When they came I was in the balcony overlooking our garden.

 I was reading a book. What was the book's name? I can't remember.Maybe one of those dystopian romances that came out every month and which I used to purchase without a second thought. I was so engrossed in it that I did not see them coming. Let me add the fact that I was sitting wearing that summer shirt with flower print that Grandma had given me. It was unexpectedly hot and I was sweaty and barefooted.

They came in, one of whom a very handsome man with red hair that grew a little beyond his ears, he certainly looked like a Prince. It was funny that I noticed the other guy only second , a tall, tanned and well built man, about seven feet tall, he could barely accommodate himself in our house. He carried a gun that he took no care in hiding. Even the handsome man was carrying a weapon of some sort on his back.

"Are you Bob Downhill?" they asked me.

From the time of their arrival it was clear to me, that these men were no earthlings.They never looked that way. So it was no surprise that these people had no idea that Bob was a guy's name in this part of the world. Bob Downhill, my four year old brother was playing in the garden downstairs. Sitting in the balcony I could see his figure from the corner of my eyes.

Somebody is here to get you boy.

"Yes,I am Bob Downhill." I told them without flinching. 

"Your Uncle wants to meet you" the handsome guy said.  

"Pardon?"I did not quite catch that. 

"Your  uncle is Thomas Downhill, correct?" they asked me.

"Yes"

"He's been given the death sentence. Seeing you is his last wish."

 Now Tom Downhill was my father's youngest brother. A thirty year old adventurer, he was quite a handful. What has he gotten himself into now? A death sentence? And he wants to see my little brother? And not me? Well he is seeing me alright. 

"I'll come with you" I got up to fish out my shoes. But before I could even consider changing,the tall guy had taken me and before I knew it we were on the terrace boarding what looked like a space ship.

"What the... Excuse me, please tell me where we are going ?" I tried to be polite. I didn't want that gun pointed at me.Nevertheless in between, I wore those shoes that I had managed to grab. I had a phobia of being found dead barefooted. 

I could imagine the newspaper column, 

' unidentified dead body, 23 years, female,barefooted, wearing a red flower pattern shirt.. ' 

"You shall see him and then come back. That's all. This is the way of the Garhians. We allow last wishes."said the tall guy in a matter of fact way.

" Garhia? "I asked surprised.

" Yes in Messier 104. "said the read head. 

" You mean in Sombrero galaxy?"

Before they said yes the space ship or whatever that thing was had disappeared from planet earth as my carefree little half brother still played his stupid game in the garden. 

Looking from the windows I could see a thousand stars. I had been to outer space before but never been outside the galaxy. I felt a little excited. The space ship was large and I was left alone in a cabin. I tried to put things in place. It was true that uncle Tom fooled around in space. God only knew how many planets he had visited. So these people were the Garhians. I had certainly heard something about them. They were a very civilised race,and technologically somewhat more advanced than planet earth . But they did not have a democratic system. Their whole planet was one big empire ruled by a king. Unlike earth which was divided into several countries and rulers.

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 I sat back in one of the chairs. Wow! what a wonderful cushion it had. The Garhians had it easy. Personally I was glad they were the Garhians. With their technology they could have easily attacked planet earth but they did not. So they must be a peaceful race. What had uncle done to invite a death sentence from such wonderful people? Did he accidently kill a Garhian or something. Or try to run away with their princess? I was pondeing these thoughts when The red headed Garhian arrived. 

"So, your name is Bob?" 

He asked me looking me up and down .

"Yes." I told him. My name was Heidi. But I did not have to tell him that. No. I did not want to think about the consequences of lying to a Garhan. What if they were such a righteous race that they gave a death sentence to those who lied? Then uncle Tom's sentence could be explained. But then again uncle Tom had the habit of poking his head into everybody's business. 

 The Prince like looking man in front of me wore a dark blue suit with a beautiful white overcoat. His red hair was parted to the side and his bangs almost covered his dark green eyes. 

As for me, need I remind you that I was wearing that flower pattern loose shirt and loose pants that barely reached my ankles. I surprisingly did not feel any cold. 

"Are you by any chance a female?" The red haired asked me looking at me closely. I felt a little hurt. What was that.? Could it be that ladies in his planet did not wear pants? But it must have been my hair which was cropped to my ears. I had heard that Garhian ladies kept their hair long. Yes. That must be it. 

"Yes. I'm a female." I said. trying not to look hurt. 

"We do not handle males and females differently in our planet like in your uncivilised planet." the red hair explained. 

This meant that I would neither be given special treatment nor be discriminated against, because I was a lady. I liked that. But I felt ashamed that they thought of us as uncivilised.

" How is the climate right now in Garhia ?" I asked him innocently.Now I did not want to freeze to death there,wherever he was taking me. I was dressed in beach style. More like Grandpa goes to beach style.

It is spring there, you should be fine. He said. The more I conversed with this man, the more I realised how incredibly hot he was. He was sitting in a aloof way across me. The aura coming from him gave away the fact that he was a man of high status in Garhia. But he was keeping me, a prisoner's relative company. Why was he assigned to carry out this mission? I wondered. What kind of mistake has uncle committed this time?

So I asked him about my uncle's crime.

"You will hear about it from himself." He told me.He seemed to be deep in thought. 

"So what kind of job do you do on your planet?" he asked me. 

"Perhaps you might want to introduce yourself before you ask me such personal questions?"I retorted. 

He seemed to be taken aback. He seemed like he was used to people answering him.

" I'm Lyon the sixth Prince of Garhia." He told me.

Ah my instincts were right. He was a Prince. But what was the Prince doing carrying out such missions.?

As if he read my thoughts he told me,

"I'm in charge of the Queen mother's affairs. So I was particularly curious about this case." 

Okay so my uncle had committed an offence against the Queen. Great! So, should I Bury my uncle in Garhia or bring his dead body with me to earth.? I wondered.

"So what is your job?"  This guy sure was curious. 

" I'm training to be a police officer." I told him.

He seemed surprised. He must have thought that I did not look like it physically. Police officers on his planet must have been like that tall muscular man.

"So you have a job" . I heard him say. What was that? Was he trying to mock me? . This Prince had a bad first impression about me. This I could say.

I heard something like an announcement. The spaceship was gong to land. Woah. They just crossed 30 million light years in 30 earth minutes. Spaceships made in earth would take 3 or 4 days. They were indeed more advanced than us.  

" Wear this" the Prince handed to me what looked like an earring. It was a translator. He was also wearing one of those. I was thankful to him. I hadn't had time to take the one back at home. .I knew very little Garhian. Just enough to say yes no etc.They taught these in school. How to say yes / no in several alien languages... 

The ship landed. And I got out along with the Prince and the tall man with the gun. This was my first time going to another inhabited planet. I had spent all my money for college and had no money for travel.But I knew I was not on vacation here. I was here to witness my uncle's hanging and bring his dead body back.