Chapter 13

Teric and Gorsh settled permanently on SatTwo.  They were married in a small, dignified ceremony.  The union of two such prominent individuals recently involved in saving civilization caused a media frenzy.  Much to the public’s dismay, the wedding was carried out in extreme privacy, limited to a few close family members and friends.  Within a month Teric was pregnant with their child.

They had a short, heated discussion during which she informed Gorsh their child would be named Jehrac.  Not only in memory of her brother, she said, but in the hope that at least in namesake his murdered potential would be realized.  Gorsh knew that this wouldn’t help heal her mental wounds but it was an argument he couldn’t win. 

Teric knew she would never be able to forget her brother.  But, she also knew that she wanted to look forward, not backward.  She finally understood that she was not moving forward but, instead, only immortalizing her grief.  And in the person of her own first child.  Another short, this time, not heated discussion followed.  They somberly agreed to a different name for their child.

Gorsh had his labs flown up to their new residence.  Teric took over the Med Complex on SatTwo.  Neither of them visited Home World.

A year after their child was born, Teric’s mother died.  Teric returned to Home World one final time.  After the funeral she stood outside looking at the sky; Home World’s tall sky.  She felt very small indeed, looking at that impressively tall sky she had not seen for so long.  She realized that she loved the shorter looking sky on SatTwo; so short as to be touchable by standing up straight and reaching out your arms.

The End