Faces

The heat was oppressive. It was the first thing anyone noticed when they came to this place -- step off the shuttle after hearing the safety lecture by a bored flight attendant about how you never should go outside without a wide-brimmed hat and dark glasses... see, even the natives wear hats, and their eyes are like natural sunglasses... we don't want anyone going blind, now, do we? Not that anyone much came here anyway. The sun was almost like a presence looming over your shoulder, beating down on any part of the body left exposed. Skin turned cracked and red under it, and the nose and mouth felt as desiccated as the weather outside. It wasn't just the sun. The air was like an oven... not only hot, but bone-dry and lifeless. It was like the heat killed your nose -- there was no smell. People don't realize how disconcerting that can be until it happens. We smell all kinds of things without realizing it... they affect the perception of a place in all kinds of ways. Here there was nothing... even a spaceship had the smells of machinery and lubricants and people.

The ground is flat, made of dried clay that looks like it hasn't seen water since the planet solidified. It made a satisfied sound when you walked across it, like it was paved by some divine playground designer. It would make a great surface to run on... if you were foolish enough to do anything as strenuous as running in the heat.

The sound was disorienting as well. During the day, all you heard was the blowing of the winds. When you speak, it's like the sound of your voice, probably the only person-made sound for kilometers, gets swallowed up by the desert. Nothing is alive here during the day.

Which is why it's so unusual to see two figures trekking purposefully across the desert. If we were to trace their steps back, we could see they came from one of the settlements dug into the cliffs, where it is cool and there is easy access to the underground aquifers and aboveground oases that make life possible in such a dry place. Both figures were dressed in the loose flowing garments favored by the locals to both protect from the sun, yet allow the occasional stray breeze to brush against the skin, and broad-brimmed hats. They carried backpacks and canteens and kept as much of their bodies shaded from the intense sun and protected against the sand-carrying winds.

Eventually the lead figure stopped and took a look around. "Here," he said.

"Here?" his companion asked. She sat down on a rock jutting up from the ground, carefully arranging herself comfortably.

He nodded. "Yes. The light's perfect. There's no substitute for natural sunlight." He tipped his hat off his head, letting it dangle from its ties down his back and set his backpack down.

"You're gonna get burned if you leave that hat off, Treyao," she laughed, tapping her own hat for emphasis.

"I can't see well with it on. The brim cuts off my peripheral vision." He was hunting through his backpack, pulling out a small notebook and thumbing through the pages.

"Fine," she slid off the rock to sit on the ground, her back pressed against her former perch. "But don't blame me if you end up looking like a prune."

"Prune?" Treyao stopped what he was doing to incline his head towards her, a questioning look on his face. She laughed again.

"God, I keep forgetting you're not really familiar with Earth. A prune is a dried fruit -- purple and shriveled up. Like you will be, spending this much time out under the sun."

"My parents say the same thing," he said brusquely. "They wonder why I don't just stay inside the city." This managed to stop her joking for a few minutes. Eventually the silence grew as omnipresent as the heat, and she felt she had to break it.

"How goes the drawing?" She bounded over, slipping a hand on his shoulder and leaning over to see the half-finished drawing.

"It would be better if you'd stop moving, Elise," he turned his head towards her.

She grinned back. God, it always gets me how human he looks. She remembered her sister telling her how much those similarities had thrown the evolutionary biologists when they first started getting off Earth. His skin was unearthly pale, even considering the harsh sunlight, with a hint of the purplish ultraviolet-blocking pigment that kept him safe from the sun... well, safer than her. His eyes were large and the pupils had shrunk to near pinpricks in the light, the deep blue irises even more prominent, and the lashes were long, incongruously feminine on an otherwise masculine face. Sure, there were other differences, biochemical and anatomical and other ones that make the biologists and doctors scurry to compare notes, but right now it was hard to believe the person standing next to her was a product of another world.

She remembered when she first met him. It had been when she had first come to this world, about seven or eight years ago. The name the Human language had adopted for the locals was Darynese, after a bastardization of the local word for the planet. It was close enough to their own word for themselves that they seemed to accept it, or at least tolerated it. Well, anyway, the locals, whatever you called them, had decided to throw a reception for her mother, the new ambassador from Human-controlled space. She, as a family member, was forced to come along and be quiet and well mannered while the locals chatted with her parents. The room was dark and stuffy, uncomfortable for a child used to being outdoors, and in temperatures below 40 degrees Centigrade. She listened boredly to the adults talking, only half understanding what was said. Her mother had given the family a crash course on the language -- it wasn't really that hard. The grammar structure was somewhat like a few old terrestrial languages, and the sounds were all things the human mouth and throat could make -- it wasn't something like Starsailor, where half the language was above human hearing, and inflection made all the difference. She had been so proud to not have to wear a translator, like Alexis had to.

He had been one of the few other children there, besides her sister and brother. It was hard to tell with aliens, but he looked a few years younger than she did. So, being desperate for some type of company besides her siblings, she walked up to him. She thought a bit, remembering her lessons in the language. "Hi, I'm Elise."

He looked at her with the type of curious look common to small children everywhere. "You're the ambassador's daughter. You know, you're the first Human I've met." He inhaled deeply, his nostrils almost seeming to expand. "You smell funny. Is that normal for Humans?"

She reached out and slapped him. "Stop being such a rude little boy!" She paused, realizing that she had hit him harder than she had intended. He was on the ground, and a small trickle of purplish blood was coming from a cut on his lip. She thought he would cry or run for a parent. Instead, he brought his hand to his lip, staring at the blood with the same curious expression. He then regarded her, with a look that looked more surprised than hurt or anything else. She fidgeted, realizing that what she did was very stupid and childish. "Sorry... didn't mean to hit you that hard..."

"I never said it was a bad smell," he told her.

They were separated by a rush of adults, who had suddenly noticed there was a child on the floor with a bloody lip, and another one looking rather guilty, and she had gotten a rather stern lecture from her mother on 'Not Causing Diplomatic Incidents by Slugging Local Children, Even If They Are Rude To You' and sent to her room for the remainder of the night. She had heard later that he had told his parents he had slipped, and the fact he had done a very human thing -- not ratting a peer out to parents -- when so many others of his species would kowtow to parental authority, had perked her interest and started their friendship.

"You're spacing out again," he said.

"You are too. Planning on how to get off this sun-baked rock?"

Treyao laughed. "You don't like it here?"

"You don't either," she retorted.

"True... I feel like I'm living in the most isolated, narrow-minded point in the universe. Unless it directly pertains to their daily lives, no one cares about anything. They're missing all the wonders of the universe... sciences, arts, music, the fact that their little sandpile isn't the ultimate summit of sentient evolution."

She grinned. " 'If there's a bright center to the universe, we're on the planet it's farthest from?' "

"You're quoting something?" he asked.

"Nothing important. Aren't you gonna finish drawing?" She sat back down on the rock, trying to match her pose to the one she had been doing before. Not that it really mattered too much -- he was talented enough to improvise around it.

"Um... yeah," He started on his picture again, occasionally looking up to check details. "You know, that hat and those glasses are awful to draw, composition-wise. It would be much better if you took them off."

"Hey, remember, I'm a poor frail human. I'm not adapted to the light here like you are. You want to see my eyes, you take me inside."

"The light's so dim there... it's awful for drawing. Plus, I'd have to deal with my family." He pulled out a case of charcoals and started adding the strong shadow from the sun.

"Not if you come back to my house... the Embassy, I mean," she tried to hold her pose while talking, something that took much more concentration than one would think. "You're over there all the time. Probably have spent enough time on Human soil to become a citizen." She laughed.

He smiled back. "That's true enough. I'm shading your mouth, so try not to talk." They sat in silence for a while, one staring up into the sky, the other focusing on his paper.

"Damn it," he said after a while. "The sun's setting. We better get home before the predators come out. My folks'll be worried if they wake up before I get back."

Elise stood up, shouldering her backpack. "Crazy planet... though it makes sense in this weather to sleep during the day. Better than being outside."

"When only crazy teenagers like us are awake," he grinned and pointed the way back.

The desert changed at night. The air chilled from scorching to freezing. The pale ghost of a moon illuminated the landscape, showing a rodent or two searching for the few bits of plant life. They find safety in the cold and dark, away from the heat that burns the ground dry and lifeless. Not that the night is completely safe -- occasionally the howl of a predator on the hunt could be heard over the wind.

"How much farther?" Elise asked.

"Not much," Treyao paused, sniffing the air, then continued in a slightly different direction.

"Good, because between the dark and the lack of landmarks, I'm completely lost."

"It's about half a kilometer this way."

She noticed his watchfulness, and guessed he was on the lookout for a stray predator. They were close enough to the city that it was unlikely, but neither of them wanted to take on some of the larger ones. She listened to the distant howl of one of them, then duplicated the sound, making him jump. She laughed.
"Don't do that!" he said finally, trying to calm himself down. "I'd thought you'd been eaten or something and it was after me next."

"Oh, come on, Treyao, do you really think something as petty as a person-sized hungry predator with big sharp pointy teeth could be a match for me?" she grinned cockily.

He gave her a disgusted look. "Let's just get back, Miss Beast Tamer."

Eventually they reached the base of the cliffs. A stand of night-blooming flowers grew near an entrance to the cavern-built city, putting off a distinct scent to attract insects. Treyao moved to open the door, but then stopped. "Hey, Elise, see that star? The bright blue-white one in the south?"

She looked up. "Yes, I see it."

"Do you know if it's visible from Earth?"

She thought for a bit, trying to convert local star names to the Human ones she had learned. "Yes. It's Spica, I think.

"Spica?" He pronounced the unfamiliar name carefully.

"There's an old legend, that that star was a goddess who had become so disgusted with Earth, she flew up into the heavens to get away from it. Anyway, its visible from all of nearby space."

He nodded. "Well, here's to seeing it from Earth... someday." Then he opened the door for her to go inside.

They met walking home from school the next night. His little sister, a petite girl a little bit younger than him, trailed quietly after them. "I can't go out tonight," Elise told him. "Paperwork."

"What kind?" he asked.

"Well... applications... for universities." She shifted her weight uncomfortably. They had always known that she, being two years ahead of him in school, would soon go to post-secondary school, and neither of them were na•ve enough to believe she'd want to stay on this backwater planet for more than strictly necessary. It had hung over them for years, but neither had ever given voice to it until now.

"Can I come too?" he asked. "That way, if you get finished before too late, we can still hang out. I've got some schoolwork so I won't distract you."

"Well, all right. I'm just gonna be sitting in my room, though."

"It's not like there's anything better to do in this place. You can walk home alone, can't you, Ayalu?"

"Yes, Brother," she nodded politely in farewell to Elise and turned right at the next intersection.

"That's so creepy, how well behaved she is," Elise commented.

"Oh?"

"You've met my sister, right? You know how much she teases me. Yours is actually respectful."

Treyao shrugged. "How we were raised, I guess. Are we heading to your house, or not?"

"Well, all right then." Elise led him back through the tunnels and streets of the city, over a path they had tramped countless times before, to the back door of the Embassy. She let them into the living quarters for the ambassador and her family.

Her mother was seated in the living room, a computer in hand. She had been reading reports, but looked up when they entered. "Welcome home, Elise. Hello, Treyao. Studying?"

"Yeah, Mom," she nodded, leading Treyao past her mother before her mother could strike up a 'friendly conversation' that would last hours. The problem was her mother was far too good at her job, and she tended to interrogate any native she managed to get alone about their opinions on local and interstellar politics. "We're going to my room, okay?"

"Fine, dear. Have fun and don't do anything I wouldn't do." It was the sort of phrase her mother always said. She'd never figured out exactly what that was, besides the lecture on being well behaved and representing your species and planet proudly.

Once in her room, she sat down and went through the massive amounts of forms. "Good Lord, do they want my grades in kindergarten as well?" she commented.

"They have to sort through applications from thousands of students across Known Space," Treyao had sat down on her bed, and was idly staring at a homework assignment. "Just write down your test scores and move on. The rest of the universe has a pretty low opinion of our school system, so they won't look at that if you did well on the test."

"You did better than me, and you know it. I should be embarrassed to have been beaten by someone two years younger than me. Besides, that's not true," she continued. "The schools here are considered good for learning rote facts. Problem is, that's about all you learn. Probably why they insist that everyone take the same tests and write an essay."

"Essay? Let me see?" He got up and leaned over her shoulder. "'The Human poet T. S. Elliot wrote in The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, 'There will be time/ to prepare a face to meet that faces that you meet.' Describe some of the 'faces' you've adopted and why.' That question should be easy for an ambassador's daughter. You're that good at making people think you're just one of the crowd, even if you don't look a thing like them."

"Thanks. But I don't really like doing it. It's hard, you know? I have to work at it. Not like Mom or Silvio. What about you? When we hang out, sometimes you act so human it makes me think you're just fooling me and using a hologram to make me think you're a native."

"How do you know?" He hadn't moved away from her desk, and turned to look at her, his face inches from her own. "How do you know that the face I wear for you isn't closer to the truth than the face I wear for them? I can't wait to get off this planet, with all its narrow-minded citizens living in a hole in the ground. I wish I could go with you."

"So do I. It would be nice to have a familiar face there." She put an arm comfortingly on his shoulder.

"This place is going to be unbearable without someone else here. Do you think... do you think I could get my parents to let me leave? Finish school on Earth or... or somewhere else?"

"I don't know," she said. "I don't know..."

"Thank you for being honest," he said. She wanted to say something to him, to try to make him feel better somehow, but the silence had a presence all to itself. She looked away uncomfortably.

And suddenly felt his lips touch her cheek. She felt her pulse quicken. It was the first time any non-relative had ever kissed her, and well... she had always read those cheesy poorly written youth novels about how important a first kiss was, and how wonderful it would be. This was... different... not as she expected. "Treyao..." she said uncertainly.

He suddenly moved away, almost knocking over the chair, backing up to a more conversational, less intimate distance. "I... er..." he stammered, staring at his feet. "I thought... well... isn't that how Humans... er... I think I told my sister I'd help her with her homework... see you later." He grabbed his bag and went out of there in a dead run.

She sat on her bed, confused. What was that about? Did he really... was he romantically interested in me? So... now what?

She looked up to the sound of a girlish giggle. Her sister was standing in the doorway, smirking at her. "Elise has a boyfriend, Elise has a boyfriend," she sing-songed.

"Shut up, Alexis," Elise threw a pillow at her sister, who ducked.

Her sister laughed again. "Now I get it. That's why you two are always hanging out together alone in the desert or in your room."

"Don't you have homework?" Elise realized from where Treyao had been standing, he would have seen her watching them. That's why he had left so suddenly, she thought.

"Nope!" She started to walk off, slowly and deliberately, still saying that annoying chant.

Elise stood up. "Stop that!"

"Make me," Alexis stuck out her tongue and ran down the hall.

"Get back here, Alexis!" Elise barreled down the hallway after her sister and into the living room.

The chase probably would have continued, except her mother calmly rose from her chair and stepped directly into their path, causing both of them to stop running. "Mind explaining this? Aren't you two a little old to be playing tag?"

"Nothing," Elise said quickly, hoping her mother would take the hint and drop the subject.

Alexis looked like she was about to speak up. Oh, God, here it comes, Elise thought. Alexis would rat her out and she'd never hear the end of it. Her mother would never let Treyao and her be alone together now, even if that kiss was just an isolated incident. And he was her best friend... her only friend... on this rock. Why did Alexis have to be so immature? She's13 years old and nearly a genius! She should know better. Alexis stopped, and seemed to consider her next action, before speaking. "I was teasing her, and she got a little mad at me. Sorry, Mom. Sorry, Sis."

"I see... Elise, can I talk to you about something? Alexis, you run along."

Alexis rolled her eyes, but went back to her room. Her mother gestured to the couch, and Elise sat down. Her mother sat next to her, folding her hands on her lap. This doesn't bode well, Elise thought.

"So... what was Alexis teasing you about?" her mother asked.

"Oh, nothing. The usual." I said off-hand.

"I see... and that would have nothing to do with your friend Treyao running out of here, looking very embarrassed."

"He did that?" She tried to play innocent.

Her mother nodded. "Yes... I suppose for teenagers, the first steps of expressing affection towards the opposite sex can be embarrassing."

"How did you know that?" Elise sat straight up, nearly losing her balance.

Her mother grinned. "Actually, I did hear what your sister said... that and your friend told me everything I needed to know. We're going to need to talk about this, Elise."
"It was just a peck on the cheek!" Elise objected. "It's not like we're sleeping together or anything!" She crossed her arms defiantly.

"I see... I hadn't even considered that..." Her mother looked thoughtful. "Perhaps we should talk about that as well."

"Mom! We're not planning on sleeping together! And even if we were, it's not like I can get pregnant. We're not the same species." She shut up then, realizing she was just making things worse by giving her folks ideas.

"That's not what I wanted to talk to you about," her mother continued. "You will be going into college in a year, and I trust that your father and I have raised you to make those decisions for yourself. But have you thought of the cultural significance of your actions towards Treyao?"

"What actions? He kissed me!"

"Well... this is your decision on what to do about that, but consider this: no matter how he acts around you, no matter how Human he seems, he's not Human and you're not Darynese."

"So? Treyao doesn't care about that."

Her mother sighed. "He might not care, but his family will. They are quite respected and his actions reflect on them. You know that the Darynese are very family oriented." Her mother grinned. "You could do with learning that from your friend."

"Why would anyone care what I and Treyao do, anyway? It's our choice, not theirs!"

"I know it's hard to understand," her mother said patiently, seemingly oblivious to Elise's near temper-tantrum, "but some cultures place the needs of the group above the desires of the individual... it's not just an alien trait. Places on Earth do it as well."

"That's bullshit."

"So it is... but it still affects you, dear, and I don't want you to get in over your head."

"What's so wrong with me and Treyao dating?"

"Well... I know you've studied a bit of Darynese religion. It clearly states that only a male and a female of the same species are... can be considered a romantic couple."

"That's bullshit," Elise repeated. "Why should it matter?"

"It matters to them. I just wanted to make sure you thought about it. You don't often do that."

"Got it. Think about it. Right."

She met Treyao in their familiar spot outside the city. Night had already fallen, and she realized this probably wasn't one of her brightest ideas, but she wanted to clear things up with him. He had a tendency to embarrass easily, and he might try to avoid her, unless she actually confronted him and told him to drop the subject. The light provided by the moon and stars was dim, but she could see well enough to recognize the worried expression on Treyao's face, at least.

"Um... about yesterday..." he stammered. "I really don't know what I was thinking. I'm sor..."

"It's okay..." she put her hands on his shoulders. "It's okay, Treyao."

"I mean, what I did was completely uncalled for. I had no right to..."

"It's fine. I didn't mind."

"I should have at least asked... you didn't mind?"

"No," she smiled at him. "Damn it, Treyao, you've been my best friend for as long as I've lived on this rock, and, as first kisses go, I could easily think of worse people to be kissed by."

"Thanks a lot," he said. " 'It could have been worse' is exactly what I wanted to hear."

"Touchy." She moved a hand up to her hair, toying with a strand that had pulled itself out of her ponytail. "Actually, you're kind of what I always pictured a boyfriend would be like. Intelligent, thoughtful, polite... even kind of handsome, in a weird, alien way."

"Handsome?" This genuinely seemed to surprise him.

"And most places, off of this barren rock, don't really mind if a girl is dating an alien..." Elise was staring at a point over Treyao's left shoulder, seemingly half lost in thought. "And, actually, the kiss wasn't bad. Not quite what I imagined, but not bad."

"Thanks... just so you know, I had no clue what I was doing. Movies make it look easy."

She grinned mischievously. "Well, here, let me show you." She leaned forward and kissed him soundly on the lips.

His skin was warm to the touch, a pleasure against the cold night. He had a sort of musty smell. At first he nearly jumped in surprise and she thought he'd pull away, but he relaxed after a moment, slipping his arm around her waist.

Eventually, a need for air caused them to break their kiss. Treyao kept his arms circling her waist, though. "I should definitely ask my parents if I can leave for Earth with you next year."

"You do that," she smiled at him. He smiled back... then stopped suddenly, frowning. "What is it?" she asked. He didn't answer, turning around.

His sister, Ayalu, was standing behind them. "I... Mother sent me to go run after you, Brother. She wanted you to run some errands for her while you were out." Her hands were shaking. "I... I have to be going now." She turned around and practically flew into the city.

Treyao swore. "She'll tell our parents. I'm going to go after her, talk to her."

"I'll come too!"

"No, you stay here... or go home. This is a family matter." He gave Elise's hand one last squeeze and went running after his sister.

Elise watched him run after his sister, then, once he wasn't looking back at her, she traced out her own path to his home. To Hell what he said, she wanted to help. She didn't manage to beat him to his residence, but she heard voices in a heated argument outside the door. One was clearly Treyao's and she thought she recognized those of his parents. They were muffled, but sounded like they were shouting, making it very difficult to figure out what they were saying, but she thought she heard her name come up several times, very impolitely. I guess Ayalu got there first. She debated on turning to leave or waiting for Treyao, and decided that at the rate he was going, she'd just have to catch him after school tomorrow.

As she turned to go, she nearly ran into Ayalu. "What are you doing here?" she growled, causing the younger girl to shrink back a bit.

"Someone has to run those errands," Ayalu looked at her shoes.

"Why'd you do it? It wasn't any of your business, you little rat."

"It is... you wouldn't understand..." Ayalu murmured. "Anything he does, our family does. And to do something so... so..." She stopped talking, a look of disgust thinly masked on her face.

Elise fought the urge to slap her as she had done Treyao all those years ago. This time, she succeeded. "Just tell Treyao I want to talk to him... oh, never mind. I'll do it myself later. And get out of my sight."

Ayalu nodded and Elise walked home. Hopefully this will all blow over soon... a week at most...

The next few days at school were strained at best. Treyao was absent, unusual. He was rarely sick, and, for all his protests about the school system, he actually enjoyed learning. The rest of the students watched her in the halls, whispering behind her back. They made a point of ignoring her unless absolutely necessary. It felt like her first day, only a thousand times worse, for the stares she got were not ones of distrust but of hostility.

She arrived home one day, about two weeks after the kiss, to find her mother looking frazzled. She was pacing the living room. She stopped as soon as she saw Elise. "We need to talk."

"Now what? I've already been having the week from Hell, Mom. Can it wait?"

"No, it cannot, Elise. Your behavior has caused quite a stir."

"Does the entire city have nothing better to do than to gossip about my love life?" Elide practically exploded. "God, I have NO privacy!"

"You are the daughter of a public figure, dear," her mother said calmly. "And, your behavior reflects on mine."

"So? I did what I thought was a good idea at the time, and all the busybodies can goÑ" Her mother stopped her.

"Elise, stop it. What's done is done. Now, the only matter is to figure out what to do about it. As I see it, you have two choices. The first is to issue a statement of apology."

"Apologize? For what? Like Hell I'm doing that," she crossed her arms defiantly. "What's option number two?"

"If you don't apologize, it will discredit the entire family, including me. I would have no choice but to abdicate my post, and Earth would have to assign a new ambassador."

"So, you're gonna make me apologize, aren't you, Mom?" Elise sighed. Who'd have thought one kiss would cause all this trouble?

"I don't suppose it matters, Elise. I've already received an answer to my report back home. They want us... well, mostly you... off-world as soon as possible." Her mother sighed, looking like she had aged five years in the past week. "Do what you want, Elise. I don't care."

"You're trying to guilt me into apologizing, aren't you?" Elise demanded. "Well, I'm not going to. I did nothing wrong. They're the ones who should be apologizing to us, for making you lose your job!" She threw down her backpack on the couch, stormed off to her room.

Once she was in her room, she sighed. So, she would be leaving the place she had been living for nearly half her life. She was almost getting used to it... it would be weird living on Earth again, or wherever her mother got reassigned. Well, it wasn't like she had many close friends here... except Treyao...

Treyao... she was overcome with an urge to talk to him. Who was she kidding, his parents would never let him see her. Still, she had to tell him what was going on. Maybe he could use this to get to Earth, go back with her, put light-years between himself and his controlling family. She got pen and paper from her desk, and quickly wrote out a letter, her hands shaking. As she was signing her name, her sister appeared in her doorway. "Gee, Elise," she smirked, "if I knew all we had to go to get off this planet was kiss a guy or two, I would have done it years ago."

"That's not funny, Alexis. Go help Dad with dinner or something." As her sister turned to go, Elise reconsidered. "Alexis, do you know Ayalu Lupera? Could you tell her to give this letter to her older brother? Please?"

"What's in it for me?" Her sister grinned. "Kidding... sure, what are sisters for and all? I'll play the role of the nurse for you in your star-crossed love affair."

"Romeo and Juliet? I didn't know you read romance, Sis."

"I don't. I read Shakespeare." Alexis shrugged and walked off with the letter.

Please, Elise closed her eyes and sank down on her bed. Please let him get it. I know how much he wants to leave, and this will be his last chance.

The day of their departure arrived. By the laws of melodrama, it should have been raining, but the odds of that happening on such an arid planet were slim to none. All of their worldly possessions were packed up and the staff of the Embassy had gathered on the spaceport's launch pad to wish them farewell. Assorted native high ups were there, looking tired and generally put upon to be there at all. Elise looked at each of their faces as her father and brother loaded their boxes, crates, and bags on the shuttle that would take them to the passenger spaceliner in orbit that would carry them all those light-years back to Earth. Nothing. He wasn't there. Had he even got her message? Alexis had delivered it to Ayalu, she'd asked after her sister had gotten back, but who was to say the little twerp was willing to give it to her brother?

"Elise, time to go," her mother told her.

"But, Mom..." she knew he wouldn't come... not now. Still, she had to put it off as long as possible. What if he had snuck away, only to see the ship fly off into the distance?

"The launch window closes soon," the pilot informed them. "We leave now, or you pay for the extra fuel, Ambassador"

"Elise..."

"I know, Mom." She turned to follow her mother onto the shuttle, when she spotted movement in the crowd out of the corner of her eye. She turned, expectantly.

Ayalu ran up, panting from exertion. "He... asked me to give this to you..." she said, thrusting a letter into Elise's hands. Reading Elise's suspicious look, she added, "He did. He said you'd know it was from him. Bon voyage."

As the shuttle rose into the skies, she sat, reading the letter:

Dear Elise,

I'm sorry I couldn't tell you this in person. My parents are still mindful of my behavior. Hopefully, they will relax soon.

I received your letter. Thank you for the offer, but I'm afraid I must stay here for now. My parents insist that leaving is not an option for me, at least while they have a say.

You may think I should have left instead. I still want to -- it's not that. I would give anything to be on that shuttle with you, leaving for places I've only read about. But... I couldn't do that to my family. What I do reflects upon them, and, however I feel about their decisions, I still love them.

Perhaps I'm really not different from them. Perhaps the face I let you see wasn't my real one. Or perhaps I'm just afraid to let the face I wear for my family slip. I'm a coward, I know. I'd understand if you hate me for abandoning you.

But know this, Elise: what I had to do, what I have to write, has nothing to do with how I feel about you. I care very much about you, and it is probably the greatest pain I will ever experience to be forced to make this decision.

Perhaps, another time, another place, it could have been different. Perhaps it would have only ended in heartache. We'll never know, I guess.

She sat, with the letter crumpled in her hands, watching the stars appear and the sky turned to black. Damn it, why couldn't life be like it was in the stories? She took a deep breath, determined that no one see her cry. Damn him, damn his sister, damn his parents, damn the whole frickin' world that would let a person get bullied by his parents and be expected to put up with it. She wanted to throw something... probably the letter. She wished he hadn't wrote it. At least if he hadn't, she could have assumed he hadn't known about her invitation to come to Earth, that his sister or parents had kept it from him. Damn it, he was still her best friend, and she didn't want to be so mad at him.

A tear hit the letter, nearly smudging a bit of the ink. It was a small phrase, written in practiced, careful human, rather than the print-out Darynese text of the letter. It was a series of letters and numbers: '13h49.735m Ð13*29.820' I'm sorry'. Curious, she entered the string of numbers into her computer and asked it to do a search.

It beeped at her: One entry found. Entry: Terrestrial-based celestial coordinates: Spica. Galactic Coordinates: 50 degrees, 50.5 minutes Galactic Latitude, 316 degrees, 6.153 minutes Galactic Longitude. Type BIV, Magnitude -3.6. She didn't glance at the rest of the entry, turning off her computer.