Twenty-five minutes later, she rushed into the cafeteria, feeling ridiculous.

The clothes had been delivered on time, and she'd put them on. They fit fine over her coolsuit and didn't look that odd for being worn over something else.

But, she had realized with horror, they did not match. The black top was a stretchy, casual thing, the kind of top one might even wear to bed. But the pants, also black, were formal wear, with a perfect crease down them and everything.

The wall of her small cabin became a mirror at her command, and examining herself, she felt ridiculous.

Well, she thought. He had asked her out. It was only fair he learn that she was a walking disaster of every sort, from fashion to general worldliness.

Telling herself that and trying to fight off the nervous jitters that made her want to ditch and stay hidden in her cabin, she headed to the cafeteria.

It wasn't really an option to blow him off, not on this small installation. Hell, it would be hard enough to do it on the Craton.

The cafeteria and its kitchen took up almost a full deck of the outpost, and seemed able to seat far more than was necessary for this mission. Rasulov was sitting far from the door, but waved to her immediately.

She counted about ten other people in here, but everyone was spread out. They'd have privacy, at least.

Hurrying over with the hope that too many others wouldn't notice how strangely she was dressed, she slid into the booth across from him.

"Hi, sorry if I'm late," she said quickly. She wasn't even sure if she was.

"No, you're fine, I was just early," Rasulov replied. He was looking at her outfit. "I didn't know you were going to dress up, I'm still in my work outfit."

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"Oh," she deadpanned. "Should I not have?"

"It's fine. I like your style, you remind me of . . ." he had to think a moment.

"An insane woman?"

He laughed. "I was going to say a beatnik."

"Were they insane women?"

He still seemed amused. "They were an artistic clique from the 20th century. They mostly wore black."

"Oh, well yeah - of course, that's what I was going for," she said.

He continued to smile at her clear joke, and she smiled back.

"You really are a unique person," he said.

"I thought I was just a weirdo."

"Sure, you can be that, too. But you're a likable weirdo."

To hear someone actually agree she was weird, yet turn it to a compliment - one that she felt was legitimately meant - both surprised and pleased her.

"To be honest, I didn't know if you'd agree to come to have a meal with me," Alisher said. "I thought you might be in a relationship with that priest from Gohhi."

"No, we're just friends," Apollonia said, feeling strange saying it. Were they just friends? She didn't know. He was a priest, though, did that mean anything?

She thought she could recall something about priests not being able to marry. But did that mean they couldn't date?

She let the thought go, trying to focus more on this moment. "He just helped me out on Gohhi after I got lost. I was out drinking with Jaya, and a fight broke out and we got separated . . ."

"Jaya? You mean Commander Yaepanaya?"

"Yeah. Most people just call her Jaya that I've seen."

Rasulov's eyes were wide. "Not us who are lower rank . . ."

"Oh," Apollonia said. She hesitated. "She's a nice person once you get to know her."

Alisher nodded, but seemed still thrown off.

"Is it so hard to believe?" Apollonia asked.

"It's not that. It's just that she's a hard taskmaster. I've served under her, she demands a lot. It makes it hard to imagine her being friendly."

"She does demand a lot, even in friendship," Apollonia agreed.

Alisher seemed to be digesting that, and started to eat his food, which looked to be just meat, potatoes, and onions.

It smelled nice, though, better than the cheeseburger she had ordered. Which, she realized as she bit into, she didn't actually like cheese on her burgers.

She didn't really know if she liked burgers at all, she realized. They were just a status food she ordered because she could.

Alisher seemed to notice the thoughtfulness on her face. "What are you thinking about?" he asked pleasantly.

She didn't want to admit that she had been thinking deeply on cheeseburgers. "Uh, just . . . nothing, really. Still kind of amazed to be on a new planet . . . eating a cheeseburger."

Well, the burger still managed to slip its way into the conversation, she thought, annoyed at herself.

"I've lost count of the worlds I've been on," Alisher said. "And sorry - I hope that doesn't sound like a brag. I just have a focus on planetary engineering."

"Like working on whole worlds?" Apollonia asked.

"If I pursued the field enough, yeah, but mostly engineering involved in a planetary gravity well. It's got distinct challenges from engineering in microgravity." He grinned, looking a little embarrassed. "But I'm sure you're not here just to hear me talk about engineering."

"It's actually neat, but kind of over my head. Buuuut I wouldn't mind hearing about these other worlds you've been to . . ." Apollonia said.

Alisher's chagrin turned to happiness. "Okay, so the coolest one was this place we called Weyon 6, it was an ice world with triple Earth gravity . . ."