The Universe Between Us
Charming biochemist Ana Mitchell has a lot on her mind—she’s about to leave on a covert mission to colonize Mars. She enlists local art student Jolie Dann to keep her high-tech farmhouse in order while she’s at training camp. Jolie soon finds herself falling for the secretive and fascinating Ana, despite knowing she may never return home.
Their relationship is challenged when the mission’s timeline is suddenly accelerated. Will Ana choose to put the universe between herself and Jolie, or will she take a chance on the one person who can keep her on Earth?
The Universe Between Us
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The Universe Between Us
© 2018 By Jane C. Esther. All Rights Reserved.
ISBN 13:978-1-63555-107-5
This Electronic Book is published by
Bold Strokes Books, Inc.
P.O. Box 249
Valley Falls, NY 12185
First Edition: January 2018
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
Credits
Editor: Ashley Tillman
Production Design: Susan Ramundo
Cover Design By Tammy Seidick
Acknowledgments
I’m thrilled to be publishing my first novel with Bold Strokes Books. To the whole BSB family, you made me feel welcome immediately and have provided me with inspiration and motivation to create. Special thanks to my editor, Ash. You’re really good at your job, and I appreciate that.
Thank you to many friends who have helped me write this, including Gemma for your brilliant feedback, Suzy for interrupting your tropical vacation to be a beta reader, and Zooey, for sitting with me during many long evenings of writing. Sandra, you take the best photos and are also wicked smaht. Thank you for using those two skills to my advantage.
Shout out to my sisters, who are awesome people. I’d be lonely without you. Mom and Dad, thanks for raising me to know that I can do anything I put my mind to, like write a book. Finally, to my wife, Gabi, you’re the best brainstormer, reader, and editor that a girl can ask for. Without your encouragement and insight, I could not have written this book.
Dedication
For my two favorite people, Gabi and Zooey.
Chapter One
Jolie Dann stood in front of Singer University’s digital bulletin board, Nova’s chin resting on her shoulder, mesmerized by the scene unfolding before her. The din of the student union faded into the background, a steady stream of voices rising and falling over one another. Usually, Jolie would be among the students passing through the campus center, stopping to fill her mug with black coffee before heading to class, but today, she was on a mission.
She’d chosen the far right screen on the long wall labeled “Community,” a place where students could find and post messages, roommate ads, and service flyers. The wall lit up with a swirling panoramic view of countryside as the drone-recorded virtual rental tour began. The camera panned around the property, pausing on an odd looking modular house attached to some kind of dome covered in solar cells, and an impressively large garden. Surrounding it was nothing but fields and trees, as far as Jolie could tell.
“Holy shit. You have got to check this place out. Looks like a crazy old inventor or something.” Nova’s chin dug into Jolie’s shoulder with each syllable.
“It’s not that bad. It looks…functional. And look, green space, and nobody around for miles.” Jolie raised her eyebrows at her best friend. “And get your face off me. Your hair is tickling my cheek.”
“I think you’re being a little too kind. Look, there’s a house that’s obviously not even a quarter of a mile away,” Nova exclaimed, pointing at the screen. She shook her head of curly hair against Jolie’s cheek, then moved to her side as Jolie elbowed her. “I can’t believe you would rather live there than with your bestie and the girls.”
“You know how that would go. Party all the time, hang out. I mean, really, when do you actually work for those grades you seem to get? And you’ve seen me drunk. Didn’t that turn out spectacularly?”
“Oh, it was pretty spectacular,” Nova said with a smirk. “The way you hit on almost everyone at that party was the highlight of my spring.” She thought for a moment. “Maybe even my year. At least one person got something out of it, even if you claim you didn’t.”
“Whatever. I’m not living in the sorority house. I actually want some privacy and space, and you ladies have none of that. It’s like a giant, continuous orgy over there.” Jolie touched the screen to replay the tour.
“Please. Only, like, half the time. So dramatic. All I’m saying is that you would definitely get some, you’d be almost right on campus, and you’d get to live with your best lady.” Nova hip-checked her gently. “Unless you’re trying to drop me slowly. If that’s the case, I can take a hint.”
“Shut up, I’m trying to pay attention,” Jolie said. She linked her arm in Nova’s and pulled her close as they watched the remainder of the tour. A hologram of the interior walls revealed a series of small rooms along a hallway that connected to a large circular space containing the kitchen and dining areas.
“Super weird,” Nova said. “Find out who listed it.” She began to reach toward the screen to touch the box with further information about the owner, but Jolie batted her arm out of the way and touched the screen herself. A photograph of an attractive young woman appeared, her angular face twisted into a look of annoyance, as if she was just then figuring out that she’d need to pose for a picture. “Oh, she’s cute,” Nova said. “Deep brown eyes, dark brown hair, totally my type.”
Jolie shot her a look. “Everyone’s your type. Let’s see. She’s looking for someone to take care of the place because she’ll be out of town a lot in the next few months, blah blah blah.” Jolie skimmed. She touched the arrow to display even more information. “Rent. Let’s see. Rent. Oh, here it is. Wow, that’s really cheap. It says that labor is part of the rent.” She shook her head in confusion.
“What is the deal with this place?” Nova asked. “That’s a billion times cheaper than anything I’ve seen around here. Even I’d get off my ass and do work for that price.”
Jolie smiled and said, “Would you? I don’t know.”
Nova giggled. “I dare you to go meet this weirdo and try to be her roommate. Hopefully she doesn’t murder you and chop you up and bury you somewhere in her giant field.”
“Hilarious. And real nice. Now if I do get murdered, you’re going to feel pretty bad for saying that.” Jolie elbowed Nova in the side. “You know what? You’re on. I’ll accept your dare and I bet you’ll eat your words.”
“Okay, so do it,” Nova said. “Reply right now.” She thrust her chin toward the camera on the bottom of the screen.
“Not right here. I’ll do it when I get back to my room, pinky swear.”
“Hey, sexy ladies.” Jolie and Nova both jumped at the squeaky voice behind them. “Not moving out on us, are you Nov?” Karlee, one of Nova’s sorority sisters, pushed between them and put her arms over their shoulders.
“You couldn’t get rid of me if you tried,” Nova said. She proudly flash
ed her sorority ring, a band of rippled silver against her dark skin.
“And you, Jo-Jo. Are you looking? I know someone with a space in her bed just for you, in case you ever want to give that a spin again.” She gave Jolie a full body once over.
Jolie rolled her eyes and extricated herself from under Karlee’s arm. “I’ll let you know if I’m ever that desperate,” she said.
Karlee pouted, and Jolie had to admit that she wouldn’t mind ending up in her bed for a second time, if she truly wanted mindless comfort. She just wished Karlee wouldn’t make it so easy.
“I have to get to the studio. Got to keep that art scholarship. I’ll call you later, Nova?” Jolie felt like a squeaky third wheel to their sorority bonding, and quickly moved away from the pair.
“You got it,” Nova yelled. “Don’t forget the dare.” Jolie could hear them looking at the listing and giggling over the woman’s picture.
Once she was safely outside, Jolie made her way to a bench surrounded by a mound of crisp leaves. She looked out over the quad, framed by a mixture of concrete monstrosities retrofitted with solar cells and rooftop gardens. On nice days, it seemed like half the campus took over the lawn, studying in small groups or reading alone. Jolie and Nova had made a tradition out of studying on the quad during finals, in the middle of December. It had been warm enough the last two years that they didn’t even need jackets. She reached into her pocket and unfolded her screen, navigating to the listing. If nobody had snatched it up yet, she’d be able to save enough money to quit her job in the cafe and focus completely on her art. Even with the short commute, she’d save hours a week not working on someone else’s schedule. She might even be able to hang out with her friends again without thinking she’d rather be in bed, catching up on much needed sleep.
Jolie set her screen to record, cleared her throat and finger-combed her long strawberry blond hair, then recorded her message. She replayed it and recorded again. Once she was satisfied with her tone and inflection, she hovered over the send button, pausing a moment to read about her potential roommate once more. Name: Ana Mitchell. Age: 26. She had a distinguished look, not exactly youthful, Jolie thought, more weathered, like she wasn’t afraid of hard work. Jolie knew the type well, her father working himself into the ground every day with the farm. Ana would make an interesting subject for drawing, her sculpted shoulders hinting at an athletic body, and her expression indicating that she had something more important to do than sit for a rental drone’s intrusive photo shoot.
Jolie wondered what distracted her, and it occurred to her that it might be a spammer listing. They weren’t common anymore, but when virtual touring first became popular, there were some rogue drones that recorded houses unsolicited. Unsuspecting homeowners and landlords were flooded with messages, and listing companies had to scramble to clean up the mess they had created. Now, there was a law criminalizing the fraudulent listings, but they still popped up from time to time.
Jolie tilted her head back and squinted at the clear blue sky. A few drones buzzed overhead at various heights, no doubt filming or performing research for a class. She sighed. Part of her dreaded the moving process and the inevitable unease of spending so much time in a car, but the anxiety she felt since the accident that left her with a prosthetic leg was fading. Besides, her packed schedule left her exhausted, and something had to give. Money was tight, and anything she could save by living off campus at such a low price would be a help to her parents and the farm. She swallowed hard and flicked her finger to send the reply.
Chapter Two
Ana Mitchell was scrubbing the dirt from her fingernails when she heard the chime over her speaker system. “Read,” she said aloud.
Her personal assistant, Cassiopeia, replied in an almost-human voice, “Ana, you have one new reply to your roommate listing. It is from Jolie Dann, a student at Singer University.” The voice paused.
“More.”
“Here is Jolie Dann’s personal information. She is majoring in studio art. She is twenty years old and was born in Lincoln, Nebraska. Mother: Iris. Father: William. Sister: Danielle. Hobbies: drawing, dancing, running.”
“Picture,” Ana said as she looked at the large, wall-integrated screen. She could activate any of her walls, but she preferred the one directly across from the kitchen because she could watch it while she cooked. A high resolution photograph of a smiling redhead in a green summer dress appeared on the screen. She dried her hands and walked closer, her heartbeat drumming in her throat. “Wow.”
“I’m sorry, what did you say?” Cassiopeia was the closest she had to a real friend, aside from her six future crewmates, but sometimes she wished the droid would ignore some of her comments.
“Nothing.” Ana shook her head as if that would slow her heartbeat. “Just thinking about how much trouble I’m getting myself into,” she said under her breath. She closed her eyes, harnessing all of her brainpower to calm the flood of adrenaline. When she opened them again, she swiped the picture off screen and brought up the video message. Her chest pounded again with an unfamiliar nervousness as Jolie began speaking. Her voice was exactly how Ana imagined it would sound, melodic and bold.
“Hi, I’m really interested in meeting you to see if we would make good roommates. To be honest, I need to move off campus to save some money on room and board, so I was happy to see your place listed at such an affordable rate,” she said, a brazen smile crossing her freckled face. “I’m fine with your work-for-rent requirement. I grew up on a farm, so I can do pretty much anything. Fix machinery, whatever.” She shrugged, then smiled again. It was a radiant look for her, Ana thought. “Let me know. Hope to hear from you.”
“Message complete. What would you like me to do, Ana?”
She thought for a moment. On the one hand, none of the candidates had seemed remotely interesting, except for Jolie. On the other, it would not be her most well-informed decision, judging from her immediate attraction. “Can you recall all of the replies to my ad?”
“Of course.” Cassiopeia tiled the pictures and information for each prospective tenant on the screen.
“Get rid of one and four.” Two pictures disappeared. “How old is two?”
“Forty-eight, divorced father of three.”
“Get rid of him.” If Ana didn’t have a choice about who she’d be living with for the rest of her life, she sure as hell was going to exercise that freedom now. She looked at the calendar on her wall. Two more weeks until her mother, Dr. Deborah Mitchell, would be back from France. Two more weeks of a semblance of privacy. If she got herself a roommate now, it might be too late for her mother to raise objections by the time she returned. She pictured Dr. Mitchell’s twisted face when she found out, and a flutter of panic resonated through her, followed by the burn of excitement. She figured she did what her mother wanted often enough to do something that she wanted every once in a while.
In truth, she didn’t really need help with the property, or the small sum of money she’d advertised as rent. She just wanted the house to remain in good hands during her brief absences, and then once she was gone from this world. Dr. Mitchell had almost certainly planned for that, but Ana didn’t trust her mother to make major decisions about a house she’d practically built herself. It was too precious to be left to some idiot assistant who wouldn’t know what it could do or how to take care of it, and they’d probably sell it to someone who would tear it down. She needed someone she trusted to keep it the way she’d intended. Could that be the cute girl staring back at her from the wall?
“Reply to Jolie,” Ana said. The nervousness crept back in as she recorded her message. She ended it with directions and a list of times when Jolie could come by to meet her. “Send.”
“Good choice, Ana. She appears to be the most similar to you, and by my calculations, she’s the most attractive choice.”
“That was obvious,” she muttered as her pulse began to return to normal. Since when had Cassiopeia started commenting on attractiveness? Ha
d she picked up on the change in Ana’s biomarkers? “Thanks, Cass. You may hibernate. I’m going to the terrarium.” She said the last part to no one in particular, the house already tracking her every move, and grabbed a book off the table.
The sun seemed to stream through the small dome of the terrarium, illuminating Ana’s hammock. She smiled as she pushed open the sealed glass door and stepped inside. They’d have three of these once the settlement was complete, for growing food and maintaining some kind of mental health for the seven colonists. Ana spent hours in her replica dome, experimenting or taking a break from her massive list of responsibilities. The dome was one of the only constants she’d have between this life and her future.
Ana needed to shake the nervous anticipation that was making her palms sweat at the thought of meeting Jolie. She had a difficult afternoon of exercise ahead, four miles of running, some weightlifting, and hours in her lab afterward. She’d figured out a long time ago that the only way she’d be able to accomplish everything she needed to was through an agile mind and careful manipulation of her emotions. Having a roommate, she reasoned, was a necessary shake up that would double as mission prep, testing her psychological stamina and ability to live in close quarters with another person. She only had a few months left to make absolute certain that she was prepared for her role, so it was now or never.
She couldn’t turn back now. She had found herself a roommate, assuming it all worked out, and by the time Dr. Mitchell returned from Paris, there would be nothing her mother could do about it. Defiance settled uneasily in her bones. The dry terrarium air swirled around her, and she breathed in the overwhelming scent of rosemary. It smelled like Earth, sweet and musky, heavy and comforting. She’d pushed for some rosemary to be added to the seed bank, and it was one of the small concessions she was granted by the team.
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