June 27, 2124
For her holo-call with Nassor and her eight-year-old nephew Rashaad, the communication delay was over an hour and a quarter, but Hidaya enjoyed the visit, even though she spent most of it watching Nassor playing games with his son to keep him occupied.
After Rashaad’s second turn talking, Nassor bluntly stated, “We have to change our format, Sister, due to increasing com delays. What if we each record and send news updates on June 26, then send responses the next day? I need to get Rashaad home now, so please message me your answer. Nakupenda, Hidaya.”
She felt a flare of anger at his suggestion. He couldn’t spare the time to talk with her once a year? For thirty minutes she paced about the cabin, trying to bring her emotions back under control. She had to agree that the time lag between conversation “turns” had become almost unmanageable. Next year, it would take almost two hours for light to carry her image back to Earth. Logic trumped emotion, and she sent Nassor her consent.
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