text: The couple stood watching the sunrise. Though it was a beautiful sight, this was the saddest day of their lives. She hadn't meant to fall in love on this mission. This wasn't the first time she had lived undetected among a population. Molecular camouflage was a common trait among her people. This should've been routine work. Start with the field activity, debrief afterward, and then long periods of data entry. Checking, updating, verifying, and finally cataloging it all into an immense computer database. A database that always seemed to find that one question that wasn’t answered. So she would have to go back and re-enter everything before completion! What had happened to her? Perhaps it was the long space voyages or the endless hyperspace jumps. What about the lonely cryo-sleeps or all this paperwork? Or maybe it was the returning home to no one there waiting for her that finally made the difference... ******************************************* The man had to admit that the situation was intriguing. The first girl he was ever truly "head over heels" in love with was not a girl at all! When she told him that she was an alien and had to leave, he thought she was talking about immigration troubles. He kept his thoughts to himself. It didn't matter though, because she could read his mind. At first, he thought she was just so in tune with him until he found out she could actually read minds! This certainly wasn't the one to bring home to mother... ********************************************* How could this happen to her? This sort of thing does happen, in fact, there's an entire section on it in the academy. But this sort of thing only happens to first-year cadets. It didn't happen to decorated officers on the fast track to the admiralty! Before the mission, her crew had a good laugh at her expense. They had teased her about her freedom and lack of accountability except to the ship. Who's laughing now? What would happen when the extraction team arrived this evening? They would all be able to tell that she left part of herself on this planet. But what if she didn't leave? What if she stayed with him? Who says happiness is only found among the stars? ********************************************** She spoke for the first-time midmorning, "Are you sure your government knows about me?" She asked without looking him in the face. She already knew the answer. "I'm not sure," he began, "but I saw the black helicopters outside my office window again yesterday. And those strange men keep following me. But always ducking around corners before I get a good look at them." "I must be getting sloppy," she said. She had been on far more advanced planets than this rock and hadn't been discovered. This "love thing" really throws you off your game! She was glad he couldn't read her mind. If she was found out, the consequences were clear. There could be no evidence of her presence, living or dead. The mightiest weapons these people possessed were like children's toys back home. They would be no match for her. Yet, she needed to make sure it never came to that. Earth had potential but it still had a lot of growing up to do. Exposure to technology or knowledge before a planet was ready was dangerous. It had proved to be disastrous in too many sectors of the galaxy. Interference with underdeveloped cultures was not permitted. Well, that rule had been broken with their first kiss... ********************************************* He pondered the idea of leaving with her once again. She looked at him and shook her head sadly. He shrugged, accepting the fact that he could hide nothing from her. He had seriously considered leaving everything behind and going with her. Until that one day, she reverted to her natural state. She explained that she could breathe oxygen with little difficulty. But it was not a common element on her home world. He would have to stay encased in a spacesuit for the rest of his life away from earth! Never feeling her warm embrace again. They might as well be a billion miles apart... So, they had today. He took her to all the places he hoped she would remember about the earth, about him. They went to the zoo where she took an extreme interest in all the various species. Passersby no doubt thought she was taking selfies. What she was actually doing was digitizing genetic samples of each animal. She explained that should a catastrophic event end all life on this planet, she would be prepared. "It wouldn't be the first time I've had to repopulate a planet. Best to already have a copy of all the players, know what I mean?" She asked and he shuddered at the thought. They shared a hot dog in the park. He spent an hour explaining why this snack was different from the animals she saw playing in the park. The animals that everyone was frolicking around with and cleaning up after. She found earth customs very strange. ************************************************** The morning had turned to afternoon and the sun was high in the sky now. He exclaimed how exciting her life must be. Her mission: "to seek out new life and new civilizations." She told him it wasn't that glamourous. Traveling through space is slow and boring, even at light speed. She still finds herself speaking to her nav-computer like a small child. The same way she spoke to her father on that first trip to Alpha Centauri to see the supernova. He didn't get the reference, so she told him, "Are we there yet!" He comprehended. They truly were from different worlds. As afternoon became evening, they made no promises that she might someday return. They both understood. The chances of her returning to this sector of the galaxy within his short lifespan were, well, astronomical. As the sunset, he walked her to the rendezvous point near the lake. They said their goodbyes under the cover of darkness. Her ship erupted out of the water and he remembered what she had told him about hiding it in plain sight. He now hid behind a tree as her crew greeted her. She had explained that they would think nothing of eliminating him to keep their secret. He had promised he would never tell, and she had believed him. *********************************************** He could hear the approaching sirens and the helicopters as her ship ascended. At that speed, they would be out of the atmosphere in minutes. When the police arrived, accompanied by men in black suits and matching sunglasses, he was alone. He didn't run. He didn't even look longingly toward the sky anymore. He just stood still, smiling. Seeing the moon reflecting off the lake...