Many thanks to those of you who have reviewed the previous chapters. You've been a great source of encouragement, and I hope that the following lives up to your expectations. Song

CHAPTER THREE: THE PLOT GELATINATES

They had both survived a trying breakfast, enduring a careful questioning from Lanie about Ellen's state of health both physically and mentally. For once out of the many return trips she had heard this same line of questioning, Ellen did not have any clear answers herself. She attempted to cover with humor and vague answers about the trip itself. Yes, the hotel had been nice. No, she had not met any nice young men. Yes, the food had been excellent, although perhaps not as good as the waffles seemed at the moment. They were used as a welcome excuse and left her mouth sufficiently full to avoid any uncomfortable questions.

It was a tremendous relief to at last close the apartment door behind her. Daelan was carefully taking in the old chipped stairway and stunted shrubs along the walkway. So far, so good. There was a thankful mental silence between them both, simply looking into the thin mist clutching to the buildings and trees. Ellen took a deep breath and walked casually to her truck, aware that Lanie was still watching her go from the living room window.

As they pulled onto the highway, Daelan finally broke the silence.

Where are we going? He wondered. Ellen raised an eyebrow incredulously.

"You have to ask?"

Well, it's rather rude to just poke in and find out, don't you think?

Ellen considered that one, actually being extremely relieved once again to know he had some respect for her privacy. In fact, she was beginning to get the impression that he was quite terrified of earning her disapproval. He wanted her to like him. It wasn't just a necessity of keeping one's sanity, but he wanted to be...

Partners wasn't the right word, or even friends. Spouses? She could feel an internal giggle which was not entirely her own at the mention of that one. What, then?

Soulbound... Daelan mused, not even seeming to realize that the comment had been audible to his host. She smiled, though, and he came back to the present conversation with an emotion which could only be described as bashfulness.

I didn't mean to quite say that...up front. My apologies.

No! I like it. It sounds all nice and cliché-ly poetic.

From what I know of your language, cliché-ly isn't a word.

Oh, shut up, my dear, sweet, ever-so-tactful voice-in-my-head. I'm going to run into that truck if you aren't quiet.

The two of them lapsed into silence once again, but the atmosphere in the small vehicle had notably relaxed in the past few moments.

-Å-

"Time!" Ellen scribbled off the final sentence and dropped her pencil to the desk. Mr. Jennings came around and picked up our history exams, and she was hard put to hold back an evil grin. She succeeded, but only barely. By the time the class was over, the student seated beside her was giving her some very strange looks.

Heading out across the campus, Ellen paused and allowed Daelan to get a good look around. He was continually remarking on the immense amount of green scattered about, anything from the lawns to the tall trees.

We never had much greenery where I came from. The council always picked places no one would think to look, which usually meant barren, rocky, and overall miserable.

I'm glad you're here to see this, then. Ellen answered quietly, smiling. The smile changed into that evil grin which had been aching to come out. Oh, and thanks for the insight on ancient history. Daelan snorted and hoisted her backpack into a more comfortable position, setting a stride towards the library.

Insight! I lived it, dear. Ellen rolled her eyes and continued to grin widely. They stopped and got coffee, although Ellen skipped the chocolate at Daelan's request. She made it quite clear that he would have to get over that particular dislike, however. Being an intense late-night studier resulted in practically living off of coffee and chocolate bars. Only Lanie's cooking and insistance that she eat one solid meal a day had kept her alive, Daelan was sure.

Ellen plopped down at her usual spot, a small table in the back corner, cut off from most of the usual bustle by a wall of bookshelves. She was just pulling out her biology book when someone else sat down across from her. She tried to ignore it, but a moment later there were fingers in her hair, twirling it around into brown ringlets.

"A-hem." A voice called a touch too loudly for inside a library. Ellen frowned and reluctantly closed her book.

"Mark, quit messing with my hair. It's tangled enough as it is." She sighed, caught between annoyance and amusement that he'd found her here. Mark came back around the table and sat down across from her once again, expression completely neutral despite the fact that he'd just been far closer to her than he probably should have been. Ellen pushed her book to one side and leaned onto the table.

"Was there something you needed?" She asked testily. Mark was an okay guy. She'd run into him when she first started going to school here, and at first they'd hit it off rather well. The problem was, Mark had a tendency to attract trouble. He almost never was the trouble, but it just seemed to happen wherever he was. After breaking her wrist in a car crash with him, having her and Lanie's apartment broken into while he was staying there, and surviving a fire to a building they were in together, she decided he was officially dangerous. Not to mention the various times they'd gone camping, all of which ended in some rather spectacular disasters.

It didn't look like anything hectic was scheduled for today, however. Mark didn't look like his energetic self. He looked tired in a way that she hadn't seen him before. Her tone instantly changed.

"Mark...are you feeling okay? You look a bit under the weather." He obviously noticed the change, a slight grin lighting up his brown eyes for a moment. He leaned back in his chair.

"I'm fine. 'S just...a friend of mine's been missing for years now. Clean off the globe, if you know what I mean. I'm a bit worried he's gone and gotten himself killed or something."

Ellen gave him a hard look. He didn't look like he was speculating. She'd seen him after his grandma'd died, and he had that same look on his face. He knew that his friend had died, whoever that might be, and she wondered why he wasn't telling her straight out.

"Mark."

"Yeah?"

"Don't give me that. What happened to him?"

"Whaddaya mean?"

"Mark!" She gave him a sharp glare, and he stared guiltily at his hands. Got him. He sat like that for a couple more minutes and then grinned a bit.

"I guess it's kinda stupid. Coming to talk to you and then...not talking to you. I guess I just figured you had enough of your own problems..."

Don't I know it. Ellen thought, poking Daelan mentally. He nudged her back towards the conversation at hand with an indignant,

I am not a problem!

Ha, ha.

"Anyway, he's another one of my weird friends. Well-educated, but weird. He even wrote some pretty detailed papers on how the pyramids were alien landing pads...you get the idea. I got ahold of the news that he died, like, five years ago or something. So...that's it. I never heard about it, either. I mean, that, and then my sister calling me in the middle of the night with bad dreams. Yeesh. She needs to stop watching the news."

Daelan and Ellen exchanged matching feelings of trepidation. It was a bit silly, since Ellen knew that Mark's sister was always having nightmares about nasty things that happened in the news, but they had to ask.

"What...happened on the news this time?" Ellen could hear the answer coming before he even spoke, but still was hard put to suppress a wince.

"There was a murder in some state park or other, I didn't hear. You know Anna, though. She freaked out when the Air Force sealed it off for some reason. Don't know what they'd want with it. She's paranoid - probably thinks it's some big government experiment that'll blow us all to pieces."

Ellen didn't know what to say to that, and would have frozen up if Daelan hadn't temporarily taken control. He rolled his eyes appropriately and gave Mark a weak smile. Ellen mentally shook herself, coming back with a contemplating expression.

"Actually, I think I drove past just the place on my home. I didn't see anything particularly strange." She checked her watch and feigned surprise. "Yikes! I need to get going. If you need to talk some more later, how about lunch? You know where I'll be."

She quickly packed up her books and put on a quick step as she left the library. As soon as she was out of sight, however, she sunk down with her back to one of the large oak trees lining the sidewalk.

This is very bad.

No, really? And if the ship didn't entirely burn up in the crash...

You left a blinkin' ship out there? What if someone tracks us down? We could become...lab rats or something!

Ellen closed her eyes in frustration. She seemed to be doing a lot of that today. Then a thought hit her. Well, actually, it was one of Daelan's thoughts. It just happened to be one he wasn't using at the moment. She suddenly remembered acutely the sight of a giant pyramid-shaped spacecraft setting down on a -

"Daelan!" she said suddenly, her eyes flicking open. Thankfully, no one was close enough to hear at the moment, but she still blushed at speaking out loud.

Do you remember what Mark said about his missing friend? About pyramids being landing pads and all that?

Yes...oh! Of course! Do you really think that he'd believe us, though? And that's assuming he's still alive.

Mark seemed pretty sure that he was gone, but we could at least try and track down anything he might have written about it. Maybe there's more of your kind around here that we just didn't know about.

Good idea, Daelan consented, How about we check that out right now, if we can...?

Sure, I'll start by checking online. You can find absolutely anything online. With a grim smile and a plan, she shouldered her backpack and marched off.