White Space Season 2

don’t think that.
    Warren tried reading more of his magazine, but could hardly get a few paragraphs before the words were a blur, swallowed by the hundreds of horrible what-ifs that wouldn’t stop shuffling through his mind.
    What if the baby dies?
    What if Mom dies?
    He thought a dozen variations of the same, awful terror, each with new and equally horrible scenes, spilling like liquid from the darkest corners of Warren’s worry as he pictured a world without Mother, or a life without his new baby brother. Warren knew his father well enough to feel certain that any worst-case scenario promised to twist him into a very bitter man.
    Warren would no doubt become invisible.
    At 12:09 a.m., a tall man in soft, blue scrubs stepped through the swinging double doors, holding a surprisingly large and silent baby, wrapped tight in a blue blanket.
    Warren’s heart swelled at the sight of his little brother. He felt suddenly safe. Joy flooded his body because he knew everything would be OK.
    Warren saw the doctor’s eyes and knew with a deeper certainty that it wouldn’t be.
    He swallowed, seeing the cursed truth in his pupils. Father stood beside him, squeezing his shoulder hard as he looked at the doctor holding the newest Conway. Warren looked up at Father, and, like in the hospital room, saw the terror and fear on his face.
    Both Conways could see the reality, the horror of what the doctor was about to tell them.
    He handed Blake his new son, the awful what-if turned to fact still silent on his lips. But Warren still knew.
    “I’m sorry,” the doctor said, “Mrs. Conway didn’t make it.”

    * * * *

CHAPTER 1 — Sarah Hughes

    Sarah stared at Blake Conway, more confused than ever. There he was, the richest man on Hamilton Island, and one of the richest in the world, thick silver hair, bronzed skin, and perfectly tailored dark suit with his trademark red tie all making him look as if he had stepped out from an idling Bentley to take the seat beside her.
    Sarah hadn’t seen the eldest Conway in a decade, at least not counting his frequent TV and online appearances. Despite their both living on Hamilton, Sarah rarely ran into him. Even when dating Jon, Blake Conway was out of town and off the island more often than not. In the decade since her first love went off to Hollywood, his father had gone from local legend to a near mythic global figure, the sort the world hadn’t seen since Steve Jobs. Seeing him sitting beside her bed was surreal.
    Why is he here?
    Sarah tried to sit, but did it too fast and sent an ice pick to her brain. She rubbed her head, blinking her eyes as the pain started to subside.
    “What are you doing here?” Words came out cracked from her dry throat. “Where are we?”
    “You’re OK,” he said, smiling. “That’s what’s most important. My people were able to save you.”
    “What people?” she asked, looking around.
    Her room looked like any other hospital room in Conway Medical, but Sarah distinctly remembered looking past the curtains and seeing Earth floating in the endless black nothing outside her window. Unless she had gone completely insane, they were in space.
    “And where are we?”
    “We’re on a space station,” Blake explained, as calmly as if he were announcing the weather.
    “What space station?”
    “I have a lab in space, at least that’s the best way to put it. A safe place where my best scientists can do things we’re unable to do on Earth: cutting edge, state-of-the art, experimental stuff, Sarah, the stuff that truly matters, and without all the bureaucratic red tape and regulations that can tie our hands and keep us from getting important things done.”
    “Like bringing people back to life?” Sarah swallowed, nursing the impossible in her mind. “I was dead, wasn’t I?”
    “What do you remember?” Blake asked, his face a blanket of curiosity and wonder. “Bright lights or anything like that?”
    “I don’t remember much, it’s all fuzzy now. Where is my daughter?”
    Blake gave her what had to be his friendliest smile. “Emma is fine. She’s with your sister and mother.”
    “Oh, God,” Sarah said, “They must be worried sick. Do they know I’m alive? I have to talk to them.”
    “I’m afraid that’s not possible, Sarah,” Blake said. Unfortunate truth soured his smile.
    “What do you mean? I have to tell them I’m OK, and that I’ll be home soon.”
    Sarah saw something in Blake’s eyes — behind his crestfallen face —