Zhao-Yi was soon 3 and Pei visited Kallos and I while the Grand Traveler was docked at Ganymede Station. Enya showed us around and we settled in a famous restaurant while Kallos spent time with his daughter. She was the epitome of a sister marine and wore her ocean blue uniform proudly. Everything was neatly pressed and perfectly aligned. Mine was a bit loose and she quickly tightened my belt and several suit buckles to bring me into regulation.
We marveled at how we were spending more time together as real sisters than we had in our younger days. Our gap in age prevented us from being in the same primary schools or group of friends and he was always tagging along with her male friend Mira. Mira was now married with a child and still living on Io Station. They write to each other on occasion, but have lost touch somehow after he became a family man.
As there were an abundance of daughters of Olivia there was no pressure on us to marry or have offspring. Sophia joked that we would be spared that responsibility, although the significance of Ninya's bloodline was not be dismissed and eventually one of us would be sanctioned. In her strict obedience and skill they were more obliged for Enya to have a child.
It was something she dreaded as she had no interest in men. And while she tried her best to find something, anything, she preferred the solitude of her books and training. It gave her great pleasure and peace when she lost herself in her studies. All the while knowing this made her even more desirable. She envied me and also when it seemed all but certain it would be and Kallos sharing a child, I was spared yet again.
He is miserable, she observed. The moment she was born, Pei showed her true intentions and she only spends time and visits for their daughter's sake. But it serves him right for being fooled and he has no one else to blame.
I disagreed with her assessment and felt while it was not the kind of life Kallos would have wanted, Pei has never deceived him. He accepted this would be the result of sharing a life with a sister marine and while he may have underestimated what he is experiencing now, he does not regret his decision and loves Zhao-Yi.
Enya smiled and in hushed whispers said it was rumored that Anna Three, before she died had confirmed with Sophia that she had adopted Pei and by tradition the bloodline of Anna continues with Pei and now Zhao-Yi. If they so choose Zhao-Yi could have a child and if it was a girl she could take the name of Anna Four. That would be to the delight of madam Naoka to realize her dreams of a dynasty would merge the strongest of bonds between the Knut and the founder of the sisters.
Surprising how things come to turn and yet many wonder if this is only a false rise and elevation before her downfall. The sisters are known for such cruel mischief and it would be Naoka found wanting if Zhao-Yi proved to carry no great bloodlines.
But they tested and confirmed both Kallos, his father and little Zhao-Yi were in fact of the blood of Karl Knutmudsen by his sister Greta and the Siph Gleiss clan. Naoka would not make such a simple mistake, nor Pei. They were all but certain of this.
We both laughed as she was peddling in the false rumor again of the unknown teacher and by our lineage the true creator of the Artesians. If it were so, then Ninya's daughter Maria was already the child that the sisters had yearned for and she died an ignominious death on Alpha Centauri three centuries ago by her own grandmother. But if it were true, then madam Naoka would have the pair of us on the top of her list.
I felt the soft touch of a small hand on my leg and peered down to see the little freckled girl Zhao-Yi. She was dressed in a simple red dress and had taken liberty to sit on the bench next to me. She was not afraid and would often do this with strangers. Pei and Kallos joined us for the remainder of our meal and we had barely touched our food. They had great news and Pei decided to return to the Grand Traveler with Zhao-Yi as she found she was doing well with his constant presence.
Enya and I passed glances as we knew it was more Kallos complaining of her long absences and Pei acquiesced as soon she would have to leave their daughter in charge of other teachers. Her mother had no pressing agendas and she was free to take any assignment and post as all focus was on Alpha Centauri and the impending firing up of the Pacific Ocean foundries. Initial tests of some small material have proven successful and the mysterious robots beneath the waves were yearning for more, much more raw ore to begin building anew.
Delays on the mining that was meant to have yielded a new ship was behind schedule at least two years and growing discontent both between the elite and the Liberty miners were nearing crisis. The Grand Traveler was meant to travel with a small delegation to appease everyone and encourage continued extraction of the mineral ore.
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