Ellie slid quietly out of Lucas' small bunk, taking great care not to wake him. He looked peaceful and happy now; she wanted him to stay that way for a little while. Standing up, she looked around the room. Not much to do here. She decided that she would do a little exploring while Lucas slept.

Opening the door, she stepped out into the corridor and shut the door quietly behind her. She hoped she'd be able to find her way back. She looked both ways, and saw light coming from her right, so she decided to head that way.

Walking down the corridor, she came to a large room with a pool in the center. She walked up to the pool and looked inside, wondering what they kept in here. She nearly squealed in delight when she saw a dolphin swimming to the surface.

"Lucas is so lucky! This is the coolest place," she breathed.

The dolphin came to the surface and nudged her hand. She complied and stroked the top of its head.

"Look at you," she said. "So pretty! I've never gotten this close to a dolphin before."

"He can talk you know," said a strange voice.

Ellie spun around to see Samantha standing in the doorway. "Dolphins can't talk…can they?" she asked.

Samantha smiled at her bewilderment. "This one can, thanks to this device Lucas invented called the vocorder."

"Lucas invented something to make dolphins talk?"

Samantha shrugged. "He got bored in college," she grinned, obviously joking, but at the same time not in her confirmation of Ellie's assertion.

"He's very smart."

Samantha nodded. "He's more than smart."

"I know, I just can't think of a better word at the moment. I'm a little overwhelmed by all of this," she said, gesturing around her.

"I don't blame you. I was too when I first got here."

"I'm Ellie," she said, extending her hand.

"Samantha, you can call me Sam, everyone else does," Sam replied, accepting her hand.

"Sam it is then."

"I know who you are," Sam said bluntly.

"Excuse me?" Ellie said.

"I know that you're Lucas' real mother."

"Oh, yes…strange isn't it?"

"Just a little," Sam said sarcastically, taking a sip of her coffee.

"Are you Lucas' girlfriend?" Ellie asked, just as bluntly.

Sam nearly spit her coffee across the room. "Me? Lucas? Nooooooo," she replied. "Lucas has a girlfriend; another genius, her name is Juliana."

Ellie nodded. "I only hope she knows how to handle Lucas as well as you do."

"What? How do you…"

"I'm perceptive," Ellie said with a half-smile.

Samantha laughed, she liked Ellie already. She was just as much a smart-ass as Lucas was. She could see where he'd gotten it.

"Do you want to see how this works?" Sam asked.

"Hell yes!" Ellie replied enthusiastically.

Sam pushed the button. "Hello Darwin, this is Ellie."

"Hello Ellie," Darwin replied.

"Holy crap!" Ellie exclaimed. "That has to be the coolest thing I have ever seen!"

"Ellie, Lucas same?" Darwin asked.

"Yes Darwin," Sam replied. "Ellie is Lucas' mother."

"Ellie Lucas same number of years," Darwin stated.

"Not exactly," Sam replied. "It's complicated."

"Okay. Lucas sleep. Darwin swim."

Ellie laughed. "Okay Darwin, have fun."

"Darwin have fun always," the dolphin said before disappearing under the water again.

Ellie laughed in delight, and Sam, like Lucas before her, tried to see all of this through the eyes of someone who had never seen any of it, and to whom most of it sounded like straight science fiction.

"Come on, I'll show you around," Sam said with a smile.

For more on the Lucas and Samantha back story, please see the story "Skin Deep" written by K. Presson.