For the first few weeks, most of the time was spent in learning the languages and sciences of the world. Part of the time, Gep stayed in the ship, explaining its workings. There were times, though, when he was alone, and then he worked on his own project. He was building himself a wife. It was obvious to him that Nosaj was very attractive to the young Earth women, and he figured that, within a year, Nosaj would be married. He knew that then he should find a life and home of his own, and he was preparing for that time. Already, the young women were hanging around, trying to gain his interest. He had decided to name his wife Lifamauna – Loyal Ideal Female Android Mark Una (one), Lifa, for short.
Nosaj had gone off on a whirlwind ‘round the world tour. He had made speeches, inspected laboratories, factories and other facilities where work was going on, using the knowledge he and Gep had given. All fighting had stopped, and all the money and energy that had gone into the wars was now going into improving the health, food production and living conditions everywhere. The Americans, Canadians, Russians, Chinese and several eastern and near east countries had banded together to form a worldwide Space Agency. Already, after only six months, the space station had been expanded and now had plenty of room for a permanent staff of twenty. A large hydroponic garden had been added, so there was fresh fruit and vegetables available, and a perfect aid purification plant to keep the people healthy. They were both very happy with what they had accomplished on their adopted world.
Nosaj walked into the work room unannounced, and stopped in shock. “What are you doing, Gep? Who is that, and where did she come from?” He stared at the new android, studying her closely.
“Nos, you know how the Earth women have been, following us around, tying to snuggle up, get us in their beds? Well, the last time I came back here, one of them followed me, and slipped in while I was in the storage room. I came out to the lounge, and there she was, sitting by the table, with a drink in her hand. When she saw me, she did that squirming thing they do, batted her eyelashes, and said “come have a drink, lover,” in….you know, that odd voice – I think they’e being sexy. She wanted to go to bed with me, and the only way I could get rid of her was to tell her I’m a newlywed, and my wife was in cryogenic sleep, and I was about to bring her out. Well, I needed a wife to show, so I made one. I can’t have a relationship with an Earth woman, not if we still want to keep the fact of what I am secret. So,” he turned and waved a hand toward the female android, “meet Lifamauna, Lifa for short.”
The female nodded her head and said “I am pleased to meet you at last, Nosaj.” Her voice was soft and just a bit sultry. She was beautiful, looked to be about twenty-five, and of course, in perfect shape. She had silky, shoulder length, mid-brown hair, and amber eyes, and when she smiled a dimple showed at the left corner of her mouth. “I am Loyal Ideal Female Android Mark Una.”
“Ah…uh…yes, uh…pleased to meet you, too, Lifa.” He turned back to Gep, “Uh…yeah….ok, I guess you had to do something. It’s just kind of a shock. But how do we explain her presence? Just being a newlywed wouldn’t explain why she was here, or in cryo. Hmmm…let me see. How about this? Since there were only two of us, going on a long and possibly hazardous journey, it was decided by the powers that be back home that a replacement might be needed if one of us were seriously injured. Since she has all the same qualifications we do, they put her in that position. She would remain cryo unless or until one of us needed the tank, being too badly injured for the medbox, at which point she would be restored and the injured one frozen.” He looked at Gep, one eyebrow raised in question.
“Briliiant!” Gep exclaimed. “And she is fully trained, since I duplicated all of my programming for her, the only thing I changed was the gender. Sometimes, Nos, I find it hard to remember that you are not an android. And if or when the time comes, I can create more of us, make them look like humans, and Lifa and I can live in our own community. It’s even possible to create children, infants who will grow like human children do. We can be part of the life of Earth for a while. Then, when the first exploration ships go out, we can be the crew and settlers. New planets can be prepared by us, and the humans can follow.”
“Hmmm…I guess it could be done that way, and more planets could be settled if they didn’t have to be quite so Earth like. You can live in an environment that would be very hard for humans, until you had terraformed. And by that time, it would be safe to reveal what you and they are. Good thinking, Gep. But that is all for the future. My tour was very successful, and things are happening at a greatly increased pace. Let me change, and then lets go out for dinner, and introduce Lifa to the locals. There is a redhead here that I really like, maybe we can find her and make it a foursome.”
They went out, found the redhead, and Lifa found that she liked life. Everything happened as they had planned, though it took many years before the first exploration ships were sent out. Eventually, dozens of planets were found that were Earth like, or could be made so fairly easily. By that time, the Earth people were comfortable with the idea of androids, and happy to let them take on the less habitable planets. Many times in his long life with his wife Virginia, Nosaj thought how fortunate they had been to land on Earth. Gep and Lifa finally settled on a planet that couldn’t be made safe for humans, and became the home planet of the androids. They grieved when they heard of the death of Nosaj and Virginia – two hundred years after the first star ship’s flight.
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