Timemaster by Robert L. Forward

Author:Robert L. Forward [Forward, Robert L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: General, science fiction, Fiction, Hard Science Fiction
ISBN: 0812516443
Publisher: Tor Books
Published: 1993-03-15T05:00:00+00:00

ROSE WOKE up expectantly. Today was Sunday. A special day, and not just because the children would be joining them on the videoscreens for tonight's supper. She rolled to the edge of the large circular bed in the master bedroom on Spacemaster, and sat up on the edge. Randy was still quietly snoring away in the middle. She looked at him.

I wonder if he'll remember? she thought to herself. She shook her head resignedly. Probably not. She got up and went into the master bath, taking off her nightgown and handing it to Didit as he held the door open for her.

Rose and Randy spent a peaceful, busy morning together in the study. Randy was reading and making editorial comments on some of Reinhold's latest patent applications on the newly invented supermagductor-coated diamond fibers. The super-magnetic, superconducting material constrained a strong magnetic field in the diamond inside, and the magnetized diamond in turn was three times as strong as unmagnetized diamond. Some of the Reinhold engineers now wanted to use the new cable material to construct a "suspension bridge" from the South Pole on Earth to Nearside Base on the Moon. Randy looked at his cuff-comp and quietly got up and left the study, Rose was engrossed in working on her latest watercolor painting in the corner and didn't notice him leave.

Her watercolor was of a garden scene with bright sunlight striking a jetting water fountain in the center of a shaded rose garden. Above her easel was a viewscreen with a still video image of Junior and Rosey in their rose garden at home, but she was rearranging the bushes and leaving out the children as she copied it. The knees and thighs of her fashionably faded jeans were covered with colorful spots of paint where she had occasionally wiped her brush to remove excess paint. Around her was a foot-deep pile of failed attempts on crumpled sheets of partially colored paper attesting to the difficulty of the task she had undertaken. Finally she was finished—with no errors and no drippy streaks, every rosebud sharp and crisp around the edges, every drop of water sparkling in the sunlight, every shadow in its correct place.

"Beautiful!" she said proudly. "Randy, come see!" She turned around toward his desk, but he wasn't there. Slightly puzzled, she called out again. "Randy?" Just then she heard the elevator door opening on the other side of the center column.

"Be right there, darling," he said. He came around the column with a self-conscious half-smile on his face.

When Rose saw the sappy grin, her heart melted. He did remember after all. She tried not to notice that he was hiding something behind his back.

"Did you call?" he said, strolling nonchalantly up to her.

"I wanted to show you my latest painting," she said, playing along.

"Say!" said Randy, impressed with the painting and its complexity. "That's really good! Look at those roses!"

"Why, thank you for the compliment," said Rose, pleased at his sincerity. "It would have been easier if I was at home where I could look at real roses instead of video images.

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