Meanwhile, at Tesla's factory, Garth was examining the sonic lance. It's coming along greatly, he thought. Although somewhat larger and cruder than the one he had used on Peladon, it would do the job, assuming all went well.
Olga, who had accompanied Garth, asked. "So, how does this sonic lance work?"
"Well, Olga, basically what it does is use sound waves as a force," he went on to explain the details.
Olga, coming from a far more primitive background, was none the wiser when he finished. She shook her head. "I am stupid."
"Olga, don't talk like that," Garth said as he came over and embraced her. "You just come from a time where no such technology existed."
"Da, in Russia we had no electricity or running water. We get water from river, or dig wells. Many in my village died of cholera."
Garth had no idea what cholera was, but the sadness if Olga's voice made it clear that it was bad. "Did anyone you know die of if? he asked.
"Da, my little brother. By the time the doctor reached our village, it was too late."
"I'm so sorry," Garth said tenderly. In the 40th Century, most human diseases had long since been eradicated. Although we've had our share of alien ones crop u from time to time.
"That was another reason I left Russia. Perhaps America was not as perfect as I had hoped, but at least I had clean water."
"Olga, I can't even imagine what kind of world you lived in," Garth said. "Yet I know it wasn't easy."
"Da. That is nice thing about this place. Your past is not held against you."
"Which is good for me," Garth said. "Considering my actions, driven by greed, led to many deaths." He shook his head. "It almost seems that Garth Eckersley is a whole different person from the one that exists now on Riverworld."
"Da, that is true," Olga said. "That other Garth, I could never love him."
"Olga you..."
"Yes, Garth, I love you."
"And I love you, Olga," Garth replied tenderly as he put a hand on her cheek.