Eugene was born on the first day of Aurora’s Spring, that is March 1 on Earth’s calendar. The little fellow had his eyes wide open, and started to talk to me straight away, telepathically as before. Bright colours formed in my mind that I easily projected on a large screen in our room which led to enthusiastic giggling on Eugene’s part. Melissa was relaxed and happy, in a state of wonder.

Eugene’s birth led to a vortex of visits and attention which Inga and I tried to moderate. The Foundation medical council, as well as its intelligence centre, were keen to speak to the parents, and also monitor Eugene’s progress. Of particular interest was Eugene’s genetic make up. I was aware, through colleagues at the Seldon institute, that a new theory was emerging, according to which the Arcturian’s ability to travel through hyperspace, the hypothetical fifth dimension, was due to a specific gene. On that basis there was much speculation in some quarters, that human-Arcturian children, like Eugene, may inherit their mother’s hyperspace ability. Melissa and I were determined to protect our privacy, and guard Eugene’s rights to develop and live a normal child life with minimum external attention. Inga was a powerful ally in this respect. As it turns out we had another ally: psychohistory itself, that posited that undue intervention in matters of genetics always led to disasters.

I was now on leave for a whole (Earth) sabbatical year. Melissa and I decided we would take things easy, giving time to Eugene to express himself, and, later to go with him to visit Earth. Inga was very happy not to be pushed for time. Spring in the dome was magnificent, full of blooms and birds songs. We took longs walks together in the meadows and the woods surrounding our campus, to Eugene’s delight. We were aware that babies had been born, following the judgement, like Eugene, although their number had not been publicised, and that all were under special monitoring, whether on Earth or in colonies like Aurora. That we were being watched we had no doubt but this was done so discreetly that we forgot about it quickly. Melissa sent pictures to her parents and had a few conversations with them attended by Eugene who always had a lot to babble about.

Eugene’s and my artistic collaboration soon yielded more beautiful and strange results, now in three dimensions. I set up a small workshop to hold this work, visual displays and holograms. Soon it was clear the Eugene could manipulate the hologram, and started sculpting some wonderful shapes. I worked on a light system, and then on a sound system. A little later Eugene started composing, light, sound and shapes, a symphonic enterprise that absorbed more and more of our time, that is my and his.