Oops. ABE, help!

BACK ON OCEANUS … YOU SEEMED LIKE YOU WERE JEALOUS OF LARA AND DHARMA.

“Back on Oceanus … you seemed like you were jealous of Lara and Dharma.”

“Maybe I was.” Her expression softened. “Forget the baby for now. Come to bed and snuggle with me.” Sliding beneath the fur quilt, she beckoned me with tantalizing bait.

Who was I to argue with God?

*   *   *

A full bladder forced me awake. ABE’s chronometer greeted me with the time—11:07 A.M. Andria was gone, but she had left my clothes, dry and ironed with a hot stone—her most domestic act in the entire span of our relationship. I dressed quickly, wondering where the Omega women relieved themselves.

Lara was cooking eggs on a flat stone. “Good morning, sleepyhead. Hungry?”

“Yes, but I need to use the bathroom. Is there a bathroom?”

“Exit the front door and turn left, you’ll see the outhouse. Don’t worry, it’s safe. Monique spotted the three octopeds last night nesting in a tree close by. Andria and Bella are setting a trap.”

“A trap … uh, that’s great.”

Unbolting the door, I hustled outside and located the outhouse—essentially a closet-size wooden frame over a hole in the ground, walled in by animal skins. I relieved myself, then realized I was being watched.

Lara backed away from the gap between two leather hides as I pushed my way out of the privacy enclosure. “Sorry, Ike. I just wanted to let you know we have a shower if you need to use it.” She pointed to a rain barrel situated atop a wooden platform, a hose taken from one of the mini-subs serving as the showerhead. “It rained last night, so there should be plenty of water.”

“Thanks. Think I’ll just take a quick look around, if that’s okay.”

“Not too long, I don’t want your eggs to get cold. Come on, I’ll show you what we’ve accomplished in the last four years.”

She led me around the back of the stone building, my eyes widening. Spread out before me were acres of crops, sandwiching a garden that rivaled the arboretum on Oceanus. Lara punched me playfully on the shoulder. “Not bad for a bunch of women, huh?”

They had selected their location well, situating the farm in the middle of a valley of grassland, surrounded by a dark outline of forests. The valley’s slight decline in elevation helped channel rainwater to the crops. The farmhouse foundation was raised several feet to protect against flooding.

We headed for the gated entrance of the garden, which was surrounded by a seven-foot hedge composed of the same needle-sharp thickets that were posted around the cattle pasture.

“Thank God for Bella. She must have discovered a new vegetable or herb every day during the first three months when we arrived here. Then the octopeds found us, and it became too dangerous to explore the forests.”