He opened his eyes loving the feeling of her soft hands caressing his back, ‘Penny for your thoughts?’
She kissed his chest, happy, content, appreciating his body’s warmth, the lovely feeling of being held tightly in his well-muscled arms, enchanted by his antiquated turn of phrase.
‘Pennies were withdrawn from circulation over a hundred years ago. They were last used where I come from in 1970,’ she observed.
Her voice fell, ‘I was thinking about our world. What will it be like when we reach Primordia?’
He kissed her forehead, ‘Which world?
‘Both worlds,’ she sat up straight on the beach towel with her legs crossed like a small child at assembly, ‘When we reach the new-born, I won’t have aged at all, assuming I survive hibernation, but my real age will be forty-five. Had I stayed on Earth by the time Carmen landed on Primordia I would have aged 250 years. The strange phenomenon is known as time dilation, by the way.’
‘You’d be dust – like Persson.’
‘Yes,’ she mused sadly, squeezing his hand, then brightened, ‘But I’m not staying. I’m coming with you.’
‘Thank God.’
She let him go. It was time for them to part for the last time. With a heavy heart he watched his beautiful rose stand and pull up her panties.
She slipped on her soft white bra, ‘Yes, thank God. Do you ever wonder what this planet will look like when we land on Primordia?’
‘I try not to think about it,’ he replied, pulling on his premium stretch black jockey shorts, tucking his spent manhood inside, ‘I mean, will Earth even be here in two hundred-and fifty-years’ time?’
They embraced.
‘It’s impossible to imagine,’ Rose conceded, ‘I doubt this world will exist then.’
