Page 45 of Whoops-A-Mate From Outer Space
I forced myself to nod, mouth dry as I let out an “Ok.”
“The terminal system can locate you with this. So I will find you once my work is done.”
“I hope they don’t keep you too long. I’d like for you to be the one to show me your world.”
“I shall do my best to conclude the day quickly.” He stepped back. “I will be back later.”
“See you later.”
He flashed me a strained smile, then hustled off in a new direction
It was only once he was out of sight that I felt I could breathe properly again. I leaned against the column-terminal-thing. “What was that?” I whispered.
“Please restate query,” it answered.
∞∞∞
Despite not having packed my swim trunks, I still ended up at the beach.
Part of me had been desperate to find a science museum and wander its halls for hours, absorbing every scrap of information I could understand.
But my pragmatic side knew better. Just as I couldn’t take back any tech that might interest the military, I couldn’t take back knowledge like that.
I hadn’t been told I’d be debriefed, but I still had to expect it.
Playing the part of a tourist was the safest option for everybody. And tourists loved beaches, right?
Even then, it took all my willpower not to try to determine why the sand was green. Or how the trees lining the beach seemed to have crystal fruit that sounded like tinkling windchimes in the breeze.
So I rolled up my pants and focused on the cool water swirling around my ankles. I listened to the small group ofmusicians who’d set up off to one side and seemed to be using the sounds from the trees as inspiration. I watched couples and small groups linger and play.
And I tried not to miss Eashai.
I understood he had to work, but he was my friend, and I was sure there were all sorts of things he loved about his planet that he wanted to show me.
I thought about the sights on Earth I’d never get to show him—at least not until his presence didn’t have to be kept a secret.
In the long run, both of our peoples would benefit. But the short-term personal cost was high.
The green sand was soft under my back, my shirt removed so I could use it as a pillow as I lay there. According to the thing on my arm, I’d been at the beach for nearly three hours, and it had been just around four since Eashai had to go into work.
Would I see him soon, or did I have longer to wait? Lyll had a twenty-seven-hour day. Were work hours longer because of that?
The light seemed different than when I’d arrived, and he did say it was winter. But the seasons were also milder. Did that mean the extremes of light and dark were similarly lessened? I stared up at the clouds, wondering how it must feel to him to have grown up seeing those in the sky every day, and now exposed to the sunlight on Earth.
Footsteps, I tilted my head back to see him approaching, a smile on his face.
I shifted, ready to greet him.
“I will sit,” he stated before I could get up. “I rather enjoy this beach and will relax with you, unless you wish to leave.”
“Ok,” I replied, settling back against the sand.
A moment of shuffling, then he was seated next to me, his gentle blue just at the edge of my peripheral vision.
“I had expected to find you at a museum,” he said after a few seconds.
“I wanted to, I really did.” I sighed. “But I know better. I may not be in the military, but they’re still going to insist on finding out what I learn here. So it’s safest for everybody if I don’t intentionally put that target on my back.”
