Head In The Stars

I flipped the paperback closed and slotted it back randomly on the shelf. I got pretty good grades in English at school but all that meant nothing now in the face of actual original English language novels.

I checked my watch. It was about time…

I found Millie sitting on the stool in the same place where I left her with a different book in her hands. Next to her was a pile of books.

"Find anything good?" I asked, crouching to take a peek at the title of her current read. A Survey of Theoretical Frameworks in Radar Astronomy.

"Huh?" Millie looked up. "Oh, it's you." She closed the book on her lap.

"Find anything?"

"A few are a bit outdated," she said, pointing a toe at the pile next to her, "but this one's showing promise. It has a good summary of recent research at the beginning."

I, as someone who has never done any scientific research since high school, nodded. "That's good. We, uh, can go get the computer now."

Millie brightened and jumped up from her stool.

--

"Nothing's happening. Is it broken?"

I patted Millie's shoulder. "Just be patient."

"I'm being patient…" mumbled Millie. She was sitting at the computer, hands on mouse and keyboard, staring at the screen, while I stood behind her. "Did it break?"

"No, just… be patient."

The computer beeped and clunked and fans in the machine whirred like it was threatening to take off.

"Why is it so slow?" asked Millie.

"It's old," I replied patiently. "You need to be understanding."

"Oh… so it's like you then…"

I considered giving her a knock on the head but the computer finally finished loading. In the cabinet I could hear the tower wheeze.

"Do you know what to click?" I asked, hoping for no more snide comments.

"Uh, this one?" Millie said, pointing at the screen with her finger.

"No, that's the Recycle Bin."

"This one?" She pointed at the icon next to it.

"No, that's… I don't actually know what that is. It's the one next to it," I quickly said before Millie could poke more fun at me.

Millie wrestled with the plastic white mouse that was likely older than her and clicked open the internet browser.

There was some more confusion as we jointly navigated the library's... 'retro' system. No, we didn't want to search the internal system for a book, no, we didn't need to print or fax anything, we just wanted to get onto the world wide web.

Finally, the system relinquished its reluctant grip and let us, or rather Millie, load up a search engine, something that Millie seemed infinitely more familiar with.

I grabbed an abandoned chair at the end of the row and towed it back next to Millie's table and sat down then I watched for a minute or two as she started her research then let my attention drift.

A lot had happened in the past few days, and I hadn't had a chance to think any of it over. In general, I didn't like to think about things, just liked to do what needed to be done, tire myself out, then sleep, but recent events were just too dramatic.

I glanced at Millie. Her gaze was fixed to the screen as her finger expertly scrolled with the mouse.

She can't remember certain things, has amnesia. Do I believe her? Initially, I didn't, but now I'm finding that I do. I don't have any evidence for it, just a feeling. And all the other weird things that have been piling up.

I still didn't know what those trespassers were about or why the police seem to care so much about it. Had my supervisor kicked up a fuss about it? That didn't seem like her.

And aliens. How could we forget the aliens.

That day I'd said that I didn't know what I thought but I only said that to be polite to Aron, really I sided with Kai on the topic. I just didn't think it would be possible to keep something as world shattering as aliens secret for any length of time.

I tried to think back to what Aron said but found I could only think about the man himself.

There was something odd about him that I couldn't quite shake.

Initially, I'd thought it was just my fear about meeting someone that I'd known from before, but now I was more certain of myself. There was something off about him, like there was the him that he showed the world, that the world believed to be him, but then underneath there was another him, floating just beneath the surface.

I don't believe myself to be the best judge of character, but I know to trust my instincts on things like this. I learned this the hard way.

I suddenly really wanted to be alone with my guitar and forget about everything else.

But instead, my phone exploded to life with the sweeping opening chords of Under Mount Fuji by Eason Chan. I jumped and it seemed like everyone in the entire library turned to look at me. Millie certainly did.

Stay there, I mouthed and rushed to find the nearest stairwell. Part of working at the weather station meant I had to answer any phone calls I got even if most of them turned out to be telemarketers. You never know when something important's going to turn up.

I stood in the corner of a stairwell, with the doors banging behind me, and pulled out my phone. It was a mobile number but not one I'd saved. I picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hello, this is Paili Kai," said the voice on the other end of the line. He needn't have added that last bit. I had clocked who it was from the first word.

"Good morning," I said.

"Uh, likewise."

There was a pause.

"Can I help you with something?" I ventured. Somehow Kai being awkward on the phone completely lined up with my image of him that it was uncanny.

"Oh, no, I mean, the meteorological station seems to be closed and…"

I hit myself on the head. "I'm so sorry," I apologised. "I forgot to tell you." Not that I'd been told to but, considering who else there was to tell him, I guess the responsibility did indeed fall on me. "The police have cordoned off the station for now. I'm not sure when they'll be done."

"Cordoned it off? What for?"

"Because of the trespassers. I guess."

"...Bit of an overaction, isn't it?" said Kai. That's what I thought, but I realised I should probably act more professional.

"I wouldn't know," I replied. Then a thought occurred to me. "Is this going to disrupt your research?"

"No," said Kai. "I've automated most of the data gathering already so I don't need to be on-site all the time."

That's so handy! Wish I could do that.

"Will this disrupt your work?" asked Kai. How considerate of him.

"No, I'm getting paid leave. It's not a bad deal considering," I replied.

"Oh, that's good…"

And, as usual, we lapse into silence.

"Was there, uh, anything else?" I asked.

"No, that's all," Kai replied.

"Alright. Well, I'll get going then," I said as I peered through the glass window in the door. I could just make out the top of Millie's head behind the computer.

"Oh."

"Bye then."

"Goodbye," I said and hung up. Something I like about talking to Kai is that it doesn't make me feel like the most awkward human on the planet.

I turned my phone onto vibrate mode then reached for the stairwell door.

"You seem like good friends."

I whirled around and came face to face with… Claire Chan. How had she gotten there without me noticing?

"Officer Chan!"

Claire smiled. "Please, just call me Claire, 'officer' feels so formal," she said.

"Right…," I started. "Are you following me?"

"Straight to the point, aren't you?" she said with a smile that looked innocent at first glance but seemed to hide something the more I saw it. "No, I must saw a familiar face and thought I'd say 'hello'." She folded her arms and tapped her chin. She had painted nails. "Speaking of which, how is Millie going?"

"Millie? She's doing fine," I replied. "Still bullying me."

"Really?" That seemed to intrigue the woman. "I look forward to meeting her. Oh, but you won't need to worry about looking after her for too much longer. Just a few more days, I estimate."

Just a few more days? "Did something happen?" I asked.

"I believe I've discovered where she comes from, but I still need to get a few details confirmed first. Best to be safe about these things."

"I see." That was… good news, I supposed. "Can I asked where she's from…?"

"Mm…" Claire looked to the side.

"If it's not convenient, then…" you don't need to tell me, was what I was going to say but Claire cut me off.

"You seem like a decent person, Lachlan, so I'll tell you." Claire unfolded her arms, suddenly formal. "Millie lives at the Solar Term. She's an orphan."