for the people living here; it was designed for visiting guests from Earth. It wasn't so much a different suit as a different set of programming instructions for the onboard A.I., who when she did speak to him, seemed…a bit off to him, but he came to learn that this was how things were everywhere, that A.I.'s built for different functions acted differently, and so too a suit designed by a human being that had lived his entire life on the moon acted quite differently then one designed by a Terran. In any case, he felt little danger whenever Toby was with him, as she tended to handle all that business for him. Although the suit would react faster then even she would be able too to save his life, no matter what the situation presented, whether explosive decompression or a snipers weapon. Most suits here weren't designed for that type of activity either, and his was of the much higher end suit available at the time. For the past few days he had been touring the base, with an escort and without, given time to just roam about the station, the Sang-Leung Market, where he sampled the fares of the people who lived and cooked here all their lives, and he was surprised how little, and yet how differently things tasted out here. Simple things like tomatoes, didn't quite taste like tomatoes out here, subtly different, as was everything else, which allowed for whole new varieties of foods. But he became bored quickly, for as large as the station was, there was little for him to do here. There was a mini resort here, with a 0 g chamber and even a 0 g pool, which was held together in mid air in a bubble, with zero gravity surrounding it, and a small gravity enhancing module in the middle of the pool. Depending on which entrance you came in from, that would be the ground, relative to you. It had seemed complicated at first, but it was actually startlingly simple in practice, and he had enjoyed himself for quite a few hours, while Toby sat by the pool, content to just watch. She could swim if she chose, but preferred to be able to keep a watchful eye on him and the rest of the enormous cavern that the pool was housed in.

All these things were to just pass the time. While it was necessary for him to review this base, as it was an Earth protectorate, and the people that he would help govern helped to pay for parts of this base, especially the R&D sections of the base, which from what he had been shown could stretch miles under the ground, and there were quite a few bases under the ground, some of which were not known by the general public. But Armstrong station was where the action was. The resort was beautiful, and his room was set on one of the higher most levels, the 38th of 42. The hotel was also set up on the outskirts of the city's limit, and there was no traffic to get in the way of the gorgeous view he was afforded from the room. The room was quite spacious in and of itself, which was a luxury here. Every cubic meter was sectioned out at enormous expense out here, and the people who lived here were experts at using every bit of space available. But his room was a suite, and it was comp'ed, no charge. No one charged the Government for anything; it simply made things a lot easier then dealing with taxing them and then the tax refunds transferring between the home planet and her moon. The relationship survived delicately, with the moon almost self reliant. The key was almost. Armstrong Base needed supplies from Earth, for the Moon was rich in some resources, but it had not obtained its full independence, like Mars or Venus. Both those planets were undergoing massive terra-forming and the Moon would always just be the little brother of Earth, providing her with vital metals and minerals that were found plentifully on the Moon.

Sending him was a way of sending a message, that Earth supported her sister planet and considered her important. He was used to it by now, and although this was not the usual type of diplomatic mission he was sent on, it differed only in the fact that instead of using a flyer, he had to get aboard an interplanetary luminal. He had been on these transports before, but only in lessons and a few training sims. Nothing crazy, he had felt nothing, although the view had been as stunning as he always heard. Not that he had noticed the view for the most part, nor had he been restless during the few hours he was on the ship. For the first time in years, he had something to look forward to, nor did he have to banish his feelings for the pain they would cause him. He thought freely, during his waking moments, and the sleeping ones, the kiss they had shared. Every time he closed his eyes, and now half the time he should be paying more attention, he thought of her, of their few seconds that they had shared alone together. It's not even that they haunted him, for he so enjoyed the presence of these memories, and was grateful to have experienced them. He loved her, this much he knew. What he had thought before had only been confirmed by that one evening. It didn't bother him that they would never be given a chance like the one most people would have, situations like this did not come often. It saddened him, but at the same time, the love gave him the nourishment he needed to sustain himself throughout these long years. Only time could decide whether they could ever be together, and he would wait a thousand years if he had to, until some technology came along that allowed their DNA to be more compatible with each other. He had infinity, and he didn't care how long he had to wait to spend his time with her. These glimpses of her were teases, designed to allow them to function well together as political partners, and it was vital for them to be able to do so. Humanity could not be allowed to drift apart, this was what he had been taught, what people wiser then he had decided, and he was smart enough to accept this.

As far as he knew, this was the last time he would be seeing her for the foreseeable future. Once he had turned 21, Toby had told him the entire plan, and this was the last time he was supposed to see her. He didn't mind, he couldn't, but he was going to make the most of it. He doubted anyone suspected what he was doing, and once Toby found out, it would be too late. In the meantime, there was the luncheon. His family, his mother and father and little sister, and her family. This was the last time any Ma'adim family member from this generation and the last would come. And the future was always in flux, so their was no guarantee in any of these meetings, these fragile ties linking the evolving people that settled these planets and moons. But now that they had forever to plan, a long term scale of thinking was beginning to set in, and the plans were becoming epic in scope. Marcus couldn't bring himself to believe that somewhere in the future the tech would reach a point where they would be able to transform themselves at will, perhaps into whatever forms they chose. But they were far from anything like that, and he could only hope for now.

In the meantime, however, he had to plan for the right here, right now. He had assured himself time alone with her, as long as he was able to orchestrate things well. And as always, there were no guarantees. He was making his way through the city, to the Bahara Peak, and the restaurant there. The streets were empty, everyone besides the visitors having work to do, and he was able to take his time, strolling casually through the streets, Toby following far behind, knowing he wasn't in the mood for her company. She knew that he was planning something, but she didn't know what. They arrived at the peak and had to wait for the elevator to take them to the hall up top. He was getting nervous, much as he was trying to control it, and he dosed himself with an extremely mild sedative, and it flowed through his system quickly, and the effect was near instantaneous. He didn't like to use drugs of any sort, and his cortical implant was loaded mostly with simple Ibuprofen and a few of the stronger painkillers. People these days had entire pharmacology departments in their brains these days. The elevator glided silently down on its repulsors and stopped, the doors were also repulsor controlled, and they opened with nary a whisper. The trip up was equally silent, and even with the sedative, his heart was beginning to pound. His mother would be here, and he hadn't seen her in years. His father he saw often, because he now had to follow him through certain days as a learning exercise, and this would be yet another one of those days in a way. But all he cared about was her. The scent of her carried with him throughout his days. There would be times where he would be going about his business, the scent of her would catch him, and again she would be on his mind. Not that she ever really left it. Her face and most especially that drop dead gorgeous smile were imprinted into him, the feel of her soft lips brushing against his. He shook his head, needing his mind clear and sharp for what was coming, and he almost regretted taking the sedative.

The doors slid open and the sunshine beamed directly into his eyes, blinding him for a moment. He stepped out and lifted his hands to his eyes, the shapes taking form before his eyes. His father was sitting across from a small frail man who was wearing a Martian made exo-skeleton over his clothes, and the suit was doing everything for him, while he sat limp in its care. There was a young man, who looked to be about his own age, however deceiving that may be in these days. There was no visible exo-skeleton on the male, who when he looked closely, resembled Beretta in many ways, from the hair, to the facial features, and even his smile was familiar, and it seemed to cross his face easily as Marcus stood quietly next to the entrance of the large hall, no one having taken notice of him yet. That must be Christopher, Beretta's eldest brother, of the three siblings. His mother sat next to his father, and she also wore an exo-skeleton suit, and he smirked. She could easily live in the gravity of the moon for the length of time necessary for her time here, but he could just see the fit she must have put up in order to not have to deal with the lack of gravity here. He himself had received plenty of Zero-Gravity training, and it had only taken him the first two days here to get used to the gravity, but he had never donned one of the suits. She had just arrived here a day ago, so he was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. And then there she was, sitting at the far end of the table, with an empty place setting across from her. Her eyes were already on him, though she watched subtly, and it almost appeared that she was part of the conversation going on at the table, but she had his eye, and then she smiled, her hair hanging in ringlets around her face, framing the smile perfectly and he felt his heart light afire with the blaze of a nuke in his chest, melting his insides. She leaned back in her chair, motioning her head at the chair in front of her. Her father had been watching her gaze, and he turned to see Marcus standing by the entrance, and this led all the eyes in the room to look at him.

"You're late!" His father stood up and made his way to him, then led him to the other side of the table, whose back was facing the perma-plast that made up the wall, giving the impression that they were dining outside on the surface of the moon. He was brought to Sir Pasalay Yu'Ta Ma'adim, who pushed his chair out to face him. "It is an honor to meet you Sir Marcus, the son of one of my truly honored friends, and an ally for many years to come." "May I return that same honor, in meeting you Sir Pasalay, and my apologies for arriving late". Pasalay laughed, and for such a small man, it seemed to be a rather booming laugh. It was almost as if this little being was trapped in his fragile shell of a body, when he should be occupying the body of a Viking of old. He was offered a hand and he shook it, carefully, while trying not to betray the fact that his attention was focused on Beretta. She was still small, but she was a woman now, that much was clear. She had filled her figure out, and when he saw her, it was no longer as a girl but a grown woman, and the demeanor about her only encouraged that thought. He made his way back around the table to his seat as normally and casually as possible, trying not to belay the fact that his heart was thrumming in his chest as he sat down. She nodded softly to him, the edges of her mouth curling slightly upwards and a bit of flush coming to her cheeks. Good. He was glad he wasn't the only one that was feeling like this. The family's were talking amongst themselves, what they had been spending their recent time on, plans for the future and so on. His Father would be retiring and Beretta's not too much later. While Berettas brother would be taking control of the Ma'adim section of Mars, she would be the planetary ambassador, which of the two positions was arguably the more important job. But he had heard stories of her brother and his quick temper, and he was glad that the chips had fallen as they had. Besides, the chances were higher that sometime in the future he would have to meet with Beretta, instead of Christopher, Beretta's older brother.

The food was already set, a very light lunch of sandwich meats, different exotic breads and cheeses, Plutian oils and other assorted delicacies. He helped himself to a small heap of food, but he wasn't hungry at all, and knew that he wouldn't be touching his plate. He did however pour himself some chilled mixed nectar in his glass and brought that to his lips as an excuse to gather his thoughts together. The juice was refreshing, and surprisingly, did help clear his head. He would have to handle this extremely diplomatically. Their would be time for personal discussions later, so instead he sat back with the glass in his hands and chit chatted with both families, and he only grew quite when his mother spoke, for he was filled with as sincere as a revulsion as he was filled with love for Beretta when she spoke, which she did little of. He didn't get it, because he remembered her as being more outspoken the last times that they had seen each other. Now she was quiet, watching the table, surreptitiously watching him almost as much as he was watching her. But there was an unspoken agreement it seemed, that they could not let anyone realize what was going on between the two of them, and this of itself sent his heart racing. He felt so much…better when he was in her presence, his senses seemingly more enhanced by her. And the flush never left her cheeks, every time she glanced at him the blush renewed, which only made her blush more. He found it to die for, cute beyond belief, and it seemed that a live electric current was passing between them, and he was constantly afraid that the others at the table would notice their attraction. But either everyone was truly engrossed in their own conversations, or they were choosing to ignore it. But there were those that noticed, and his lace informed him he had a message from Toby. "I have been speaking with Gabe. You must stop this. I cannot allow this to continue. I will tell your father if you persist. You must stop. You will get us in trouble." He noticed that at the same time that he finished listening to the message, Berettas eyes snapped forward, and there seemed to be a sudden wall of ice that came between them. But it was no matter, everything was arranged. So he tried to enjoy his meal, picking at his plate and engaging in mild conversation. Her brother was actually quite knowledgeable on many of the same areas he was, and they spoke easily, especially regarding their theories on The Last Gift, which was that it was actually an alien culture that had cured humanity of a horrible disease that had been crippling humanity, and that these views were actually springing up as a religion on Mars and some of the outer colonies. When he spoke with Beretta, it was short and clipped, and they had relatively little to speak on. His parents engaged the Martian President avidly, and they discussed everything from economics to religion, to vacations taken and books read. It was a casual meal, one that could not happen for most events like this were huge public affairs, like the last time he had seen Beretta. He wasn't spoken to by Berettas father other then the original greeting, and he got the feeling that he knew what had happened between them, and may or may not be upset with him. If so, he could have expected a colder attitude then the one he was currently receiving. A relationship between the two of them was dangerous on so many levels. He couldn't really blame everyone for freaking out so much about this because of that. They were both being foolish and reckless in what they were doing, even if nothing came of it. To give your heart to someone that could never return that love was utter foolishness…madness in its own right. The last few years had not been easy on him, and if she felt the same, it would have been hell on her. He had been driving himself mad over time, and it would only get worse. He had to make the most of his time now with her. This was without a doubt, the last time for at least hundreds, or perhaps thousands of years, if ever that they would lay eyes on each other. So he was determined to make the absolute most of this time here. He turned to her and held her gaze, ignoring the rest of the table. She was hesitant at first, but after a few seconds, she smiled at him, and it was the type of smile that she just couldn't help but give him when their eyes met.

"So, what have you been up to past couple years?" He kicked himself, wondering why he couldn't carry on an intelligent conversation with her. She would think he was a moron. She shifted her weight in her chair, eyeing him before answering. "Schooling…lessons. Bullshit for the most part. Any human being should know how to react in the situations that they train me for as a matter of course. It makes me wonder who these lessons were designed for sometimes." She was eyeing him carefully and he took the time to think for a few seconds before responding. "I feel the same way much of the time. But it's what I do. It's who I am right now…I have nothing else." "If nothing else, there is the future". At this, she raised her glass, which held some sort of orange smoothie, but tinged with a few powerful stims that his lace was offering to list compositions of for him all the way from his side of the table. He raised his own glass of nectar, the glass freezing cold in his hands from the tiny refrigeration unit in the goblet. They touched their glasses together and then sipped from them, their eyes locked together for a few long seconds, another memory imprinting itself in his memory. His father cut in then to discuss her exact lesson plan for the last as well as upcoming year, as well as the normal Martian education system. He felt that it was more to stop them from talking then anything else, but their was nothing he could do and he just sat back with a sigh, and a slight pout coming to his face, his high of a mood now tarnished. The food was swept away after another twenty minutes or so, more chit chat dominating the large room, the voices echoing off of the stone wall and the outer view port, which actually helped to muffle the sound against any attempted outside listeners, bouncing sound waves back inside and also acting as a reflector on the outside as well. Soon the food was cleared away, they were brought fresh brewed coffee with heavy cream, and alcoholic amaretto mixtures of different varieties, and it amused him to watch her construct her beverage, heavy on the alcohol as he sipped on his plain black coffee.

The conversation slowly petered out, but pleasantly, no awkward silence between them, and both families seemed to have enjoyed the afternoon, and it was a pleasant surprise to both sides that it had gone so well. While ties between the two planets were not necessarily strained, they each went about conducting their business in ways that the other considered either flat out wrong, or just plain strange. In a few hundred additional years, the culture would likely drift further and further apart. Which is why occasions such as these were so very important, and all the better if they went off well. Marcus had wondered why Beretta's mother had not joined him, and he used his lace to tight beam a message to her, and only her. Toby had taken the time as part of his training to show him how to use his neural laces ability to its full potential, and he was now able to send a local tight beam message to the person he wanted, and only to that person. She had used the Alpha Centauri launches as an example, explaining to him that Gabe had easily intercepted the messages, and if he had chosen too, could have stopped them. In answer to his query however, the answer came back quickly, with a scolding tone to her voice. "Perhaps if you paid attention in your studies, you would know that the Earth's gravity would crush her bones at this stage in her life, exo suit or not" He cursed mentally, because yes, he should have known that.

Sir Pasalay stood up from his chair, at almost exactly the same moment that his parents stood, almost as if they had both known the time had come. Marcus was up and out of his chair quickly and smoothly, and he positioned himself very closely to Toby. Beretta was making her way around to his side of the table, the closest way back to the elevator. Before she even reached his side, he casually touched Toby's hand, her bare skin, and the nano-bug picked up her scent and began to go about its business, namely being overriding her command and control circuits for the next few minutes. If all went well, the bug was tailored to send a compressed data package wirelessly into Gabe. He didn't know the name of Beretta's brothers Mark, and she seemed to be entirely preoccupied with Christopher, and didn't seem to notice what was going on with her companions at all. He smiled softly to himself as both families made their ways to the elevator, which opened as soon as his father touched the control panel. He walked slowly, Beretta right by his side, and the smell of her was so heady that his head began to swim, and he had to force himself to concentrate. Suddenly, he felt something smooth, soft, and warm and yet cold all at the same time brush up against his hand and he jerked involuntarily, yet when he looked down, it was Beretta's hand at her side that had startled him so. They only had a few steps to go now, and he quickly but gently reached out and clasped his hand to hers, barely touching her skin, yet his hand wrapped around hers. Everyone was now in the elevator waiting for them, and their hands quickly let go of each other as all eyes turned towards them. Right as they were about to step on the elevator, Toby lashed out, quicker than any human, or human eye could possibly even track and activated the outer controls of the elevator, which slid the doors quickly shut, before anyone inside could even register what had occurred.

They now had two minutes, exactly. She seemed to think the same thing, and in an instant she was pressed up against him, her lips gently pushing against his, insistently and passionately, and he returned the kiss with equal fervor, wrapping her gently in his arms and lifting her up into the air where he held her for a few moments, moving them slowly around the room as they kissed for what seemed forever, enough times for the stars themselves to have burned out. When she pulled away from him, her eyes darted towards their Mark's who stood quietly facing each other, there heads hung staring straight at the floor. "What did you do to them? Are they gonna be ok?" H smiled and came in to kiss her again, a quick peck this time, which turned into another long kiss that left him breathless and practically unable to stand. He was still holding her, so he sat in one of the nearby vacant chairs, the very one that his father had been occupying only moments before, Beretta clinging to him and sitting in his lap. "There gonna be just fine, they are just going to wake up in about one minute and not remember anything for the previous three." She smiled at him, and it seemed that all over again, as if for the very first time that he was seeing her smile like that at him, and every time, the effect was the same. The only difference was that she was no memory of his. She was here, and he was making another memory now. So they leaned into each other, their kisses fumbling in anxiety, there lips pressed against the others until he ever so gently began to kiss down her jaw and nuzzled into her neck, once again inhaling her intoxicating scent. Her lips were right next to his ear and she leaned in, gently kissing and nibbling on his ear lobe before whispering the words that he had been waiting for, the words that he had hoped for all along, and that sent his heart beating like a thousand jackhammers working at once. "I Love You". And he brought his face back up to meet hers and laid one last kiss on her cheeks, there time quickly running out. "I Love You too." And then the elevator was chiming, and they were both standing apart so quickly he didn't remember it even happening, and their Marks snapped their heads back up confused, in a way that they never had been before. The elevator doors opened, and there was their parents, both of them looking equally upset, his fathers face a stormy cloud of emotions as he pointed at the floor of the elevator, indicating him to stand there, which he did so, Beretta standing next to him until his father pulled him away from her to stand on his left side instead. It was silent in the elevator for the one minute long ride down, until they were almost at the bottom, and he could hear the quiet sniffles that must be Beretta crying. When the doors opened, both families went their separate ways, their good moods evaporated as quickly as dew in the morning sun. In the limo that took them back to the resort, everyone was deathly silent, his father and mother not even looking at each other, while Toby met his gaze with what he knew was her angry expression, which was a slight tightening of her eyes, her lips barely down turned. He could understand why she was upset, what he did to her was like virtual rape, and she missed those two minutes like he would miss a finger if it were removed from him, a physical pain for her. Suddenly, he was hit by a tight beam message, so focused towards him in the relatively small cabin of the aircar that it him like a physical blow, his lace blinding him with pain as a microwave overload went surging through the delicate hardware that was wired into his brain, and the illusion of pain hit him for a few seconds. He didn't know if she had done that last part a little more forcefully then she had to in order to get the message across. He opened the packet and it was one simple line of text. "You could have just asked."

Part 4: 12 Hours Later, Armstrong Moon Base, Hilton Moon Resort, 0300 Hours Local Time

When he slept, he dreamt of her. She was almost always in his dreams anyways, but tonight it was more vivid then usual. They were a bit older, in there mid twenties or so, but this only told him that it was a few years from now, or an eternity from now, as they would both stop aging soon. They were in bed together, sleeping with his arms draped around her. And then he was awake, in his bed, alone. He felt oddly cold, and he shivered while noticing that his clothes were drenched with sweat. He didn't know what had woken him, but he used his lace to order himself a decaf coffee and he got up and headed to the kitchen, which was down a small archway whose ceiling was made of reinforced permi-plast so he could see the stars shining outside. On his way through the hallway, he heard the door chime, and realized instantly that it was likely the door chime that had brought him out of his sleep. He checked the chronometer attached to his body suit and saw that it was 3 minutes after three A.M. He had received no alerts or messages of any kind while he was sleeping, and it was extremely unusual for an unannounced visitor under any circumstances, let alone at this ungodly hour. He had little to fear however with the protection afforded to him by his bio-suit, which was connected to his internal lace, a defense scheme that had never been penetrated by any would be assassin. Except under certain situations involving very close quarters combat, which this was a prime example of. If it was Toby at the door, she would have notified him, and the fact that she wasn't here already troubled him, for she knew the instant he awoke, and usually would have been here by now to keep him company, or at the least to check up on him. So he activated his suits defense systems, giving them to charge up, which took but a few seconds, and then he found himself in front of the door, his heart hammering in his chest as he looked through the peephole. There was no one out their, and yet the doorbell chimed again even as his eyes tracked the front of the door. So he took a breath and keyed the command to slide the door open, and before he had a chance to so much as blink there was a blur of light that rushed towards hi, practically knocking him over, and then the light veil was lifted and it was her. She pressed her lips firmly against his before drawing back, cursing, rubbing her arms. As he watched, there were black and blue marks spreading all along their length, and when he looked at her face, he saw her eyes holding back tears. He was freaking out on the inside. What the hell was she doing here? How did she even get here? He took her ever so gently by the hand and sat her down at the kitchen table all while his mind racing through what was happening. She was here, in his room, alone, no Mark, three O'clock in the morning. His open link to Toby was still on, no interference. As soon as he had thought to check the link, she must have noticed because a audio message played for him before he had time to close the connection. "You could have just asked". And then his link to her was shut down, for perhaps the second or third time in his life, and he was alone. Alone with her. He manually ordered a second caf and set down the first one in front of her, which she pushed away. "I don't drink coffee…thanks though. Could I have a hot cocoa though?" He went back to the beverage dispenser and changed the order to a hot chocolate and the machine began to softly stir, its inner mechanisms recognizing the change, canceling the first drink and began preparing a freshly ground hot chocolate, toppings and all. He waited next to the machine, almost afraid that if he went to sit by her she would disappear and he would awake to find himself alone in bed. Almost as if she knew what he was thinking and thinking the same thing, she got up and crossed the few feet towards him and laid her lips against his cheek then slowly continued until she found his eager lips pressing against hers. She kept her arms on his hips, she had hurt herself coming into the room somehow, and his mind distantly realized that it had been his fault, for she had ran into the room into him…unless she had meant to run into him and simply forgotten she wasn't at home. Either way such thoughts were quickly driven from his mind by the soft press of her lips against his own. All too soon, the hot cocoa was ready, and she was sitting at the table expectantly while he blinked the stars from his eyes. She was smiling at him and he felt his knees go weak. He almost felt guilty for liking her so very much when he barely knew her.

Marcus sat down at the seat across from her in the small kitchen, at the now very small table and he found he was nervous, sweating and trembling while she seemed very much cool and collected. It seemed that she was waiting for him to start talking, so he asked the question that was first on his mind. "How the hell did you get up here?" "Where's Gabe?" She laughed, her laughter musical to his ears, a low sarcastic chuckle that shook his insides to their core. "It figures that would be the first thing you would say…not is your arm ok, or it's good to see you". But she smiled after she said this, a twinkle in her eye easing his rising guilt. "But to answer your question, I just asked Gabe if it was O.K. and he said yeah…him and Toby basically did all the work, I just went along for the ride, you could say." He smiled, thinking of what Toby had said to him twice now, and realized how foolish he had been for not truly understanding what she had been telling him. He would have thanked her right then had their permanent live link been open, but he knew he would have plenty of chances for that. The two of them sat across from each other, both sipping on their steaming hot drinks and keeping their eyes on the other, as though held there magnetically locked. "I'm sorry about your arms…I didn't…um-"…She quickly cut him off. "Its ok…it's my fault, its hard to see where I'm going sometimes with the bender on and how far away things are…and then when I saw you…I guess I kinda just forgot for a second." "Does it hurt?" She shook her affirmatively. "Yeah, but it's not bad, don't worry about it. I already took some painkillers". He shook his head in concern and gently took one of her hands away from cupping her mug and just held it. He apologized again and now she her eyes grew dark. "Don't worry about it O.K…it wasn't your fault…and we just have to…be careful". Her eyes flashed when she said this in some unrecognizable way, for him anyways. He wished Toby were there, she would know exactly what that look had meant. But he was on his own now, and it was more then he could have asked for, given the chance. She looked stunning, tired but that innate beauty was still there, and he could never get over how beautifully the curls of her lustrous hair hung around her face, giving it the perfect framing, a hint of shadow across the right side of her face in the dimly lit kitchen. She was so stunning, and he felt the anxiety beginning to bubble over, something that usually never happened to him. And then she was up, and she was in his lap, pressed closely against him, yet barely a feather in his lap. He felt as though he would break her if he even stood up without giving her proper warning. They sat there for a while, in the little kitchen in his suite on the Moon, just sitting and enjoying each other's presences. It was addictive, and he felt as though he could sit there until the stars themselves died out, and the last calls for civilization came calling for humanity. And a small part of him hoped that he would make it that long, and he would face it with this tiny young woman, who would forever be frozen at this size, in his arms. He loved her so…and when she turned those pretty brown doe eyes on him, and blinked slowly, then whispered those same words again, "I love you…", He just didn't know what he would do now without her, having to live alone knowing that such a life could exist for him.

She got up form his lap after an immeasurable time, and when he looked at the clock, he saw that over an hour and a half had gone by, and it was coming up on 0440, local time. She took him by the hand and led him slowly to where his bedroom was, and she somehow knew exactly where she was going, and it occurred to him that she must know the layout of this suite, either from having stayed here prior, or what he found more likely to be the case, she had somehow gotten Gabe to get her the layouts. They were likely matters of public record; it was only a matter of finding it in the massive amounts of information flowing around. Then he blinked, and he was on his bed, and any thoughts going down the previous line were absolutely and completely erased as he watched her tug her clothes from her body and make her way under the covers. He did the same, pulling his clothes off and beginning to cuddle up to her. But she stopped him, placing a firm palm in the center of his chest. "Whatever happens….we can't….you know." He frowned in though for a second, wondering what she meant, and then the realization hit him, what she meant by her words, and as he thought of it, he understood why. She whispered in his ear now, almost fearfully. "I can go if it would be easier…if you want." He shook his head no without even having to think about it, then moved himself next to her with the greatest care until they were pressed right up against each other and he was but an inch from her face, so close that he could see the highlights in the tints of her eyes by the bare light shining in from the permi-plast ceiling. "No…its fine, don't worry, your absolutely right." And then they were kissing, and all thoughts were driven from his mind.

Part 4: Earth, Washington D.C., The White House, 9 Months Later, 2030 Hours

There was an enormous rumbling outside of the building. Something big enough to make the very ground itself shake. At the very same time his personal lace lit up with a few alerts at once, one personal, one on a secure line, and then a planet wide crimson alert flashed up, overriding the prior two, which still clamored for his attention. But he shoved them all out of his queue and hurried out of the kitchen where he had been eating a very late dinner, his lessons for the day having run late. Of course, soon enough those would be over. In the meantime, he got to the front of the building and peered out across the Eastern lawn which was now blocked by an enormous craft, which he recognized as one of the new, barely off the shelf TC-1700 Supra-Luminal transport vehicles, and as far as he knew, those were not meant to be atmospheric craft, but space going only. The ramp lowered and a whole entourage of heavily armed men in U.N. uniforms came storming out, clearing the yard, and when he looked up, he saw at least 4 police aircars securing the airspace around his home. Then a lone figure came bounding down the ramp, a small, slight figure looking to be about 25, which of course meant nothing at all in reality. The man had jet black hair, and even from this distance he could see the mans piercing black eyes, which seemed to lock unto him staring out the window, and he started making his way across the field to the east entrance hallway. There was only one person this could possibly be. Zachary Taylor, head of the U.N. for the past 150 years give or take a few years. Zachary was cleared right through the entrance, no checklist being pulled out or names taken. He traveled with no Mark, alone, and he thought that it seemed so foreign as he ran closer to watch Zachary being waved in. "YOU! DON'T MOVE!!" Some part of his brain realized that the voice was addressing him, and he froze right there in the middle of the hallway. This fearsome man in the black naval uniform with jet black eyes seemed to be able to make him literally freeze, and then Zach was right there in front of him, and before he could think, or process something to say or do there was a fist flying out, quick as a Mark's, just a blur in the air, and then the room was spinning, a giant pain in the side of his head, and then the other side of his head as well as he slammed into the wall to the right of him. He was on the floor trying to scramble to his feet when another blow landed in the same that the first one had fallen and he found his face pressed against the soft red carpet, which was now absorbing the blood trickling from his forehead. "Stay Down" said the same voice, this time not shouting, but level and somehow calm and mad at the same time. He turned his head slightly towards the voice in time to see a boot like a bullet coming towards his face, and again he was slammed also into the wall beside him, and now he was down and out, unable to move. He had heard some sickening crunch coming from his own neck when his head had hit the wall, and he was now unable to move, staring with one eye open at this black clad devil. He could barely see through the pain, but there was a sudden flash of light and a blur and there was Toby, fist extended with Zachary at her feet, blood dripping from his mouth. Then there was the crack of gunfire and Toby went stuttering backward as particle energy weapons sent their lethal charges into her, over and over and over until she dropped to the floor, her internal circuits torn to shreds, just an unrecognizable heap of steaming metal slag. He heard himself trying to speak and realized that he was trying to scream, and it only made the pounding in his brain worsen. He quieted and lay there, gasping for air as he watched Zach get back to his feet, muttering to himself unintelligibly before raising his voice and speaking to someone he couldn't see somewhere behind him. "Well, now we know how it was allowed to happen. These specialized Mark's will have to be reconsidered. Does he even know for chrissakes?" It was silent, and then the figure gave him one last piercing look. "You have failed me. I will never forget this transgression, and something tells me that you won't be soon to forget it. I will not punish you more then this, and your post is still yours to claim, but I will never have the full faith in you that I should be able to have. Although you have plenty of time to work on that, and make up for your sins against humanity". And then he was gone, and it seemed like it was just a blur of blackness stalking away from him. A few seconds later he felt the hands of someone around him, and it was his father's voice telling him to relax, and that it would be O.K. He had never heard his father like that. The ground began to shake again as his father tried to help him slowly stand, and he fell right back to the ground. Then all he knew was the welcome blackness, and he felt no more pain.

He awoke in the Medical Bay that was in the basement of the White House, alone, a simple medical bot in the corner working on a terminal. He blinked slowly and carefully and the glare hurt his eyes. The bot must have heard him moving and came over to his side. "Are you in pain, sir?" He slowly shook his head no. "Can I get you anything sir"? He managed to croak out that he needed a drink, and somehow he was understood, and a few short seconds later some cool, thick, sweet juice was being poured down his throat. He held up his hand while gagging when it got to be too much, and the flow stopped. "Your father will be notified that you have woken" He nodded that he understood, and the bot wheeled around, its simple boxy frame going to return to its duties. "How long was I out?" The bot just continued about its business, either ordered not to help him anymore or simply not understanding the question. It was an autonomous unit, not connected to any networks, so it was a bit slow and simple compared to the more advanced medical bots that could be found. But this was for a reason, in case of some massive network failure; this bot would still be able to provide most basic medial functions.

He sat there for awhile, in the cold sterile bed, his head reeling as he tried to piece together what happened. After about twenty minutes of just laying there, he still wasn't sure exactly what had happened. He knew that he had gotten his ass kicked, and that it had been by the most powerful man on the planet. Idly, he wondered when his father would be showing up, but just because he had been notified, didn't mean he would be showing up here anytime soon. He was in deep shit about something and his father might not want to see him at all, might just leave him down here for a few days. That's when he noticed that his lace was flashing, and he remembered the messages he had received prior to Zachary showing up. There were only two messages now, the planetary crimson alert now gone from his incomings. The first was from Toby, and his heart clutched for a moment as he remembered her being shot repeatedly, and for what? The second message was from his father, and it was a tiny file, so he opened it first. "Stay in the basement!" The second one was a bit larger of a file and he opened it with his heart beating quickly, and he had to look at it quickly, before he lost the courage too. "Marcus…I don't know what is going to happen now. I have tried to run all my prediction models, and I can't come up with an answer. It was my pleasure and honor to help you and serve you for your short 22 years. I don't know how much of what your parent's, and Beretta's parents as well was correct in their handling of this situation. I love you, and I would have done anything for you, and it was by doing so that I have placed you in this situation. Much like the love you share for the young Martian girl caused you to err, so too did love blind me, and I allowed for it to happen. I want for you to brace yourself, for I know that one way or another, I will be gone by the time you read this. There will not be time for you to open this when the situation occurs, and that is when I shall send this, at the time that I will be put to death for my sins, or I shall die in your defense. I was specifically ordered not to allow any but the scheduled appearances to occur, and I as well as Gabe, who will also be put to death, erred. But we did so out of love for our friends, much like what you did was out of love, and you could not stop yourself. Now again, please listen carefully, and know how sorry I am. I only found this news out but a few hours ago, when a warrant was put out for your arrest through the Martian Embassy to the U.N. Beretta is dead, along with the child she had been carrying, which she hid until it was too late to save either of their lives. If the truth had been known, at the least Beretta would have survived, but the baby never had a chance, being of Terran descent, and yet having matured in the light gravity of Mars…the baby was a horrible mutant, and it is good that it never had a chance to live. Its development was so stunted, that its lungs collapsed as soon as it tried breathing on its own. Beretta made the choice, knowing full well and likely that this would happen, to hide what had happened. Before I say anything else, I just want to say how sorry I am for your loss. I know what she meant to you, and I saw the light in your eyes whenever you so much as thought of her, and the happiness you were left with for months after seeing her each time. I had never seen you like that, and I loved her for having that effect on you. I am also sorry for the loss of your child, be that as it may. You will never be able to know the joys of being married and a father, which I'm sure is what would otherwise have occurred. I am so sorry for you, for I know the heartbreak that awaits you after finding all this out. The Martian Planetary Authority has issued a warrant for your arrest under the category of Willful Harm of Life. The sentence from this charge can be anywhere from the death penalty to a few months in a federal prison, likely in the Plutian belt. The Earth Planetary Authority, namely Zachary Taylor, will obviously wave these charges. However, a planetary incident has occurred, and it has damaged the relations between the two planets for the near future. For exactly one hour, Mars declared war on Earth, more for political reasons then anything else, and tried to charge you for Murder in the First Degree. Zachary Taylor stepped in and the charge was lessened to where it remains now, and it is assumed that Zachary will be stepping in once again. But you have gained his wrath now, and he is a hard and difficult man, despite what you may have heard. I hope that everything goes well, but my internally running subroutines calculate that chance to be small. I don't even know if you will be allowed to be President. Remember, I love you very much, and I will always be with you, throughout time itself. Good-Bye Marcus."

By the time he was done reading the message there were tears streaming freely from his face, and the medical bot, sensing the change in his body functions came over and asked him once again if there was anything it could do. But all he could see was the face of Beretta as they had made love that night, the pain across her face and then the pleasure, and how she had comforted him and assured him that it would be O.K. and that nothing bad would come of it. And now she was dead…and his child…he would have been a father. He couldn't even wrap his head around it. He laid back down on the hard plastic surface, his thoughts in a wild jumble. No wonder his father wasn't here. He wouldn't be here if it were the other way around. It was all his fault, he had been weak, and now he would suffer the consequences. If he had just been patient, he had eternity given to him, and he had rushed it, they both had. He wondered where she was now, where people went when they died ever since The Last Gift had been given. He snorted, which made his face ache. More like The Last Curse. Eternity wasted, with the knowledge of what he had done that would now haunt his every memory, forever.