Page 45 of The Champion
When Marco crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes, Shelly turned to me and whispered, “Take note. This is how you get your husband to give you hot and passionate sex.”
“I can hear you, Brainy, and you know bloody well you don’t need to make me jealous for that to happen.”
Shelly smiled before she moved on to talk about other topics. I already loved the quirky Polo family and was highly entertained for hours as we flew across Europe seeing different areas. Some were still too contaminated for humans to live there while other areas were deemed safe.
“This is some of my favorite ruins to visit,” Shiva explained as we got out of the drone and walked through a city that had once been called Toulouse.
“Is it safe?” Ada asked him.
“It’s safe from radiation, but there are wolves in the area, so stay close to me.”
Ada took it literally and moved well within Shiva’s personal sphere.
“Ada, honey, come take my hand if you’re scared,” Marco offered his daughter, but she stayed right by Shiva’s side.
“Shelly,saysomething,” he hissed to his wife, but Shelly couldn’t be bothered and asked questions about all the testing the Explorers did.
“Isn’t it amazing?” Shelly spread her arms wide. “To be standing in old Europe where great people once lived.”
“I feel the same way. It’s a privilege to be able to travel and experience it in person,” I agreed.
Marco took the opportunity to move between Shiva and Ada. “When I grew up in the Northlands, I never imagined I would ever get the chance to leave the Northlands, and here I am on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean in a historical place.”
Shelly looked up at him with a warm smile. “That’s because you made the excellent decision to marry me.”
“It’s true,” Albert agreed. “It’s Mom’s work that has taken us around the world.”
“You’re welcome.” Shelly chuckled.
“Can I trust you with a secret?”
They all nodded so I continued. “At the summit two weeks ago, Thor negotiated for the Northlands to expand into Europe. If it goes through with the French parliament, we’ll take on the responsibility to clean the southern part of old Europe. It will take a few decades before it’s completely done, but in the end the Northlands will be an empire with warm beaches for our people to visit.”
“That’s bloody fabulous,” Shiva exclaimed while Shelly looked confused.
“I don’t understand what the big deal is. Northlanders can visit beaches in the Motherlands already. What’s the point of going all the way to Europe?”
“The point is that it would beourbeaches,” I emphasized. “No more bans on alcohol or ridiculous speed limits. The laws would be the same as in the Northlands.”
Marco shared my excitement, but Shelly was distracted when Ada came to show her something she had found.
“What is it?” The two of them stood in complete fascination over what looked like trash to me.
“Oooh, we love figuring things out,” Albert told me. “It’s like a family game that we’ve been playing since we were little. Our parents would make us solve riddles or find answers to the most absurd conundrums.”
“Not me. That was all your mom,” Marco said. “I stink at riddles.”
I don’t know what possessed me to say what I did, but it was as if being surrounded by the Polo family, who had no filter, made it easier to share what was on my mind.
“I have a riddle. Or maybe it’s not so much a riddle as a difficult question.”
With all five of them staring at me, I had their full attention. Carefully, I framed my question without revealing whom I was talking about.
“A friend back home went to see a psychic recently. He’s in love with a woman from the Motherlands and their dilemma is that he doesn’t want to live in the Motherlands, and she doesn’t want to live in the Northlands. He asked the psychic if she saw a future for the couple living together and the psychic said, ‘It’s possible.’ Then he asked if the woman would move to the Northlands and the psychic said, ‘No.’ When he asked if he would move to the Motherlands the psychic also said, ‘No,’ Confused he asked her if they would move to France and the answer was still ‘No.’ So the question is how can all the psychic’s answers be true?”
“Ha!” Marco pushed out his chest. “That’s an easy riddle to solve. The psychic was a fraud is all.”
“That’s what my friend thought, but what if she wasn’t? What if there’s an option he’s overlooking?”
