Kate expected her panic and anger over Reynold’s actions to keep her heart racing for hours, but the day went surprisingly well after the morning scare.

She hated to admit it, but Kirk’s presence was soothing. The gentle giant was so sweet with her fans.

Tex had messaged her in the morning that his hip was acting up, so his spot was open and Kirk sat right beside her again. As a result, she found herself feeling relaxed and enjoying the fan interactions more than ever, since the spotlight wasn’t entirely on her.

“Hey, Katie,” a young female fan said, sneaking a glance at Kirk out of the corner of her eye.

“Hi there,” Kate said. “What’s your name?”

“Bethany,” the girl replied with a big grin.

“Nice to meet you, Bethany,” Kate said, signing a picture and pushing it toward her. “Did you have a favorite episode?”

“I like the one where you had to figure out whether the Phylorians were good guys or bad guys,” Bethany said.

“That was a good one,” Kate admitted.

“It was a life-changer for me,” Bethany said. “I never really thought about words versus actions like that until your speech.”

“That was a great speech,” Kate said. “The writers for the show really knocked it out of the park.”

“It wasn’t just the writers,” Bethany said. “You really rocked it, Katie.”

“Thanks,” Kate said, flushing.

She had always shied away from personal compliments for her performance as Katie. After all, she had been at the audition, seen the waiting room full of other young actresses, any of whom could have played her part and been sitting here right now.

“Say, were you on this show?” Bethany asked Kirk. “I feel like I’d remember.”

“No,” Kirk replied. “I wasn’t on the show, but that is a nice compliment.”

“Thanks for coming,” Kate said quickly, before he could get into why he was beside her.

“Nice,” Bethany said, giving Kate an admiring wink. “He’s a keeper.”

She disappeared into the crowd before Kate could tell her that Kirk wasn’t her boyfriend.

A young couple was already approaching and she turned to them, pulling a headshot off her stack.

And so it went.

A few hours later, Kate was exhausted but happy.

“You’re finished?” Kirk asked, looking at the place where the line had been.

She nodded.

“Now what?” he asked.

She looked around. Spencer seemed to have left the Con, which was great news. Maybe he had finally taken no for an answer.

“Let’s do something fun,” she suggested to Kirk.

He smiled, eyes crinkling.

“Come on,” she said, heading toward the door to the hallway.

Kirk put a protective hand on her shoulder.

A shiver of pleasure tickled its way down her spine at his gentle touch.

She knew she should shrug his hand off before she got too comfortable, but the convention hall was crowded, it made sense for him to stay close, and be sure not to lose her.

When they stepped out into the backstage hallway he removed his hand.

Kate felt a momentary stab of sadness. But she ignored it and moved quickly across the carpet with its concentric circles. They arrived at the green room without bumping into anyone.

“Stay here, I’m just going to change,” she told Kirk.

“Okay,” he said.

He planted himself in the center of the room with his feet slightly apart, looking as if he might gladly stay there until the convention center crumbled to dust, if she needed him to.

She smiled and scurried into the bathroom with her backpack.

Kate stripped out of the Inertia uniform and slid on a pair of leather jeans, cowgirl boots, a white t-shirt and a purple cardigan.

She looked in the mirror as she twisted her long hair into a bun and pinned it into place like a ballerina.

The bun was smooth and perfect. The face it perched on was utterly ordinary. Kate had nice brown eyes and symmetrical features, but none of them were particularly beautiful. She’d been a cute teenager with baby fat still rounding her cheeks and making her look younger than she was when they cast her as Katie Bly. And the producers had described her look as “approachable”. Maybe they figured it would be easy for other girls to put themselves in her shoes - an ordinary girl having extraordinary adventures.

Kate had no argument with her looks. But it was hard not to wonder what Kirk must think of her. Maybe he would like her better if she were a fog or a fine mist or whatever women looked like on Aerie. Or maybe he had learned to appreciate human beauty since watching all those 80s movies to assimilate before his arrival. If that were the case and he compared her beauty to his, she knew she would come out lacking.

Snap out of it, Kate, she scolded herself. You’re not looking for a boyfriend. You’re looking for a new life.

But it was hard not to think about it a little.

She pulled on a short purple wig and slid a pair of sunglasses over her eyes, then checked herself out again.

It was a good disguise. Hiding the hair was the key, and covering up the eyes.

She emerged from the bathroom to find Kirk precisely where she had left him.

“Oh,” he said, sounding surprised. “What happened to your hair?”

“I’m wearing a wig,” she said.

“I see,” he said, still sounding confused.

“It’s pretend hair,” she explained, lifting the wig slightly so he could see her hair underneath.

“Ah,” he said. “This is a good disguise. Like the doctor who was disguised as you.”

“Exactly,” she said. “I’m disguised as a comic book character I like. It’s called cosplay. You get to pretend to be someone you admire. Or at least one that looks cool.”

“Oh,” Kirk said. “This is excellent.”

She could see the wheels turning in his head and suddenly wondered what the Con had looked like through his eyes if he hadn’t been aware of even that simple concept.

“You can ask me anything you want, Kirk,” she said. “If you’re confused about anything, just ask.”

He opened his mouth, closed it again.

“What is it?” she asked.

“Why do you not wish to have a mate?”

Oh. Not exactly the kind of question she had in mind.

“It’s not that I don’t wish to have a mate,” she said slowly. “It’s only that the timing isn’t right.”

“You are of age,” Kirk said. “Your body is ripened.”

Kate blushed and bit her lip, trying to think of a way to respond.

“I have said something wrong?” he suggested.

“No,” she said. “You’re right, my body is mature. It’s my… position in life that isn’t ready.”

“What does that mean?” he asked.

He sounded curious, not resentful.

“I want to get my education, learn to do something that matters in the world - not just be an actress playing the same part all the time,” she told him. “I want to help people, make the world a better place.”

“So you wish to delay your mating until your studies are complete,” he said.

“Yes,” she agreed.

“I understand,” he told her. “I did not wish to make you uncomfortable by asking you this question. Was it impolite to ask?”

“It would not be polite to ask someone you don’t know well why they aren’t married,” Kate said. “But since we’re friends, it’s okay that you asked me.”

“Friends,” Kirk echoed, in a pleased way. “So what do we do now that you are dressed in your cosplay?”

Kate tried to hide her smile.

“Let’s go explore Comic Con,” she suggested. “You’ve spent two days here. You ought to be able to see what it’s all about.”

“That sounds like a good plan,” he said with a smile.

They headed back down the hallway. Though Kirk looked carefully before beckoning her out, Kate still scanned the hall behind her before heading back toward the Con.

So far, so good - Spencer was nowhere to be found.

When they entered the Con, Kirk put his hand between her shoulder blades again.

Kate was surprised to feel the tautness leaving her ribcage. She hadn’t even realized she was tense.

They stopped at a booth where a man was making a drawing of a superhero.

Kate watched the shape of a woman appear out of nothing but pencil and paper. Her supple muscle and rippling hair seemed to leap off the page.

“Buck would like this,” Kirk murmured.

“This is what Beatrix does,” Kate told him.

“Beatrix Li?” the artist asked, looking up from his work.

Kate bit her lip. She shouldn’t have said anything that might give her away.

But it was too late.

“Hey, you’re—” the artist began to say.

Kate put a finger to her lip, hoping he would get the hint.

“Oh,” he said, cutting himself off. “Gotcha.”

She smiled gratefully.

“Your drawing is beautiful,” Kirk said. “This woman looks so strong.”

“Well, she’s an alien,” the artist explained.

Kirk nodded, the corners of his mouth turning upward slightly.

“Lucky for me, it turns out that aliens are super good-looking and strong,” the artist confided. “I guess a lot of guys who bet on blue skin and tentacles are kicking themselves right now.”

Kate laughed in spite of herself.

Kirk was cocking his head and looked like he was about to say something.

“We’ve got to run,” she told the artist, grabbing Kirk’s hand and heading toward the next booth before he could blurt out anything about gaseous masses and other planets.

“What is that?” he asked, looking across the aisle.

She follows his gaze to a booth with a huge three-paneled sign above it:

---

What-Would-YOU-Look-Like-As-An-ALIEN?

---

“It’s just for fun,” she explained. “Want to check it out?”

“Yes,” he said, his hand still protectively on her back.

They wandered over to where a guy in a baseball cap was explaining the process to an older lady and her granddaughter.

“You just answer the questionnaire, and then it tells you what type of alien you would be,” he said.

“What do you mean what type of alien?” the grandmother asked.

“You know, tentacles or wings or whatever,” the man said. “Then I’ll take your picture and it will print out with all your alien features. You get to take it home in a frame. It’s a good souvenir.”

“Oh, Grandma, I want to, I want to,” the little girl squealed, tugging her grandmother’s shirt.

“Alright, Brooklyn, that seems like a good souvenir,” the lady said, smiling indulgently at the girl.

The man handed the girl his iPad and she began swiping at it and giggling.

“Cute,” Kate said, looking up at Kirk.

But he was looking intently at something else.

Across the aisle and catty-corner to them was another booth. This one was smaller, with a single panel sign that said simply:

---

Stargazer Aliens

---

A huge crowd of people was packed around the booth.

Kate moved toward it and Kirk followed.

The display was so simple it almost resembled a high school science fair project. Two tri-fold poster boards were set on a folding table. Blurry printed cell phone pictures were pasted to them with handwritten notes.

The woman inside the booth was speaking - her voice had a touch of regional twang to it.

“… and that’s when I knew the man before me wasn’t an ordinary shopper,” she said in a dramatic whisper. “He was… an alien.”

There were sounds of wonder from the crowd.

“But don’t they look just like humans?” a man asked.

The woman chuckled and tapped on her display for emphasis.

“I could pick one out from a mile away,” she scoffed. “They’re not a thing like you and me.”

Kirk’s hand tensed on Kate’s back.

“It’s okay,” Kate murmured. It was clear to her that the woman was only bluffing.

What wasn’t clear was why there were so many people gathered around. There wasn’t even a real alien. And People Magazine had a gorgeous shoot with Bond, Rocky, Magnum and their wives just last week with pictures that put the fuzzy ones on the board to shame.

As Kate watched, a girl in a cosplay Inertia uniform leaned against the corner of the booth and gazed dreamily at the pictures on one of the poster boards.

Two older ladies shook their heads in wonder, pointing at the other board and then whispering excitedly to each other.

A teenaged boy elbowed his way into the crowd, drawn to the booth like a moth to the flame.

And then it hit her.

The people at this convention had spent their whole lives stargazing. They had grown up imagining all the stories taking place in a galaxy far, far away.

And now it was here.

Though none of them were likely to go on an outer space adventure, the aliens had come to them. It was nothing short of a miracle.

So they didn’t care about the presentation or the showmanship. Just knowing it was all real was enough. And this was more real than any glossy magazine spread.

Watching the crowd, Kate shivered at the thought of what Kirk’s life would be like, even if he did manage to click with a woman and come out of hiding.

He would never have a moment’s privacy, not from the paparazzi or even from ordinary people. His image would be plastered on more blog posts and Twitter feeds than anyone could ever read.

The men from Aerie were here. Their lives on Earth were the most amazing sci-fi show that had ever been created.

And it was a show that would never be canceled.