I remember when I was a kid, I liked to lie out on the roof and look up at the stars. That was all I ever had to do with space then…

That was a long time ago.

Now here I was, on my way into space. I wondered how it had come to this… I'd never intended to join up. I wasn't keen to get into the fight the way my brothers had been, during the war. When the fighting was over and two of them were dead, I was even less inclined.

And then, one day, there just wasn't any other way to pay the bills.

I was just the type they wanted. The right height, the right weight, good eyesight, strong stomach, intelligent… and desperate. They sent me directly to fighter pilot training. I was told that even though the invasion had been stopped, the government expected there would be more. The skies were watched at all times for signs of sonic weapons, alien lasers. And new pilots were at the top of the list of needs in the event of attack.

And then training began. Grueling weeks of it, making up for time they didn't dare use by ramping up the intensity. I was one of the lucky ones. Flying came naturally to me. I was actually feeling pretty good about my decision by the time we came to the end of training and it was time to make our first space flight… just outside the Earth's atmosphere.

Even though it was my first flight, we'd run countless simulations and I felt fairly confident… and excited. After all, it was just maneuvers. I was flying under the immediate command of my friend Will, and in the company of a large number of experienced flyers. At least, Will was my friend now… I met him in flight training, where he was assigned to help with the new recruits.

I got my ship assignment and headed out onto the pad, helmet under my arm.

"Finally getting' up there, hey, Meeks?" called Will.

"Yeah! Pretty exciting," I told him.

"Don't sweat it, buddy. Do like you did in the simulations. It's just practice. You'll do fine."

"Got it!" I found my ship and climbed inside.

Will was one of those keen types. He'd already been up, but somehow he'd never tired of it. He said it wasn't as though you actually saw the enemy dying. That, somehow, made it alright.

I didn't much like his attitude, but Will was still one of my best friends in the squadron. He was friendly, loyal, and didn't mind answering questions.

We went through the flight check. First flight taxied and took off in pairs to begin formation. I was in the third flight today, tapping nervously on the throttle while I waited to be ordered out and up.

Our turn came, and then we were in the sky, in formation, circling higher and higher. The atmosphere thinned; I flipped a switch to alter cabin pressure and oxygenate the air. Higher… activate rocket boosters, on Will's mark… one by one, we broke free of the Earth and reassembled formation in orbit.

"Alright, boys and girls," came the Admiral's stern voice over the com. "Let's run through these drills smartly first time through, and we'll be home by lunch time!"

I followed the ship in front of me, neatly executing all the turns and rolls, enjoying myself.

"Nice, Meeks!" Will called over ship-to-ship. "Wish I'd had your talent my first time up."

"Thanks!"

We were completing the first exercise when a red light flashed on the control panel. Alarms split the air.

"Sonics detected!" shouted the Admiral. "Repeat, we have an incoming sonic attack! Execute attack formation Beta!"

"Uh-oh, Meeks! Looks like you get your first taste a little early," said Will.

We entered attack formation smoothly. Most of the others had been up before. The squadron was soon ready, in position, waiting in silent anticipation for first sight of the enemy. My palms began to sweat.

A ball of light came into view. I kept my hand close to the weapons controls, waiting for orders. My heart pounded. You can do this, I told myself. You can't say you had no idea this would happen. It was always a possibility…

The approaching object began to take shape. It had flowing tentacles… no… was that hair? I strained my eyes against the brightness, trying to make out forms.

"Ready weapons!"

I flicked the weapons panel open, activating each of the banks. The thing was almost in range.

"It's in range! First flight, fire!"

The first row of ships fired at the object. The object unexpectedly changed direction, zipping upward and away.

"Bring your ships about! Pursue and engage!"

We flowed after it in flights, the first flight still firing. I still couldn't make out what kind of ship it was, but I was confused. Why was a whole squadron in pursuit of one ship?

"First flight, why have you not engaged the enemy?" barked the Admiral.

"We're trying!" the leader of the first flight responded. "She's dodging too quickly, sir."

Then it was a ship, I thought. It didn't look like any ship I'd seen, but it was still possible. It suddenly banked off of the Earth's atmosphere and doubled back across the squadron; a risky maneuver forced by the rapid pursuit, and flew right past my ship. I watched it go by and almost fell out of formation.

It was a girl!

Still recovering from the shock, I activated my com. "We have to abort, sir!"

"Who is that?"

"It's Meeks, Admiral! We have to abort! The enemy isn't in a ship! She isn't fighting back!"

"What do you mean, Meeks?"

"It's a girl, sir! She's just… I don't know. She's just flying through space!"

"Have you lost your mind, Meeks? We have readings on that object that indicate sonic weapons and laser capability…"

"It's alright, Admiral," interrupted Will over his com. "The enemy's thruster exhaust trail resembles hair. Meeks is just a little confused. It's his first flight, sir."

"Keep it together, Meeks! Get in there and take out the enemy!"

The admiral cut off the line. I called Will on ship to ship. "What are you doing? Can't you see her?"

"It's a trick, Meeks. I've seen it before. They know just how to play on your weaknesses. Just fire when you're told to fire and everything will be fine."

"But she's not even fighting back…"

There was an explosion in front of us. I took evasive action and rejoined formation.

"You were saying?" Will said.

The girl had turned at last and begun to defend herself. Defend! She was tearing us apart! Her flowing hair sliced ships in half. She tore others apart barehanded. She screamed, and ships shuddered and broke.

Even through my rising terror, the thought kept going through my mind… She tried to avoid this. She kept trying not to do it, like she knew she could hurt us…

"She's only doing that because we attacked her!" I told Will.

She looked at me sharply, as if she could hear me. She started flying toward me.

Oh, no…

"She's coming for us! Fire, Meeks! That's an order!"

"We have to stop this!" I stared, frozen in fear, at her burning eyes. My heart seemed to stop. Was it fear, or fascination? "She could be a new life form!"

"Fire, Meeks, or I swear I'll blow you and her out of the sky!"

"What?" I cried.

She shifted suddenly in her course, charging toward Will as he opened fire. She disabled his primary weapons array with a swipe of her claws.

"Fire, Meeks!"

"Stop!" I cried. She hesitated and looked toward me, eyes blazing. So she could hear me?

A blast of fire struck her gleaming hair and disintegrated. She flew toward the source of the attack.

Will leveled his secondary weapons array… at me! "You're useless, Meeks!" he bellowed. "All flash and fancy flying, but useless in a fight!"

"No, Will! Something isn't right here! Come on, you saw how long it took her to fight back!"

"And now that she is, she's killing everyone you've been training with for the past three months, Meeks!"

He was right… the squadron was scattered, debris filled the space around us. There were still several flights remaining, but as surely as a ship attacked her, she would tear it apart like fresh bread.

"But…"

"Are you in this fight or not?" he screamed.

I looked at her. She had stopped the last attack and turned toward me again. I could just see her eyes. They blazed through the darkness like distant campfires, their flickering light reflected on her cheeks. She was crying.

There were three more ships coming around. Her face crumpled as if with weeping, but she turned to intercept.

My warning buzzer sounded; Will had locked weapons on my ship!

"I warned you, Meeks," he said, his voice lethal.

"Will, no!"

I saw her coming for him before he did.

"Stop!" I cried, but she was coming in hot, no hesitation. I couldn't fire… I flew my ship into her path instead. He eyes widened as she tried to pull back sharply, but the momentum of her charge caused her to slam into my windshield. It cracked all over. She cried out and my deflectors exploded.

Will fired at us both. She intercepted one torpedo and charged him once more as the other torpedo struck my ship. Without any deflectors to minimize the impact, and with a cracked windshield, the ship didn't stand a chance. Alarms went off all around me. Cabin pressure plummeted. I had enough time to eject into space before my ship shattered.

By the time I got my bearings and had managed to turn around, it was over for Will. His ship was spinning slowly through the debris, a gaping hole where the windshield had been.

The rest of the squadron fared no better. As surely as she destroyed a ship, another would charge in and attack. Why did they keep coming? I watched, unable to act, to help, to warn them… as if they hadn't seen for themselves what was happening. It seemed like hours before they were all gone… but my chronometer told me it was a little over one hour.

I wept and trembled with cold and fear. The suit protected me from the worst of the cold, but not all. I was helpless, buffeted by flotsam, thankful that none of it had yet punctured my suit. I looked around me, trying to see whether anyone else was adrift, and switched on the short-range com that was equipped inside the suit.

"Meeks to anyone who can hear me…" I called desperately.

There was only silence. I could see her, out among the pieces of broken ships. She looked as though she was searching, too; probably making sure no one else could attack her, I thought. After my attempt to contact other survivors, she began to move my way…

Stupid! My heart pounded with fear even as a chunk of someone's broken ship struck me, splintering the outer seal on my helmet. An alarm went off inside the suit.

"Oxygen depletion imminent! Oxygen depletion imminent!"

I swore, trying feebly to hold the helmet onto the suit. That was when I realized she was there.

She gazed at me through my damaged helmet, looking puzzled. I was breathing fast… too fast. Stop it, Meeks! You're running out of air! I told myself.

Then I realized I was dead, whether sooner or later. If she didn't kill me, the oxygen would run out and that would be it.

I stared into her burning eyes as the alarm warned me I had only thirty seconds left to live. She reached for me. I closed my eyes. It was over.

"You didn't shoot…" she said gently. Her voice sounded like many voices at once.

I opened my eyes but I couldn't focus. My head spun. As things grew dark, I felt a strange warmth surround me. My skin tingled. My head buzzed.

I lost consciousness.

I awoke somewhere warm and bright. At first, I thought I was home with the sunshine streaming into my room. It's red because I'm seeing it through my eyelids…

That was when I realized that my eyes were opened. As my surroundings came into focus, I felt warmth press my lips for a moment.

"You're awake. I am glad."

It's her, I thought… I'm with her. She… she kissed me.

I touched my lips and realized I was no longer wearing my flight suit. I looked around me. All I could see was empty, cold space outside of the strange energy field surrounding us.

I screamed, panicking. How was I even conscious, not frozen into a popsicle or imploded or whatever it was that would happen without a flight suit?

She wrapped her arms around me, pressing my head against her shoulder. I clung to her, still screaming, my eyes shut tight. She stroked my hair and sang a strangely soothing song in a language I had never heard. I slowly grew calm. As my screams stopped, I wondered that I could scream at all. I was breathing.

I took a deep breath, amazed at it, my head still close to her. There was a scent to her… the smell of heat and something sweeter… like a lingering perfume. The hair that had sliced through ships now wrapped harmlessly around me, holding me gently but firmly. Her hands were clawed, but I never felt a scratch as she caressed my cheek, murmuring in her strange language.

"Who are you?" I asked, and my voice sounded like many voices at once.

She seemed confused. "I am a girl…"

"Do you have a name?"

"A name?"

"Something you're called… who you are."

"I am… myself." She kissed me again.

"Well… I'm Meeks…" I gasped when I resurfaced. "I mean… my first name is Frey. I usually just ask to be called Meeks…" I'm babbling. I'm in deep space, in the arms of a beautiful girl, wearing a t-shirt and fatigue bottoms and giraffe socks, and babbling about my name. This isn't real…

"You are the god of sunlight and rain… and fertility?"

"How do you know about that?" I breathed. "I mean, no, I'm only a man… My mother was Icelandic…"

"You did not shoot at me. They tried to hurt me. I only came to see." Her lip trembled. She looked away.

I put my hand gently under her chin, drawing her gaze up to mine again. "I know," I murmured. "We… they attacked you. It wasn't right."

She nodded. "I came to see. I am a girl. Your world has others like me?"

I laughed. "A little like you… but no, not quite like you… Are you human, then?"

"I think so… My mother… I do not know. I am space. I have only been called 'daughter' and I do not know by what. But I have been well raised."

"How…" I gulped, almost afraid to bring it up. "How am I still alive?"

"I have taken you away. I will keep you alive. I can." She frowned prettily. "But you will want to go home…"

I looked into her burning eyes and my heart pounded. "No," I gasped. "I don't. They're paranoid… and violent. They attacked without asking questions…"

"You do not want to go back?" she asked, eyes wide.

"I don't… I… I think I want to go with you."

"You do not know?" she asked timidly.

I touched her face. She had the strangest freckles… She closed her eyes tightly and tears trickled down her cheeks. I stroked one away and it floated, shimmering, beside her face.

She had kissed me twice. Now I kissed her. She trembled in my arms. I leaned away at last and sighed, wondering whether I'd lost my mind. She pulled me close, pressing her cheek against mine.

I swallowed hard. There was no going back now. "I do know... now," I whispered, my lips close to her ear. She looked at me and smiled.

Her hair swirled around us, holding me safe. She caught hold of a passing comet and we flew away from Earth. She told me all about her home as we traveled. When I grew too sleepy to listen, she rested my head against her breast and sang her gentle song, and I slept.

Even now, we travel her home. I've left both my names behind me.

I am hers, and she is mine.

I've been taken by the daughter of Space.

I will never see Earth again.