05:03 11/04/2587 – (8734/665/32/23)

Gabriel had received a few days to himself after the extended bout with his circle of associates. It had been a relaxing time, but he found himself wanting to spend time with the four again.

Erilur and Nish had sent several emails asking if he would like to spend the day with them, with Nish explaining more than once that Pista was getting upset. It was a blatant attempt to tug on his heartstrings, and it was working.

But it was more than simply not wanting to make a child upset. Erilur had just two more weeks left on Minagerad before she would be returning to Bosd, and Gabriel did not want to ignore her until then, so he sent a request to meet at Hofes park and discuss what they should do next.

He had access to any facility on the planet. Any adventure, ride or experience was covered by his V.I.P. package, which had become free after his act of heroism.

It would be several hours before anyone responded; he had struggled to sleep last night and decided that an early start might help him fall asleep tonight.

The news chugged on in the background as he flicked through the internet, looking for any videos that would keep him entertained in the interim.

“Bored!” Gabriel cried out as the loop of recent events replayed on the television for the umpteenth time. More so, as the top story was all about Gabriel and Nish, about their compensation and the reward he had turned down.

It had not just been an attempt to avoid litigation but also to score some browny points with the public. It all made sense, and Gabriel did not know how he could have been so dull as to miss it.

“Off,” he commanded, too lazy to reach for the remote, and the screen went blank; this early in the morning, it was either this or watching shopping channels, like “dear old dad did,” and he wasn't that pathetic yet.

Even though the sun was not up yet, and the lights were off, Gabriel could still see. Illohu, much like Luna, reflected the light of its parent star down onto Minagerad, bathing the world in an eerie but beautiful aquamarine glow.

It was quite a sight; even so, he missed the comparatively small moon, its pure light, and the darkness of Earth’s nights.

“Who would’ve thought,” Gabriel mumbled.

***

Erilur had not been humble when Gabriel had offered to take her anywhere. Her first demand and Gabriel could not help but feel it had been a demand, was the take the two-day boating adventure.

Since she was a child, one of her fantasies was to be a buccaneer. Unfortunately, she had an aversion to violence, and this was the closest she was likely to get.

Gabriel had also had his eye on it, though he had planned to take it several months from now, but he supposed there was some benefit to being spontaneous. Risoti was also interested, though it was not the girlish enthusiasm that Erilur had.

Nish was not a big fan but agreed when Gabriel explained that there was no requirement to touch the water. Pista was just happy to see Gabriel again, she sat on his lap as the train doors closed, and a voice called, “the train will now be departing; please step away from the platform.”

“Never travelled by maglev before,” Gabriel said, as electricity flowed through the tracks and the entire vehicle began to float a few centimetres off the ground. Then the train started to move, and they were off.

“Never?” asked Risoti, looking out the window as the platform vanished from view.

“I don’t really get out much back home,” Gabriel replied as he watched the platform and Reshu become smaller and smaller.

“We’re going to the beach,” Pista said for the twentieth time.

No one replied, but Gabriel did pat her head as the train approached 200mph. It was a remarkably smooth ride, and if Gabriel closed his eyes, it did not feel as though they were moving at all.

“Out of curiosity, what are you going to do with the fat wad of cash you two were given?” asked Erilur, as even at 200mph, it would still be a couple of hours before they reached Opelus Bay.

“Into my credit union savings account, and not touch it for the next seven decades,” replied Gabriel without a moment's hesitation.

“That’s it!” Erilur exclaimed; she knew Gabriel was milquetoast, but that was something else. “Don’t you have any hobbies?” asked Erilur.

Gabriel shook his head, and Erilur took that for a no, “I like you Erilur, but I am not writing you a check.”

Erilur hissed before saying, “I’m not asking for money; it’s just… saving it is a good idea, but most people would spend at least some of it.”

“I am not most people,” said Gabriel, his tone flatter than usual.

This conversation was going nowhere, and while it did give Erilur a little more insight into how Gabriel thought, it was not as revealing as Erilur would like.

“What about you Nish?” asked Risoti, who, unlike Erilur, felt it made all too much sense to save every penny and found herself envious of Gabriel, wishing she had such fortitude not to splurge like that.

“Pista share is going into a savings bond; as for me, I’m still thinking about it. I might get a new car or maybe that personal lab I’ve had my eyes on,” replied Nish. “Oh, and I’ve extended our stay here by another two weeks,” she added.

“You can just do that?” asked Gabriel, surprised because regular F.T.L. communication was limited. You needed to rely on courier ships. So any discourse between Nish and Tusreshin university would take a week at best.

“Yeah, I hadn’t planned to spend my entire sabbatical here, and I still won't, but I can extend it; I’ll still have over three hundred days left when I get home,” Nish said.

“What about Pista? How did you get her out of school?” asked Erilur, pointing at the girl.

“She’s on mid-year break; we’ll be back long before she needs to return to school,” explained Nish.

Once prompted, Pista spent much of the journey telling everyone about her friends. While it might not have been the most exciting topic, considering the little Tufanda repeated herself constantly, they had nothing better to do. To Pista’s credit, it did eat up the hours.

***

Stepping off the platform and into the bustling seaside town of Opelus Bay, unlike the city, this place had been designed like an old fishing town. Brick buildings with slate roofs no higher than three stories dotted a large section of the coast.

Gabriel’s sense of smell was limited in his suit; even so, he could still detect the scent of the ocean. It brought back memories, some of them even good.

“Let’s get settled into our accommodation, and then we can look around town,” Gabriel said, checking his P.D.A. for directions.

“You got all this booked in under an hour and at such short notice,” Risoti said, pushing air through her teeth. She knew Gabriel's V.I.P status made it possible, and while it was nice to benefit from it, it still seemed unfair to her.

Gabriel just shrugged; it was of little concern to him. The only people using anything he had booked would be the tourists. The locals could just use their boats, and looking into the harbour, just about every resident owned a boat.

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Walking along the seafront, he saw several children piloting their own vehicles, completely unsupervised. “Saltwater must run in their blood… or whatever they have running through their bodies,” thought Gabriel.

Opelus Bay was evidently a popular destination, judging by how thick the crowd was. Even more so than Reshu city. Gabriel began to regret his choice and wished he had selected a less popular town.

What made it all the more difficult was the relative shortness of their group. Risoti was the tallest amongst them, just shy of two metres, and she was dwarfed by the numerous aliens that surrounded them.

“Where’s Pista?” asked Nish when she realised the girl had stopped holding her hand; Gabriel checked his hands and noticed the girl was absent. Everyone stopped in their tracks and began to search the area.

A task made all the more difficult because of the aforementioned crowd. Gabriel was getting close to shoving people out of the way when Erilur pointed out, “she kept going on about the beach, so maybe she’s there.”

Given a goal, Gabriel headed towards the beach, and the others followed behind; Erilur, Nish and Risoti asked everyone to please move out of the way, saying they were missing a child. Gabriel, on the other hand, was not so gracious.

While he did not shove or harm anyone, Gabriel would physically make them if they failed to get out of the way. The tourists might have been offended if they were not amazed as this tiny alien moved them effortlessly, even picking some up and placing them elsewhere.

The beach was crowded, and Gabriel knew this would be difficult.

“We should split up. If any of us find her, call the others, and we’ll meet up at the dessert shack,” Erilur said, pointing at a large building with a large sugar treat with big eyes and a smiley face. It stood out; Gabriel could not fault it on that front.

“You need to keep your eyes peeled; when they’re separated from their families or carers, kids tend to move about a lot looking for them, so move slowly, scanning everything you see,” Risoti explained. “Also, if you have anything that will make you stand out from the crowd, do it. Nish, I think you should flap your wings every so often; that should really stand out to her,” she added.

That was an embarrassing thing to do, but if it helped, Nish would do it. It was decided that Risoti would continue in the direction they were headed on the seafront. Nish and Erilur would walk toward the ocean and then walk in opposite directions. Gabriel would backtrack the way they came.

***

Gabriel was beginning to think that maybe Pista had never gone to the beach; after all, it had been an hour, and he had seen neither hide nor hair of the girl.

He checked his P.D.A. for a missed call for the fiftieth time, but he heard a familiar noise, that telltale buzzing.

His head swung wildly from side to side, looking for wherever the sound had come from, and just when Gabriel started to wonder if he had imagined it. There she was, quietly sobbing as three other Tufanda attempted to comfort her.

Gabriel had to double-check it was her. As much as he hated to admit it, Tufanda had very few differences that the human mind could differentiate.

After being sure he was right, Gabriel called out, “Pista.”

The girl immediately turned, saw Gabriel and began bounding towards him. Leaping into his arms, much the same way she had done at the hospital, Gabriel said, “you’ve given us quite the scare, young lady.”

Pulling Pista away from him, Gabriel asked as calmly as he could, “What happened? Why did you run off?”

Pista reached into her pocket to produce Erilur’s P.D.A. “She dropped it,” Pista explained, a hum in her voice.

Like Risoti had said, Pista had not sat idle during her first taste of independence. Once Erilur’s P.D.A. had fallen from her pocket, it had been kicked to the beach by some absent-minded tourist.

Pista had immediately gone after it, and despite a three-metre drop, Pista had used her wings to land on the sand safely. It was after she had looked up at the seafront that the Tufanda had begun to panic.

She had climbed back up only to find no space to move and returned to the beach. Pista then wandered aimlessly, hoping she would run into her mother, Gabriel, or anyone else she knew.

It was then that she had bumped into the Tufanda family, biologically predisposed to know when one of their kind was in distress. They had been attempting to get Pista to tell them what was wrong when Gabriel had bumped into them.

If what Nish had told Gabriel about Tufanda family structure was anything to go by, this was a mother on holiday with her two children. He’d gotten fortunate with this, Pista signs of distress were so subtle that no one else could even tell she had been upset.

“Thank you for looking after her,” Gabriel said as he pulled out his P.D.A. and called the others.

As the call went through to Nish, the largest of the Tufanda said, “don’t mention it.”

Gabriel could feel the tension release from Nish over the phone. She attempted to barrage Gabriel with questions, but he explained that it would probably be best if they all spoke face-to-face. He also mentioned that it would probably be some wait before Erilur returned.

He supposed Nish was not thrilled by the suggestion, as she wanted answers now, but accepted it nonetheless.

“Come on, you, let’s get you back to mummy,” Gabriel said, holding out his hand, which Pista happily took.

Gabriel looked back at the Tufanda family once more and said, “thanks again.” After giving a slight bow, he headed straight for the sweetshop Erilur had said was the rendevous point.

Had Gabriel been paying more attention to the Tufanda family as he left and not on getting ahold of Risoti, he would have heard the youngest say, “that girl’s got the freakiest looking dad I’ve ever seen.”

***

Nish groaned before saying, “you did the right thing, but you should have said, “Erilur, you dropped your P.D.A,” not just run off on your own.”

“When I looked back up, you were gone,” Pista replied, licking the frozen treat Gabriel had bought for her. Or rather, Pista was trying her best; a Tufanda’s tongue was only used to swallow food already in the mouth; it played no part in speech. As a result, it was not very mobile, and Pista placed the entire ice lolly in her mouth, rasped it a few times, and removed it.

“I hope Erilur’s alright,” Risoti said, gazing over the sea of faces hoping to spot just a glimpse of her sweetheart.

“In this climate and gravity, she could search for days,” replied Gabriel, who, despite what he had just said, was also keeping an eye out for the Ponut’Kild.

“What you all looking at,” Erilur almost shouted after gazing at the beach herself for a few seconds. Gabriel nearly leapt out of his skin; she had done it right next to his ear.

“Sorry,” Erilur said, chuckling slightly; Gabriel’s panic quickly vanished once he realised he was in no danger, and he realised something, “you know, we both laugh when we find something amusing.”

“Oh yeah, quite the coinkidink,” replied Erilur. Evolution was indeed a lazy thing.

“That’s not really important, though. I’ve lost my….” Erilur said, but Pista offered her the P.D.A she had been keeping safe.

“You dropped it,” Pista explained.

Erilur took it and said, “thank you.” Pista hummed with joy at the praise.

***

Gabriel was enjoying the sunset; it was something magical, even as it was wholely mundane. Nish sat beside him, with Pista quietly napping on top of her. Erilur and Risoti were out, having an impromptu date before tomorrow's sea voyage.

“Are sunsets like this on Earth?” asked Nish, keeping her voice down so she did not wake her daughter.

“More or less, though no gas giant is hanging over our heads,” replied Gabriel taking a sip from his drink, a weak alcoholic beverage that made a shandy look like hard liquor.

“It sounds frightening to me, no planet above, keeping your world safe,” said Nish, looking up at Illohu.

“I feel the opposite; having that big world there, I can’t help but feel like it will just swallow Minagerad whole,” stated Gabriel, following Nish’s gaze.

Nish rapped her fingers against her chair’s arm before asking, “Is it difficult being what you are?”

Gabriel looked at her and took a few moments to parse what she was asking, but he came up blank and replied, “I am not sure what you mean.”

“A deathworlder, you constantly seem on edge, always looking over your shoulder. I saw how you reacted when Erilur returned; it looked like you were ready to rip her head off,” explained Nish, considering how fluid her question was; she had clearly been thinking about this for a while.

“Oh, you mean when she startled me,” Gabriel said, leaning back in his chair, “happens all the time; loud noises, sudden movements, trigger the reflex.”

“Why?” asked Nish; she could not fathom why anyone would need such a behaviour.

“Well, it could be a lion leaping to attack you, or a leopard, or a hyena, an elephant, a hippo, a rhino, a crocodile, a buffalo, a wolf, a bear, a falling tree, a landslide or any number of hazardous animals or events,” Gabriel explained. “Any human that did not have the response died.”

“Though I will admit it has lost much of its use now,” he added, taking another sip. “On the other hand, I suppose if I ever found myself lost in the wilderness, it would come in handy.”

“So, to answer your question, yes, but no more difficult than it is for you to be a Tufanda,” explained Gabriel. “To be honest, I am a little jealous. Just about every human wants to fly.”

Nish trilled; she did not know why but she found it quite funny that a deathworlder was envious of her.

The two sat in silence as the sun dipped below the horizon, and as it vanished and only the last glow of orange was visible, Nish said, “You know, I’ve never actually sat down and watched the sunset. I can’t believe I’ve waited this long.”

Gabriel had been the one to suggest it, and Nish was glad that he had, “do you often watch the sunset?” she asked.

“At least once a month,” Gabriel replied, “I watch it with my sister.”

“You must be very close,” said Nish, watching the last glow vanish and night settle on Minagerad.

“Yes, we’ve been through a lot, her and me,” he explained.

“Why didn’t she come with you?” asked Nish absentmindedly, gently stroking Pista’s head.

“She… could not come, though I believe she wanted to,” explained Gabriel, looking into his drink.

Nish shivered as a cool sea breeze washed over them. “I’m going to have to cut this short, Gabriel before this one catches a cold,” Nish said, giving her daughter a gentle squeeze.

“Not a problem, Nish; good night,” Gabriel said.

Gabriel watched the two leave the balcony, and once they were gone, he looked up at the sky. It was partially cloudy, but Gabriel could spot a few stars.

“What are you doing? Gabriel, me old fruit bat, you know better than this,” he muttered to himself, gently rubbing his locket as best he could through the suit.