6

"ARLAN!"

Rissanivi's emotional cry instantly got the attention of Cameron and Hauvri'ahn. By the time they got to her, she had her arms and tail wrapped around him and was nuzzling affectionately.

"You okay, buddy?" Cameron asked with great concern.

"I...I'm back?" Arlan asked, dazed by his experience.

"Frightened us, your disappearance made!" Hauvri'ahn exclaimed, though looking him over, she noticed, "Is different, clothing you wear, and... *gasp*...older, too, you look!"

"Jeezers, you're right, Hauvri! Dude, what the _frak_happened to you?" Cameron insisted, shocked now that he noticed what wife had picked up on.

"Date...what is today's date?" Arlan demanded.

"It's still Saturday, 2494-07-31," Cameron replied, puzzled by the request.

"It's not Monday, 2507-08-29?" Arlan asked, still confused.

"Gone you were, only few minutes," Hauvri'ahn said.

"Oh...my...freakin'..." Arlan uttered as his knees began to give out on him.

Hauvri'ahn carefully removed the object from Arlan's hands and set it back where it had been while Cameron and Rissanivi helped him to a spot where he could sit down. Cameron called Nial-sa'fel on his communicator, telling him that Arlan had reappeared.

"What do you remember?" Nial-sa'fel asked as he checked Arlan out.

"I...was back on Mars, at...the McHenry Research Facility...in the lab..." Arlan began his incredible tale.

* * * * *

The object he had been examining on Chenau-Ri had instantly transported him approximately 20,000 lightyears across the galaxy to the location he had been thinking of at the moment he accidentally activated it--the office of Dr. Samuel Grant. The date he arrived was Monday, 2506-07-25.

Dr. Grant was meeting with several staff members when in their midst was a totally unexpected brilliant flash of light. Standing before them was a man that, to a few of those present who remembered him, hadn't been seen in nearly twenty years; in his hands was a strange object about the size of a football. Startled cries and screams brought office personnel running.

"Great Cesare's Ghost!" Dr. Grant bellowed, "Arlan?! What the hell...?!"

"D-Dr. G-Grant?" Arlan stuttered, totally confused and looking like he might pass out any moment.

"Get him in a chair!" Dr. Grant ordered--the two people nearest to Arlan took him by the arms and helped him take a seat. "Annie, get the medics in here!" he called to his secretary.

"Talk to me, Arlan...where've you been all these years?" Dr. Grant asked while waiting on the medics to arrive.

"Y-Years? Wha...?"

"Crikie, mate, you've been gone well on seventeen years or so, I reckon."

Arlan looked towards the familiar female voice that spoke with an Australian accent.

"Alicia...?"

"In the fur, luv. Where ya been all this time? We gave ya up for lost, not hearin' from ya so long. Cam and Hauvri, are they...?"

Arlan saw that the wombat G.E.L.F., Alicia Wyman, was getting some gray around her muzzle.

Still in a daze, he reached out and lightly touched her face as if he didn't comprehend what his eyes were telling him.

"Date...what's the date?" Arlan asked.

"It's TSY twenty-five oh-six," Alicia replied, giving Arlan a quizzical look.

Dropping his free hand, he ticked off the years on his fingers.

"Nah...can't be...we just arrived today on Chenau-Ri...it's twenty-four-ninety-four, July the...thirty-first. We saw...it was incredible, I tell you! Advanced tech like you wouldn't believe... millions of years old...beyond anything we've ever seen!" Arlan looked down at the object he was holding on his lap. "This...just one of the things we saw. I...I picked it up to look at, and...it did something and...it brought me here! I was just thinking that..." Arlan's eyes got wide when he saw a faint glow beginning within the object and he quickly sat it down on the floor. "Don't touch it! Nial said we had to be careful with stuff--it might take any of you off somewhere like it did me!"

"Take it easy, Arlan, we'll get something to put this in for the time being and after you get checked out by the medics and get some rest, we'll have lots to talk about. In the meantime, we'll keep this to ourselves--not a word to anyone until it all gets sorted out. If anyone asks questions, send them to me. Everyone clear on that?" Dr. Grant instructed, making eye contact with everyone in the room.

The object was carefully put into a containment box and taken to the lab while Arlan was being examined by the medics. Not finding anything physically wrong with him, Arlan was taken to one of the facility's unoccupied dorm rooms so he could rest after his experience.

For the next few days, Arlan recounted the experiences he and the others had after they had left, though he thought it best not to mention anything about The Heart, the dream, or the journey-thing that he, Cameron, and Hauvri'ahn had been put on by it. He was scared of the object that had taken him so far away from his friends in both distance and time, yet he was drawn to it, determined to figure out how it worked. He surmised that it must be able to sense the thoughts of the person holding it and then send them to whatever place they desired, but how? What activated it? How was it able to do what it did? Did it need to be recharged, and if so, how? What was its energy source? More importantly, would the object be able to return him to the place and time he left? Arlan had plenty of questions though no idea where to begin. He fervently hoped Nial-sa'fel would show up and take him back to his friends, but how would he know where to look for him...or even, when? Having been transported twelve years into the future boggled his mind. If only there was a way he could get a message to Nial...but then he thought of Rissanivi.

"Poor Rissa, she's got to be going out of her mind! I wouldn't have imagined that I'd end up getting involved with a Vey'ani, but...she's a nice gal and I really like her! Damn, too bad she wasn't brought here with me--at least she'd be able to back me up! I know the folks here must think I'm crazy! I imagine the only reason why they haven't sent me off to see a shrink is because I appeared out of nowhere in front of several people. It's not like I was found wandering around on a street somewhere, muttering to myself. I better not say anything about that Journey-thing Nial said we're on, because they probably would think I've gone off the deep-end! Unfortunately, my camera is back on Chenau-Ri, so I can't even show them any proof, other than that thing that brought me here. What the hell am I going to do now? The firm's lawyers won't let me tell anybody about where I've been, what I've been doing, or how I got here. It doesn't seem like we left five years ago, but now I've been tossed forward in time; Alicia said it's been seventeen freakin' years-- jeezers, I hope nothing happened to everyone while I've been gone! I wonder if they'll let me go back home for a few days?"

"Arlan, can I see you a minute?"

"Yeah, sure, Dr. Grant."

Arlan quickly glanced at the computer display to check the progress of his latest scan on the object as he got up to go see what his boss wanted.

Stepping into the small conference room just off the lab, Dr. Grant shut the door behind them.

"Want some coffee? Got a fresh pot here."

"Uh, yeah, thanks...I almost forgot how much I used to enjoy it," Arlan said with a small wistful grin. "After five years without lot of things, you get used to not having them."

"Still maintain that's all the longer you've been gone, eh?" Dr. Grant asked.

Arlan didn't say anything until they sat down at the table.

Looking his boss in the eye, he said, "We were only supposed to be gone for three days...we had no idea that, five years later, we would end up twenty-thousand lightyears away on some ancient dead world looking at things millions of years ahead of what we think we know, and then some alien artifact boots my tail back here twelve years forward in time, all because I was thinking how cool it would be to show it to you. So, here I am--it's now seventeen_years after we left Mars on what was only supposed to be a three-day trip, I have no idea what's been going on here _or back home, and I suspect the only reason why somebody hasn't sent me off to a funny farm is because they can't explain how I just suddenly appeared out of nowhere in the middle of a group of people. And, I'm sure nobody can explain why the security system instantly picked up another person in the facility with no transport signature detected."

Dr. Grant listened to everything Arlan said and agreed with him.

"For the record, I believe you. I've argued your case with the suits since you showed up, and I managed to not only get you some back pay with a finder bonus but also some extra resources to study that artifact, with you having the lead on it. On top of that..." Dr. Grant slid a data chip over to Arlan, "...I got you a round-trip ticket back home for a couple weeks." Lowering his voice to a conspiratorial level, he added, "One of the gals in Travel owed me a favor--got you Business Class on the Mars Express. You fly out Friday evening, your vacation starts Monday, you come back two weeks from this Friday, and be back at it the following Monday. Can't beat a deal like that."

"And the object...?" Arlan asked cautiously.

"It'll be here waiting for you, just as you left it--unless _it_decides to be elsewhere. If that thing is some sort of gate device, I doubt anything we could come up with would be able stop it," Dr. Grant replied.

Arlan slowly reached for the data chip and slid it towards him.

"No strings?"

"No strings."

Arlan picked up the data chip.

"Thanks, boss."

That weekend, Arlan stepped off the hypersonic shuttle in Fairbanks, Alaska after the hop from the Chicago Starport. He caught a public auto-pod to his old neighborhood and walked the rest of the way to his parent's house. The research facility had gotten in touch with his family to let them know that their son had reappeared and was being removed from having been listed as "missing--presumed lost".

Arlan hesitated a moment before pushing the button for the doorbell, not knowing what he would be walking into. When the door opened, an attractive female skunk G.E.L.F. in her mid-thirties appeared--her jaw dropped when she saw him.

"Arli...? Oh...my...Arli!"

There was only one person who ever called him that.

"Steffi...?"

His younger sister, Steffanie, now 34 and with a family of her own, threw herself at her long-lost brother and began crying.

"Momma...it's ARLI!!!"

It was a tearful reunion in the Schneider house that evening. Once the initial shock and excitement had died down, there were a lot of questions, though few answers from Arlan.

"The lawyers for the McHenry Research Facility won't let me talk about what I've been doing--you can call and ask them, if you don't believe me. All I'm allowed to say is that they had hired a private ship to take three of us on a short trip to check out something--we were supposed to be back in three days, but...we ended up a lot farther away than we thought and...we've been to a lot of places and seen stuff you can't imagine. How I got back and the others didn't...they insist on keeping that a secret for now."

"Is there any chance that the other two people you were working with might come back, too?" Arlan's father asked.

Arlan's expression saddened and he slowly shook his head.

"I don't know. They weren't the only ones left behind..."

"There was...somebody else?" his father asked.

"Yeah. She's...not from here, though," Arlan replied.

"There was someone from one of the other Federation worlds?"

"No, she's someone we met on Juyami-III."

"Never heard of it," his father said.

"No one here has. It's...thousands of lightyears from here, rimward," Arlan said.

"Wha...?" several family members said in disbelief.

"Yeah, a long way away from here," Arlan said quietly.

"You said a 'she'...what's her name?" his mother asked, wondering if her son had gotten interested in an alien female.

Arlan smiled a bit and replied, "Her name is Rissanivi Salnuano--she goes by 'Rissa' for short."

"Sounds Italian..." Steffanie said, a bit confused.

"Not even remotely, sis. Rissa's homeworld is Vey'a-II. The Vey'ani are reptilians--they're cold-blooded. They're a really nice people," Arlan said. He went on to explain how they met and how she had been helping them find their way around that part of the galaxy, and what Rissanivi had told about her homeworld.

"Sounds like you kind of like her," his mother stated.

"Yeah, Rissa's a sweet gal. When we were at Esba'in Station, she took us to a type of a night club--we've never seen so many different kinds of people before in one place. Anyway, since I'm closer to her size than Cameron is, she wanted to dance so I said, what the heck, and let Rissa take me out on the floor. Man, I've never seen anybody who can move like she can. Even Hauvri'ahn was amazed," Arlan explained.

"Who is Hauvri'ahn?" his mother asked.

"Oh, she's Cameron's wife. Hauvri is an Élendorian," Arlan replied.

"An he's a...?"

"Cam is a Clydesdale G.E.L.F.; he was in the Fleet Marines before getting his degree in Xeno-Archeology. They met in college, I think he said they went to the University of Washington at Spokane. They had gotten married about a year before I met them. They're a nice couple and good at what they do, digging up artifacts and such."

"So, how did you end up working with them? I thought you were doing research and development work," Arlan's father asked.

"Oh, the head of their department at McHenry wanted to have somebody from R&D to go along on a dig to get a better idea of how some tech item might have been used. I got the transfer. It's been pretty interesting. Well, exciting, really...and terrifying at times, especially when the local critters decide you might make a tasty snack," Arlan explained.

"I got a question for ya: how come you don't look any different than you did when you disappeared? It's been, what, about seventeen or eighteen years? You haven't changed a bit, Arli. Why?"

His sister asked the question that had been on the minds of the rest of the family, after what had happened to him.

Arlan looked at his sister with a mix of sadness and frustration.

"That's...part of what I'm not allowed to talk about. I wish I could tell you. I wish I could show you all of the things I've seen and the stuff we found. I wish I could tell you how I got here, but...I can't. I can't because I don't know how I got here. I'm not sure if anyone_can figure it out, but if it got me _here then...maybe it can get me back. There has to be a way..."

Arlan hung his head and covered his face with his hands. Steffanie moved over to sit by her older brother who now looked younger than she was, and put her arms around him. She heard a sniffle escape and very quietly, in barely a whisper, she heard him say, "The dates... they're all wrong...I'm not supposed to be here...not yet...gotta get back..."

A while later, when Arlan was taking a nap to rest up from his trip home, Steffanie was in the kitchen helping her mom fix supper.

Waiting for a time when it was just the two of them, Steffanie said quietly, "Momma...something really messed with him."

"He's been gone for seventeen years, dear; who knows what he's been through since he and those other two disappeared," her mom stated.

"I know, but...something has really messed with him."

"Are you saying that as his sister, or as a professional counsellor?"

"Both, I guess," Steffanie replied.

"Well, dear, you'll have to figure out which one he needs most right now. If I were a betting person, I'd put my credits on him needing his sister because she remembers how he used to be; let the counsellor sit back and take notes for a while, until its time for her to step in and help," her mom advised.

Steffanie thought on what her mom said.

"Thanks, Mom."

"Hey, Arli, are ya awake?"

"Hey, Steffi. Yeah, I'm just layin' here."

"Well, scootch yer butt over."

Steffanie laid down beside her brother and they both stared at the ceiling in his old room for a while, looking at the painted-on glow-in-the-dark stars.

"Remember when we used to crawl out the window at night and sit on the roof, lookin' up at the stars half the night?" Steffanie asked after a minute or so. She paused a few moments and continued, "All those wild dreams we had back then, like, starting our own band, cruisin' around in an ancient combustion engine convertible, wearin' those funky beach shirts and the sunglasses. Ooo, lookie what I've got...a couple pairs of those cheap sunglasses! I've been saving them..." Steffanie slipped a pair on her brother's face and one on her own. "C'mon, bongo-boy surfer dude, hit it!" She started softly singing an old song they liked as teenagers. When Arlan slowly pulled off the sunglasses and looked at them wistfully a moment before carefully folding them up and setting them down, Steffanie's singing faded and she looked at her brother with concern. Taking her own pair off, she rolled onto her side, facing him, and asked softly, "Whatsamatter, Arli? Talk to me, bro."

"I...wish I could."

"Hey, you could always talk to me 'bout anything. You still can, Arli."

"I can't."

"Do I have to crawl inside your thick noggin' and dig it out? You got enough in ya to know how we skunks are--get our curiosity up, and nothin's gonna stop us from diggin' through a wall to find out what's on the other side!"

"Steffi..."

"Arli, you're my big bro and I luv ya and I can't stand to see ya hurtin' like this! Ya gotta tell somebody otherwise it's gonna eat ya up--I promise you, it'll stay just between you and me. You know I'm not a blabber-mouth. I don't care how crazy it might be, maybe I can help you make sense of whatever it is. We used to bounce ideas about stuff off each other all the time...remember when you'd get stuck on a homework problem and we'd talk about it? Between the two of us, you always got it figured out, didn't ya?"

Arlan turned his head towards his sister and sent, "I'll get in serious trouble if I tell anyone outside of the people I work with anything about what I'm working on...losing my job is the least of it!"

"I understand that, and you getting hung out to dry is the last thing I wanna be responsible for, believe me!" Steffanie propped herself up on her elbow and held his head in her hands so that he had to look her dead in the eye. "You said earlier that you weren't supposed to be here, at least not yet, and that you had to get back to...wherever it was you were at, I guess. And you said something about the dates being all wrong. As much as I'd like you to stick around, if it really means that much that you have to go back to wherever, then maybe we can figure it out together, okay? Just like back in school, we always figured things out together."

Arlan struggled with his thoughts--he was bound by the company's legal department not to disclose information about projects and the punishment would be harsh if they found out, but...his sister was right, he had to talk to somebody that he could trust, otherwise he'd go nuts.

"Arlan? Steff? Dinner!"

Later that evening, after the kids were put to bed for the night, Steffanie pulled her husband aside.

"Lee...I need to help Arlan with whatever is bothering him. He's had some kind of experience that he needs help understanding and I'm the only one he trusts enough. He's been gone physically a long time, but I don't want him to end up being gone mentally," she said, tapping her temple. "He's one of those exceptionally intelligent people who might end up thinking himself into a neurosis, especially if he stays in the current state he's in. I gotta help him keep it together long enough that he can make his own sense of whatever happened."

Wrapping his arms around her, Lee said with a chuckle, "I didn't marry you just because you were the hottest, smartest, and nicest skunkette on campus who ended up getting her PhD at twenty-two." A bit more seriously he added, "You're in the top one percent of your field--if anybody could help him, I'd be hard-pressed to think of anyone better than you. He's your brother, he needs help, you're the best...do what you gotta do, babe. I got your six..."

Steffanie smiled and said, "And daddy wondered why I fell in love with a fighter jock..."

With the help of his sister, Arlan was able to get his mind calmed down so that he could focus properly on solving at least part of the riddle of the object, hopefully enough so that he might be able to return to the time and place he was before being transported back to Mars twelve years into the future.

Taking a break from the long hours he spent studying the object and conferring with scientists, he traveled back home to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with his family. His brother-in-law, Lieutenant-Commander W. Lee Robertson was also home on leave. In order to get to know his sister's husband better, Arlan took Lee to a coffee shop/bistro near the university campus in Fairbanks.

"I'm glad this place is still in business," Arlan said as they walked in. "Steffi and I used to come here after classes to do homework. The owners were always good about letting students hang out here."

"Not many people," Lee observed.

"This time of day, yeah. The students usually don't start showing up until the late afternoon or early evening hours. Given that it's the weekend after Thanksgiving, they'll start filtering back in from the semester break," Arlan explained.

When it was their turn to order, the young lady at the register glanced at the nameplate on the dark brown shearling leather flight jacket Lee wore.

"We have a ten percent discount if you have your military ID on ya."

"Yeah, sure, just a sec..." Lee pulled out his ID case and showed it to her.

"Thanks," she said with a smile. "I've got a cousin who's a pilot--he's in StrikeGru-92, flies an Osprey."

"Ah, a PCG driver, eh?"

"Yes, sir. They were out near R'Hin space, last I heard," the cashier said.

"That's a tough neighborhood," Lee said with a slight grimace.

"Yeah," she agreed. Turning her attention to Arlan she asked, "Are you a student?"

"Nah, I graduated a while back," Arlan replied with a wry smile.

"Oh. What was your major?" she asked.

"Got my B.S. in Electronics Engineering and a Masters in Applied Physics," Arlan replied.

"You...look kinda young..."

"I got my Master's when I was twenty," Arlan said quietly.

"A boy genius, eh?" she asked with a slight smile.

"Something like that," Arlan replied, trying to downplay his scholastic achievements. He didn't mention that he had graduated With Honors and was the top of his class.

"I guess I know who to see if I need a math tutor," the cashier said shyly.

"Are you going to UAF?"

"Yeah, just started this year."

"What are you majoring in?" Arlan asked.

"Oh, um...nothing fancy, I'm just taking some gen-ed and business courses for now," she replied quietly.

"That's a start, at least," Arlan said with a smile.

"Yeah. Oh...looks like your order's about ready. I'll bring it out to you."

When they took their seats, Lee said, "Cute girl."

Arlan looked over in the direction of the cashier and said of the skunk G.E.L.F., "Yeah. She's got a fair amount of human in her."

"She's still kinda cute...for a young gal," Lee commented.

"Yeah, well, just don't let your fingers get to walking where they shouldn't, fly-boy," Arlan said with a bit of sarcasm.

"No worries there, Stef and the kids are all I want...other than putting my sights on some bad guys and splashing 'em," Lee came back with a grin.

"That's good, because her 'boy genius' older brother has been known to get creative," Arlan shot back.

Lee chuckled and said, "Yeah, she's told me a few stories. I think I can do without a pair of 'The Gloves of Doom', the 'Spray Pen', or the 'Hell's TP'. Although...I know of a couple deserving individuals that could be recipients of the 'Montezuma's Cup of Karma'."

Arlan grinned deviously and said, "Steffi provided the ammo load for the 'Spray Pen'--it was for an annoying classmate of hers."

Grimacing, Lee said, "Your sister is a beautiful gal; however, that's one part of her anatomy I prefer to admire from a safe distance," which caused Arlan to snicker.

When the young woman brought their food and drinks, Arlan noticed her name tag.

"You know, traditionally, the poppy is the 'flower of remembrance'," Arlan stated with a slight boyish smile. "It can also be...intoxicating."

The young woman gave Arlan an odd look and said, "I've never had anyone say that to me before."

"If you ever meet someone you really like, be more than just a blissful memory to that person--it just might be the only thing they have left to hold on to in order to find their way back if they ever become lost," Arlan said with a knowing smile.

"Wow, that's...an interesting way to put it," Poppy said, not quite sure what to make of his remark.

"Well, that's something I can relate to," Lee said. "That's why I married his sister--she's my anchor." Pulling out his comm PAD, Lee pulled up Steffanie's photo and showed it to Poppy.

"She's quite a gal," he said softly.

"Your sister is a skunk G.E.L.F.?" Poppy asked Arlan incredulously.

"Yeah, the white hair is usually a giveaway," he replied, brushing a stray lock of his hair aside. "I'm the only near-human that's popped up in our family in recent history. As my grandma said, it was bound to happen sooner or later."

Quietly, almost at a whisper, Poppy said, "Huh." At a more normal tone of voice, she said, "Well, I gotta get back to work. Later, guys!"

"Yeah," Arlan said, giving a little wave.

They both watched her walk towards the counter area, though Lee quickly turned his attention to his sandwich while Arlan watched just a little longer before starting on his. The remainder of their time there, Arlan would catch the young woman named Poppy looking his way when she thought he wasn't paying attention.

"So, which one were you thinking of when you said that, the girl or that other gal you mentioned a while back--the one you met somewhere out in the black?" Lee asked after a few minutes.

"Rissanivi."

"If she's the one who helps pull you back out there to wherever you were, who is going to be the one to pull you back _here_whenever you finish what you were doing out there?"

It was a good question to which Arlan didn't know the answer to.

When it was time to go, Lee put his jacket on and headed to the shop's restroom while Arlan added his portion to the tip. He almost didn't look back towards the counter area, though something compelled him to turn his head. The young woman, Poppy, was looking right at him. An odd thought occurred, something that he might not have considered--reaching into a chest pocket of his coat, Arlan withdrew a small flat case and pulled out a business card. Putting the case back into the pocket he carried it in, Arlan pulled out a pen and quickly drew something on the back of the card.

It was a poppy flower.

Arlan came back home for the holidays from his work on Mars where he had been studying the object that had transported him. It was slow going, but some progress was being made--enough to keep the extra funding coming.

A week before he left Mars, Arlan had received a short message in the inbox of his Galacti-Comm account. It was from sfw.sol-sys.terra.no-am.ak.

gelfheim/PopD-2487. It read:

Will you be back?

-- Poppy

Arlan raised an eyebrow when he first read it, then, after thinking on it, he smiled a bit and clicked on "Reply".

When Poppy returned home late the next night, she made herself comfortable on the couch with a latte that she had brought from work. Picking up her PAD, she thumbed it on, accessed a music channel, and while it was playing, she checked her mail. Poppy only half-heartedly expected a reply to the message she had sent the night before on a whim. When she saw a message from sfw.sol-sys.mars. mchenryresearch.rd-dept/a.schneider, she sat up and stared at it:

You remembered. @>--

Yes, 22 Dec - 08 Jan.

Dinner for two (your choice)?

-- Arlan

"Jeezers, now what do I do?" Poppy said out loud to herself. "The guy is actually asking me out! Well, I did ask him_if he's coming back, der! He seemed like he might be a nice guy, and he's got some skunk in him, so that's a plus--not that I wouldn't consider another guy if he was nice...and liked skunk gals. I remember the older dude he was with...his brother-in-law, yeah. Reminds me of Jamie and Lilly. I wish Jamie was here...he's always been more like a big brother than my cousin, but he's off on deployment right now. Seems like half the family is off on deployment these days. Well...if I suggest eating at the Mead Hall, that'd be too close to home for a first date, though I'd have family and friends around. If we go somewhere in the 'banks, that'd be closer to _his home and...oh, I wish I was more confident like Yasmin or Lilly or Daff or Daisy! *sigh* Must be my human side again--the other girls in the family are definitely a lot surer of themselves! Well, except for Jo...the little brat is a total air-head! Oh, what the heck..."

North Star Steakhouse, okay? Have to check work schedule, though can't for sure on 22, or 24-25 Dec.

-- Poppy

She clicked "Send" and hoped she was doing the right thing.

Their first dinner date went well and they went on a second, and then a third. Despite the fact that Arlan was older and definitely a lot smarter than she was, Poppy found him to be a super nice guy who didn't look down his nose at anyone or raise his voice, and he always treated her well. He was everything she had hoped for. Of course, Poppy had no idea what he did at the McHenry Research Facility on Mars, other than just in a general way, of trying to figure out advanced alien technology from long gone civilizations that had been recovered by xeno-archeology teams. Despite the expense, Arlan did make frequent trips back to Terra to visit with her. And then March came around. That special time of the year for skunks. Even though Poppy had a fair amount of human in her, enough that it showed in her facial features--shorter muzzle, higher forehead, practically non-existent sensory hairs, and lips that were more human-like--she still had the teeth, claws, and hormones of a female skunk.

"I know I'm not going to like looking in the mirror. Ow...oo...oh my...jeezers, where haven't I been bitten or clawed...? Umm...*whew*...at least that hasn't been. Yet. I should've known what time of year it is and...bought some body armor. Yeowch! *gasp* I wonder how Lee deals with Steffi...and he has two kids by her. He must be a glutton for punishment...

gotta be.

"I hate to compare the two, but...Rissa is a really sweet gal, probably not what most people would think of a reptilian, and she cares a lot. Rissa's been a great friend...and lover. In the sack she's slow, methodical, and powerfully sensual; definitely not a 'wham-bam-thank you dude-let's have another quickie' type. Making sure she's good and warm and keeping her scales well oiled so they stay smooth and supple, has been a help. Rissa and I are about the same age, too. Yeah, I could see myself getting hitched to her if_she'd have me as more than a 'friend with benefits', though we'd have to live somewhere warm--or travel around in her ship doing courier work and such, which would be interesting._

"Poppy...we've hit it off pretty good, though I wasn't intending to find someone else when I first saw her. She's pretty nice, and fun, and I like her. If I ever wanted little ones, Poppy would likely be able to have some by me without any tinkering, and I think she'd be a good momma. I can see why non-furries enjoy being with furries--the feel of her warm, silky-soft fur across bare skin...mmm. Perfect for up here. The only thing is that she's nineteen years younger than I am--unless one takes into account that I got my butt tossed twelve years into the future so that now I'm thirty-nine instead of twenty-nine, until I can figure out how to go back. And if I can_go back,_ then what? Disappearing the first time was bad enough on my family and friends at work, but...what would it do to Poppy, especially now? I still have no idea how much longer that journey-thing is supposed to last, or what's going to happen after it. Poppy's only the second gal I've ever been with. She told me about her cousin and his two mates. I don't know if something like that would be for me or not, or if either Rissa or Poppy would be okay with it. Poppy's never been off-world or around any non-Terrans, so no telling if she'd be able to handle it or not, and I wouldn't feel right putting her in that situation...or Rissa.

"Talk about being between a proverbial rock and a hard place...I gotta go back, no two ways about it. I'd give my love to Rissa if she would accept me--or I could give it to Poppy. If or when I go back to Chenau-Ri, Poppy's gonna get hurt; if Rissa has to stay behind like Nial said, she's_gonna get hurt. But so am I, no matter what. The Heart said, "Fall into pain and feel the Light"--damn it, if it was just me, that would be one thing, but it's causing two others to get hurt, too! Better make that three, with Cam's little sister, who was depending on him getting custody of her._

"Poor kid, from what Cam and Hauvri said...I'd get her myself and take her back with me, but...I'd be charged with kidnapping, or at least attempted kidnapping. I'd even send her back in my place, with a note explaining what happened and where and when I am. I'd never be able to get her to Mars or get that damn object to her without getting caught, though...if it'd save her, ending up in a detention center would be worth it. And that's if_it took her to the right place and time...if it didn't...might as well just kill me and get it over with. Damn you, Heart! Why did you have to do this to us?!_"

"Gee, that was...wow! What did you think, hon? Did ya like it with me? ... Arlan?"

He looked over at her and smiled, "Yeah, can't hardly move..."

The eleventh of March, 2507, was a night to remember--and Arlan got the scars, both physical and emotional, to prove it.

While their relationship grew closer, Arlan continued to study and test the Kær'aûla artifact. The hours poured into days, the days into weeks, and the weeks into months. About a month after their first night together, Poppy gave Arlan the news: he was going to be a daddy. Twice. The due date was calculated to be in early September. Being the responsible type, Arlan helped with picking out what their kits would need and made sure the items were acquired, he saw to it that Poppy got all the proper prenatal care, and he made provisions for her and the kits in case of (or in the eventuality of, if he could get back to the proper time and place) something happened.

In the news media, there were disturbing reports coming from areas around R'Hin space. Very little, if anything was known about the R'Hinsi people, or their culture, as they maintained a virtually closed society. Whenever one of their starships were discovered on the other side of their traditional borders, and met by other ships, as long as no one approached the R'Hin ships, all was well; however, if one made the mistake of sending even a friendly hail, their reply was often an immediate all-out assault that proved to be fatal. Several years earlier, a stable main sequence yellow star inexplicably went supernova--it should not have been possible as the star in question had never given any indication of instability, nor was there ever anything discovered near it that could have done such a thing. Shortly after the detonation of the star, some of the neighboring civilizations attempted to help by offering whatever aid might be required--they were promptly attacked. Reports of war began to filter in. By all accounts, it appeared that the R'Hin government was systematically attacking, without warning or provocation, those around them. It was a matter of time before war would be visited upon the Sol Federation of Worlds by the R'Hin Empire.

Poppy paid particular attention to the news starting around the time of the Spring Breakup[[1]](#_ftn1). For those families who had members in the military, an unease began to settle in. In the Gelfheim community, near the Hess Creek area, the old families with names such as Daugherty, Donnelson, Heyworth, Idelzhye, and MacCloud, had a long tradition of serving in the military--they were answering the call, knowing that some might not come back. Poppy and Arlan were there in Gelfheim when her uncle, Capt. Kenneth J. Donnelson, cousins, Lt. James Daugherty and CT2 Lilly Donnelson, Lt. (j.g.) Tanya Dvoretsky, and Lt. William MacCloud were among the first to ship out--others would soon follow. In Arlan's family, his brother-in-law, Lt. Cdr. W. Lee Robertson, along with another cousin, also departed for what would soon become the front line in a bitterly fought three year war that would become known as the R'Hinsi Campaign.

By August of 2507, Arlan was making significant progress on the artifact, having determined that it did indeed operate via a neural sensor network in its surface that enabled it to connect with a person's thoughts. What powered the artifact was still a mystery, though the current working theory was that it maintained a connection to something back on Chenau-Ri, perhaps a master unit, and the object was merely some form of remote device.

Late Saturday evening, the twentieth of August, 2507, Arlan and Poppy were cuddling in bed, thinking about the pending birth of their two girl kits. They had already decided on their names--Daisy and Rosetta--following the Daugherty tradition of giving girls on the skunk G.E.L.F. branch of the family flower related names. Poppy's mother, Marigold, and her older half-sister, Yasmin, had been by earlier that day to bring more cards, gifts, and donations, from the locals in Gelfheim. Arlan had been putting the finishing touches on the girls' room.

"I should have the last of it put together tomorrow afternoon," he said, gently stroking Poppy's fur-hair.

She smiled and said, "You've done a good job getting everything ready for the girls."

"They deserve the best that I can give them...and you," Arlan said quietly.

"I'm sure they'll appreciate what their daddy's done for them. I know I do...and I appreciate all that you've done for me, too. I know it hasn't been easy for you, going back and forth between Terra and Mars, between the stuff you work on there and being with me. I know you've done without a lot of things to make sure me and the kits have what we need, so...I saved up and got ya a little something." Poppy reached over to the nightstand on her side of the bed and pulled open the drawer. Removing a box, she shut the drawer and resituated herself so that she was turned towards Arlan. "It might not be a lot, but, I know ya kinda like old tech stuff, so..." Handing the box to Arlan, he opened it and pulled out what looked like an antique pocket watch with a poppy flower engraved on the outside. Inside, it had Victorian-era style hands and numbers, and a mechanical calendar on its face showing the current date. "The neat thing is that the inside of the cover has a 2D display. I put some images in it--there's room for a bunch more."

Poppy showed Arlan how to cycle through the images--there were some with the both of them together, another of her smiling sweetly and blowing him a kiss, another of her showing off in a bikini at the Chena hot spring in early January, one of her dressed formally and holding a single long-stemmed rose while sitting, ones of birthdays and holidays together, one of her showing off her expanded profile taken during the past week, and lastly a recent scanner image of the kits inside her womb.

Arlan was speechless; a tear ran down his cheek as he held the timepiece. It was the haunting symbology of Time--the past, the future, the current present he found himself in, and his displacement within all of it. Time was relentlessly ticking away even as he held onto it...a time once had but he was taken from, a time he now had but would be taken from him, a time that he would not have had but now did. At least for the moment--and the moment was ticking.

The last week of August, while Arlan was going over some data with his team, Dr. Grant stopped by to talk a moment.

"Hey, Arlan...can you put together a little presentation on what you've learned so far about the artifact and your current theories about it?"

"Sure, boss. Uh, when do you need it by?" Arlan asked.

"The suits are giving a tour for some of the top scientists in the Federation on the twenty-ninth and they want to show off what we've been working on. I think you know a few of the scientists already, but this will be their first time here to have eyes-on our projects. They'll want to see the artifact in person and a look at your data...and they will probably ask questions. I know you got grilled repeatedly the first few weeks you were back and I'll try to steer them--particularly the suits--away from certain questions. Your relationships are your own business, and none of theirs, as far as I'm concerned. So, think you can have it all set up for then?"

"Yeah, no problem, boss, and...thanks, on the questions," Arlan replied.

Late in the morning on the twenty-ninth, Arlan and his team were ready for the presentation.

"Got ev'rything all set up, luv," Alicia said, putting a hand on Arlan's back. She saw the pocket watch in his hand and asked, "Ooo, fancy. Is that yer lady?"

"Yeah," Arlan replied. He cycled through the images for her.

"Aw, she's a cute one, luv. Those yer little ones?" she asked when she saw the scanner image.

"Yeah. Daisy and Rosetta. The doc thinks they'll be poppin' out about the fifth," Arlan replied.

"Not much longer, then."

"One more week, give or take."

"Put in fer yer leave, have ya?"

"Yeah, I'm outta here tomorrow evening for a couple months," Arlan replied, putting the watch back into his pocket.

Alicia looked up and smiled.

"Just don't be gone another seventeen years, luv. We're gonna miss ya, but, go take care of yer lady and those kids," she said, and then gave him a long hug.

Arlan hugged her back; when they pulled away, Arlan gently touched the side her face and looked deeply into his wombat co-worker's eyes.

"What do ya see, luv?" Alicia asked softly.

"I've never forgotten..."

With strong emotions plainly evident in her expression, Alicia tilted her head a bit to the side he was touching and put her hand on his. She put her other hand on his cheek and sent privately, "Crikey, mate, if we were still a couple o' free birds, why I'd give ya a good tossin'..."

Arlan smiled warmly and hugged Alicia again.

"Yeah..., "

Arlan and his team gave their presentation on the Kær'aûla artifact in the early afternoon on the twenty-ninth. After the Q&A period, the visitors gathered around to see the artifact first-hand. Arlan stayed close to it since it was on a stand, displayed at chest level so the others could get a good view. All was fine until someone lost their balance and jostled the stand. Instinctively, Arlan caught it with his hands as it started going over. It was by sheer chance that his hands made contact with the same glyphs he had touched over a year earlier.

"ARLAN!" Alicia yelled in shock as the Kær'aûla artifact came to life--she lunged for him, but a bright light flared...

* * * * *

"Damn, dude..." Cameron said quietly after Arlan finished his tale.

Remembering, Arlan reached into his pocket.

"I'm not yanking your chains..." he said sadly, showing the watch that Poppy had given him and the images it contained.

The date on the watch's face read Aug 29 2507.

Hauvri'ahn, using her strong Élendorian empathic ability and her touch telepathy, helped Arlan deal with the reality of living over a year in a few minutes' time as best she could. Letting Arlan be by himself for a few minutes, she drew the others aside to speak with them.

"For him, traumatic, it has been. Twice. Strongly the desire he felt, return to us he wanted. For you, our Rissa, especially so. Feels strongly he does, with you he wishes to be. Future time, hurt him it did--family, friends, again to him they are lost, to them again he is lost. Other, he did not seek, happened it did. Between two, heart is split. Which to give, which accept? In future, other lost now; not know the little ones their father, not know the father their little ones. Bring back, love did him to us, to you our Rissa. Bring back, who will, our friend when over the Journey is? Maybe you? Maybe other? Maybe both? Despise, do not, future history, our Rissa--change undone cannot be. Hurt we, others do; hurt more Arlan does, for us, for others. Only love heals love, only love heals life."

Cameron put his arms around Hauvri'ahn and hugged her, understanding the truth in her words. Nial-sa'fel slightly raised an eyebrow as she spoke, for the wisdom held in the words spoken--and felt--by one from a Younger Race was greater than he might have given credit for. She was right, he knew, for he could also sense the turmoil of feelings within Arlan. The question, when the time came, was to which path--a life with Rissanivi, or a life with Poppy--would ultimately be his destiny; one or the other, both or neither, or...possibly another?

It took a while for Rissanivi to process what had happened to Arlan and how she felt about it in the context of her own culture, which was considerably different than Terran culture. That Arlan even considered giving what he felt only to her for the rest of his life, to be to her as Cameron was to Hauvri'ahn, was something of a revelation. A strange one it was, yes, but also a compelling one that she wouldn't naturally have thought of. Rissanivi knew that other species had life-long mates, though it was something she had simply not thought of for herself. But she had never known anyone like Arlan before...or Cameron, or Hauvri'ahn, for that matter. And definitely not_anyone like Nial-sa'fel. Rissanivi then thought about the other female Arlan was with, the one named Poppy. Arlan had said that their relationship had "just happened", that he wasn't looking to get involved with anyone because of the way he felt for her. Rissanivi remembered how she felt when Arlan disappeared before her eyes--it hurt, it scared her, she was afraid for him, and she was afraid that he might not come back; then she thought, if _she had felt that way, then might not the other female feel that way, too? Rissanivi didn't understand how little ones were raised in Terran culture or how strongly attached Terrans were to their own offspring. In Vey'ani culture, the entire family--which included the extended family--raised the young once they no longer required the specialized care between hatching and gaining sentiency[[2]](#ftn2). However, she had been on worlds where the native people _did have strong family ties and saw how they acted when their little ones were involved, so Rissanivi considered the possibility that Terrans might be similar. A sadness came over her at the thought that within such a culture, if a parent became lost or stopped, the little ones would feel hurt or fear. If she had felt that way when Arlan had suddenly disappeared, then she could imagine how they might. It was not something she would wish on someone. Rissanivi--like most Vey'ani--was not a particularly philosophical person, though her time with Cameron, Hauvri'ahn, and particularly with Arlan, gave her plenty to think about.

While the others--carefully--examined the other artifacts left behind by the Kær'aûla, Rissanivi went to her friend.

"Um, Arlan?"

"Hey, Rissa," he replied quietly.

"Um, when get back to ship, we, um, talk? Lil' ol' me want to, um, un...understand? Yeah, that it. You help? Please?"

Rissanivi gently placed her hands on Arlan's chest and looked up into his eyes, blinking her own and cocking her head slightly to one side. Arlan slowly pulled her close, one hand on the back of her head so that she tucked her muzzle under his chin, and the other at the small of her back, just above the base of her tail.

"I'll try."

Rissanivi took in and let out a deep breath, wrapping her tail around his leg.

Nial-sa'fel observed Arlan and Rissanivi together, in a loving embrace. He felt bad that things would end up having to be done according to the conditions set forth by The Heart, for he wasn't a cruel person and these were good people. Not that The Heart itself was cruel--it had its reasons for testing people the way it did; those who were able to pass its Test would be given the abilities needed to become one of the Guardians of Light. When the time would come for Cameron, Hauvri'ahn, and Arlan to return home with the others that would begin their own Journey soon, Nial-sa'fel hoped he would be allowed to visit them.

* * * * *

Poppy, who was due to give birth to her and Arlan's two girl kits any day, sat between her mother and half-sister; joining them in the conference room were Arlan's parents and his sister. Representatives from the McHenry Research Facility on Mars were also in attendance. Sol Federation Special Investigator, Adrianna Milanochev, entered the room and took her seat at the head of the table.

"Mr. and Mrs. Schneider, Miss Daugherty, thank you for coming today. I'm sure you want to know what happened during the incident at the McHenry Research Facility on Mars involving Mr. Arlan Schneider. Records show that Mr. Schneider and his research team had been studying an alien technology artifact of immense age. Due to security restrictions, I cannot go into certain details about the artifact itself or how the McHenry Research Facility came into possession of it. What I can tell you is that Mr. Schneider and his research team had given a presentation on the artifact to several eminent scientists of the Sol Federation of Worlds. After the presentation and the question and answer period that followed, the scientists were allowed to view the artifact. It was during this time that the...incident... occurred. According to security video, one of the older scientists apparently lost his balance, causing the display stand to be jostled. When the artifact began to fall over, Mr. Schneider instinctually caught it with his bare hands to prevent possible damage. It was at the moment of physical contact with the artifact that a sudden energy build-up occurred within it, resulting in its disappearance...taking Mr. Schneider with it. To where, no one knows for certain, though it is thought that perhaps it may have returned to its original location. I have a certified copy of the security video at the moment of the incident. If you will direct your attention to the large display..."

The room's lights dimmed when the display came online. Everyone watched as the attendees gathered near the artifact to view it. The camera angle clearly showed the elder scientist trying to see past the others, appear to lose his balance, and accidentally pushed another against the display stand. When Arlan caught the artifact, a glow immediately began within it, and one of his co-workers who was part of the research team lunged towards him. Before the co-worker could reach him, a bright flash of light enveloped both the artifact and Arlan--when the light faded, the artifact and Arlan were gone. The scene quickly became chaotic, and the Special Investigator ended the video at that point.

Poppy burst into tears at seeing her mate and father of their kits suddenly disappear; her mother and half-sister held her and wept. Arlan's parents and sister also huddled together, crying.

Among the representatives from the McHenry Research Facility were Dr. Samuel Grant and Alicia Wyman. Alicia--even though she had directly witnessed the event and had watched the video coverage from multiple angles over and over--still could not watch what had happened with a dry eye. Dr. Grant had been the last person to see Cameron, Hauvri'ahn, and Arlan when they left for what was supposed to only be a three-day outing, one of those who witnessed Arlan's return seventeen years later, and was among those who saw him disappear again.

Alicia had met Arlan the day he started working at McHenry and they had become friends shortly thereafter. She and Arlan had a good working relationship, and would often hang out together after work in one of the facility's recreation rooms. They had even gone into Alba City on occasion just to get away from the place for a bit. Alicia rather fancied Arlan because he was likeable and easy-going, and she had been working up the nerve to find out if he was truly interested as she hoped he was. When the months stretched into years after Cameron, Hauvri'ahn, and Arlan failed to return from their three-day trip and were officially listed as "missing--presumed lost", she took it hard. Although she had to continue on with her life, Alicia had kept a special place in her heart for Arlan. During their moment of mental intimacy before the presentation started, she learned that he, too, had not forgotten...

...for in sending, there can only be truth.

* * * * *

When everyone called it a night, Arlan went with Rissanivi over to her ship so that they could spend some time together alone. While Rissanivi made a relaxing hot beverage for them both, Arlan struggled with his thoughts. His disappearance may have only been for a few minutes to Rissanivi, to him it had been for over a year--he had spent a significant portion of that time in his unexpected relationship with Poppy that resulted in her becoming pregnant with his children, and he wasn't sure if he would ever get to see either her or them. His situation could now be best described by the title of a mid-twentieth century album, "Days of the Future Past"[[3]](#_ftn3), for the time that he spent with Poppy twelve years in the future was now part of his recent past and not easily set aside.

"Um, here go..." Rissanivi said, handing Arlan the mug.

"Thanks."

Rissanivi gracefully sat down next to Arlan on the small couch in the space that served as her living room aboard the Ilissenri. Ever since they first met, he enjoyed watching her move about, for Rissanivi's movements were sinuous and purposeful. When sitting down, she never plopped--she flowed; when she got out of her bunk it was as if watching a snake uncoil, only this "snake" had two shapely legs, two arms, and a slender though curvaceous body, in addition to a highly flexible tail. Oh, Rissanivi could move quickly if she needed to, almost in a blur--he'd seen that enough times. But even though her strong reptilian body was cold-blooded, Rissanivi was very warm-hearted and she had a surprising gentleness that one would not expect.

Once they were comfortable and relaxed, Rissanivi snuggled against Arlan.

"Um, lil' ol' me still here, if want. I not go away, un...um, un...unless you want. You, um, still good friend, still special guy, not want you be lost. Um, want to know so we, um...find way back?"

Arlan saw the worry in her expressive eyes. He knew she cared a great deal about him and his feeling for her were still intact, though there was now another who he also had feelings for. Although he had known Rissanivi longer, the limited form of telepathy that most Terrans had didn't work with her for some reason--even Hauvri'ahn had been unable to establish a telepathic connection with Rissanivi. It was going to be difficult to explain to Rissanivi the level of intimacy he had with Poppy, since Rissanivi seemed to have no way of fully understanding what telepathy was like[[4]](#_ftn4).

"Rissa, you were the first female of any species that I was with and...that will always be something special that no one can take away. When I first started working at the research facility on Mars eight years ago, there was a co-worker of mine who I probably would have gotten involved with, if I hadn't ended up out here and met you. Thanks to that stupid artifact, this whole time thing is a mess--if I hadn't been sent twelve years into the future, I would never have met Poppy or have little ones by her. Well, the thing is, now that I'm back in my original time, my being with Poppy hasn't happened yet...but it will and it already has. I'm not a daddy to two baby girls yet, but I will be and I already am. At this point, I have no idea how long I'll be gone or if I'll ever get back home again, and if I do get back home within the next twelve years, am I going to meet myself from this time? And if I could get back home within the next twelve years and don't meet Poppy, what happens to the two girls that she's going to give birth to in seven days after I disappeared? Are they going to have a chance at life, or are they just going to go *poof!* and never exist? If I had never touched that fool artifact, none of that would have happened, and you and I...maybe you might want to...you know..."

Rissanivi thought on what Arlan tried to explain.

"Oyba, that mess with head big time," she said quietly.

"Yeah, it sure does," Arlan agreed.

After several moments, Rissanivi said, "Um, me not think much on lot of things, until, um, met you. Yeah. You made think more on, um, other things. Don't know about fa...family? That it? Yeah, family stuff...like Terran people do. Vey'ani do different, but, um...if you want...I do like you do. You still want be with? Um, we not have hatchlings, but, um...I..."

Rissanivi slowly stood up and held her hands out to Arlan. He took her hands into his and she tugged just enough to let him know that she wanted him to get up. Rissanivi led Arlan to her quarters on the ship and carefully closed the door. She looked around, then up, and then back at Arlan.

"Um...not do this for just anyone, only...um, special guy..._very_special guy..."

Rissanivi slid the ever present hood off her head--it was the first time he had ever seen her without it. She undid the belt and fasteners of her clothing, letting it all fall away...with the light still on. She held her arms out to him.

"I want be with...you."

It was simple act, though for a Vey'ani, it was a profound gesture of intimacy and absolute trust. By removing her hood for him alone, in the light, it was symbolic of baring her oma-ni'li--her soul--to him.

* * * * *

Poppy gave birth to her two girls on Monday, 05 Sep 2507. She insisted on having the event recorded in hopes that one day Arlan would come back. She kept up the hope for, though as time marched relentlessly on, that hope began to fade. Years later, when she got the message from her cousin, James, with the attached photo of Arlan on the long-dead world of Chenau-Ri in TSY 2494, looking no different than he did when she first met him in TSY 2506, she dared to hope that somehow, James just might be able to find out what happened to him, or...maybe even bring him back. Whenever James was involved with something, strange things always seemed to happen.

After getting the message and photo from James, Poppy went alone to the glade one evening and, sitting on the rock holding his picture, she looked up to the stars.

"Arlan...wherever you are, I still love you. I'll never forget."

* * * * *

Steffanie had kept in touch with Poppy over the years. One evening she had received a message from her brother's mate that floored her. Poppy's cousin, in command of a long-range scout ship, had found proof that collaborated Arlan's story after he had mysteriously re-appeared back in TSY 2506. He had been twenty-thousand lightyears away, there was a reptilian female by the name of Rissanivi that he had mentioned, and he _had_been on that world in TSY 2494, just as he had said.

One night while at her parent's house, Steffanie crawled out the bedroom window to sit on the roof just as she and her brother used to do when they were kids. Looking up to the stars, she held up his photo.

"Arli, I hope you find your way back home. I miss my big bro..."

* * * * *

It had been seven years since Arlan disappeared. Somewhere in the Australian Outback, Alicia sat and looked up at the night sky. The fur of her muzzle had a bit more gray in it, though what she felt had not diminished with time. She was alone now--her husband had died in the war with the R'Hinsa and she had never remarried; her kids were grown and had families of their own.

Alicia had replayed in her mind countless times of when Arlan had reappeared out of thin air in Dr. Grant's office and when he had disappeared before her eyes in the lab. If she had managed to touch him before he vanished in a flash of light, she may very well have been taken with him to wherever he went. She could only hope that somehow he had been taken back to Cameron and Hauvri'ahn and that the three of them were still alive, somewhere "out there".

"Arlan, luv, if ya ever make it back, I...I hope I'm not so old that I can't still turn yer head like I know I used ta, back when. I...I know ya prob'ly got someone to be comin' back to, but...maybe this lil' Sheila might get lucky. I still have a torch burnin' fer ya after all these years, I reckon. Maybe it'll light yer way back when yer done with yer walkabout."

* * * * *

Their final day on Chenau-Ri, while taking more photos and collecting a few more small items, Hauvri'ahn pulled something from a pocket of her sling bag when the others weren't looking and left it where hopefully, one day, someone might come looking for them and find it. She had encouraged Cameron to get a message for his little sister to his grandfather, in hopes that she would know why he was unable to come back like he promised. She had insisted on sending a copy of a photo that Rissanivi had taken of all five of them together.

The item that Hauvri'ahn left to be found was a data chip from the supply of blanks they had brought along for their recording devices. On the chip were some photos with dates embedded, and a copy of a log she had been keeping, detailing where they had been and when. When she had stored what she felt necessary on the chip, Hauvri'ahn protected the contents by making it an unalterable read-only archive.

Cameron, Hauvri'ahn, Arlan, and Rissanivi had made visual records and notes of as much as they could of the treasure held within the protected, warehouse-sized, underground chamber, cataloging well over three thousand items.

"It's time to move on," Nial-sa'fel said as they took a last look at the city.

"Because of what we do, we always see things long after the people are gone and forgotten," Cameron commented, reflecting on the civilization that had been there. "It would be nice, for once, to see how it used to be."

Nial-sa'fel raised an eyebrow and then thought a moment.

"Stand here a moment."

When they were gathered together, Arlan and Rissanivi in front, Cameron and Hauvri'ahn behind them, and himself behind them all, Nial-sa'fel's eyes glowed brightly and little motes of light danced about him in the twilight.

The landscape was long dead, with not a plant or animal or drop of water remaining, only dunes of dust blowing across the surface. For a few moments, however, the dull barren vista turned into a lush green world, with water gently flowing in a river, beautiful towering emerald green skyscrapers whose designs seemed to defy gravity. There were people in a park where children played, vehicles were seen carrying goods and people about, spacecraft came and went from a busy starport, and in the distance, a huge portal that instantly transported starships to distant worlds. It was a view of Chenau-Ri as it once was, in its glory days. The world was not truly forgotten, for there were still those who carried the memories of it as it once was, and Nial-sa'fel was one of those who still remembered the beauty and glory of Chenau-Ri.

* * * * *

A few days after leaving Chenau-Ri, the main drive of Rissanivi's ship, past due for a overhaul, developed a severe malfunction, forcing her to put in for repairs before going any further. The nearest facility with the ability to service her courier was located in the Falwiq system, some twenty lightyears out of the way. Nial was able to tow Rissa's ship to the facility so that she could get the much-needed repairs.

"What's there?" Arlan asked out of curiosity as they discussed the situation.

"It, um, mostly mining--has big rock belt, lots of metal and minerals. Station is um, last best around here. N'Thila Station One-Four, it called. Um, owned by big mining outfit, yeah. Have other stations, um, several, yeah, different systems," Rissanivi explained.

"One-Four...would that mean they have a chain of fourteen stations?" Arlan asked.

"Um..." Rissanivi thought a bit on that. "Um, maybe."

Cameron raised an eyebrow and said, "I guess business must be good if they own and operate a whole chain stations that service mining operations."

* * * * *

Falwiq System, N'Thila Station One-Four. The critical parts needed to repair Ilissenri's main drive were not in stock and had to be ordered. The local space weather report showed that a major Force-VI plasma storm was due to hit the area before the freighter carrying repair parts was to arrive--there wouldn't be enough time to get the part, have it installed and calibrated, other maintenance completed, and get her ship out of the system. The mining company was preparing the hardened shelters that had been built into the largest planetoids in the Falwiq system's asteroid belt right after they had been mined for useful materials. The miners and other company employees would continue working until the warning went out to take refuge in the nearest shelter, though all visiting ships were ordered to leave the system until the plasma storm subsided.

"Jeezers, Rissa, looks like we're going to have to bug-out before this plasma storm gets here," Cameron said with a sad look.

"Um, what mean by 'bug-out'?" Rissa asked, blinking her eyes.

"We got the word that the mining company wants all ships that are able to, to leave the system until the storm passes. 'Bug-out' means we have to leave in a hurry," Cameron explained.

"Um, but my little ol' ship not go anywhere. Can't leave here. If back on Esba'in, Casvan take good care of it, but...not know people here well enough. Me stay until done. Lot more to, um, pay, yeah, that it. Need ship to pay on it," Rissanivi said dolefully.

"We understand, Rissa, you gotta stay with your ship, but they want us to leave. Nial argued with them, saying his ship could easily ride out the storm, but they didn't believe him. I'm not sure if I do, either--a Force-VI is pretty intense. Anyway, we won't go too far away. Oh..." Cameron reached into a cargo pocket on his pants and pulled out a small device. "...Nial said keep this clipped on your belt and don't lose it. He said it'll keep you safe in case the station's shielding isn't quite up to snuff." Cameron proceeded to clip the Y'Nahran body shield to Rissanivi's belt. "It's self-activating, so you don't have to do anything other than just keep it on your person."

"Um, thanks, Big C. See soon?"

"Yeah, we'll be back for ya as soon as we can," Cameron replied, forcing himself to smile.

With Nial-sa'fel's earlier words weighing heavily on their minds and on their hearts, Cameron and Hauvri'ahn each gave Rissanivi a goodbye hug, wishing they could take their Vey'ani friend with them. For Arlan especially, their parting was hardest.

Kissing Rissanivi full on the mouth and giving her a long hug, he said softly, "Be safe, babe. I'll miss you..."

"Lil' ol' me miss already! You not get lost!"

Arlan nearly choked.

When he felt Nial-sa'fel's hand on his shoulder, Arlan stepped back and partially turned, holding her hand as long as he could. He mouthed the words, "I love you!" as his fingers slipped from hers. He turned and walked away a few steps, then turned to take one last look. She saw a tear run down his cheek before he turned away. Nial-sa'fel gently put a hand on Rissanivi's shoulder and smiled a little.

"Take care, Rissanivi. You have more friends than you know."

Rissanivi watched as they boarded Nial-sa'fel's ship, each waving as they entered. Arlan blew her a kiss and she flicked her tongue out, tasting the air. She stayed and watched as Nial-sa'fel's ship undocked, turned, and headed out, disappearing into the black.

Where the they were going next, they would not see Rissanivi again for nearly sixteen years.

* * * * *

When the repairs to Rissanivi's ship were finished and she settled with the facility, she tried calling Nial-sa'fel's ship to let her friends know that the work was completed and she was ready to continue on. When no response was forthcoming after several attempts, she took off heading in the direction she had seen them go in.

Rissanivi searched for days, then weeks, for her friends. There was no trail left behind that she could find and follow. Any ship she encountered Rissanivi asked if they had seen her friends, providing a picture of both the ship and her friends. No one had seen them or heard of anyone or any ship matching the description given.

"My friends...they got lost without lil' ol' me!"

"Big C! Hauvri'ahn! Arlan! Come back!" she transmitted towards the direction they went. "Don't be lost!"

She hung her head and, if a Vey'ani had the ability to, she would have cried.

"Please, don't be lost...come back!"

---

[[1]](#_ftnref1) Spring Breakup

[[2]](#ftnref2) See "_Daggers of Darkness #3" - chapter 2, page 57.

[[3]](#ftnref3) "_Days of the Future Passed" by the Moody Blues

[[4]](#ftnref4) When Rissanivi eventually met the crew members of the _Chel-Sar Se'nika, she would finally gain an understanding of the ability.