Chapter 4

 

            James and Genesis returned from the distant past to a barren, forsaken earth – devoid of all human life. Above them in the night sky, the Apocalypse loomed overhead. The night air was calm and animal life roamed about the city with reckless abandon in man's absence. The young human pair who suddenly appeared did nothing to displace the small creatures that now treated the streets as their own.

            “I have nothing to be afraid of, do I?” James said as a pack of wolves spotted them from down the street.

            Genesis shook her head. “Of course not. We need to get aboard that ship.”

            “You can do that, can't you?”

            “Are you coming with me?” she asked.

            “Sure, give me a second; I think I may be able to fend for myself for once.” He ran across the street and down an alleyway to the other side of the city block. The hospital they left earlier was across the street. Right where he left it, the wrist device lied on the ground, underneath the scattered and torn rags of former clothing left behind by the human race. He picked up the device and fastened it to his wrist. Suddenly, and despite his expectations, the device activated.

            Genesis approached from the across the street. “What did you find?”

            “The wrist device I had before. It works now for some reason.”

            “That's good, isn't it?”

            “Let's hope so. When I teleport, do you think you'll be able to follow me in the stream?”

            “I should be,” she said.

            “Good, because the first thing we need to do when we get aboard is get some clothing – at least for me.”

            She giggled. “Lead the way.”

            He input the coordinates of the vessel that were programmed in the device and disappeared. A moment later, he was in his old quarters aboard the ship. The last time he was there, he knocked Val unconscious to get away from her; a small spot of her blood still lingered on the carpet.

            A split-second after he arrived, Genesis appeared. “So, this is where you lived with that girl?” she asked, but not jealously.

            “No, this was my room. But she left her clothes from the mission here. She's the same height as you, I think, so feel free to take what you like.”

            Genesis began sorting through the bag of clothing near the dresser when she noticed the blood on the carpet. “Is that blood?”

            “Hers,” James answered as he sifted through his closet. “Once I discovered what they were up to, she tried to kill me. I hit her with that lamp to get away.”

            “So she went from trying to seduce a man to killing him, huh? I didn't think black widows grew to her size.”

            “You know the funny thing about the whole trip?” he asked non-rhetorically as he began to dress. “Even though you were gone, the idea of cheating never entered my mind – at least in the beginning. What I mean is, the thought of betraying you was so far removed from my mind that I never realized she was coming onto me.”

            “Really?” she asked. She finally found some of Val's clothing that seemed to match and started dressing.

            “Well, at least in the beginning. Eventually, she made her intentions painfully obvious. Even then, I never gave in. You believe me, right?”

            She laughed as she tried to fasten one of Val's bras and realized it didn't fit - too small. “I see now why you didn't.”

            “If you're referring to the fact that you're way prettier than her, you're only half right. But I knew I was going to see you again, and so to me, you were never gone from my life.”

            She finished dressing and approached James. “I love you, James,” she said. “And believe me: when we make it out of this, I'm going to make everything up to you.”

            “Gen,” he said, “you owe me nothing.” He kissed her.

            A moment later, he was finished getting dressed and ready to explore the ship. He looked at the clock and noticed it was still early in the morning, just before dawn. “Everyone on board is probably still sleeping. The first person we need to find is Roger; he's the guy in charge.”

            The pair ran down the corridors as softly as they could. Just as expected, the ship was silent except for the ever-present sound of its engines humming. Not far from James's quarters was Archer's office. The light was off and most of the pages on his desk were disheveled as though someone had recently rummaged through his work. Along the corridor was the large storage compartment that served as civilians’ communal bedroom.

            Further up the hall was the bridge and control room, which James decided they should avoid because of the guards undoubtedly roaming about. Oddly enough, in all their time snooping, James and Genesis never saw a guard. Then he realized they might already have been sent to earth for destruction with the rest of the crew.

            “Keep an eye out for Val. She's probably not far,” James warned. 

            They finally reached the office of the late Roger Cooke. Before they could open the door, they felt the subtle shift in weight from footsteps behind them. Just as they were about to turn, they heard:

            “Stop!”

            The voice was Val's.

            “Surprised to see us?” James said.

            “Not really,” Val answered. “Once I realized your little woman could travel through time, I knew you'd show up eventually.”

            They turned around to face Val, who stood weaponless and naked.

            “And what's to stop us now?” James said. “You?”

            “Wait a second,” Genesis said. “Something's not right here, James.”

            Val grinned.

            “What is it?” James asked.

            “I felt something in the stream when we came back. I should have known.”

            “Are you starting to figure it out yet, sweetie?” Val said.

            “She's like me, James. Look at her: she's not wearing the device on her arm.”

            James suddenly noticed the missing device that all crew were required to wear at all times. “How is that possible?”

            “That’s not important,” Val said. “What’s important is that Genesis come with me.”

            “Not a chance,” Genesis answered.

            “Why, Val?” James asked. “Why are you doing all this?”

            “You have no idea the sorts of betrayal I've had to face.”

            “You did this because I rejected you?” James said.

            “James, don’t be so vain. Roger was right: the world needed to be rebuilt, and I'm going to make sure that history doesn't repeat itself. No more deceptions, no more lies. Everything's an open book.”

            “Does that mean telling the rest of the civilians about your new power?” Genesis asked.

            “The pro-creators will fall in line because I'm the one who will protect them.”

            “Val, this is insane,” James said. “All of us have been betrayed by someone we love. You can't really mean to make yourself ruler over these people!”

            “Is that why you came back?” Val asked. “So the two of you could rule?”

            “No,” Genesis said. “We returned for one purpose: justice.”

            “Don't push me, girl,” Val said. “I know what else you can do.”

            Genesis made no expression but laughed on the inside. She spent the majority of her life perfecting all of the powers she was given; there was no way Val could match her strength. “Then leave James out of this!”

            “Not a chance. He betrayed me, so he has to die!”

            Genesis finally laughed aloud. “You have nothing to fear,” she said to James.

            “I never do.”

            Just then, Val tried to attack but Genesis merely chuckled, shielded James, and tossed Val against the wall with her mind. “James, go!” she said. He touched his wrist and disappeared.

            Val came to and got to her feet. “I'll find him,” she said.

            “You are free to try,” Genesis responded.

            Val grinned, then disappeared, but only slightly before Genesis followed.

 

            On the surface of the earth, James stood waiting for Genesis to return. Not a second after arriving, Val appeared – more furious than ever. If fear was ever to grip James in the face of a girl he once rejected, it abated instantly when Genesis arrived. Val turned away from James and tried to lash out at Genesis. Fire erupted from Val’s hands, but a shield formed around her and absorbed the fire. Val prepared another attack when, above them, the Apocalypse listed to one side and began to descend. As it fell closer to the surface, James saw the faces of the other civilians on the bridge. The engines revved and the doomsday weapon charged for another discharge.

            “Genesis!” he shouted.

            Val smirked and disappeared into the stream.

            Genesis grabbed hold of James and formed a shield around them as the weapon fired. She stood on the edge of the shield and focused all of her power into it. James huddled behind her. The weapon’s burst dissipated but the shield was holding all of its fury. She gathered all of her strength to keep it from penetrating the force-field.

            “I can’t hold it forever!” she said.

            James held onto her and realized the only option left would violate her most cardinal axiom: to never kill a human again. “We have no choice,” he said. “I forgive you.”

            She knew what had to be done, and not only to save herself. She was always prepared to die instead of harming another soul. But she couldn’t let harm come to the man she loved. With every ounce of her remaining stamina, she pushed back against the surge of energy trapped within the shield. The energy finally reached the edge of the field where she channeled all of its strength into a narrow beam and fired it skyward, striking the Apocalypse. The shield collapsed and Genesis fell to the ground. They knew they were successful when the ship, now empty of all life (as well as a pilot), veered off course and fell to the ground miles away in a magnificent conflagration.

            “Are you okay?” she said.

            “I’m fine. You?”

            “I’m a little winded. I need to get Val. But I’ll be keeping an eye on you. No harm will come.”

            “I know. I’ll be here waiting.”

           

            Genesis slipped into the stream of time to track Val, who was easily traceable. What Val apparently never learned was that jumping through space and time always left a mark, so her attempts to leap in and out of time to throw Genesis off her trail only made it easier for Genesis to find her. Amateur! Genesis thought.

            Finally, Genesis exited the stream and saw Val standing in front of a massive tree about a hundred feet away.

            “Not so fast,” Val said.

            Genesis stopped and prepared to defend herself against the only woman who could claim to be her equal. “Well, well, Val,” she said. “Looks like your little ruse has failed.”

            Val smiled broadly. “You can't kill me, Genesis.”

            “I'm quite sure I can.”

            “Even while I carry his child?”

            Genesis did not react the way Val anticipated. Instead of lashing out with anger, Genesis merely tried to perceive James's presence, which his child would undoubtedly possess. To her chagrin, Val was blocking her ability.

            “What, you don't believe me?” Val said. “It’s not your fault he needed companionship.”

            “I’ll never believe you,” she answered.

            “Oh, come on! We lived as husband and wife for two months. We both had needs.”

            Genesis took a step toward Val, almost falling for her ruse. “There’s more to knowing a man than trying to seduce him.”

            Val rolled her eyes. “That may be true, but I must admit, James was a lot easier than most.”

            Genesis lashed out finally, forced a ball of energy to her hands, and hurled it at Val, who ducked as it sailed passed and struck the tree behind her. The tree, having been hit by a mass of energy constructed of compressed space/time, curled in on itself, and reappeared as a tiny sapling as though it had just grown younger.

            Val was prepared for an attack, but she was unaware of what exactly Genesis just threw at her. When she realized that being hit by it would have reverted her into an infant, she looked up at Genesis and scowled. “You’re going to regret that!” she shouted. “But not yet.”

            Val turned from her and immediately disappeared.

            “Great!” Genesis muttered. She jumped into the time stream where she could sense Val looking for somewhere to exit. While never doubting her husband for an instant, once inside the stream, Genesis confirmed that Val lied about carrying a child.

            Val sensed Genesis gathering speed behind her with tremendous velocity. Val slipped out of time and appeared in a new time period. She looked out from her new vantage point upon a battlefield of ancient Mongolian warriors. At seeing her standing among them stark naked, they dropped their weapons in shock as some of them ran towards her.

            Genesis appeared a moment later and watched as Val stand paralyzed in fright.

            “Oh, I forgot you’re not used to this yet!” she shouted. Genesis too stood naked on the hilltop looking down on Val as she began to run. Unlike her nemesis, Genesis didn’t have a care in the world. “You must be cold!” she scoffed.

            Val looked up at Genesis as she ran when it dawned on her that she need not suffer the abuse. She spun around, faced the soldiers charging her, and lifted the boulders nearby with her mind and hurled them at the attackers. The boulders shattered long before they reached the soldiers, but their disappearance into powder forced the soldiers back. Val knew that the rocks were pulverized by her enemy, and with the warriors distracted, she turned to attack Genesis instead.

            Genesis sensed the attack coming and slipped into the time stream with Val not far behind.

            Val exited at the same point in the stream as Genesis, and the initial disorientation of time-traveling set in as her stomach churned. She was still recovering when she heard the roar of the massive Tyrannosaurus bearing down on her.

            “Oh my God!” she screamed as she took off running as fast as she could. Genesis relished the fact that Val was still relying on her normal abilities as she safely watched the pursuit from the comfort of a tree limb. The lizard closed in on Val when she suddenly disappeared again.

            “I really don’t like this woman,” Genesis mumbled. She jumped into the stream to follow Val again. Once in the stream, she tracked the point where Val tried to escape; she clearly had no direction. She wanted to lead Val to points in time she knew would prove dangerous for someone with her limited knowledge of their shared skills, but she couldn’t catch up to Val.

            Val left the stream, spun around, and charged an attack in preparation for Genesis’s arrival. But her adversary appeared high above her and fired ice from her hands down at Val. She stretched her hands toward the falling ice and melted it just as she felt Genesis’s presence behind her. Another wave of ice rushed toward her. She pushed against the blast and melted it too but not before another wall of ice ascended from beneath her. Soon, she was overwhelmed by the barrage of attacks Genesis forged against her. She was buried against the ice, now falling from every direction. Encased in a foot of ice all around, she gathered her energy and tried to warm her entire body to melt the ice. But as each inch of ice melted, another inch was added on the outside. Soon, the melted ice collected and began to rise all around her. The hotter her skin got, the warmer the temperature of the water. Before long, she couldn’t decide if the cold ice or the near boiling water was going to be the end of her.

            Outside the igloo surrounding Val, Genesis floated high in the sky and absorbed all the energy from the sun she could and channeled it through her body into a never-ending stream of ice, it descending upon the girl trapped inside. Then, the inevitable happened: Val realized the futility of fighting and simply jumped back into the stream.

            “That was bound to happen,” Genesis said as she followed.

            When she emerged again, Genesis was prepared for whatever Val threw at her. But then she recognized the point in the stream and realized she would need to defend herself - and James.

            The room was dark when Genesis appeared. “Don’t move an inch,” Val whispered.

            Genesis’s eyes adjusted to the low-light and knew instantly where she stood: James’s baby crib was just a few feet behind her. “Please, Val,” she said. The baby’s soft cry grew louder. “I beg you. Please leave him out of this.” She closed her eyes and tried to block from her mind what Val might be doing to harm her future husband as the cries of the baby grew ever louder. Then the room was aglow with azure light, and the baby cried no more.

            She rushed to the side of his crib, but he was gone. Furious, Genesis dove into the stream and stormed after Val. She followed Val’s exit and gathered all her strength, but Val was too quick. Genesis fell to the ground as Val struck her on the head with a log. She tumbled down the slope and tried to regain her bearings but she slammed into the trunks of several trees before she finally righted herself and prepared a counterattack. She shook off the slight pain of the attack and, as usual, there was no blood.

            She frantically looked around and finally saw her mark. Val descended from the top of the slope and hit Genesis in the abdomen before she could gather enough strength to defend. Then, she heard the cry of the baby. She tried to locate its source, but the distraction was enough for Val to attack again, this time grabbing Genesis by the hair and dragging her to the nearest tree. The baby’s cries echoed throughout the forest and Genesis struggled to fight off Val but couldn’t. This isn’t possible, she thought. How can she be stronger than me?

            Val lifted Genesis by the hair with one hand and reached around her throat with the other. Genesis kicked away from the tree, crushing the tree behind her while also forcing her knees into Val’s stomach. Val dropped Genesis and fell to the ground, reeling in agony. With the upper hand, Genesis lifted Val and tossed her like a doll a thousand meters away, where she landed against a tree and toppled to the ground in a heap.

            Genesis spun around and tried to find the source of the baby’s cries. High on the hill and in the boughs of a tree, baby James screamed for help. She rushed to his side and cradled him in her arms. Immediately, she disappeared into the stream and emerged in James’s room where she set her infant husband back in his crib. Val emerged a second later, but Genesis was prepared.

            “Not this time,” she said as she took Val by the hand and dragged her back into the stream.

            Genesis kept Val in the stream as long as she could but Val struggled to break free from her grasp. Genesis knew that if this battle were ever to end, she could not be the cause of her death. She only had one other option: lead Val into times or places where the odds were against her survival or fight Val emotionally, as Val had just done to her. Why not both? she thought.

            Genesis finally let go of Val and exited the stream a few meters above the Pacific Ocean. Val appeared a short distance away and smiled as she realized that she hadn’t had a chance to combine her new abilities with water.

            Val held up her hands and gathered energy from the sweltering sun and channeled it into an incredible ball of green, pulsing light. When the orb reached its limits, she pushed it deep underwater. At the bottom of the sea, the ball exploded and created a massive wave of water and energy that Val pushed toward Genesis, who simply stood on the water and took a deep breath. The wave approached with terrible momentum. To protect herself, Genesis lifted water from the ocean and formed a wall to block the wave. The two columns of water collided with a tremendous force that Genesis confidently ignored. But the energy Val created was too great to control. The force of the collision receded – back to Val who was forced to watch the shock wave hit her, casting her high into the sky. She blacked out and landed in the ocean several miles away. Genesis flew to where she landed and from high above, looked down to see if Val would surface.

            Is she dead? she thought. As minutes passed and the chances of Val’s survival lessened, Genesis turned to leave. Then Val rocketed as fast as she could at Genesis, who watched with delight as Val grew a deeper and deeper red as she approached. Although Genesis had never used this ability before to its full extent, she knew what Val was doing. Val had gathered energy from every source around her – the sun, water, and wind – and tried to reach a critical mass she hoped would overwhelm Genesis.

            Genesis always assumed that her body, although strong, was not completely impervious. The forms of energy Val was accumulating all at once would overload her eventually. Finally! She's done it! Genesis thought. Right before the two women collided, Genesis held her breath, gathered what power she could, and disappeared into the stream.

            Val followed and exited the stream an instant later and continued her flight toward Genesis. She saw Genesis hovering a great distance away and then noticed the great void around them. The brilliance of her own skin blocked her vision but behind Genesis she saw the faint glimmer of stars against a vast darkness. She gasped for air as she realized they were in deep space; she couldn’t control her trajectory anymore. Val hurtled through space and felt excruciating pain as though she was being burned alive. The energy within her could no longer be contained; her body collapsed long before she came close to harming Genesis. No longer could she suppress the terrible and violent rage that flowed in tandem with the energy in her veins. The energy pushed its way through the pores of her skin, but it could not be released fast enough. It finally discharged into the vacuum of space and vaporized the young girl amidst a brief, but terrible, explosion.

            Genesis hovered over the area of Val’s destruction. She still held her breath and felt the surge of radiation from the explosion coursing through her body. Just as quickly as Val’s explosion dissipated, Genesis confirmed her enemy’s demise. Her conscience clean, she entered into the stream and looked forward to seeing her husband.

 

            Genesis returned to the surface of the earth and fell to the ground to catch her breath. James was right where she left him, safe and secure.

            “Are you all right?” he said as he rushed to her side.

            She took several deep breaths and regained her balance. “I’m fine,” she answered. “She took a lot out of me.”

            “Is she…dead?”

            She nodded as she bent over with her hands on her knees, still recovering her energy. “It was all her doing.”

            “I’m just glad you’re okay,” he said. He took her in his arms and embraced her tight.

            She looked over his shoulder and noticed the total silence that surrounded them. Animals off in the distance frolicked and ran free across the city streets. Miles away, the remains of Apocalypse burned as smoke drifted into the sky; the last vestiges of Roger’s organization were gone forever. But so were all the people. “So, it's just us then,” she said.

            He followed her gaze and watched the wreckage burn. “It looks that way.” The chill in the night air enveloped them as the loneliness set in – the awareness that no other human being lived in all the earth.

            “Fortunately, it won’t be like this forever,” she said. “Val tried to convince me that she was pregnant with your child. When I was in the stream, I sensed your presence, but not from her. From me. I felt your son’s heartbeat.”

            He pulled her as close to his chest as he could and kissed her deep. “You never actually believed her, right?” he said.

            “No. I know who has your heart.”

            They held each other tight and enjoyed the total silence surrounding them. All they heard was the soft wind blowing alongside each other's heartbeat.

            “I can get used to this,” she said.

            “There's only one problem. After the baby comes, it's still only us. Where will we find a wife for him?”

            “I think I know just the girl for him,” she said.

            “I just realized something else.”

            “What?” she asked suddenly concerned.

            “We don’t have to wear clothes ever again.” He smiled.

            She laughed aloud and kissed her husband. “Face it, honey. We’re the new Adam and Eve.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Epilogue

            Jadzia was dragged from her bunk and thrown to the floor. The other women were forced to strip off their clothes and then gathered together by the door of the barracks. Jadzia followed the others, all of them on their knees and trying to cover their naked bodies. A guard forced a girl to put her hands behind her head but she resisted and cried out as she tried to cover her breasts. Another guard pushed the other aside and shot the girl in the head. None of the other women resisted; they all followed the guard’s orders.

            Outside the barracks, gunfire echoed throughout the camp. Bombs fell all over the grounds of Ravensbrück.  Jadzia heard the cries of prisoners in the adjacent barracks and wondered if there was a riot – or if the war was finally over and she would get to see her parents again and hopefully, receive their forgiveness.

            The guards argued between themselves for several minutes. Finally, one of the guards lost the argument and his companion withdrew his sidearm and raised it to the head of the first girl in line. A single shot was fired and the girl slumped over dead. He stepped in front of the next girl and killed her as well. With each shot of his gun, Jadzia’s heart grew closer to leaping from her chest. Tears streamed down her face as she looked to the women at her left and right and felt tremendous guilt that she never knew any of their names.

            As the guard approached Jadzia, the girl to her right prayed for peace. The woman at Jadzia’s left reached over and took Jadzia’s hand from behind her head. Jadzia looked at the strange woman with red hair kneeling beside her and saw that there was no fear in her eyes.

            “My name is Genesis,” the woman said, “and you’re going to be all right.”

            The guards never made it to Jadzia. The girl who prayed was spared a tragic end when the barracks were filled with a brilliant, blue light that blinded the guards. As they stumbled to recover sight, in a panic they both pulled their triggers, killing each other. The girl to Jadzia’s right remained on humble knees and prayed.

            Jadzia was scared to open her eyes when she regained consciousness. Instead of gunfire or bombs falling, she only heard the tranquil sounds of ocean waves. Slowly at first, she reached around and felt nothing but sand. She felt the warm sun on her bare back as the cool seawater climbed the beach and touched her toes. Finally, she opened her eyes, assured that there was nothing she needed to fear any longer. She climbed to her feet and saw she was still naked. She quickly ducked back down to the sand and looked around – no one was there. Cautiously, she climbed the beach to the high dunes a few meters away.

            On the other side of the sandy hill, she saw palm trees, a forest reaching toward the horizon as far as her eyes could see, the trees climbing the side of a mountain that reached high beyond the clouds. In front of the forest on the beach, she saw a humble tent, and outside the tent, gathered around a small campfire, were three people, laughing and smiling – and just as naked as she was.

            The oldest of the three, a man in his fifties, looked in Jadzia’s direction and saw the top of her head escape the shoreline. The woman, who looked no older than thirty years-old, and the young man saw her too, and after conferring with each other momentarily, the woman approached. Jadzia slid down her side of the dune as her heart raced. She looked down the beach and thought about running, but she was too late. A shadow overwhelmed her and when she looked up, she saw a beautiful redheaded woman standing above her, looking down with a radiant smile.

            “Good morning,” the woman said in perfect Polish.

            Jadzia recognized her voice and then remembered the last thing she saw before she opened her eyes on the beach. “Are you Genesis?” she asked.

            Genesis nodded. “How do you feel?” she asked as she sat beside her.

            Jadzia looked around and took in a deep breath of the salt-rich air. “I’ve never felt better.”

            “Good,” Genesis said. “I’m sure you have a lot of questions about where you are and who I am.”

            She nodded.

            “And I have all the answers. The war ended over one hundred years ago. And I can assure you, you will never see another war in your lifetime.”

            “How did I get here?”

            “You won’t understand this easily, but I have the ability to travel through time. I haven’t used that ability in almost thirty years; the last time was when I rescued you from death and placed you on this beach. We’ve been waiting all these years to meet you.”

            “I feel different,” she said as she noticed how much her figure had changed since her last night in the camp.

            “You were very weak when we left. After I brought you here, I stopped by from time to time to nurse you back to health.”

            “You mean I’ve been on this beach for thirty years?”

            “Not at all. You’ve been quietly resting here for the last few weeks. But every day, I came here to make sure you had something to eat.”

            Content with her answer, Jadzia’s mind raced back to the night she was about to die, and she thought of the other women, killed for no apparent reason. Only one question mattered to her. “Why me?”

            Genesis sighed. “Perhaps even harder for you to believe is that you and I were once as close as sisters – in another life. You were my dearest friend, and I couldn’t wait to see you again.”

            Jadzia was confused by her answers and then the disorientation of her surroundings set in. “Where am I?”

            “You’re on a remote island in the South Pacific.” Genesis looked up and down the beach and breathed a sigh of deep contentment. “We come here every year.”

            “Who were those men with you?”

            “Would you like to meet them?” she asked.

            Jadzia folded her arms to cover her breasts and drew her knees together. “Is there anything I can wear?”

            Genesis smiled. “No, my dear, I’m afraid there isn’t. But don’t worry: my husband and son will think nothing of it.” She extended a hand which Jadzia promptly took.

            She helped her to her feet and walked hand-in-hand with her friend back to the campsite to introduce her family. James and their son stood and smiled as Jadzia and Genesis approached.

            The older man, James, reached out and shook Jadzia’s hand. She was still embarrassed by her nakedness and smiled sheepishly. “I’m so happy to finally meet you,” he said in Polish.

            Jadzia nodded and said: “Thank you.”

            “Jadzia?” Genesis said. “This is our son, Jacob.”

            The young man inched closer and extended his hand, which was shaking ever so slightly. “It’s nice to meet you,” he said in very sloppy and broken Polish.

            Genesis frowned. “I taught you better than that.”

            “You didn’t tell me she was so beautiful, Mom!” he answered in English.

            “That shouldn’t matter,” she said.

            James and Jacob sat around the fire and warmed themselves by the flames as the sun started to set over the ocean. Genesis offered a place for Jadzia to sit before she cuddled next to James. Jadzia sat along the sand and said nothing, her thoughts racing.

            “What is she thinking?” James whispered to his wife.

            “I’m not going to tell you that!” she said. Then in French, a language their son did not know, she said: “But she did notice him.” James smiled.

            “Would you like something to eat?” she said to Jadzia.

            Jadzia took a piece of passion fruit and ate. Jacob sat across the fire from her and took a piece of passion fruit as well. Nervous and still self-conscious, Jadzia struggled with something to say. “So,” she began, “are there other people on the beach?”

            Genesis and James exchanged a worried look and talked privately how best to answer. Jacob sat by and said nothing. Genesis inched closer to Jadzia and smiled. “A long time ago, there was a disaster that affected everyone in the world. My husband and I were the only ones who survived – and now our son with us.” She paused to gauge Jadzia’s reaction. Although her face was expressionless, Genesis waited a moment for the shock to set in.

            Jadzia no longer needed to ask any questions; she now knew why Genesis rescued her from certain death. She looked up at Jacob, who sat quietly across the fire and smiled.       She smiled back and ate the rest of her fruit.

            “Would you like to walk along the beach?” Genesis asked. “We still have lots to talk about. And there are two more people I want you to meet.””

            “Sure,” she said.

            Genesis stood and took Jadzia by the hand. Over the dunes, beyond the jetty, Jadzia saw a man and woman walking hand-in-hand. As they approached and the sun’s rays reached across the ocean and touched their skin, Jadzia knew right away who they were: her parents – as naked as everyone else –walked towards her. She let go of Genesis’s hand and raced down the beach and into the arms of her waiting mother. Her father threw his arms around his wife and daughter as the family wept with joy.

            “How did you survive?” Jadzia finally asked.

            Her mother caught a glance from Genesis and answered: “We were rescued a few months ago. Genesis told us everything – and that we could see you today. We couldn’t wait another minute.”

            Genesis approached and shook hands with Jadzia’s parents. “You’re timing is perfect. I’m sorry you had to wait so long to see her; I wanted to make sure she was healthy again.”

            “I made the most of the time,” Jadzia’s father said as he patted his fattened stomach.

            His wife laughed. “We both did.” She patted her slightly pregnant belly.

            James and Jacob raced down the beach and greeted Jadzia’s parents. “It’s good to see you again,” James said. “Can you stay for dinner?”

            “Of course,” Jadzia’s mother said, she still not letting go of her daughter.

            The reunited family returned to the campfire and enjoyed their first family meal together in almost a century. Genesis and James regaled them with tales of their adventures and answered the myriad of questions Jadzia had.

            Jacob, meanwhile, sat by quietly, still shy and intimidated by Jadzia’s beauty to speak up. Even her parents wondered to themselves what was wrong.

            “Excuse us,” Genesis said to Jadzia and her parents. Then, in English, she said to Jacob: “What’s wrong?”

            “I don’t know what to say,” he said.

            James cleared his throat. “I think I can help with this.” He took Genesis by the hand and deftly picked her up, throwing her over his shoulder as he raced off for the water; Genesis giggled the whole way.

            Jacob laughed at the sight of his parents playing and set his food aside. He wiped the sand from his legs and extended a hand and friendly smile to Jadzia. She took it, smiled back, and headed off down the distant shore with her future husband.

            Genesis and James returned from their swim and embraced as they and Jadzia’s parents watched their children walk along the water, the first stirrings of love in their hearts.

            “Didn’t I tell you?” Genesis asked. “I knew just the girl for him.” She reached up and tenderly kissed her husband.

            “But what about their child?” he wondered.

            Genesis leaned into his chest and whispered: “Jadzia had a friend in another life called Kamila. She’s already waiting to meet her future husband – twenty years from now.” She laughed.

            As the            sun’s final rays cast their light across the beach, the moon steadily rose over the top of the mountain, illuminating the beach below, where the Grant and Konik families rejoiced and embraced the peace and unity around them. After the fear that remained in Jadzia’s heart faded from memory, no one on earth had reason to be afraid ever again.