“Cool. Come on in!” A door in the center of the car slid open, revealing half a dozen reclining seats, and Daven climbed in. Tiera stepped in after him, crouching awkwardly. The inside of the vehicle was about as tall as a large van on Earth, but that still wasn’t enough space to stand comfortably—at least not when you’re almost six feet tall like Tiera. There was no driver either, but that didn’t really surprise Tiera considering the other advanced technology she had seen since she got here.
The seats were arranged in two rows of three, and Daven was sitting in the front left seat, so Tiera chose the front right seat, leaving a seat in between them. She thought it would be awkward sitting right next to him—she didn’t want him to get the wrong idea.
“Oh!” Tiera’s seat choice reminded her to ask something. “Where are we going? And who am I going to live with—or will I live by myself?”
Daven looked forward as the vehicle started moving, then back at Tiera. “Well, I thought you could live with me. We’re supposed to have daily contact anyway, and I’ve got plenty of room at my apartment, so it wouldn’t be any trouble.”
Tiera recognized the phrase “daily contact.” I guess that makes Daven my guardian. But the thought of living with him filled Tiera’s mind with protests—most of which were in the voice of her mother—but she didn’t want to offend the man who just bailed her out of jail. “Um, thank you very much, but I’m not sure that’s going to work.”
“Why not?” Daven was half smiling, like he was waiting for a punch line.
“Nobody here thinks it’s—uh, suggestive if a single man and single woman are living together?”
“Suggestive? Suggestive of what?” Daven sounded completely serious.
Tiera sighed and took a moment to try to figure out how she was going to tell him. Living with him would definitely give him the wrong idea, but I don't want to drive him away either—he's the only nice guy I know here. Tiera couldn't begin to count the number of “nice guys” who stopped trying to befriend her the moment they realized she wasn't interested in romance. Ultimately, she decided it was best not to answer. Not directly, at least.
“Okay—it’s kind of just a cultural thing. Back on Earth—or at least in Utah—single people normally only have roommates of the same sex. It’s just a thing we do.” Tiera waited, hoping Daven wouldn’t ask any further questions.
“Oh, okay.” He frowned. “Would it be alright if you stayed at my place for just a night or two? It might take a few days to find other living arrangements for you. But I—I don’t want to offend you or anything.”
He seems just as nervous about offending me as I am of him, Tiera thought with a smile. “No, that’s fine!” she reassured him. “A day or two shouldn’t hurt.” Just don’t tell my mother.
“Good!” He sounded relieved. “So tell me: what is ‘Utah’?”
“A strange and wonderful land,” Tiera started, then proceeded to explain states, counties, and countries to this alien man. By the time they arrived at Daven’s apartment, Tiera learned that countries didn’t really exist here, unless you counted the different cultural styles of governance unique to each of the eight planets. All were ultimately ruled by Origin, however.
After stepping out of the car, Tiera took a good look around her. They were in front of a wide, three-story building, its pearly white glow reflecting off of the car in ribbons. The hill they were on overlooked what Tiera realized must be the university, though a large tree partly obscured her view.
“This looks like a nice neighborhood!” Tiera said as Daven stepped out of the car.
“It has a pretty nice view, yeah.” Daven seemed embarrassed about something, but the car distracted Tiera before she could ask why.
“It’s leaving? Isn’t it your car?” Tiera asked, watching the car and its red strip of light zoom away.
“Nobody on Faroa owns a car—you just use them when you need them,” Daven explained.
“Huh.” Tiera imagined how much easier her undergrad years at USU would have been if that’s how things worked on Earth. Though Logan isn’t that big of a city.
Daven and Tiera walked up the pathway toward Daven’s apartment building and climbed the stairs that wrapped around its side, passing both the first and second floor entrances before stopping at the third.
“This is it!” Daven’s embarrassed tone was back. Tiera got ready to compliment his home, however shabby it was, as Daven held his hand on the door. The area around his hand gently glowed as it (Tiera guessed) scanned his palm, and in almost the same instant the door slid open. Tiera expected to see a long hallway lined with the front doors of the other tenants, but she was shocked to see something entirely different.
The ceiling gradually brightened to a golden glow, illuminating the spacious apartment as Tiera and Daven stepped through the doorway. Tiera’s jaw dropped. This has to be the fanciest apartment I’ve ever seen!
“Is this normal?” Tiera exclaimed, taking in the vast, open floorplan. They had just stepped onto the tiled floor of the split-level entry, which seemed like a high dais that had carpeted steps leading down to the first floor’s living room. This living room, decorated with low, sinuous furniture, opened to some sort of parlor area—it was hard for Tiera to see from the door. To their left a crystalline staircase hugged the wall, curving up to the second floor. Tiera could see a few doors at the top of the stairs—probably marking bedrooms or offices or whatever other rooms they needed on this planet—and to the right of that was an open dining area and kitchen, extending toward the back of the apartment. This second level didn’t quite reach the wall on Tiera’s right, so it acted as a sort of balcony, overlooking the first floor.
“Uh,” Daven started, “I guess you could say my parents are pretty wealthy.” He then walked down the steps and into the living room to tap the wall on their right, and the entire expanse of wall from there to the back of the apartment metamorphosed into a window, providing a spectacular view of the glowing city no matter where you were in the apartment. Daven turned to look at Tiera, probably trying to gauge her reaction.
“And I thought the jail was luxurious!” she said, noticing the artistic little details in the staircase, the enticingly fluffy carpet, the shallow patterns carved into the wall to her left.
“It’s not meant to be a real jail, you know.” Daven rejoined Tiera and led her up the stairs as he talked.
“It’s not a real jail?” Tiera was confused.
“Well, it’s mostly used for rambunctious university students, and since most all of them come from wealthy families . . .”
“They get fancy jail cells,” Tiera finished for him. “So what does a real jail look like?”
“I’m not sure.” Daven and Tiera had stopped outside of one of the doors on the second floor. “I've seen images of the prison though.”
“The prison?”
Daven stared at Tiera for a second before he realized what she was asking. “Oh! There's only really one real prison, and it's on Hyran.”
“And you’ve never been to Hyran?”
“Nope. Interplanetary travel is expensive—even for rich people,” he added, laughing. “I’ve never really had a reason to go to Hyran. It’s not much of a tourist destination. Not unless you like being alone in the woods, at least.”
“Right,” Tiera said. I’ve got a lot to learn, even for casual conversation.
“Anyway, you can use this room until we find you somewhere else to stay,” Daven said, opening the door to a room about ten times as big as the cell she was kept in—and ten times as comfortable. The large, plush bed that sat low in the center of the room acted as a focal point, its navy blue bedding matching the dresser and the drapes on the wall.
Tiera walked over to the wall with the drapes, passing what looked like a bathroom and a closet. “You said ‘this room’—how many bedrooms are there?” she asked as she placed her hand on the wall. Sure enough, it became translucent, allowing her to see the same view that the rest of the house
afforded.
“Four,” Daven replied, nonchalant.
Tiera sighed at the sheer luxury of it all. “Well, thanks for letting me stay here!” was all she could think to say.
“Are you sure you don’t want to just live here? There’s plenty of room.”
Tiera looked around at the beautifully carved, crystalline cement that made up the bedroom walls as she sat down, sinking several inches into the bed. Will anywhere else be as nice as this? Tiera closed her eyes and couldn’t help but think of her mother—and of the family, friends, and home that she had no guarantee of seeing again.
“No, I think I should live somewhere else,” she finally said, turning to smile at Daven. “But thank you for offering. I’ll definitely visit you though, if you’ll have me.”
“Yeah! Of course!” Daven grinned back at her. “Anyway, I’ll let you get some sleep. There are towels in the bathroom, and if you get hungry, the kitchen is that way,” Daven pointed, “and I may not be home when you wake up, since I have class from 9 to 13.”
“Sounds good.” Tiera suddenly felt exhausted, but just as Daven turned to leave Tiera realized she had another question. “Daven? How many hours are in a day on this planet?”
Daven laughed, shaking his head. “That’s a pretty important question—there are 25. And we start counting in the middle of the night.” He fiddled with his smart glass, and “20:27” appeared in large black print on the wall opposite the window. “That should help.”
“Thanks.” That doesn’t sound too difficult. Tiera threw herself backward on the bed then closed her eyes. “And can you turn the light off?”
“Sure—I’ll enable your voice commands too. Anything else?”
“I don’t think so.” Tiera didn’t want to think anymore. “Good night!”
“Good night, Tiera. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Daven’s voice grew fainter as he walked away, and Tiera heard the whisper of her bedroom door as it slid closed.
“Window, opaque. Lights, off.” Tiera hardly opened her eyes to confirm that her voice commands were working as she slid under the covers. “And bed,” she hesitated, “warm?”
The bed heated up to a comfortable toastiness, and Tiera slipped peacefully into sleep.
Chapter 10
“These are probably your best options,” Daven said, using his smart glass to cast images of apartments and potential roommates onto the living room wall. He had just spent the last half hour combing through the city’s listings while Tiera watched. “Some of them do have conditions, however.”
Tiera leaned forward on the couch, her elbows on her knees, and took another bite of her toast. She couldn’t figure out how to use any of the kitchen appliances until Daven got home, and even then she could only think to make toast. Before that she had only eaten what didn’t need to be cooked—fruit, chips, granola, etc. Their bread here had a spongier consistency than Earth bread, but Tiera was still able to toast it under the broiler. I’m not sure I can enjoy living on a planet that doesn’t have toasters, Tiera thought to herself as she surveyed the housing options on the wall.
“What sort of conditions?” she asked.
“Well, some aren’t subsidized, so you’d have to pay rent. But most of the subsidized ones are only available to students, so you’d have to take classes.”
“‘Subsidized’? You mean if I take classes I could live in some of these for free?” Tiera studied the pictures more eagerly than before. Some looked like spacious college dorms, while others looked more like entire homes. None of them compared to Daven’s fancy apartment—but then, Tiera didn’t really expect any of them to.
“Yes,” Daven admitted, “basic needs and education are subsidized by the government. But the subsidized apartments aren’t very high quality. These ones are really nice though!” He gestured to the images of the homes. They were fully furnished, spacious, stylish—one of them even had a fountain in its living room.
“Right,” Tiera said carefully, not wanting to offend his taste, “but are any of those subsidized? I don’t have any income. And I’m not sure how hirable I am on a foreign planet—I don’t even know how long I’ll be here, so who knows if any employer will want me.” Tiera couldn’t imagine her political science degree would get her anywhere in another galaxy, and she really didn’t want to flip burgers—or whatever the Faroan equivalent of that was. “And they probably won’t keep me here for more than a few months, right? I probably shouldn’t settle in.”
“I could pay your rent until you figure that stuff out? Plus you’re probably better off planning on staying here for a while—I mean, you may leave really soon, but it’s better to be prepared, don’t you think?”
“No,” Tiera said immediately. She would only be here for a few months, and she couldn’t stand the thought of relying on Daven any more than she did—and she already felt bad enough for that. I don’t want to depend on anyone.
“Okay,” Daven said awkwardly.
“I mean, you’ve already done so much for me—and I’m extremely grateful—but I couldn’t possibly ask for more. Besides,” Tiera said, giving him a friendly pat on the shoulder, “I’ve got a lot to learn here, and I don’t have much time to learn it. I’d be better off taking classes, right? Maybe we could take a class or two together?”
“You plan on learning about wormhole generator programming?” Daven sounded skeptical. “Did you even know what wormholes were before you came here?”
“Yes!” Tiera said a bit too loudly. “I mean, our physicists have theories about them, but we haven’t ever generated one.”
“Huh.” Daven raised his eyebrows. “That’s further along than I would have thought, considering the wheels and combustibles. I’m impressed.”
Tiera decided to take that as a compliment. She was really just grateful the conversation was turning away from how long she should expect to be away from home. “How do your wormhole generators work, anyway? And feel free to give me the dumbed down explanation.”
Daven laughed. “Okay. First, tell me what you understand about wormholes.”
Tiera tried to remember the space documentaries she used to watch when she lived with her parents. “Well, it’s when two points in space and time converge. Everyone uses this example where you fold a piece of paper in half and punch a hole through it with a pencil—then two points that normally are nowhere near each other are suddenly connected. So wormholes are like that, but in three dimensions instead of two.”
“That’s a pretty good analogy!” Tiera wasn’t thrilled with Daven’s surprised tone. “I guess I’ll explain the rest—but it’s essentially magnetics and light. We create a spherical magnetic field that’s large enough for people or cargo to go through—”
“Cargo?” Tiera asked. “Were you bringing cargo to Earth?”
“No, but that’s how we trade between planets in our galaxy. Like how most of our galaxy’s produce comes from the farms on Gemis—we use wormholes to transport everything from planet to planet.”
“And to travel? So no space ships?”
“No space ships,” Daven said, grinning at the phrase. “Whenever I visit my family on Fugon I just go to the wormhole generator station—or WG station.”
“You mean you’re not from here?” Tiera asked, eying Daven’s hair. “I guess I just assumed that people who have a buzz cut were from Faroa.”
“Well,” Daven blushed, “typically they are. I just thought it would help me to blend in—to get the whole Faroa experience and all that.”
“It looks good!” Tiera said as soon as she noticed his embarrassment. “So light and magnets, huh?” She hoped to spare him any further embarrassment by changing the subject.
“Light and magnets,” Daven confirmed, taking the bait without hesitation. “We project the magnetic field to another point in spacetime, which we determine by using light waves.”
“So . . . ” Tiera tried to think of another question to keep the conversation going. “So you have to be able to see what point you
want to connect to using telescopes?”
“Kind of. We use the whole spectrum of light—like ultraviolet and infrared light—so we can connect points that aren’t visible to the naked eye.”
Tiera remembered something from the night she took Natalie to The Cheesecake Factory. “Is that why you used that flare when you were on Earth? The light? Did it have something to do with generating a wormhole?”
“Actually, yes! Our team was watching that spot, and the flare was a signal that we were ready to come back.”
A vague question started to form itself in Tiera’s mind—something she almost remembered from one of the space documentaries she used to watch. “I don’t remember exactly how this works, but, um . . . isn’t the light we see from stars from the past or something?”
“I think I know what you’re asking,” Daven said, leaning back on the couch. “It takes time for light to travel as far as it does, so when we look at stars we aren’t seeing them as they are now, but as they were millions of years ago.”
“Does that mean when you look at Earth from here, you really see its past?”
“Exactly.” Daven smiled at Tiera. “And since our WGs use light to create wormholes, where we are in spacetime is almost three million years into your planet’s future.” He paused, probably to let Tiera respond, but she was having a hard time wrapping her head around what he had just told her. After a moment, Daven continued, “You know, you’re pretty smart! You’d probably do well at one of Faroa City’s universities.”
“Thanks!” Tiera decided not to think too hard about being separated from Earth by almost three million lightyears. “So there are more universities here than just Faroa Technological University?”
“Of course! There’s Faroa University of Physical Sciences, Faroa Business University, Faroa University of the Arts, Faroa University of Humanities—”
“Humanities? Do they teach political science?” Maybe I can make something of myself here after all! And maybe if I’m more useful to them . . . maybe then they’ll let me go home. Tiera gave that sad thought a mental push to the background of her mind and tried to focus on her excitement for poli sci.
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