Kailin Gow [Gow - Red Genesis

ONE

J ana! Run! To the Shelter!

His handsome face, that reminded me ofmatinee idols on Vintage Earth, as Mom has called the Earth before the 22ndcentury, was contorted into horror as he stared into the camera, facing theperson filming him.

The person behind the camera asked, Butwhat about you? It was Moms voice. She sounded younger, more vulnerable thanIve ever heard her, andscared.

Thomas? She asked. Where are yougoing?

Thomas, the handsome matineeidol-looking man in his late twenties or early thirties, looked torn, anxietyfilling his face as he looked back towards the camera and Mom.

Ill meet you back at the Shelter. Whenyou get to the Shelter, activate all the systems. That will hold them

off, keep them away. The barriers willhold them off. Jana, listen. Run now. We cant risk losing you. We cantlet them get our technology. We cant let them into the Shelter. Guard it andprotect it. It is the only hope for humankind. Go now!

Thomas! Jana yelled. I cant dothis alone. I need you!

Jana, Thomas came up to the camera,blocking it with his body as he hugged Mom while the camera filmed. Documenteverything. We need a record of everything that happens here and before hereforthe future generation. New Earth. We are the first. Do everything to protectthat. There was a sound of sobbing and some kissing. I love you so much,Jana. I want to see our child grow up. I want to grow old with you. But now,I need to join the fight. Im the Second in Command of Red Genesis. I have toreturn to the Landing.

I understand, Mom said. I love youThomas.

I love you, Jana, and our child withall my heart. May my eternal love of you give you strength. May your pendingmotherhood give you strength. You are stronger than you think. I know that. Iwouldnt have fallen hard for you if you werent.

I know, Mom said tearfully. Shetook a deep breath and said, Now go! Dont worry about me and our child. We willsurvive. Go and kick those Monsters butts!

Thomas laughed, and said, Thats mygirl!

Then he left.

*****

I must have watched that video atleast a thousand times.

Mostly by myself. Once with Mom.

The only time I watched the video withMom was back when I was 5 years old and I had asked about Dad, when we werereading about the pairing of animals on Noahs Ark. The animals were paired upas mates so they can re-populate Earth again after the floods.

Since animals and people have parents,dont I have a father? I asked.

Yes, Mom said, combing my long darkhair, parting them at the center of my head, and making two side ponytails withthem. You had a father. Babies are made when the sperm of a male humanfertilizes the eggs of a female human. Mom had always explained things to mewithout sugarcoating thingslike the engineer that she wasclinically andscientifically.

So my logical brain went to work, youand a male human somehow made me when the eggs and sperm met?

Other girls would be blushing andgiggling through this discussionwhat Vintage Earth parents and teachers wouldcall discussion the birds and the bees. But I wasnt a typical girl.

What I want to know, is who? How didhe look like? What kind of a person was he? I had read a digital textbook inthe Shelters library about biology. Now I was reading one on genes and chromosomes. I looked a lot like Mom with her pretty large almond-shaped brown eyes and shinythick long dark hair. I have her high cheekbones, her full lips, her healthyglowing skin tone, and even her high-bridge nose, which some romance novelswould describe as, aristocratic. But my eyes were a shade lighter with almostgreen and gold specks. And even at 5 years old, I was tall. According to thebooks I read on genetics, and the calculations to estimate my height at adulthood,I would be at least a head taller than my mother.

Mom smiled slowly before she said, Evie,you surprise me sometimes. I forget youre just 5 years old when you ask thesetype of questions.

What type of questions? I asked.

The ones that require longexplanations, Mom said, tapping my nose. Which is sometimes better explainedwith a video.

She walked over to our control panelsand uploaded a file from the necklace she was wearing.

A picture is worth a thousand words?I asked, quoting a phrase I read from one of the Vintage Earths textbooks.

Mom laughed. Your fatherhis name wasThomashe said to record everything. Seeing is believing. Mom said, as shetook a remote to control the video we were about to see.

Another Vintage Earths sayings, Isaid, joking along with my mother.

Yes, she said. She turned to me andsaid, This was the last time I saw your father.

She turned on the video, and I was mesmerized. By the strong and noble-faced man on camera looking agonizingly at the cameraas he told the woman he loved to run. By the sheer urgency in his voice thatcould shake anyone up. By the strength of his conviction for him to go backand fight the Monsters that were killing everyone. Moms trembling wailingvoice as she asked him to come to the Shelter brought tears to my eyes. Thenwhen she told him to go and not to worry about her and the baby made meproud. Mom and this Thomas would have made the most beautiful couple. Theirlove for each other was so strong.

I turned to Mom and noticed the tearsrunning down her face. It was the first time I saw her cry in 5 years. It wasthe only time I saw her cry after that to the last time I saw her when I was 13years old. She must have loved my father so much.