Page 49 of Concluded
Achilles slowly sat and stretched, then ran a hand along his cheek and grimaced.“I need a shave.”
“There are razors in the bathroom.You know, I never grow a beard or mustache.I always assumed it was another weird biological tic—I have several—but now I wonder if it’s a genie thing.”
“We can ask Diana Afolabi to research it.”
Dee scoffed.“I think she probably has more important things to worry about than genie facial hair.”
Achilles’ grin made him look years younger.“She can add it to her list for later.”
The rest of the day was spent mostly relaxing and eating healthy snacks.They found a deck of cards and played for a while, but since Dee always won, Achilles eventually abandoned the game, laughing.One of the aliens brought a totally random selection of paperbacks.Achilles dipped into parts of, variously, a murder mystery set on a cruise ship, a romance between a starship captain and an android, and the autobiography of an actress neither of them had heard of.Dee, meanwhile, worked his way steadily through a collection of Greek tragedies.Sometimes the two of them simply chatted about unimportant things that nonetheless mattered a lot: their favorite foods, places they’d visited, books and movies they’d enjoyed.
As days went, it was entirely unremarkable.And if Dee had been given the chance, he would have wished for it to last for a month.
An hour or so after sundown, two of the aliens arrived and led Dee and Achilles outside.“What’s happening?”Dee whispered to Achilles, worried, although their hosts seemed happy and relaxed.
“No idea.”
Together they walked about a hundred yards into the desert, their footsteps muffled by the soft soil.There was no moon tonight and no artificial lights, but the aliens could apparently see just fine and made sure that Dee and Achilles stayed close.
When they stopped, one of the aliens pointed up.
Dee gasped.“The stars!”Maybe it was a dumb thing to say, but it was all that he could manage.With no clouds, haze, or light pollution, the glitter of the night sky was breathtaking.There was the long, speckled streak that he assumed was the Milky Way, and for the first time he understood how the galaxy got its name.
He’d seen stars before, of course.But he’d rarely been anywhere that granted a view like this.And, well, he hardly ever looked up.What a loss if he’d died before having this experience!It made him feel infinitely small yet at the same time larger than life.Because nowhere in all this immensity was there anyone else exactly like him.Somehow it helped him believe what the Bureau had been telling him: everyone mattered.
“Beautiful,” said Achilles, followed by something in what must have been Greek.
One of the aliens said something in her own language and then pointed one clawed finger at a spot near the periphery of the Milky Way.
“Your home?”Achilles asked softly, and when she cocked her head, repeated, “Home?”Then he gestured toward the building where they’d been staying before directing his own finger in the same direction she did.“Home?”he said again.
She smiled and said something that was pretty close to “home” only with more fangs.Her expression turned somber after that, and she moved her hands in a way that suggested something exploding.Her companion made a low ululating sound that was especially mournful under the vast sky.
For several minutes, they all stood silently, a tiny memorial service for a lost planet.
“Hey, Dee?Do you think I could have a small wish on their behalf?I don’t want to drain your battery, but?—”
“Yes.Go ahead.”
Achilles bent, picked up a small jagged stone, and handed it to Dee.“I wish for something small but meaningful to our hosts.Something to remind them of home.Is that too vague?”
Dee, who was already working on it, shook his head.The familiar tingle danced through his nervous system, making his heart race and skin flush, making his cock hard, to be honest.He wondered whether the aliens or Achilles could see that in the darkness but then decided he didn’t care.He was smiling when he returned the stone to Achilles.
Achilles repeated his wish right away.Nothing happened, except that the stone crumbled to dust and Achilles brushed off his hands.He looked around expectantly, which made Dee realize that Achillestrustedhim.Expected that he’d be able to accomplish things.
Dee himself was feeling doubtful, however, and was about to trudge unhappily back to the building.If he couldn’t even do this much, how could he possibly help to save the prisoner in the black hole?But after only two steps, he nearly tripped over something, and when he stopped to peer at it, he saw… a potted plant?
He couldn’t see details very well, but the plant didn’t look familiar.He picked up the pot and held it toward the aliens.“Uh, is this yours?”
They came closer to inspect it and then hissed in surprise.They spoke to each other very fast, with evident excitement, before bursting into what sounded like a celebratory song.The female took the pot and cradled it in her arms as if it were a baby.“Home!”she exclaimed.
This felt good.
When they were alone again in their borrowed room, Achilles set a hand on Dee’s shoulder.“That was a nice thing you did for them.”
“It was your wish.”
“Which would have been useless without you.”
