The Search

There were six of them in all. The last one carried a flag high above his head. From where Laura stood it was difficult to tell what color the flag was. The distance had blended the pattern into one soft pastel. The men sang as they marched. They were smaller than the men back home and their heads were hairless and seemed too large for their slight bodies. Smoke-like puffs of dust rose from their feet and scurried sideways across the barren landscape.

From the angle of the sun, Laura judged it to be nearing twilight. The red sky shot rays of purple and brown across the unfamiliar horizon and she felt the uneasiness returning.

The baby had slept through his afternoon feeding and she dreaded the indignant wail when he finally did wake. As she shifted her stiff body from one hip to the other she marveled at the adaptability of the young. This existence of blistering days and cold dark nights almost seemed as if she had known no other life. This must be what James had meant by

"living hand to mouth." He had told her she would be lonely. "Is that what you want, Laura - on the run with no one to talk to but a helpless child? How can you be so selfish? If you think this is the answer….” 

But no, she wouldn't think about James. That was all over, a million lightyears away. She set her jaw and reached for the soiled rag in her pocket. The grit on her face scratched under the cloth as she mopped her brow and she whispered a quick prayer for water. The log that she was resting on had suddenly become rock-hard and she cautiously raised herself to her feet. Still, the baby did not wake and she quietly thanked him for allowing the men to pass by without noticing them. 

The small grove of trees had provided temporary shelter, but now it was time to move on. With a practiced hand, Laura slipped the baby under her cape and began her way down the trail to the main road. Her feet were sore from the rough leather sandals and she thought about the comfortable Nikes she had left aboard the ship. The rules were strict and the few passengers had been forced to leave everything they had brought on board. She remembered how the old woman had cried when the guard took the snapshot from her trembling hand. Looking down at the bulge beneath her cape, she thought how lucky she was that her son had been born during the last half of the voyage. Otherwise the old world would have its claim on him and she would truly be alone.

Again, the alien voice resounded in her ear. "What is your name? Why have you come?" 

Once more, she rehearsed her answers. "I am Tana. I have come to find my father." 

The dream had begun when Laura was just a girl. It told her about the distant world and how her father had sent her to Earth as an infant. In the dream her father called her Tana. "I will send for you before the birth of your son. Bring him to me by the third week and the exchange will be complete. Do not give him a name. It has already been done." The dream always ended with a sunset. Now as Laura closed her eyes, she could see the red sky reflecting against the face of the father she had never really seen.