Encounters

Chapter Two

A few days later, Cassandra was home alone, trying to get an article finished by her deadline the next day. Mike was out at his poker game with the 'boys from the crew' and she was irritably glaring at the cursor on her laptop, wishing it would stop blinking at her and give her some ideas.

"Why," she grumbled, "do they want me to write about children's stuff. I don't have children, I don't want children, I don't even like children. Give these stupid assignments to people who wouldn't be bored out of their damn minds doing them!" She lurched out of her chair and paced the room, glaring at the laptop.

"I need caffeine." She turned towards the door just as a silver ball of light zipped into the room.

Cassandra said Amitiel's voice, I would like to speak to you.

Cassandra picked herself up from under the bed and looked at the hovering light, her eyebrows almost disappearing into her hair. The silver ball floated, pulsating gently.

"Ah - okay?"

The ball flashed so brightly that she had to shade her eyes, then Amitiel was there. He gave a half smile and raised one eyebrow at her. "You did say to ask."

"I didn't realise your question would take that form" she said, sinking onto the bed and trying to convince her heart that she was okay and it could stop trying to escape through her chest. "You people never heard of the telephone?"

Amitiel ignored this. "The Committee have requested your presence."

"What does that mean?" Cassandra frowned. "What's the Committee?"

"Those who decide whether your kind and my kind can learn from each other. If you are approved, you will be paired with one of us until we have learned all we need from you."

"Um. Paired?" asked Cassandra, imagining some kind of forced breeding program and millions of alien babies.

"'Pairing' merely means that our learning will not be interrupted" he clarified. "And you will only have to explain things once. Get your mind out of the gutter."

"I thought you weren't telepathic?"

"I am not. But I am a very good reader of people. And you blushed furiously."

Cassandra cleared her throat and looked away from his amused smirk. "When will they want to see me?"

Amitiel shrugged. "They will let you know." He was prowling around her room like a curious cat as they spoke. "What is this?" he asked, frowning.

"It's a print of a painting by Salvadore Dali. He's an artist. Or he was. It's called 'Soldier, Take Warning'."

"This is considered art?"

"It is by some" Cassandra replied, amused. Amitiel made a little disparaging noise. She watched him carefully lift a jewelled box from her dressing table and tilt it slightly to catch the light. "This is very pretty."

"It was my mother's. Dad gave it to her when they were courting. It's just coloured glass."

"Courting?" Amitiel turned quizzically to her. His white hair was a little tidier today and fell into his eyes in a rather carelessly elegant way.

"Yeah. You know. Dating. Going steady. Seeing each other."

With each word, Amitiel looked more and more bewildered. "They cannot see each other without giving gifts?"

"Not that kind of seeing" Cassandra chuckled. "When people find someone they like on this planet, they go out, spend time together. See a movie, go for dinner, talk. Go dancing. Well, they used to."