The seas of sky

Anna looked up at the sky. She always wanted to swim in it. Her mother had always warned her not to wish for that. Each color was composed of a different chemical. The stars cast a silver glow over the whole planet. The red streaks transmitted heat, She would be graduating from the training program soon. She would have three wishes, she knew it would be dangerous to just nakedly swim in the sky, but she could wish to work in the sky research area. For a while the land had been extremely cold. Then one day it got warm again. The scientist had added red patches to the sky. No one mentioned the change, but Anna took daily photos , and she noticed. The patch had just appeared to be randomly tossed in, but she noticed.

Her mother interrupted her make believe swim. Her mother laughed , but she was worried. Her daughter had no desire to continue their family line. She had not mentioned wishing for a husband. Her daughter wanted to be financially independent .

Anna typed out her three wish list. 1. To work in research in the sky science division 2. To earn enough money to be financially independent. 3. To have a soul partner - someone to be close and honest with.

Anna did not really want to be trapped on the planet. A soul partner versus a man who wanted her to raise the kids , to her sounded better.

Anna was nervous as she headed across the graduation stage. She had submitted her three wishes, by the deadline. Her hand shook as she reached for the card which would shape her life. Unlike others she did not magically disappear. Her card had a work address, and a flight time and location. She would be allowed to take two bags. Anna's stomach tightened. It was hard to breath. All her life would be in two bags. She had frozen on the stage. Suddenly she heard her name. Her mother was calling her. Anna skipped off the stage, and into the hug of her mother's arms. Her mother hugged her daughter, hiding her fear, and showing only excitement.

Anna picked the two largest bags she had. One for her hobbies,and work related, and the other one for her clothes and personal care.

Her mother had looked up the address. It was a modern part of the planet., Anna would most likely be living in a module, not surrounded by nature like she was here. She would be surrounded by buildings. Her mother was hoping that her daughter's job was not too mundane and repetitive.

There was three of them on the plane. Anna was the youngest. The other two were returning from an excursion. They had placed more of the gray stars into the sky. Anna gasped in excitement. She knew that would not be her entry level job, but the idea of it made her heart race. The other two did not seem that excitement. They had had to isolate for two days after the excursion. The chemicals were very dangerous. They had been selected because their wives had already bore children. According to them nobody wanted this assignment. "You are lucky", one of the men told her " You are young, you will not be selected". Anna smiled but inwardly she felt like crying.

Her module was her's. She did not need to pay rent,or purchase it. It was a perk of the job. She missed her mother, she wondered about the soul partner that she had mentioned in one of her wishes.

At work she was a tool. She moved from department to department. She performed a lot of equations and wrote a lot of proposals. She also fetched numerous lunches.

Her mother seemed to be her soul partner. Anna wondered if she had misphrased her wish. Maybe she was not going to get someone her own age as a partner.

Then it happened, she was given a work partner. A young man from a different planet. He was here because he had a defect. He was not able to produce children. He was going to swim among the stars. Anna was jealous but at least now she was learning what she wanted to know. He was timid around her and seemed surprised by her excitement about getting to know him. Finally one day he interjected "I can't have kids". Anna laughed "Oh I am not looking for a husband. I wished for a soul partner." He looked confused, "All women want to have children, even if they leave their mate, in their elder years." Anna laughed "A soul partner links with your soul, and so will be forever." He laughed. After that he seemed to relax, share jokes and talk about his parents. He talked about the illness, which had rendered him defective. At least in most women's minds. Anna felt a little better, having someone to converse with at work. She was not just a tool. She was a person. His name, always confused her, It was so long. Chrisofinish.

One day she arrived at work to find him packing, "Where are you going?" she asked," You are coming too " he responded. " We are taking a flight up into the sky". Anna gasped "they are allowing me?" " We are not getting out of the ship, just looking and taking photos. The walls of the vessel are see through". Anna's heart was racing. She hugged her work partner. He laughed.

She wondered why they had not been trained for this, When she got on the ship she discovered that something had gone wrong in the sky. The air quality was off. The scientist needed a closer look to see what had gone wrong. Chrisofinish and Anna would take the photos which would be automatically transmitted to the scientists. The most exciting part was that their cameras would keep a copy of each photo. Anna felt like she was swimming in her own private dream.

Then all of a sudden she got a wave of doubt. "I wasn't that good at science". Chrisofinish laughed. "If the science they were teaching was right they wouldn't be needing us to collect fresh data. According to their science the air quality should be fine. There is something that they do not have figured out correctly."

Anna had always assumed that you would swim through the sky, but the sky left a film on the ship. The outside of the vessel was constantly being cleaned so they could get their photos. The stars and other shapes were not solid fixtures like she had envisioned. She could see silver streaks of fabor coming from the stars. The camera was able to catch the large gaseous particles. She was exhausted by the time the light faded. The scientist thanked them. The photographers' ship pulled up to a tube. The tube made sure that none of the substance on the outside of the ship, got on them.

Anna invited Chrisofinish to her place to eat. The food was there by the time they had arrived. She had ordered two of her regular order, but he said he would eat anything.

Also waiting for her were the copies of the pictures she had taken on the expedition. They reviewed the photos. He knew more of the science then he had originally had her believe. Anna was amazed, he was a science machine. She fell asleep laying her head on his lap. He did not want to move her, so he leaned into an awkward position,and soon fell asleep as well.

They had taken many pictures of the strips in the sky. Small drops were excreted from them. The photos did not show what those excretions were consisted of. The scientists had alway thought these were dormant objects. They would need someone to get samples.

Anna felt like crying. Chrisofinish noticed her mood change. "What's wrong ?" he asked, "You are going to get to go." she replied. " I am pretty sure they would let me go. They whole child bearing thing." Chrisofinish gave her a hug. He could actually feel her pain.