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The Speed of Love Surging Through this Time of Stars: A Science Fiction Story
All you ever had was the longing.
In the National Trust play area, in the sight of the immense Neolithic stones that have stood for five thousand years and whose purpose was lost and now is understood, the sisters watched the children playing. November air bit the children, turning un-gloved fingers cold and red and numb. The children were indifferent. They hurtled around the play area, engrossed in the convoluted pecking-order games they’d devised. No strangers here. Children find their playmates quickly. They understand the rules.
At unmeasured distance, the triangles converged in apex aligning space. The Neolithic stone gate nearest the playground opened in a hiss of >c-light, splitting and reforming, and delivering the passenger.
“Look at that,” said Penny, the elder sister, mother of the two girls galloping around the playground. “That’s another one.” She watched the slow man unfurl from a fetal position. “They’re so damn slow. I can’t stand them being so slow.”
“It’s the time dilation,” said Maggie. “They can’t help living near a white hole.”
“I can’t think why you wanted to meet us here,” said Penny.
