For once, I have an ending in mind.Let's see how this goes.

When it began, they called it WWIII. At the time the Earth was divided into individual political units, called countries. Two of the most powerful had for centuries been part of the same unit before splitting due to religious differences. They were called India and Pakistan. Even now it is unclear who began the conflict, but many long-standing rivalries began to flair into armed combat. Every industrialized nation in the world soon was drawn into a painful echo of the first World War three hundred years before. On the one side was Pakistan, the Federated Workers Utopia, which contained the regions of Russia, China, North Korea, Eastern Europe and New Persia. One the other were India, Nihon, the North American Union, Australia, and the island nations of the Caribbean and the Pacific. The African Union and Nuevo Espana del Sur, were at first neutral. In the end both joined with what became called the Worker's World Army, supporting Pakistan.
After 7 years of conflict, the former United Kingdom, Scotland , Prussia, Gaul, and most of the North American Union's former European allies joined them finally, bring the war to a stand-off. At that point the African Union also betrayed its erstwhile allies and joined with the Europeans. In desperation the Worker's World Army unleashed nuclear attacks, but for the most part those ancient weapons were faulty, and in the end detonated seconds after launch. the great Eastern Cities of Tehran, Beijing, Moscow, Krakow, Pyongang, along with many of those in New South Spain such as Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires, and Panama, were razed to cinders. But the West was not without it's losses.
Of those launched, 10 warheads found their intended targets. The Metropolises of New York, which included the capital of the Union, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Le Citidad de Mexico, Berlin, Cairo, Paris, Tokyo, Sydney, Manila and Mumbai were utterly destroyed.
A treaty was signed, more or less a no-fault agreement. But such was the massive unrest that national boundaries became obsolete. The City became all. The three largest that remained, Chicago in the former Union, Johannesburg from the African Union, and Hong Kong, a remnant of both the United Kingdom and the FWU, instead of trying to rebuild their own nations, spread their still prodigious wealth in assistance to the planet as a whole. But it soon became clear that the Earth itself was soon going to be unable to support the survivors (in the end barely half of the pre-war populace.) And so began our journey into the solar system.
Of course Luna was the first place colonized. But even with Atmospheric Generators and extensive terra forming, colonist can still only venture out without an environment suit for minutes at a time. Mars was far more successful, and Jupiter's moon Europa most habitable of all, with its abundant liquid water, though the floating cities tend to upset some new residents. As we begin work on Venus, Mercury,and other bodies in the system, many are calling for a more complete return to Earth. For while nearly 2 Billion people still live there, and the planet is healing, many argue that again it can be our singular home. In time, we hope, this will be true.


Nearly full. Dammit. If I can't get an aisle seat I might just not go, work be damned. Maybe it's just me. But the thought of having to ask some random stranger to get up or watch out every time I have to get up is enough to give me the beginnings of Anxiety. 6 hour flight, chances are I'll need to get up. And if I'm not able to odds of me getting flustered and wanting to greatly increased...Oh thank god.
Last row. On either side of the aisle the window seat is taken, but both aisle seats look unoccupied. Both passengers look friendly enough. I'll take the left hand one, mainly because that row's other occupant is a young woman that looks to be maybe 100 pounds, and the other side is a huge Local guy, nearly taking up both seats no matter how hard he was trying to be courteous and keep to his own chair.
Perfunctorily I ask if the seat is taken, but receive a distracted shake of her head in response. She's absorbed by something on her screen. I work my satchel into the overhead bin and sit before remembering my own screen. I sit again before remembering ear buds. At this I see the girl smiling in amusement, and though I rather prefer to not be laughed at it is hard to deny the humor. I laugh ruefully and finally sit down with what I need. I decide to just wait until the cabin is cleared for devices.
"Can borrow this if you like." The man across the isle is offering me an actual paper bound book, an old detective story called Heat Wave.
"Already read it. Thanks though." He shrugs and puts the book back in a bag at his feet. He must have already finished it as well. He leans back as far as his chair will go and in perhaps a minute is asleep, snoring quietly. I try to do the same, but to no avail.
I glance at the woman next to me, who I now am certain must be a bit younger than I am, though at first I thought her probably my age. Also I notice a lip ring just off center and the top of a tattoo sticking up from beneath her collar on the back on her neck. Looks like a butterfly. She glances over at me briefly and I hastily turn my attention back to the seat pocket in front of me. But Peripherally I do glimpse the small smile on her lips.

I sit in awkward, stiff silence for the rest of the time on the tarmac, lift-off, done, the big guy across the way woke up as we started to move and now is gripping his seat, almost white-knuckled. Probably his first time taking the shuttle. I sit board straight for long after take-off and can't seem to relax at all. The girl puts down her screen and turns to me. "You can relax, you know. I don't bite." Her voice is light and breezy, friendly. Also with a pronounced accent that I bet to myself is Scottish.
Maybe it's just the honestly that a stranger can evoke, but for some freakish reason I tell her up front that I wasn't nervous for that reason.
"Really? A lot of people seem to get weirded out by me." She sticks out her tongue to show me a stud clean through.
Nope, I was just looking because she's attractive. Again, I let this slip verbally. She laughs nervously and warns me playfully that sorry, she's taken.
"I confess myself...not surprised at all."
She turns as best she can without unbuckling her belt and sticks out her hand. "Norah Scott."
"Wynn Castin." I inquire about her accent. "It sounds really, really—"
"If you say English I might stab you."
"—Scottish, actually. Christ, I sound more english than you do."
"Oh. Good ear." She sits back, mollified.
"So...where are you from?"
"Scotland?"
"I meant more specifically."
"Do you know it at all?"
"A bit. Went there for vacation once years ago, went back with my sister...last winter? I think that's when."
"Do you know where Kirkwell is?"
"Isn't that up north in the islands?" She nods. "So what were you doing in Hawaii?"
"Just...vacation." She sounds sad for a second. I start to ask why but don't, wondering if that's too personal. I figure if she wants to tell me she will. "I'd always wanted to go. How about you?"
"Oh, I'm from there."
"Nice. So where are you going now?"
"I'm going to Mons University."
"Really? I'm starting there next week." She sounds incredulous. About as amazed as I am.
"Weird. What are the odds, right?" The conversation is flagging, and here is my greatest weakness. I can't talk for no reason. And even more so I cannot talk when I have reason to. I have to distract myself, get my mind off of her, so I can actually talk to her. But this isn't working. It's just making me stare; when there's nothing else to occupy my thinking, of course I'm just going to stare at a beautiful girl. huh, her hair's platinum blonde to the roots, probably not dyed, then. I don't think I've ever seen anyone with eyes as green as hers, but maybe that's just some tint in her glasses or something like that. Probably not though. I guess it wouldn't really be that weird for a Scottish girl. I wonder what she looks like...stop, don't go there. "So what are you majoring in?" That halted her expectant look. She'd been staring and smiling at me significantly.
"I'm...not sure yet. I was thinking of Writing, or Lit., whatever, but it's not all that practical, you ******** that, if it's something you love you can make it practical."
"What do you do? Are you still in school?"
I laugh. "No, thank god. Done with all that. I do research for System Central."
"What kind?"
"Mainly in relative theory. I studied particle and nuclear physics."
"...what's that?"
"Relative theory? Oh, it's a lot more simple than it sounds. Basically me and a few other guys are paid to pretend we are finding ways to break the speed of light."
"Isn't that impossible?"
"Exactly why it's simpler than it sounds."
She laughs fully for the first time, a lilting, enchanting sound. "That I think would get me down, eventually."
"Me, too. Which is why I'm actually starting teaching this next session."
For a moment she looks at me wide-eyed. "Wow, how old are you?"
That elicits a laugh of my own. "Not as old as all that. I'm only 25."
"Oh. You must be like, a super genius or something then, right?"
"No. Just loved schoolwork, until the end."
6 hours is enough time to find out a lot about someone. She tells me about her parents and younger brother, still in Scotland, her family there since before the Great War (or even the first world conflict,) artists all. I tell her about my father, my only family, a contractor working on Mercury. We both love the classic flat image films of the XX and XXI centuries. WE both lament that so many were lost in the bombings of Los Angeles, New York and Paris. We both love drinks made outside of the FacSynth plants. We both love the Outliers but still think nothing but Earth can be home.
"So where have you been off of Earth?"
"Just to Luna and Titan, so far. This will be my first visit to Mars. What about you?"
"They send me all over the place. Stations on Io, Ganymede, even Pluto, Venus...Europa's really nice. So you've never landed at Aries before?"
"Aries?"
"He was the god of war, the Greek equivalent to Mars. Some joker thought it would be funny to name the spaceport that."
She laughs. I'm beginning to realize I'll do more or less anything to hear that laugh for a long time to come. "That's stupid. But is there anything to it besides the name?"
"Oh, it's simply gorgeous."

"My God, there it is. It's huge!" It's true. Since it's the nexus of the Outer and Inner planet travel, Aries is the largest port in the system, even larger than Prime Venture near Chicago. I point out to her what all the buildings are, the huge rounded domes that are repair facilities, the fuel depots, the beautiful, almost organic looking curves of the terminals and adjacent hotels. Mars is still more or less for the rich, so...
"It is. 22 km across, and that—" I lean across her, hand on her leg, and point out the window, indicating a massive central series of arches. "Is the main passenger terminal. Largest building in the system, nearly two miles high and 4 wide. Each arch is actually just the supports of the transparent dome." It's not easy to fight down the urge to kiss her, and I'm still leaning across her; she is now looking at me instead of out the window. Her cheeks are a little red, so quickly I pull away. "Sorry, sorry about that, I'm not to good with, um..."
"Boundaries? Personal space?"
"People."
She laughs again, a little shyly. "That's okay." She's quiet for a moment. "So how long until we land?"
"Well, it's only about 10 minutes till we're on the ground, but it'll be another 15 before we can get off. why?"
"Oh, um...I was just...oh, never mind."
"Okay." She looks genuinely confused after I say this. But she smiles and leans forward against the window, enraptured watching our approach.

I stay silent through our descent and wait on the launch pad, so does she. But she keeps looking over at me, biting her lip or clicking the bottom of her tongue stud against her front teeth. I look at her curiously but she is avoiding my gaze whenever I look over at her. Now she is determinedly dodging my eyes by staring out the window at the unchanging scene of the inspection. I catch another glance of the design on her neck, vivid against her pale freckled skin. I am feeling my heart start to pound while looking at her, and am pretty sure she can hear it clearly. Additionally, I feel this is rather inappropriate, she being so much younger...how old is she, anyway? she just said she was starting, she could be a transfer student or not have gone right after Secondary. As if any of this matters.
She's taken, she told me right off, so any thoughts are pure masochism, anyway. Finally inspection is finished and people start to disembark. I get up and grab my satchel, handing McKenzie hers, but the aisle is so crowded I just stand and wait for the crowd to thin. There is only the one exit open at the front of the shuttle. Seemingly unthinking, she stands and more or less is standing pressed up against me, looking anxious. "I really hate this wait. I always feel claustrophobic."
I nod. "Same here. Worst part of the any flight." Finally the people in front of us start to move, but I wait to let the man that was across form us go first. He nods gratefully; he seemed far more upset by the flight than either of us. We push our way through the still crowded tube to the terminal. "So which way are you headed?"
She jerks her head to the left. "That way. Why?"
"Oh. No reason. I...no, never mind."
"What?"
"Nothing."
"Go on, ask."
"I just am going the other way."
"Oh."
I nod politely, and turn towards where I need to go. I feel my chest tighten up, urging me to say more, but to what end? She's not available. I've never been so taken with someone in my life, not even Kaylie, but that's irrelevant. I actually stop in my tracks, paralyzed, when I feel a hand on my arm. "Wait."
"What's going on?"
"I lied to you."
"Lied to me? About what?"
"I...I'm not with anyone. I just get bothered a lot, and I've found that it keeps away the guys and girls that are just looking for a easy lay. Maybe it's how I dress or the whatever, but that happens a lot. But it...you don't really seem like the type. And I've gotten good at spotting them."
"I'm not. I haven't even been interested in anyone for years. But you...I...what I wanted to say was do you want to go for a drink?"
"How about dinner instead?" Norah flushes red as she asks this, and can't look me in the eye, but smiles. I agree maybe even too enthusiastically.

We find a restaurant nearby, advertising all nature food, no synthetic tripe. A hostess seats us at a cozy two seat booth in a corner. While we wait McKenzie starts to ask me questions. "So tell me more about you. Where did you go to school?"
"Here, at Mons."
"Any big secrets I should know?"
"Well if they were secrets I wouldn't tell you. But I, well, I hope this doesn't send you running, but I want to get everything out there were you can see." She freezes with a glass of water half-way to her lips. "I was married before. We got married when we were 18 and divorced only two years later. We pretty much never talk but are on amicable terms."
"Did you two know each other long before?"
"We dated for about three years, vaguely knew each other for a year or so before."
"...any kids?" I laugh outright, unable to help myself.
"God no. Neither of us wanted them ever. Just about the only thing we agreed on."
"And you think that might make me run?"
"It would most girls. My records a pretty awful 0-1."
"Hey at least you've gotten out there..." Her whole face goes red. I guess since she's so pale it's really obvious? "Ok, my turn. I've never even had a boyfriend. Or girlfriend."
That sends my imagination down paths I probably shouldn't go, so I tease her about it. "Girlfriend? That would be...interesting."
"Oh shush. I'm just interested in the person, not if they're a boy or girl. But...I mean...oh never mind."
"Ok." We both sit uncomfortably silent for a few moments. "Norah, how old are you anyway? Is this like, really inappropriate?"
There's that laugh again. God, I hope she's not as young as she looks. "Ok, two more things. No, it's not. I'm 19. And two, my name isn't really McKenzie. That's my middle name, that my brother used to call me by and it stuck. It's actually Allison."
"Oh." I smile. "That's really pretty. Which should I call you by?"
"Oh I don't much care either way."

The meal was delicious, we both thought so, but now what do we do? I have no idea. I've never actually been on a date before, so I'm a little unsure, and tell her so. "I don't know either..."is her response. We are holding hands, half-unconsciously. "We could go out somewhere? Or...I just want to...I don't want to say goodnight yet, let's say that."
"Me either. Um...I think there's a club on the way into the city, it's been a while since I've been here."
"Sounds good." As I have been doing all night, I'm looking at her, her shapely green eyes and beautiful hair kept short. "What?"
"I'm sorry. You're just...ok, I've wanted to tell you the whole time on the shuttle even. You are more or less the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. But I...ok, does this seem crazy fast? I mean we met like 8 hours ago. But I really want to see you again, after tonight."
"Good. I would be heartbroken if you didn't."
"Good."
"...you really think I'm that pretty?"
"At least." We walk in silence then stop at sit at a bench. I don't know why, it's like be both just agreed on it silently. I can't keep my eyes or thoughts off her lips. And she seems to be having similar problems. "Allison I...I—" when I called her that she made a small motion towards me, slightly tilting her head up towards me, and now when I bend down to kiss her there is no objection, or even surprise. I pull her as close as I can, holding her tight, and she wraps her arms around my shoulders. She pulls away a few seconds later, breathing hard, but keeps our cheeks touching and whispers a question to me.
"Do you have anywhere near here? A room or a place?"
"No. But I can get one at the hotel across the terminal."
"Please, can you take me?"
"Yes."

I don't quite know how we make it to the hotel. We are stopping every twenty or thirty steps to kiss, hard, and now she's started to slip her tongue between my lips, flicking her stud against my tongue. It's almost enough to make me want to forget a room altogether and just head for anywhere secluded. But we make it somehow, and in a fervor of high-spirits I ask for a honey-moon suite. I immediately realize how ridiculous and forward that is, but McKenzie laugh her entrancing laugh and soon we're in a bright pink suite, what looks like real silk for the sheets, a jacuzzi next to the shower. She grabs me by the collar of my shirt and walks us backwards until she tumbles onto the bed, me on top of her.

It is an hour later, and the two of us are lying side by side naked, still occasionally kissing or touching each other, both exhausted. With some time to observe, I am seeing just how extraordinarily beautiful she is, slender and small, her tattoos showing vibrantly against her pale skin. We've been playing a game where I point to one and she tells me about it. I point to the butterfly that starts on her right shoulder blade and continues up to her neck, it's wings folded. "I got this one when I turned 18, my first. I...there was a lot as a kid that I would prefer not to remember, and this was me coming into my own as an adult, I guess."
"Makes sense. What did you mean when you said you hadn't done this before? Like, slept with someone you just met?"
She smiles indulgently at me. "No silly, I'd never slept with anyone. Or at least, I guess not until about an hour ago."
"...I never would have guessed. What's this one?" Starting just below her ribs on either side of her body is a simulacrum of ivy vines, twirling down to form a V just below her navel.
"those...I dont' really know. Sometimes I feel like we just get so cut off from nature, especially out here, I mean none of those plants out there are natural, I just wanted something to remind me of that...that natural life, you know?"
"And there's nothing quite as indicitive of those isles as Ivy, except maybe thistle."
She gestures down at her right ankle, laughing, where a thistle flower dyes her skin.

I still have quite a few things to gather from my lab, so I set out the next morning to the lab under Arsai Mons, only about 40 minutes by train. I get off at the station and make my way down the small town's central street. between the rows of buildings the mountain looms, capped in that particularly dusty mars snow. I reach an innocuous doorway heading into an innocuous building. Upon entry Gerum is leaning back in the chair at his guard booth. Any human would be unable to balance like he is, on just the back left leg, but for a Fox it's impressive but do-able. He sees me and sets the other three legs down before standing.
"Dr. Castin, Hi! I thought last Monday was your last day." Gerum is one of the most advanced models of Persimule, or android, and if I didn't know better I would have never thought him anything but human. Many find this disconcerting but it probably has something to do with all the work I did on them that I don't at all. In fact I in general find them to be rather more agreeable than people in general.
"Hi Gerum. Yeah, it was, but I forgot a few things."
"Ok. Oh, um..." This is a high security facility. Gerum is the only person that can open or close the doors to the lab, and to be able to he has to see identification and clearance. "I'm sorry, Dr. Castin, but since you aren't actually posted here anymore..."
"Oh! Sorry, you need my clearance and stuff, don't you?" He nods, and I fumble around in my bag until I find the two chips I need. "Here you go."
"I'm really sorry, Doctor, I just..."
"Gerum, that's your job. It's fine." The seemingly unmarred wall in front of me splits down the middle, revealing double doors, at least two meters thick, made of I don't even know what substance. All I know is the door is rated to withstand a nuclear blast less then a meter away (or so they tell me.) "See you in a bit." Lights flicker on, illuminating a stairway heading down into the depths of the planet.