Head In The Stars

I turned slowly.

The police officer standing behind me looked young and had his arms crossed as he glared at me, clearly was trying to look intimidating but it did nothing to me. I'd just spent all day with Aron.

"Actually," I started, pulling out my phone and pulling out a card from its inner cover, "I am. I work here."

I offered the card to the officer, and he took it.

His face broke into a smile.

"Oh! Lachlan Lok! They told us about you," he said. "We were going to contact you tomorrow to explain what's going on here."

He gave me back my card and I stowed it carefully away.

"What is going on here?"

The guy shrugged. "Dunno. I think this place is like a weather station, or something."

"...I meant, why are you here?"

The officer blushed. "Oh! God, that's so embarrassing. Uh, we're just cordoning off the place."

This guy…

"Because?" I asked, pretending that I hadn't heard what he'd said.

"Because of the trespassers! I heard they came in here waving around guns and everything!" He said this with hands gesturing each point. Then he paused. "Wait, weren't you here when it happened?"

"No, it was after work hours," I explained neatly. My supervisor may know my living situation, but I don't need to tell everyone.

"Oh, good point."

I shifted, putting my hands in my pockets. "So, no news about them? Why they came here…?"

"Nah, nothing yet. That's why we got all this," he said, using his chin to point out the metal boxes.

The reason seemed innocent enough but why turn up in the middle of the night? They were just trespassers, not wanted convicts. Was the matter really so urgent or was something else going on? I wondered if I could get any more information out of this guy…

"Who's 'we'?" I asked, trying to keep my tone natural.

"Just me and my partner," said the officer with a shrug. "The real team's coming tomorrow. Me and him are just here to secure the scene."

Secure the scene. Wasn't that a line more used in murder cases?

"So," the officer said smiling. "What are you doing here?"

There was something about the look in his eye that made me realise I may have underestimated him.

I quickly pointed to the kitchen. "I think I left an expired milk carton in the fridge. Don't want any researchers getting sick by accident," I said. I hoped this flimsy excuse was enough.

The officer nodded slowly. "Go ahead," he said. "I'll need to close up after you."

I gulped and went to the kitchen, the officer following behind me. I opened the fridge and grabbed a random carton. "Thanks," I said, giving the carton a little shake.

"No problem," he said. "Have a good night!"

I also wished him a good night and left as quick as I could without looking too suspicious, only letting myself breath again once I was outside with the shut door behind me.

I was clearly not made out to be a spy.

I looked at the carton in my hand. It still had a week to go before it expired and I wasn't too sure if the fridge in my van had space for it…

--

"Alright, thanks. You too."

I hung up and leaned against the body of the van. Millie sat on the bed with her legs sticking out the open door with a bag of bread.

"So?" she asked.

"My supervisor says that I have paid leave while the station is off limits," I summarised.

"Is that… a good thing?" she asked with her mouth full.

"It's better than unpaid leave," I said rather unhelpfully. I'd slept five hours tops and was in a bit of a mood. "Hey! Don't eat all of it!"

I grabbed the bag of bread away from Millie.

"You said I could eat it for breakfast!" Millie yelled back as she yanked the bag from me.

"I said some of it. Not the whole thing!"

We tussled and I managed to rescue my share of breakfast.

Growing up, I'd always wanted siblings. Now, I'm glad that never happened.

"So," began Millie and I eyed her warily. She smiled. "So now that you don't have a job, you can work for me."

I raised an eyebrow. "Oh? What are your rates?" I asked as I ate my squashed bread.

"Boundless satisfaction from having done a good deed," immediately replied Millie.

I said nothing.

"The goodwill of society for having helped a poor child," she offered.

"...Just how old are you supposed to be?"

"Two thousand and eight."

Eight years old then, got it.

I took another bite of my bread. "If I agree, what's your plan?"

"To research how to send a message into space," said Millie. She held out her hand. "Lend me your phone."

I push my phone down in my pocket. "I don't have much data," I said warily.

"How do you survive?" asked Millie. She sounded horrified.

"What, you don't even have a phone," I countered. "How do you survive?"

"I scrounge off other people. Obviously."

Shameless!

I finished the rest of my bread. "Is this how all aliens are?" I asked, side eyeing her. I got a glare for my troubles.

I sighed and brushed the crumbs from my hands then I pulled open the driver's side door.

"How about I take you to the library and you use the computer there?"

"Okay!"

I hoped I had enough fuel to get us down the mountain…

--

After a quick emergency refill at an overpriced petrol station, we arrived at the library. Finding parking was a pain.

The day was heating up and the sun was already glinting off of the large windows of the library. To the casual observer it may have looked more like an office building with its ceiling to floor glass paneling and large automatic doors.

"So, this is a library…" Millie murmured as we walked through the front door. The airconditioning gushes out to greet us.

"The original library was built over two decades ago, but it was renovated three years ago," I explained. "There are five storeys and a basement. The basement's new."

Millie eyed me. "You seem pretty familiar with this place," she said.

"Sure. I come here pretty often."

"Why?" She looked genuinely confused. Looked like someone needed some common sense taught to them.

"What do you mean 'why'? Libraries are great. Who wouldn't want to come to one?"

Millie didn't reply with words, only a stare, then walked away from me and toward the escalators going up.

"Hey," I called after her.

The public computers were on the first floor of the building in their own large area. There were rows and rows of them, each flat-screen monitor and tower combo sitting on their own little desk. The towers were all locked in cabinets under the table with a small slit near the top for people to stick in USB sticks.

I walked behind Millie as she looked for a spare computer. As I did, I looked over people's shoulders to see what they were doing. I'd assumed there'd be some students working on essays like back in my day, but I was wrong. Nearly every one was watching TV dramas or playing games or watching videos of people playing games.

Millie stopped at the end of the last row and turned back to look at me with a desperate expression.

All of the computers were taken.

"Don't worry," I said before Millie could voice her concerns. "We can book a timeslot at the front desk. Come on."

We rode the escalators back down to the ground floor. Millie sprinted to the front desk as soon as she could and I had to jog to keep up.

"I want a timeslot!" she announced as soon as she bumped into the counter.

The librarian jumped. She seemed to be a timid, mousy type of person, more content to be sorting books and reading than giving out customer service.

I grabbed Millie by the shoulders. "Millie! Manners!" I chided.

"Ugh…"

I gave the librarian an apologetic nod. "I'm sorry, my sister is…"

"It's alright," she replied with a vague smile. "We get all types here. A timeslot was it? For where?" She directed this question at Millie but the little girl was looking down at her shoes.

"For one of the computers. Anywhere is fine."

The woman tapped at her computer. "Ah yes, there's one free in half an hour. Could I have your ID card to make the booking?"

Millie looked up at me cautiously.

"Book it under my name," I said and got out my ID.

"Right away…" There was a bit more tapping and the printer next to the librarian jumped to life. "Alright. Half an hour. Here's the number of the computer," the librarian said, offering a small piece of paper with a large number printed on it. "And if someone's still using it you can just kick them off."

This librarian had more spunk than I thought.

"Alright, thank you."

I turned and started back towards the escalators. We still had half an hour to kill and there were five storeys worth of books. When I was about to step onto the moving steps I turned back to say something to Millie but found she wasn't there.

I stopped and looked around. Where had she escaped to this time…? Ah, she was still by the front desk.

I strolled back and caught the tailend of the conversation.

"I'm sorry for being rude before," said Millie.

"That's alright," the librarian said. "We all get excited sometimes."

Millie nodded and gave her a little wave then turned. She bristled when she saw me and walked past me to lead the way back up to the first floor.

"What do you want to look at?" I asked as we walked among the shelves and shelves of books. "Any areas of interest?"

Millie seemed a little stunned by the number of books and took a moment to reply. "Technological communication," she said.

"Uh, that's Science I guess. Should be this way…"

"Lead the way big bro!"

I glared at her and gave her head a tussle. Maybe siblings aren't so bad.

The shelves in the section I led Millie to were up to my waist so I crouched as I cast an eye over the book spines. I pulled a few off the shelf.

"Science For All Ages… Why Is The Earth Round? … and My First Radio," I read and offered them to Millie. "Something like that?"

Millie glared at me. Coldly.

"What?"

"Very funny," she said, her voice flat. "Take me to the Adult Science Section."

The Adult Science was on the third floor along with English Adult Fiction. Like every other library in the city, the English language fiction section was pitiful and was just slotted in where ever. There was hardly a soul around.

"I don't think I've ever come here," I said.

"I believe you," replied Millie, her neck a completely bent back. The shelves in the here were taller than me and they towered over Millie.

"Need help getting any of these down?"

Millie shook her head and grasped an especially thick volume with a blue cover. She, with some effort, flipped the book open, using another shelf as a support. I looked over her shoulder and found that while I could technically read each word, their meaning when put together completely eluded me. Could Millie really understand it?

I glanced at her. Her eyes moved across each line at a speed that suggested that, yes, she did.

I looked around and grabbed a nearby stool that staff use to reach the higher shelves and brought it over to Millie.

"Sit on here."

Millie said nothing but immediately obeyed, setting the large book on her lap.

"I'm going over to the Fiction section," I said. "If you need help reaching anything, just tell me."

I waited a moment but got no response. Millie had a hand on her chin, and her lips moved silently as she read.

I gave her a pat on the head.

"Happy researching."