A sharp rap on the door followed by Griffin's voice startled me. I pulled away from Ríona and called out to him.

     "Griffin come in."

     Leaving the sunny day behind I pushed aside the curtains and entered my room again. I felt Ríona behind me.

     Griffin looked like he hadn't slept all night. His hair stuck up in all directions like he'd been constantly running his hands through it. Dark bags had appeared under his eyes making him gain years of age. Like me, he still wore yesterday's clothes. Wrinkles criss crossed the fabric and he'd rolled up his sleeves.

     He started upon seeing Ríona and inclined his head.

     "My lady," his voice sounding as tried as the rest of him.

     Surprised, I shot Ríona a questioning look but she ducked her head and avoided it. Not for the first time that morning I wondered who she was.

     "I really must be going," Ríona gathered her robes in her hands and started for the door. Reaching it, she looked back. "Thank you for talking with me Nova."

     Before I could say anything in return, she disappeared. The click of the door shutting was the only indication she'd been here.

     I turned my attention back to Griffin. He ran his hand through his hair again and ever so slightly swayed.

     "Are you alright?" I asked moving towards him, my hands outstretched.

     He slowly nodded. "I'm just a little tired. I've been up all night with the Council. They want to try the procedure today."

     "Today? But we just got here," I said. "Isn't it too soon?"

     "Well no. You have to realize they've been working to perfect the procedure ever since we left Earth a couple of months ago."

     I drew a deep breath. I hadn't thought it would have come so soon.

     "Don't worry Nova," a small smile graced Griffin's lips. "They've got the best equipment and the best scientists here. You'll be fine. I promise."

      "You promise?" I bit my lip hoping to stop its shaking.

     "What do the humans say? Pinky promise?" Griffin held out his hand, all fingers clenched but the pinky.

      I let out a choked laugh and a small pain in my chest eased. "Yeah that's what we say."

     I caught his pinky with mine and squeezed. It was almost enough to ease my doubt and worry.

     But while those feelings subsided, others took their place. A pang of homesickness struck me. I looked at Griffin's and I's hands and they reminded me of Ali. Ali and I would always pinky promise on everything. From not telling secrets to never leaving the other alone in life. You know how best friends are. We'd made that promise years ago and always upheld it. Even when she went on vacation we'd always be in touch. We'd never gone a day without talking.

     That streak was broken now. The last time I'd seen her had been months ago and I missed her. I wondered if she missed me too. Or, I wondered, had she forgotten about me in the invasion of Earth. By now I was sure everyone had stopped looking for me and Blaze. Wait, Blaze.

     "Where's Blaze?" I burst out dropping my hand from Griffin's.

     A shadow crossed his face but it was gone before I could really register it.

     "He's still on Val's ship. They haven't offloaded everything."

     "Is he going to be alright?" I asked guilty I hadn't thought to ask sooner.

     "Probably," Griffin shrugged.

     "What do you mean probably?"

     "I mean that won't kill him intentionally. He's the only human they've got and they wouldn't want to risk permanent damage with their tests. But there's always a danger in science."

     "So you're saying there's a chance he'll die?" I sputtered.

     "Yeah," Griffin said.

     "I can't believe that," I shook my head and sunk down into a loveseat.

     "Theres not much we can do," a hint of sympathy laced Griffin's voice.

     "Great," I muttered. "Thats just great."

     Griffin rubbed his eyes, the bags under them seemed to stand out even more. When he opened them, they were glazed over.

     "Do you still have it?"

     I could feel the conversation changing. It flowed away from Blaze and towards my upcoming procedure again. Without having to ask what Griffin referred too, I reached into my pocket and drew out the purple cube.

     "Good," Griffin turned and headed for the door. "Take a bath, it'll help you relax. When you're done there's clean clothes in there."

     He pointed to a dresser standing near the bed. "I'll come get you when they're ready."

     Griffin had reached the door, his hand rested on the doorknob. He turned like he wanted to say something but thought better of it. With a soft click and a rustle of footsteps, he was gone just like Ríona.

     Taking a deep breath, I stood and walked to the only door in the room I hadn't used. Pushing it open, a soft light spilled over me. It was tinged golden but so was everything else in the room.

     I took a step forward and found, much to my surprise, the marble floor to be warm. I took another step forward and then another until I could shut the door behind me. Filled with curiosity, I continued farther into the room. Along the walls hung racks and shelves all filled with fluffy towels and bottles of various colors and liquids. I grabbed a light pink towel as I walked and fought the overwhelming urge to bury my face in it. It's softness put all other towels I'd ever used to shame.

     At the opposite end of the room the marble rose up to form steps. Mounting them I found a raised bathtub. But to call it a bathtub was an understatement. It more closely resembled a small pool. Like the rest of the room it was made of golden tinged marble and directly in front of me, a set of small steps led into it.

     I set the towel down on the edge and began to look for a way to fill the pool. Several minutes of searching offered nothing until I stepped back and saw the small screen built into the wall.

     I ran my fingers over it like I'd seen Griffin do with others. Instantly green lettering appeared on the screen and organized into a menu.

     "Damn," I breathed. "Where have you been all my life?"

     I skimmed through the menu selecting a hot bath with some sort of scent mixed in. I wasn't quite sure. On the menu the scents had been listed in different colors. I'd chosen purple and hoped it smelled good.

     Finishing up my selection, I stepped back and almost instantaneously water began to pour down the sides of the pool. I left the pool to fill up and went to grab some of the bottles I'd seen on the way in.

     Based on the contents I determined them to be bottles of soap, shampoo, conditioner, and lotion or at least what Andromedic's considered basic hygiene necessities.

     By the time I made my way back to the pool, it had filled up. Steam curled off the surface of the glassy smooth water and a delicate scent, similar to warm lavender hung around the bath.

     Stripping, I piled my dirty clothes next to the pool and stepped in. An audible sigh escaped me and I swear I felt a weight left off my shoulders. The water lapped against my skin both burning and relaxing at the same time. Closing my eyes, I stepped off the last step and dropped. The water closed over my head and held me in a warm embrace. I felt content to float there until the burning in my lunges prompted me to resurface.

     The water streamed down my face and I shook the hair out of my eyes before kicking to where I'd left the bottles.

     Soon my hair floated on the surface of the water clean and shining. I'd rubbed my skin raw and red to wash away the sweat and dust that clung to me. After months of lukewarm, five minutes showers on board Val's ship, the bath felt like heaven.

     I could have stayed forever in there with the water gently caressing my body and pulling all the stress from it but in time it began to lose its warmth and my fingers gained a wrinkly look.

     I wrapped the pink towel around my body like a dress and descended the steps. Behind me the sucking noise of water draining started up. I left the room before it ended.

In the dresser, I found a comfortable, pale grey tank top and a pair of black pants. The pants felt like jeans to the touch but they melded to my body when pulled on. I ran my hands over them and felt where they hugged my curves. I knew girls that would pay a pretty penny for a pair of these.

My hair began to drip so I toweled it off and shook it out. The wet strands slapped against my bare arms.

Returning to the bathroom, I pulled the purple cube from my pocket. Something brushed my hand while doing so and I pulled out the knife I'd discovered on Val's ship. A small laugh escaped me. Here I was on an alien planet with incredibly advanced technology and I had a knife. The absurdity of the thought amused me.

"Nova," I heard Griffin's voice echo from outside the bathroom. "They're ready for you."

"Just a second," I called back.

I shoved the knife into my bra and gripped the cube until the corners bit into my palm. My heart beat a nervous tempo and I knew if I looked, I might see the vibrations through my skin. One shaky breath after another pushed me to the door.

"Are you ok?" Griffin asked as I exited the bathroom.

Not trusting my voice, I simply nodded. I felt that adding a smile might push my luck.

Despite my best efforts to hide it, Griffin sensed my anxiety. He opened his arms and without thinking, I flew into them. He held me for seemed like years. I buried my face in his chest and held my breath. I didn't want to shatter the last moment of peace we had. Griffin smelled like mint and freshly fallen rain and when we finally pulled apart, the scent lingered.

"We uh-we should get going," he cleared his throat.

"Then lead the way," I smiled sadly.

Griffin took me through hallways and down staircases more grade then anything I'd ever seen. And just when I thought we'd passed something so grade it couldn't be topped, along came another more impressive.

At some point we must have gone underground because all the natural light vanished and was replaced by large overhead lights. The halls grew smaller and sparser as well. The doors lining the halls began to remind me of the ones on Berkeley's ship.

Griffin stopped outside of one of the doors and turned to me. "Are you ready to finally get some answers?"

"More then anything in the world," I said and it was true. The questions that had been bouncing around in my head since day one would finally be put to rest and I would be a whole person again.

"It's right through there," Griffin motioned to the door in front of us. "I can't go in. They only want essential personal in the procedure room."

I bobbed my head up and down feeling the seed of panic bloom in my chest. No Griffin? What was I going to do? I guess I'd just assumed he would be there for me. But now he wasn't and I still had to go through with it.

Get ahold of yourself Nova. You've been through a lot recently. If you can't hold your own against a room of strangers then you need to reassess your life.

I chided myself and it somehow worked. Who knew giving yourself a pep talk actually worked? I always thought they were cheesy movie things.

Squaring my shoulders and not looking back at Griffin, I pulled the door open and stepped through. The room beyond looked like a carbon copy of the one I'd woken up in months earlier. Everything down to the last detail matched. The trays, screens, even the lighting. The one thing different about this room however was the people. While the room before had been nearly empty, this one was filled with moving bodies.

They stopped to stair at me when the door shut. I'd never felt more like a bug then in that moment. Ten pairs of violet eyes rested on me and as suddenly as the movement had stopped, it started up again.

A older man came forward and without speaking led me to the table and motioned me to lay back on it.

"Can I have it?" He asked, his voice soothing but businesslike.

I held up the purple cube and he whisked it away. As soon as it left my hand, I felt like I lost a piece of myself. It would soon be back, I had to remind myself.

My head had barely touched the table when another person, a lady this time, appeared on my right mask in hand.

     "I'm going to count down from ten."

     The mask settled over my mouth and nose and the lady began her counting.

     "Ten...nine...eight...seven..."

      The lights swam above me and my vision grew foggy.

     "Six...five...four...three..."

     My eyes closed, heavy with sleep and I barely heard the last two numbers before the world around me faded.

     "Two...one..."

     And I was undone.