CHAPTER 26
FIVE MONTHS LATER:
John sat on the shore amidst the seashells, watching the waves lift and lower, form, and break against his feet. The moon above him shone brightly in the sky, reflecting the sunlight from a distant side of the world. There was a time when he may have wondered its origin, but no longer. He was happy to be home.
“You’re going to get sand in the joints,” Ronika complained into his left ear, resting her head on his shoulder. The fur from her orange ears blew against the sea’s breeze and tickled the side of his face.
“Didn’t you make it sand-proof?” he replied. John smiled, raised his right hand from the sand behind him, and brought it to his front. He shook the small grains out from the robotic joints augmenting the glove that covered his hand and flexed his fingers.
“Hey, man, don’t come crying to me when the thing borks out on you,” she said.
John raised his other hand and put it around Ronika’s body, resting it around her side.
“I’m so glad you’re back,” she said.
“Me, too.”
“Though, you never told me how you made it back here from Japan with no money,” she said.
“I will,” he answered. “Another time, though.”
A faint blue light sparkled across a wave in front of them.
“Did you see that?” Ronika asked.
“Amazing,” John said.
“It’s just luciferin,” Karen interjected, appearing on the watch between them. “All you’re looking at is a little photoprotein and an overcharged ion. Nothing to write home about.”
“Um, Karen?”
“Sorry.”
John leaned back into the sand behind him and stretched his arms out to his sides. Ronika followed him down, keeping her head against his shoulder.
“Oh, I almost forgot,” she said suddenly.
“What?” John asked.
Ronika reached into her front pocket and removed a small disposable camera. She lifted it above them and snapped a photograph.
THE END