Vex offers to head to the campfire first, to get us some clothing. He’s about to go naked, but I suggest he at least put on what’s left of his pants.

He comes back only a moment later, smiling and holding some yellow robes. “These are for us,” he says. “I hope you like yellow.”

“It’s not exactly my style,” I say. “But beggars can’t be choosers, right?”

“It’s a shame to cover up your body like that,” says Vex, making me blush.

A minute later, after figuring out how to dress in the robes, we’re both decked out just like Aisha and her friends.

“This is bound to give the general a shock,” says Vex.

I laugh. “We look more like we’re about to sit down and start meditating than like we’re going to go into battle, blasters blazing.”

Vex leads the way to the campfire, where Aisha offers us some more of the delicious food. Somehow, the taste seems to have grown on me overnight. Maybe it’s the effect of this strange and interesting planet, where everything seems almost magical, vaguely spiritual. The food is completely delicious, even though I still don’t know what it is I’m eating. It seems to taste spicy, sweet, salty—all at once, along with a host of other flavors.

We drink tea quietly, almost in silence, only saying a few words to each other here and there. But Vex and I exchange a few amorous glances that we both know are references to last night… the most incredible sex I’ve ever had or ever even thought about.

“It is time,” says Aisha. “Please follow me.”

She leads us away from the camp fire, walking at a brisk pace that’s surprising given her age. But then again I shouldn’t be surprised, given how vigorous a display of love making she put on last night in the open with her “friend.”

We walk for about ten minutes to another hill, but this one is bigger than the others we’ve seen, and there’s a cliff on which we stand together and face the rising sun.

“It’s beautiful,” I say.

“Yes,” says Aisha. “Yes, it is. This is a very old planet and a very old sun. It’s seen much in its lifetime.”

“You talk about it as if it was alive,” says Vex.

“In many ways, it is,” says Aisha. “It has a spirit, like everything else. And that spirit is kin to the spirit that lives within us… the human spirit.”

“I’m not sure how much of that I have,” says Vex. “Sometimes I think I’m more machine than human.”

Aisha shakes her head. “No,” she says. “This is what you must realize, Vex. This is part of your journey. You must realize that you are fully human, no matter what technology they put in your body.”

“But I don’t even remember my past. I don’t even remember my parents. I’ve never heard of a human who doesn’t remember their entire life.”

“What about people with amnesia?” I say. “That still happens sometimes, even though the cure has gotten much more advanced over the last few years.”

Vex chuckles. “I know,” he says. “But what I have is more than amnesia.”

“It is,” says Aisha. “And you must come to terms with it.”

“How do I do that?” says Vex.

“That,” says Aisha, her voice grave and quiet, “I can not tell you. I am sorry.”

The three of us gaze at the sun for a few silent moments. It doesn’t hurt my eyes like Earth’s sun does.

“How long have your people been here?” says Vex.

“A long, long time,” says Aisha. “We came here before your modern records were in existence.”

“Except those very ancient ones?”

“Yes,” says Aisha. “And they are probably just regarded as mere legends or religion now on Earth.”

“They are,” I say.

“But a time will come when humanity comes together,” says Aisha. “And it won’t be a pretty moment. But it will be beautiful. The reunification will be… completely necessary. Because a bigger threat faces us… something that we have never encountered before, something that was spoken about in whispers…”

“What is it?” I say, my pulse quickening just thinking about this unspoken horrible threat.

“I cannot speak of it,” says Aisha. “Not here, not in this tranquil ancient place, on this aging planet. It isn’t… proper.”

I don’t know what to say to that. What could be a bigger threat to humanity than anything we’ve encountered before? We’ve gone through the nuclear age, the Bio Wars, and countless other periods of violence and strife.

The silence continues, and Aisha makes no move to break it.

Suddenly, I realize something. A question appears to me in my mind.

“So you say humanity will be reunified?” I say. “Do you mean that there are other groups like yourselves that left Earth long ago and are living on distant planets?”

Aisha is silent for a moment, as if she’s contemplating her answer.

“Yes and no,” she says. “There are humans all over the Universe. Humanity has not been constricted to the planet Earth for a long, long time, and even then… I’m not sure if it ever was. It depends on how you look at time.”

“So there are others out there?” I say.

“Yes,” says Aisha. “I can tell you that much.”

“And they left long ago?”

“That’s what I can’t tell you.”

“Did they leave in the future?” says Vex.

His words sound almost crazy to me, completely incomprehensible. How could someone leave in the future, and yet already be away?

“You are beginning to think about it in the right way,” says Aisha. “If time is stretched out, rather than coiled up… things appear very different.”

“What can you tell us about our… immediate danger,” says Vex. “What can you tell us about escaping the general? You said that you brought us here because there were things we needed to know and that we were headed into great danger.”

“Yes,” says Aisha. “You and Felia are heading into great danger. And many things depend on you… the fate of humanity…”

Her voice trails off, leaving me with more questions than I could possibly have imagined just minutes ago.

“You will be able to escape the general and his fleet,” says Aisha, after some time. “The knowledge you have gained here will aid you, even though you may not realize it. It is not something I can merely tell you, but something that you have gained with experience. You may not realize that it is within you yet, but it will always be there, glowing inside you, like a light that cannot be extinguished, no matter how dark the room you inhabit becomes.”

“How does humanity depend upon us?” I say. “I’m struggling to understand… but I don’t.”

“Everything will become clear to you,” says Aisha. “Everything that seems murky now will become as clear as pure water. I just want you to be prepared for that moment. What I will tell you is that…” She pauses again. “The humans like us who have spread all over the universe have a link that cannot be broken with Earth. That is something that we only discovered after we had left Earth. Without Earth, we are nothing.”

As Aisha speaks, I find myself gazing into the depths of the sun, the sun that seems to appear more beautiful with each passing moment.

Aisha pauses before continuing, seeming to sense that my attention is on the sun and not her words. “Cyborgs are more important than anyone realizes,” she says. “Humans have changed themselves with machines, and then denied the result… A man like Vex here is just as much of a human as I, or you, Felia. There are profound spiritual consequences… the results of an all out war between cyborgs and humans would be completely disastrous… and there are more, shall I say, practical, or material, consequences as well.”

“So we need to avoid the war?” says Vex. “What do we need to do?”

“Yes,” says Aisha. “You two are the key. You two have a great love for each other. You have formed a bond that would have seemed impossible to either of you just a few days ago. Your love is what can unite the cyborgs and the humans. You must do everything you can, both of you, to stop the war.”

“You say stop, but not prevent,” says Vex.

“Yes,” says Aisha. “It is too late to prevent the war. It has already started. The pieces are in place and the game has begun. But it must be stopped.”

“How do we stop it?” asks Vex.

“That,” says Aisha, her voice full of sadness. “I cannot tell you, because I do not know. But I know that you will find it. I hope that your time here has helped you in ways that you will only realize later…”

She pauses poignantly.

“I will leave you now,” she says. “You will have a few moments here to enjoy the sunrise, and then you will find yourselves back where you were before. You must avoid the general and take his star ship.”

“But how?” I say.

“It is not something that can be conveyed with words. You may not even realize you ever learned it. It is something that you will carry with you from this planet, from this place in time.”

She smiles at us, a warm, loving smile, and then she turns and begins walking away.

I look away for a moment, at Vex, whose face is unreadable.

When I look back to Aisha, she’s gone, simply vanished.

“What do you make of all that?” says Vex.

“I… I don’t even know what to say. Do you think any of it’s true?”

Vex shrugs. “I have no clue.”

“It sounds like we’re supposed to save all of humanity ourselves, but we aren’t going to know how to do it, and we don’t know what the threat is. It’s a little…”

“Out there?” says Vex, grinning at me.

“I don’t know why you find this funny.”

Vex shrugs. “I guess it’s a way to deal with the stress.”

“Hey,” I say. “Look at the sun.”

Vex joins me, and we both gaze at the sun as it begins to… flicker.

Yeah, that’s right. The whole sun is flickering before our eyes.

“I’ve never seen anything like that,” says Vex.

“Neither have I.”

“Is that the real sun, or does this have something to do with us being transported back to the planet of the antenna bastards.”

“I don’t know,” I say. “But I like how you used my phrase.”

“What, antenna bastards?”

I laugh. “It’s funny when you say it.”

“It’s funny when you say it too.”

A moment later, the sun is flickering at a very, very fast rate. It’s about as fast as a strobe light, and everything looks strange. I can see Vex turning his head towards me as if I’m watching it all in slow motion. Through the glimpses of light, the flashes, I can see the world, but it’s odd, as if I’m suddenly looking at everything in black and white.

“It’s getting closer,” says Vex. His words come out strangely, as if he’s pausing a horribly long time between each one.

It’s true, though. The sun does appear to be getting closer.

It’s zooming towards us now, as if it will crash into us. Not the planet, but just us personally.

Part of me knows something funny is going on. It’s something Aisha is doing. It’s not really happening.

I try to remind myself of that, repeating it like a mantra. But it’s still fucking terrifying.

“It’s going to hit us!” I scream.

“It’s fine,” says Vex, taking my arm.

“How do you know?”

A strange sensation overtakes me as the sun “hits” us. Somehow my body knows that it’s not real, but that doesn’t stop my mind from freaking out.

The next thing I know, we’re back at the planet of the antenna bastards, deep under ground.

I look around frantically.

There’s no sign of the sun crashing towards us, and no sign of Aisha.

“Looks like we’re back,” says Vex.

I’m still holding his hand, and I grab it tighter now for reassurance. There’s something very comforting knowing that he’s right beside me, his huge, muscled body ready to protect me, ready to fight for me.

“Where are we?” I say.

“You don’t recognize it?”

“I know we’re back on their planet… those antenna bastards.”

“Look,” says Vex, pointing. “We’re right where we wanted to transport to when we went into that tube. This is the white tube hub. This is the connection hub. We can take the tube up to the general’s ship, just like we’d planned.”

“Weird,” I say. “Did Aisha freeze time or something? Or just take us back to where we wanted to go initially?”

“Judging by my internal chronometer, no time has passed.”

“How is that even possible?”

“Well, she seems like a very spiritually powerful woman. I’m sure she’s capable of a lot more than just that.”

“No, I mean how is it possible that you have an internal chronometer?”

Vex looks puzzled.

Then he sees my grin, and my face breaking into laughter. “I’m joking,” I add, for clarification.

“Oh,” says Vex, starting to laugh himself.

“Come on,” I say, slapping him on the shoulder. “A cyborg can take a good joke, right?”

“I can take a good joke,” says Vex, getting one back at me.

“Good to be back within four blank white walls, isn’t it?” I say, letting the sarcasm drive my voice.

“Creepy is more like it,” says Vex, looking around.

The four walls, the ceiling, the floor—all completely white and blank. It’s too familiar. We’ve spent way too much time on this horrible planet, locked beneath the surface.

Suddenly, a ray of light smashes into the white wall next to me.

The sound comes next.

It’s the unmistakable sound of a blaster.

But it takes me a moment to register it, maybe because of the peaceful day spent on Aisha’s planet.

Vex grabs me and pulls me down, shielding me with his body. If he hadn’t I would have been blasted to bits by the next shot, which lands right where I was standing.

“Stay down,” shouts Vex.

It’s only now that I realize we’re still wearing the yellow robes that Aisha gave us. But we’ve still got the blasters and equipment we took from the supply closet. It all seemed to have strangely vanished when we arrived on Aisha’s planet, and all come back the way it was when we returned. Except for the yellow robes.

“Watch out,” I shout, as a blast nearly hits Vex in the head. But he dodges just in time. Those cyborg reflexes really are fast.

Down at the other end of the room, the antenna bastards are streaming in, dozens, all armed with blasters. Their robes are cast aside, and I can see their horrible insect-like torsos that were hidden before. Each one holds four blasters each, one for each horrible hand. Their antennae wobble around excitedly. It’s a horrible sight.

“We need to get down there!” shouts Vex. The sound of blasters echoes around the room, creating a horrible racket. He’s pointing to the other end of the room, where all the white tubes are. I can see their horrible blackness inside. My stomach almost does a flip thinking about entering one of them again. We’re in the middle of the room. We have a long way to get to one of the tubes.

“Let’s hope Aisha taught us something good,” I shout.

“What was that?” shouts Vex, returning the blaster fire. Three antenna aliens fall as he fires rapidly, with his super human reflexes and aim.

But there are too many of them, and they’re all shooting. Four blasters each.

One of the shots strikes about a centimeter above my head.

I’m aiming at them with my own blaster. I hit one, and it falls.

I hear a sizzling sound next to me, and moving my eyes away from the blaster scope, I see that Vex has been hit in the leg. His yellow robe is burned right through to the skin, which is sizzling and popping, horribly burned, right down to a metal plate.