'Thinking?'
'Hmm?' Buzz said, looking over at Jennifer. 'Oh, yeah.' He said, returning his gaze to the starfield above them. 'Yes, I am.'
'What about?' She asked, placing her head on his chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart, her eyes looking down on the rest of him, laying out on the blanket.
'The galaxy.' Buzz replied, reaching over to stroke her hair. 'I mean, it's such a beautiful place from down here, but...' He stopped, sighing. 'When you go up there, it's all hoods trying to break the system, political power plays, and-' He stopped. 'You know what I mean.'
She kept silent, her arm wrapped around him, the other placed at his shoulder. She looked sideways, up, at the stars. One twinkled.
'Is that why you joined the Academy?' She asked, softly.
'Yes.' He said, becoming more animated. 'I felt it was my duty as a citizen of the Galactic Alliance to enlist.'
'I know, Buzz.' She said, pushing herself up, so that she was sort of laying sideways on her hip. 'I know.'
There was a long silence as she looked at him, his beautiful face, those hard features. She got the impression that he'd been sculpted, not born. He continued looking upwards.
She picked a dandelion from the grass beside them, and looked at it for a moment.
Then she blew, softly.
'Jennifer?'
She finished, the dandelion's head now bare, and turned to Buzz.
'Yes?'
'See that star there?' He pointed, and she looked.
'Yes.' She said, moving closer to him, following his finger.
'That's Mohambas.' He said. Stellar Cartography was one of his stronger subjects in the Academy. 'Someday, you and I are going to go visit that system. I hear the orbital hotels are top-notch.'
'That's nice.' She said, pulling her long hair behind one ear.
'I heard they even have simulators on board, can you imagine?' He got up on one elbow, turning to her. 'Simulators! Even Star Command only has two.' He looked back up at the sky and shook his head.
'Which one is Orion?' She asked, drawing closer to him.
'Orion...' Buzz, said searching the sky with his eyes, shaking his head. 'Not at this time of night. Maybe in a few hours.'
'It's quite late.' She said, shrugging. 'Maybe I'll just skip Orion.'
'Okay.' He said, scratching an itch on his ear.
Jennifer picked another dandelion, pulling slowly at its stem until it snapped.
'Do you have to work tomorrow?' He asked. He was planning to take her to the Arcadia tomorrow.
'Yes.' She replied, discarding the flower. 'I have to.'
'You should take a holiday.' He said. 'Even Star Command gives Labor Day off.'
'I can't.' She said. 'I already asked. Tony wants everyone in tomorrow. Backlog and all.'
'Jesus.' Buzz said. 'What a slave driver.'
'It's a bad month.' Jennifer explained. 'What with that market crash and all.'
'Damn riots.' Buzz's brow furrowed. 'One bunch of miners go on strike and the entire planet's economy plummets like a meteor.'
Jennifer shrugged. 'That's the way it works on Tangea.' She said. 'I heard they executed the lot of them.'
'That's a stupid way to run a government, if you ask me.' Buzz said. 'Monarchy. Hmph.' He snorted.
There was another long silence as she picked up the dandelion she'd thrown away and blew at it, the little white stems floating away in the wind. Throwing away the head, she reached past him, taking the tumbler from the blanket. She opened the top and drank, the sweet liquid pouring past her throat.
'You make wonderful tea.' He commented as she finished drinking, closing the container.
'Thanks.' She said. 'It's Chinese.'
'Really?' He asked, turning to her. 'I honestly couldn't tell.'
'It's jasmine tea.' She explained. 'My mom used to drink it all the time.'
'You've told me.' He said, looking back up, resting back on his elbows. 'She used to have these little biscuits with the tea, right?'
'Yes.' She said, nodding. The subject of her parents was a sore point; Buzz tired not to bring it up as much as he could.
'It's so peaceful here.' He said, softly, as if raising his voice would break the spell. 'Even the grass is real.' He reached over and played with the blades, green wrapping in between his fingers.
'I hate the parks.' Jennifer said. 'All that artificial flora, ugh.' She shuddered. 'Give me a real tree any day.'
'I'm not exactly fond of them, either.' Buzz said, referring to the parks. 'Places like these are special.' He said, plucking a single blade of grass, holding it in his fingers. 'They're so beautiful.' He said, twirling it around in his fingers before tossing it aside. 'Like you.' He said, turning to Jennifer, wearing a serious expression.
She looked back at him, looking deep into those eyes of his. And remained silent.
He reached up to touch her face. He loved her skin. It was so soft. His fingers ran down her cheek, and her hand grasped his, catching it as it was circling her chin.
'Buzz.' She said, slowly.
He didn't reply. He didn't have to.
When he kissed her, she put her hands around his neck and drew him tighter, reciprocating his gesture. His arms encircled her waist as they broke off the kiss, holding each other.
He began to kiss her neck, the space between them closing as they held each other closer. He felt her jugular pulse beneath the soft skin on her neck, and as his lips ran over that sensitive spot, she shivered involuntarily. He tightened his grip on her, feeling her whole body tense. Her hands lowered to his back, her fingers tracing his spine.
'Make love to me.' She whispered into his ear.
Above them, the stars shone.
'Lightyear?' Vane said, looking at the young man with some amusement.
'Hm?' Buzz said, turning back to the lecturer at the front of the room. 'Oh.' he said, bringing himself back to reality. 'Sorry, sir.' He said, looking a bit embarrassed.
'Try staying on this planet, cadet.' He said, his top set of eyes blinking as soft giggling came from the other cadets around him. 'It helps the concentration. Now, as I was saying.' He turned back to the large holo-projection screen. 'Your assignments are due next week. Please try and do a better job than you did last time? I hate having to give bad reports to Principal Pasquale.' He finished just as a loud chime sounded in the room, indicating that class was over.
'Right, then.' He said, as the cadets began to gather their things. 'Dismissed. Lightyear, will you see me for a moment?' The robe-clad alien walked back to the front of the hall, turning off the projector as Buzz came forward through the throng of cadets, holding his datapad. When he reached Vane's desk, he stopped and saluted.
'Sir.' Buzz said, bringing his hand down.
'Stop doing that, Lightyear.' Vane said, piling some papers together. 'I am not Sergeant Husbeck.'
'Yes, sir.' Buzz said before he could stop himself. The alien sighed.
'Vane, Lightyear.' He said, reminding Buzz of his name. 'Anyway, I've noticed that you've been slacking off a bit in class recently. Any reason in particular?'
'I'm sorry.' Buzz said, leaving out the three-letter word at the end of the sentence. 'I've just had a lot on my mind, that's all.'
'Ah.' Vane said in understanding. 'Everything under control?'
'Most definitely.' Buzz said, a slight smile tugging at the edge of his face.
'Well, I'm just glad to see that a psych-review is not in order.' He said, putting his papers into a folder. Vane was one of the few lecturers who still used paper. 'Just remember that the term assessment is coming up soon. You don't want your marks to slip.' He said. 'You have done your assignment, I hope?' He looked at Buzz enquiringly.
'Yes, I have.' Buzz said. Completed just this morning, actually.
'At least someone cares to do the homework.' He commented, gathering his things as he prepared to leave. 'You must understand that I'm merely concerned for you, Lightyear.' Vane said as he began to walk out of the lecture hall. 'But I'm glad to hear that nothing's wrong. You may go.' He said to Buzz, who was following him out.
'Thank you, Mr. Vane.' Buzz said, turning the opposite direction from his teacher. Vane smiled.
Mister Vane. That was a start.
Buzz dialed Jennifer's number on the public terminal in the hallway. Turning on the privacy shield, he looked to his right, where a group of female cadets were joking about something as they walked down the hall, away from him. The number dialed, and her voice came over the terminal speakers.
'Hello?'
'Hello, Jennifer.' Buzz said. 'Why isn't your camera on?'
'I'm on my mobile.' She explained. 'What is it?'
'I was hoping we could go to dinner later.' Buzz said, looking over at the female cadets. One of them was stealing glances at him over her shoulder. 'Maybe something Rhizomian.' He suggested.
'Actually, I was thinking of just sitting somewhere and talking.' She said.
'You want to talk?' Buzz shrugged. 'Sure. I'm at the Academy right now. How about if I come pick you up at six?'
'How about right now?' She said.
Buzz straightened, as he turned around. Jennifer shut her mobile.
'Right now is good.' He said, the words 'Call Ended.' appearing on the screen behind him.
'I need to talk to you, Buzz.' She said, and the sudden realization of how serious her expression was made his smile disappear as well.
'What is it?' He asked. She lowered her head and breathed before returning her eyes to him.
'I think we should stop seeing each other.' She said, quickly.
Eternity passed.
'What?' Buzz said.
'Don't take it personally, but I don't feel that this relationship is working.' She said.
The shock in his voice couldn't be hidden. 'Jennifer, how could you say that?'
'Look, it's not you.' She said. 'This isn't easy for me.' Her voice was shaky and uneven.
'Isn't easy for you?' Buzz said. 'What is this, some kind of joke?
'Buzz.' She raised her hands, trying to find the words. His face froze as he realized. His heart dropped to the general vicinity of his kidneys.
'It was that night, wasn't it?' He said, his tone suddenly soft. 'The night we-'
'Yes, Buzz.' She said. cutting him off. 'But it's not your fault.'
'But-' He said, confused more than anything else. 'You said you loved me, why can't we still see each other?' He was fighting the tides of emotion inside him.
'I didn't say I loved you.' She denied, her expression hard. 'I never said that.'
'But you do!' He was trying everything. 'We made love, for God's sake!'
'That was-'
'What? What was it?' He reached out, taking her shoulders.
'A test.' She blurted out. She immediately regretted the words as she felt him let go of her. 'I needed to see if I loved you. I had to find out. I had to test myself. I never wanted to hurt you, please!' She said, holding her hands out in front of her. She was crying now. 'Please, Buzz. I never wanted to hurt you.'
There was a long and tormenting silence as he regarded her.
'Then why can't we still be together?' He asked, his tone now softer than ever before.
'Because I don't love you.' She said, looking straight at him. 'I'm sorry, Buzz.' She said, swallowing hard. 'But I don't love you.'
He looked at her forever. Until at last he spoke.
'Go away.' He said, his footsteps like the hammering of coffin nails as he walked away from her. She continued to stand there, no longer looking at anything.
'I'm sorry.' She said, finally, as his footsteps moved further and further away.
'I'm sorry.'