30th Century: Escape (30th Century Trilogy Book 1)

by Mark Kingston Levin

  “Scientists agreed in the 1970s that there was more mass in our universe than can be seen with light or electromagnetic radiation. Using computer simulations of the Milky Way, scientists determined that the Milky Way would fall apart with the mass we can see. Therefore, ‘dark matter’ was born to explain that mystery. It is like replacing one mystery with a new terminology. What is the nature of dark energy? It is one of the top ten scientific problems in physics today, according to my advisor. That is why I want to work on it. It is exciting.”

  “Are there other theories about dark energy?” Jules asked.

  “Scientists think they know how much dark energy exists because they estimated its impact on the universe’s expansion. Other than that, it is a complete mystery.”

  “Has any other theory been proposed?”

  “Oh, yes; counting mine there are five other hypotheses but no real theory yet. It is not a theory if you cannot test it. That’s why I need to set up the computer models.” She looked at Jules hopefully.

  They finished their coffee and left the cafe. Marty held her hand as they walked. Jennifer wondered if one had a relationship if, like a hypothesis, it was never tested.

  CHAPTER 21

  Conflict

  A conflict in Jennifer’s mind had been growing regarding revealing her true sexuality. How could she explain this normal feeling to a twenty-first century man? She felt a strong physical and mental attraction to Marty but she also felt sexually attracted to Alice. She felt a bit like a fraud, giving Amanda advice about her lesbian friend’s interest in her. She hadn’t discussed her attraction to Alice with either Alice or Marty.

  Alice and Mike were coming back the next week. Jennifer thought maybe she could speak to Alice about her feelings. She was worried about discussing the topic with Marty as they were just starting a relationship. Eeva and Jules were like parents and the idea of talking with them about it felt a little strange.

  Jennifer wanted to scream because logic and science did nothing to solve her problem. She needed to figure out who she was and what she really wanted in the twenty-first century. In her world, all sexuality was normal. Why could she not tell Marty about her bisexuality? She had read that bisexuals were not accepted well in the present time. It was gnawing at her psyche.

  The phone rang after seven in the evening.

  “Can you please come by for coffee tonight?” Jules asked.

  “Yes, what time is good for you?”

  “Any time after seven thirty,” Jules said.

  “I will be there,” Jennifer said.

  She dressed and walked over to Jules and Eeva’s suite, where Eeva offered her fruit and coffee.

  Jules said, “I wanted to talk to you about the plans you mentioned for the dark energy study. Can I meet with Professor White?”

  “Yes, of course. When would you like to do that?”

  “How about Wednesday?” Jules asked.

  “Let me call her and see if she’s available.”

  The professor answered after a few rings.

  “It is Jennifer. Can I meet with you with my legal guardian on Wednesday?” Jennifer asked.

  “Of course, I’m free Wednesday from noon until two,” Dr. White replied. “Let’s have lunch at the East West Center, and we can return to my office and continue to talk.”

  Jennifer replied, “That sounds great! See you there.”

  Deciding that her need for advice outweighed social awkwardness, Jennifer asked if she could speak to Eeva alone. Jules shrugged and agreed, saying he’d go get his daughter so they could visit.

  Not knowing where to begin and aware they had limited time, Jennifer plunged straight in. “I’ve been having these…dreams. Sexual dreams about a female friend. I don’t know what they mean or how I should behave.”

  To her surprise, Eeva nodded, with no sign of scandal or shock. “You should talk with Marty about your feelings. Keeping secrets can hurt a relationship. Jules once had an affair when he was much younger and when he told me, I was devastated. But I would rather know than always wonder.”

  “That’s awful.”

  “It is what it is. The affair was over a long time ago, and I have forgiven him. But at the time it might have destroyed what we have together as a family. Talk to Marty before anything happens.”

  Jules and Erita returned and Erita gave Jennifer a hug. Erita and Eeva chatted on the lanai as Jennifer and Jules talked in the dining room about the grant for Jennifer’s research project. After a short time, Jennifer hugged Jules.

  “I am happy to have such support in my life,” she said.

  Erita joined them, hugging Jules too. “Same here.”

  Later Erita took Jennifer aside to speak privately.

  “Maman told me about your problem. I had the same type of conflict before I married Ian and told him about it. It was okay for me to have sex with women when he was not available as long as I would arrange a threesome for him on occasion. Ian and I do this type of threesome sex with my girlfriend and lover, Georgette.

  “It has worked out well for Ian and me. I am bisexual and my lover is bisexual. I even tell Ian he can meet with her at our home while I am away. Ian loves the freedom. He also likes to watch us make love; he joins in after we turn him on. I think you should talk to Marty about this. Many men would envy him a lover who enjoys other women.”

  “Will a threesome fix our communications and relationship problem?” Jennifer asked. “Marty essentially told me I am just a convenient sex partner. Is this not a disturbed relationship?”

  “I do not think a threesome will fix every problem. But if all is well in your relationship, talk with Marty about his fantasies. I expect he would like to have two women in his bed at the same time. I am happy with my Ian, so sharing a woman together with him fulfills both of our sexual needs. We’re both happy with the arrangement. I think Ian would even be fine with you and me together.”

  Jennifer’s eyes widened. “I think you are beautiful and brave to be so open. I will speak to Marty.”

  “I am so happy you told my mother, as she is very open-minded. She went through this with me and encouraged me to explore my own sexuality.”

  * * *

  The next day, Jennifer met Jules and Eeva in Professor Kala White’s office. Jennifer was huffing and out of breath.

  “It was a hike from my one o’clock class!” Jennifer said.

  “Well, you made it,” said Eeva, rising and giving her a hug. “Have a seat and I’ll get you some water.” Eeva went to the side table, and poured a glass of water from a filtered pitcher there. She handed it to Jennifer and sat back down.

  “I’m glad to meet Jennifer’s family,” Kala commented. “I agreed to take on Jennifer even before the grant but this would give her an opportunity to test computer models if she likes to do that.”

  Jennifer was ecstatic that Jules and Professor White had discussed the matter while she was in her last class. They had agreed on how to conduct the grant. Now it was going to be a PhD project of high risk but a potential big payoff.

  “Professor White, what is the major risk?” Jennifer asked.

  “You can call me Kala,” she said, smiling at Jennifer. “Even though you’re now my student, you’re brilliant in physics and you just started. You’re very special and it will be my privilege to guide you.

  “Your proposal is excellent; in fact, I have never seen one better in a first-year graduate student. But the math is the major risk. The math is unknown.”

  Jennifer nodded. “I understand! I will need to study up on math. Math is the language of science. I am glad I am better at math than English.”

  Kala and Jennifer explained Jennifer’s computer modelling plan to Jules, telling him about her understanding of space as part of energy as part of mass and that they could be transformed in a black hole to space. By modeling this process and the entire universe, one could calculate the value of the current rate of expansion to see if it agreed with astronomical data.

 
“I think you are on to something, Jennifer,” Jules said. “You should write up a paper without the math in it so common people will know about your advance. This might be appropriate for a French magazine article or even Popular Science in English. Maybe you should hold off on publication until Kala is happy with your dissertation. But write it now and submit it to her. That way your date of origin will be fixed. When she is willing to sign your dissertation, you can submit it for publication.”

  “That is a great idea!” Jennifer said. “I shall do as you suggest.”

  She turned to Kala. “Thank you for meeting with us, but I must be off. I don’t want to be late for my next class.” Jennifer shook her professor’s hand.

  Jennifer hugged Jules and Eeva, thanking them both also before leaving.

  * * *

  That evening, Jennifer had dinner with Marty at her apartment. Boosted by her academic triumph, she decided to tell him about her feelings and be honest.

  “I have been having romantic feelings for Alice.”

  He stilled, fork midway to his mouth. “What does that mean?”

  “I’d like to discover where those feelings lead me but I love you and don’t want to ruin our relationship over this. I want to try having a threesome with you and another woman.”

  Marty paused, his face turning stony. He dropped the fork and threw his napkin at the tabletop. “I’d have to think about it. I thought you wanted to be monogamous as I did. I’m going to leave so I can think this over.”

  Marty slammed the door on his way out, leaving Jennifer watching it, heart in her stomach. She’d assumed any man would be happy to be invited to have a threesome. Had she ruined everything?

  She curled up in her bed and cried herself to sleep. Marty didn’t call that night or the next. She was afraid to initiate contact. Lacy invited her to a party but she refused. She wanted to close all the blinds and wallow in her misery.

  She got up one day and wrote a letter to Marty, explaining her feelings. Perhaps she hadn’t spoken the proper words? She asked Lacy to come over and read it.

  “How strange that he reacted that way,” Lacy said. “Perhaps he thought you were rejecting him for another woman?”

  Jennifer wondered if the cultural differences of nine hundred years were behind this misunderstanding. Men of the twenty-first century may be much more inhibited sexually. Maybe she was too direct because she was trying to be upfront about her bisexuality. Speaking about serious things in a direct manner was her way.

  Lacy helped Jennifer with her English as Jennifer perfected the letter to Marty. She hoped he would respond.

  A letter came for her a week later and she recognized Marty’s address. She opened it with trepidation.

  Maybe I overreacted to this knowledge you gave me. I do not want to behave that way but my emotions took over because I feared you will become homosexual and not want me anymore. I am willing to talk with you about my fears.

  Jennifer cried, pressing the crisp stationery against her chest. She called Lacy and reported the hopeful sign.

  Lacy said, “Marty is flying in from Johnston Island in a couple of days. They left with some Washington officials on a classified mission. Mike and Alice are with them. Can I help you?”

  “You already have, Thank you. You are my most precious friend.” Jennifer smiled for the first time since Marty had stormed out. He is very busy and wants to see me, she thought. If he wanted to end it, he would have sent an email.

  A few days later Marty called her.

  “Can we talk privately tonight if you’re not busy?” Marty asked.

  “Yes,” she said. “Do you want to come over?”

  “Yes, I want to talk in private. Is seven good?”

  “That works for me,” Jennifer said.

  She hung up the phone, hopeful for the first time in weeks. Perhaps they could talk out their problems. Marty had been so angry.

  Lacy agreed to come over and help Jennifer with the meal preparation.

  “You have done so much for me already,” Jennifer said. “I hope I can pay you back someday.”

  “You’re my friend and I like to spend time with my friends.” Lacy shrugged.

  “Lacy, you are a very special friend. It seems we are bound together by something greater than time itself!”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I have started to write a novel in French. The title is Plus de Temps Lui-Même, or Greater than Time Itself in English. It is the story about a young girl who grows up in thirtieth century French Quebec. She is much like me and she eventually falls in love with Zexton Ho, a brilliant physicist and visionary. I am writing it in French because I love the French language and it allows me a means to express myself freely and easily. It is the story of an advanced society that terraformed and colonized Mars in the twenty-third century with millions now living on Mars in the thirtieth century.”

  Relaying facts from her past as though they were science fiction felt strange and duplicitous, yet freeing at the same time. Writing about her experiences had been helping her cope with the shift to this earlier, more primitive time, to set aside where she came from as one would a dream.

  Jennifer continued. “This human civilization decides to explore and colonize other solar systems in the twenty-seventh century. In order to do that, they feel they need to engineer a new species for long distance space travel. This new species is called the Syndos.”

  “Who’s the hero?” Lacy asked.

  “My heroine is an undercover operative trying to help her lover, Zexton Ho, save the human race. He is the leader of a secret society trying to fight for equal rights for humans as Syndos dominate the planet. He is my mystery man, the hero, but he will be killed in the end.”

  “It sounds very interesting! I’ve never seen this creative side of you. You’re brilliant!”

  Jennifer waved aside her friend’s praise; she merely hid truth in fiction. Changing the subject, she said, “I have reviewed your dissertation in Marine Science and it is a book! You are amazing to me that you can write like that in English. I wish I could speak Marquesan. I am studying it and English as a second language as electives but not for credit.”

  “Why start a novel now with all the other work you’re doing?”

  “I need to express the pain from my lost memory and later, Marty’s abandonment.”

  Lacy snorted and rolled her eyes. “There are other men, Jennifer.”

  “Yes, I know, but when you are in love it does not seem to matter. What if it was Ken?”

  “I don’t know how I’d react.” Lacy scrunched her mouth in thought. “I suppose I might be crushed as well.”

  The two friends hugged and said good-bye and aloha.

  * * *

  Jennifer cleaned up and prepared dinner and drinks. She set the table with flowers and candles, hoping it didn’t look like she was trying too hard.

  Marty arrived early. Maybe that was a good sign?

  “Hi,” Jennifer said. She wasn’t sure how to start.

  He hugged her briefly. “Can we talk now?”

  She waved him in.

  Marty pulled out a chair at the dining table and sat with his arms on the table, hands clasped. Jennifer perched on the chair across from him.

  “Lacy just left,” Jennifer said. “She is having a great love affair with Ken Morikawa.”

  “I wish them well. They’re both excellent students, but Lacy will get out a year before Ken, I suspect.”

  Marty coughed into his hand. “I’m terribly sorry that I hurt you. I overreacted to what you were telling me for a reason. My ex-wife, Anne, fell for another woman and stopped having sex with me. Anne asked for a divorce because she said she had become a lesbian.”

  The conversation with Amanda suddenly clicked into place. The girl had asked so many questions about being attracted to another woman to gain perspective on her mother’s behavior. Marty’s anger and fear of abandonment also made sense now. Jennifer’s empathy for the broken family grew exp
onentially.

  “Marty, I am sorry you had to experience that. You were married for years and had five children. The betrayal must have hurt you deeply.”

  “I was afraid the past was repeating itself and reacted out of fear.”

  “I am here for you. No longer do you need to experience this burden alone.”

  “I wondered for years why Anne chose another woman over me,” he said. “Was I a bad husband? A bad partner? I felt like a failure as a man. To some degree, I still do.”

  Jennifer rose and walked to Marty, wrapping her arms around his shoulders from behind. He touched her hand briefly.

  “I wanted to be honest with you,” she said. “I would never hurt you like she did.”

  “I felt you were keeping something from me from the time I first met you but I was not sure what it was.”

  Jennifer sighed. “Sexually, I still prefer men to women. I haven’t had sex with a woman since waking up on the island, but I must have been born with feelings of attraction for both sexes.”

  Marty squeezed her hand. “I want you the way you are. You don’t have to change for me. I don’t believe in discriminating against people be it for their skin color, sexual identity, or any other reason.”

  “Was it just the thought of me wanting a woman that turned you off or the threesome?”

  “I have friends who are AC/DC, so it wasn’t your fantasy that upset me. It was the memory of losing my wife and the life I had with her.”

  She kissed his hair, empathetic to the hurt in his voice. “What is AC/DC?”

  “It means bisexual.”

  “I guess you know much more about sexuality than I do,” Jennifer said. Slang terms for sexual things were the hardest thing for her to adapt to in this century. They were not in her studied materials.

  “If you want to have sex with Alice or Erita, I’m okay with that, but no men other than me. Is that fair for now?”

  “Yes, you need to have sex with me regularly,” said Jennifer. “I have missed you these past weeks.”