Margaritifer Basin (Margaritifer Trilogy Book 1) (101 page)

“Yikes! Isn’t
that about the most difficult piano piece there is?”

“The third
movement, Scarbo, certainly is.”

“Kind of heavy
stuff for a twelve-year-old, don’t you think?”

“You’d think so,
but that’s how mom and dad thought of me. Instead of raising me as a little
girl, they just wanted to continually push the edge of the envelope.”

Jeff wrapped his
arms around her and held her tight. “Can you play it?”

“Not really. I
know it, but I can’t play it well, it’s just too hard. Besides, I don’t like it.
You know me, I like lyrical things. I don’t mind things that are difficult to
play. If I like it, I’ll practice it until I can play it. But not that.”

“Can’t say as I
blame you. I don’t care for it either.”

Gabe snuggled
against him. “Do you know when it was that I realized I couldn’t live without
you?”

“No.”

“It was the day
Abby broke my slide rule, and I almost broke her jaw.”

Jeff chuckled.

“She was laying
there unconscious with her head stuck in a wall, but instead of tending to her
you tended to me.” She shook her head. “From that moment, being near you has
been the only thing in life I’ve wanted.”

He kissed her.

She glanced at
him. “You still haven’t answered my question.”

“What? About
sleeping with Abby?”

“Uh huh.”

“Yes, I
have slept with Abby. But Gabe, you’re the one I always longed for. When I laid
in bed awake at night, it was always you that I hoped would come knock on my
door.”

“There
were so many times that I wanted to, but I was afraid. Afraid that I wouldn’t
know how to please you, and that you’d turn me away.”

He
chuckled. “Not much chance of that.”

“If I had
known then what I know now, I would have been knocking on your door every
night.”

Jeff
frowned. “Well, damn.”

“Yeah.”
She kissed his cheek. “Did you sleep with her often?”

“No, just a couple times.”

“That’s
all? In five years?”

“Uh huh.”

“Why?”

Jeff shrugged. “I
dunno.”

“Yes you do.”

He sighed and
nodded. “Yeah, I do. I was afraid of hurting you.”

Gabe nodded. “You
would have, too. I don’t know what I would have done if I’d known. Probably
gone looking for a higher bridge.”

He leaned his
head against hers. “Promise me you’ll never do that?”

“I promise. If
you promise never to leave me.”

“Deal.”

They hugged for a
while. “Aren’t you curious as to why I didn’t ask about Sue?”

“Sue?” He chuckled.
“How would I know if Sue ever slept with Abby?”

She slapped his
chest, laughing. “That’s not what I meant!”

“Ouch. Yeah,
okay, why didn’t you ask about Sue?”

“Because I
already know that you slept with her.”

Jeff groaned.
“And how would you know that?”

“Because I asked
her, and she told me.”

“I see. And how
did
that
come up in conversation?”

“When I knew that
it was time for you and I to get on with this I went to her for advice, because
I had no idea what I was going to do.”

“And?”

“She told me not
to worry about it, I’d figure it out quick enough. But she also said that I
should be sure and tell you that I was virgin, because if you knew you’d treat
me differently, more gently.”

He nodded. “Okay,
sounds like good advice.”

“Yes. But then I
got to wondering how she would know what you would do. So I asked.”

“Ah.”

“Uh huh. She
didn’t go into details, but made it quite clear that I had nothing to worry
about.” She shrugged. “It was actually kind of comforting.”

“Why didn’t you
ask Abby?”

“Because I didn’t
want to have to tell her I was a virgin. If she had laughed, I would have had
to hit her again.”

Jeff chuckled.
“Okay, good call.”

Gabe
nodded. “Was there anyone else?”

“Since
when?”

“Since we met.”

“No Gabe,
there was no one else.”

She
rubbed her cheek on his shoulder. “Why didn’t you ever come knock on my door?”

“For the
same reason I never knocked on Abby or Sue’s door. I was the boss. It would
have been, um, unprofessional.”

“But you
did sleep with them.”

“Yes, but
I didn’t initiate it.”

She
chuckled. “So, you were weak?”

“Yeah, I
guess so.” Jeff thought for a moment. “What would you have done if I had
knocked on your door?”

She shook
her head. “Oh, probably acted bipolar. Screamed, slapped your face, and slammed
the door. And then cried myself to sleep because I did.”

“That’s kind of what I figured.”

She
nodded. “Would you sleep with Sue and Abby now?”

“No, of
course not.”

“Why?”

He
laughed and patted her belly. “Um, let me think.”

“But,
Jeff, we’re only engaged, not married. We’ve made no vows. You just knocked me
up on another planet.”

“No I
didn’t. I knocked you up on this planet.”

She
giggled. “Okay, good point. But, I wouldn’t mind.”

“Mind
what? Me sleeping with Abby or Sue?”

“Yes.
Jeff, we’re not like other people. Look at where we are and what we’ve done.
The four of us are a family. A family like no other. God, Jeff, I’m carrying a
Martian child in my belly.”

He rubbed
his cheek on her forehead and gently ran his fingers over her belly. “As Abby
said, that’s a sobering thought.”

“Yeah.”

“You’re
awfully cavalier about this.”

“Uh huh.
The rules are different for us. In fact, one could reasonably argue there are
no rules for us. Nobody has done what we’ve done. Nobody has gone where we’ve
gone. We’re so far outside the box, we can’t even see the box without a
telescope. When we get back to Earth, they can do as they please. But for now,
their options are pretty limited.” She looked over and caught his eyes. “And
Jeff, don’t tell them we’re engaged, it might put them off. If they need your
comfort, your touch, your intimacy, don’t reject them. They’re my friends, and
I wouldn’t like it. You’ll be all mine soon enough. In the meantime, I don’t
mind sharing you.”

Jeff
nodded. “Yeah, okay. If it should come up, I’ll uh… keep it in mind.”

Saturday, December
24, 2016

MSD 50827.802 (Sol
77)

Jeff yelled from the commons, “Come
on! It’s about to start.”

Gabe yelled back, “We’re coming.”

He mumbled to himself, “Yeah,
right. I’ll bet you’re not even breathing hard.”

A moment later Gabe, Susan, and
Abby came in from the kitchen carrying a pitcher, glasses, and a tray of
cookies. They set them all on an empty crate they were temporarily using as a
small coffee table.

Jeff frowned. “I recognize cookies,
I’ve been smelling them all afternoon. But…” pointing at the pitcher, “… what
is that?”

They all grinned. “What does it
look like?” said Susan.

“I dunno. Uh, eggnog?”

“Very good.”

“Eggnog?! Where did you get that?”

“We made it.”

“From what?”

“The usual: eggs, milk, sugar,
vanilla, nutmeg, and brandy.”

“Eggs? Milk? Is there a convenience
store around here that I don’t know about?”

“Powdered.”

“Ah.”

“There was some trial and error
involved, and we had to inject some CO
₂
while whipping the living
daylights out of it to make it a little frothy.” She poured a glass and handed
it to him. “Try it.”

Jeff looked at the glass with some
trepidation, then took a sip. “Huh. I’ll be damned, it’s not bad.”

“Not bad?”

“Okay, it’s pretty good. You guys
are amazing.” He patted the sofa. “Come sit. It’s gonna start any minute now.”

They all poured glasses and took
seats beside Jeff.

He grabbed the remote and turned up
the volume on their Ka-band receiver.

Gabe kissed his cheek. “Merry
Christmas.”

He kissed her back. “Same to you.”

“I can’t believe the DSN is going
to dedicate an antenna to us for an hour and a half.”

“First live television broadcast to
Mars.”

“I can’t think of a better one.”

“No.”

A moment later, from 148 million
miles away, they heard organ music; the introduction to the Nine Lessons and
Carols, broadcast live by NASA’s Deep Space Network from King’s College Chapel
in Cambridge, England – just for them.

Gabe rested her head on Jeff’s
shoulder, rubbed her belly, and whispered. “This is the best Christmas ever.”

He wrapped his arm around her
shoulders and kissed her forehead. “Yeah. And if tonight anyone on Earth is
looking out their window, that bright shining star in the east is us.”

“Um, actually, it’s not.”

“Huh?”

“At this time, we’re only visible
from Earth just after dusk, and we’re low in the western sky. And then we set.”

Jeff chuckled. “You know, as
incurable romantics go, you need some practice.”

Gabe giggled and motioned to the
tray. “I’ll work on it. In the meantime, have a cookie.”

Sunday, December 25,
2016

MSD 50828.335 (Sol
78)

“Jeff!”

He awoke at the sound of Gabe’s
voice from the hatch.

“Huh? What?”

“Get up!”

“What is it?”

She grinned. “Santa Claus came last
night!”

He chuckled as she turned around
and closed the hatch. He glanced at his watch, 0702. The ‘kids’ were up early.
He got out of bed, dressed, and headed into the commons. Gabe, Abby, and Susan
were seated on the sofa, smiling.

“It’s about time,” said Abby.
“We’ve been waiting for half an hour for you to get your ass out of bed. We
finally ran out of patience.”

 Jeff smiled. “Uh huh. Coffee?”

“In the kitchen.”

Jeff strolled toward the kitchen.

“Hurry up!” said Gabe.

“I’m hurrying. Be right back.” He
poured a cup and returned to the commons. In addition to all the presents
beneath the tree, now sporting nametags, four stockings, each bearing one of
their names, were hung above the crackling fireplace. Someone had already lit a
stick of incense and the room smelled of Christmas. He leaned against the
doorjamb, took a sip of coffee, and grinned. “Okay, go.”

The three leaped from the sofa and dashed
for the stockings. They each took theirs down, sat on the floor, dumped the
contents in front of them, and eagerly began unwrapping small packages.

Gabe glanced up at Jeff. “Aren’t
you going to see what you got?”

“In a minute.” He stepped over to
the computer, opened the audio files folder, and cued up a selection of
Christmas carols. Then he sat on the sofa, pulled a camera from his pocket, and
started snapping pictures.

Abby ripped the wrapping off a
present. Inside was a large Hershey’s Milk Chocolate bar with almonds. “Oh god!
Real chocolate. Yum.”

Susan opened a package and found an
Yves Saint Laurent Opium Gift Set, including three ounces of Opium perfume and
a jar of Opium Body Crème. She smiled at Jeff. “You remembered.”

He grinned. “You bet.”

Gabe picked a package, unwrapped
it, opened the box, gasped, and pulled out a solid gold cuff bracelet,
inscribed with:

Gabriel

Christmas, 2016

Margaritifer
Basin, Mars

And on the inside:

With love, Jeff

She slipped it on her wrist, held
it to her bosom, and started to cry.

Abby frowned at her. “Stop that.
Let me see.”

Gabe wiped her eyes and held out
her arm.

Abby grabbed her hand and she and
Susan carefully eyed the bracelet. “Nice.” She set down the package she had
been opening and picked up the chocolate bar. “Trade you.”

Gabe yanked her arm back. “No! It
has my name on it.”

“That can be fixed.”

Jeff shook his head. “Abby, keep
digging.”

Her eyes lit up, she dug through
the pile of presents until she found one that looked about right, and opened
it, finding a similar bracelet with her name on it. “Oh yeah!”

Susan did the same.

Eventually they found they all had
the same gifts: bracelets, gift packages of their favorite perfumes, chocolate
bars, roasted almonds, sock slippers, and an assortment of other goodies and
trinkets.

After thanking Jeff profusely, the
women turned to the stack of presents under the tree. “How about one at a
time?” he said.

Susan went first. From the box she
withdrew a blue and white porcelain cup, and then another, then two more, and
finally a teapot. All adorned with Chinese figures and characters. “Oh, they’re
beautiful. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

She looked closely at one of the
cups. “Uh, these are really Chinese.”

Jeff nodded. “Uh huh.”

 “And they’re old.”

“Uh huh.”

She gave him a curious smile.
“And…?”

He chuckled. “17
^th
century, early Qing Dynasty, Kangxi Emperor period.”

She gasped.

Jeff grinned. “Now, aren’t you glad
we brought plenty of tea?”

Gabe and Abby carefully picked up
two of the cups and looked them over. “These are over 300 years old?” said
Gabe.

“Uh huh.”

“Wow. Where did you find them?”

“An antique dealer in Paris.”

Abby set the cup down and unwrapped
her present. Inside was a small jewelry box labeled ‘Tiffany & Co.’. She
grinned, opened the box, and gasped. “Oh my god, they’re gorgeous.” She giggled
and showed it to Gabe and Susan – a pair of Elsa Peretti dangle earrings, each
consisting of a .25-carat diamond and an 11mm Tahitian pearl.

Gabe grabbed her chocolate bar and
held it up. “Trade you.”

Abby jerked her hand back. “Not a
chance!” She removed the small gold studs in her ears and donned the pearls.
Then looked around, grinning, and flicked the dangles.

Everyone nodded in approval.

“I need to find a mirror.” She
jumped up and ran into the utility room.

They heard her exclaim, “Oh my
god!” She returned and kissed Jeff on the cheek. “Thank you! They’re
beautiful.”

“You’re welcome. They look good on
you.”

She returned to the floor, reached
under the tree, and presented Gabe with a five-foot-long, eighteen-pound
gift-wrapped box.

Gabe stared at the package. “I’m
guessing this isn’t earrings.”

Jeff laughed. “Um, no, probably
not.”

She unwrapped the package and found
a box labeled ‘Yamaha Piaggero NP-V80’. “Oh my god! It’s an electric piano!”

Jeff grinned and nodded. “Uh huh.”

She set the box on the floor,
leaped up and dove onto the sofa, hugged and kissed him. “Thank you, thank you,
thank you!”

“You’re welcome.”

She kissed him again, said, “Thank
you,” again, then returned to the floor and her piano. She opened the box and
ran her fingers over the keys. “Oh my god, the touch is like a real piano, the
lower octaves are weighted. Wow.”

“That’s what I was told. You’ve
never played one?”

“No.”

“Well, we expect a recital a little
later.”

“Yes!” She opened the accessories
box, and frowned. Inside was another hand-sized gift-wrapped box. She picked it
up and gave Jeff a questioning glance.

He shrugged.

Gabe opened it and found another
box labeled ‘Tiffany & Co.’ “Oh gosh!” She stared at it nervously, then
gulped and opened it. “Oh god!” Inside was a 16” pearl necklace. Her eyes grew
wide and she grinned. “Ohhhh… it’s beautiful.” She rushed to Jeff again, kissed
him, handed him the pearls, turned around on the sofa, pulled her ponytail over
her shoulder, and said, “Would you?”

“Sure.” He unclasped the string,
placed the pearls around her neck, and fastened them. “There. Let’s see.”

She turned around and fingered the
pearls.

Jeff smiled. “Lovely. Just lovely.”

“I’ve never had pearls.”

“Why? It’s not like you’re poor.
Hell, Gabe, you’re a millionaire.”

She canted her head to the side and
smiled softly. “Um, I’ve been waiting for you to give me some.”

“Ah, okay. Well, I guess you can
cross that one off your bucket list.”

She kissed him on the cheek. “Thank
you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Gabe turned to Abby and held out
her hand. Abby handed her a small present and Gabe in turn handed it to Jeff.

“For me?”

“Uh huh.”

“Thank you.” He opened it and found
a box of 250 strike-anywhere wooden kitchen matches. He stared at the box,
puzzled. “Huh?”

Gabe grinned. “You’ll see.” Abby
handed Jeff another present, somewhat larger.

He opened it and found four boxes
of Cuban Montecristo No. 3 cigars. “Ah, now we’re getting somewhere. Thank
you.”

“You’re welcome,” said Gabe.

“Are you really going to let me
smoke these in here?”

“No.”

“Well, it’s gonna be a bit
difficult to smoke them outside.”

“You can smoke them in the
greenhouse, with the ventilation on high.”

“Gotcha.”

“Now there’s only a hundred of them
and we’ve got 432 sols to go so, go easy.”

He chuckled and kissed her on the
cheek. “Understood.”

Gabe took the boxes from him and
set them on the floor. “Sue?”

Susan reached deep beneath the
tree, produced the sole remaining present and handed it to Jeff.

“Thank you.” He unwrapped the
present, and his eyebrows went up when he saw the box labeled, ‘Rolex.’ “You’re
kidding?”

“No,” said Gabe. She gently elbowed
him in the ribs. “Open it.”

“Okay.” He opened the case. Inside
was a Rolex Oyster Perpetual Day-Date Pearlmaster Tridor with Meteorite dial and
diamond bezel. “Oh my god! It’s gorgeous. Thank you. But, um…” he held up his
left wrist, “I already have a watch, and this won’t keep proper time here.”

“Yes it will. We had Rolex
calibrate it for Mars time. We can have it recalibrated for Earth time when we
get home.”

He shook his head and smiled
softly. “I don’t know what to say.”

“For four years,” said Abby,
“you’ve been whining that you wanted one, but never bought one. We figured this
was the best way to shut you up.”

Jeff laughed and nodded. “Okay, I
guess that’s fair. Thank you all very much.” He removed the Rolex from the box
and slipped off his Speedmaster.

“There’s an inscription on the
back,” said Gabe.

He turned the Rolex over. On the
back was:

Mars

Christmas, 2016

Love, A, G & S

Jeff got choked up. “Oh god, thank
you all.” He slipped the Rolex on his wrist, snapped the clasp closed, and
admired his new timepiece. “It’s beautiful.”

“Glad you like it,” said Abby.
“Now, wear it in good health, and stop pining over the thing.”

He grinned. “Will do.”

#

After supper Gabe sat down to her
new electric piano in the commons while Jeff, Abby, and Susan took seats on the
sofa. She glanced at them. “Any requests?”

Jeff raised a finger. “I have one,
if you know it. The Wexford Carol.”

Gabe smiled softly and nodded. “I
know it.” She stared at the console for a few moments, then punched several
buttons, and began with a bagpipe drone in the upper register.

After a moment, Abby began singing.

Good people all, this Christmas time

Consider well and bear in mind

What our good God for us has done

In sending His beloved Son

Gabe divided the keyboard and followed
Abby’s lead with a soft string improvisation in the middle register and a
plucked cello and Irish drum in the bass.

With
Mary holy we should pray

To God with love this Christmas day

In Bethlehem upon that morn’

There was a blessed Messiah born

“You know this,” said Jeff.

Abby smiled. “Of course I do. It’s an Irish carol.”

Near Bethlehem did shepherds keep

Their flocks of lambs and feeding sheep

To whom God’s angels did appear

Which put the shepherds in great fear

“Prepare
and go,” the angels said

“To Bethlehem, be not afraid

For there you’ll find this happy morn

A princely Babe, sweet Jesus born”

Gabe added cymbals in the alto.
Jeff wrapped his arms around Susan and Abby, closed his eyes, thought of home,
148 million miles away, and prayed to God that this wouldn’t be their last
Christmas.

With thankful heart and joyful mind

The shepherds went this Babe to find

And as God’s angel had foretold

They did our Savior Christ behold

Within a
manger He was laid

And by his side the Virgin maid

Attending on the Lord of Light

Who came on Earth to end all
strife

Jeff glanced at Gabe, there were
tears running down her cheeks.

Good people all, this Christmas time

Consider well and bear in mind

What our good God for us has done

In sending His beloved Son

With
Mary holy we should pray

To God with love this Christmas day

In Bethlehem upon that morn’

There was a blessed Messiah born

Jeff, choked up, said, “Thank you
both. That was beautiful beyond compare. Merry Christmas to us all.”

Tuesday, January 10,
2017

MSD 50844.691 (Sol
94)

“Hey,” came Abby’s voice from
behind him.

Jeff glanced around from the
computer. “What?”

“It’s ready. Come on.”

“What’s ready?”

“The hot tub.”

“It’s all done?”

“Yeah. Come on.”

“Cool. On my way.”

He followed her into the
greenhouse, and stood staring at the medical transport case now full of
bubbling, churning water. “I’ll be damned, it works.”