Tess set the coordinates for the Epsilon quadrant. Twenty minutes later the Stardust dropped out of subspace. She wouldn't approach the Erana system until she had a more precise destination. The Eranae were somewhat xenophobic by nature and did not welcome tourists. She could hack into the galactic genetic databases from her ship's computer without much trouble. She just need a sample for comparison. It wouldn't be difficult to extract the DNA, she had the equipment required onboard – she occasionally needed it to confirm the identity of her prey.

She looked over at Erik. He was sleeping deeply and she was loathe to wake him. She pulled the sampling kit from the small cargo hold and quietly walked over to him, using a pair of tweezers to pull a single hair from the black tuft on his forehead, careful to get the root with it. He twitched and rolled onto his side but did not wake up.

It would take about fifteen minutes for the catalyst to do its work and then she could submit the results to the database for likely matches. She stared at the distant stars shining ahead of the Stardust. They were always much brighter without an atmosphere to dim them.

She took the results from the analyzer and loaded them into the main computer. She accessed the Galactic Information Database and used a few codes obtained through less than legal means to gain access to the Civilian Security Agency and exploited a few convenient weaknesses in their system to break into the genetic database.

Feeding Erik's genetic code into an automated search engine quickly produced a list of the closest matches. At the top of the list was one Ohte Ohtamacil. Tess pulled up his files and frowned. He was no one that Erik would benefit getting involved with. He was a thrice-convicted felon with an impressive rap sheet – smuggling, murder, rape and more than a page and a half of various misdemeanors greeted Tess as she scrolled down the page. His current residence was listed as a penal work colony on a little-known moon – one of the much-dreaded mines. So Erik's father was out of the question.

He had to have other family, though. The Eranae were a hardy race, often living over 120 years in good health. She scrolled back up to the top of the page and copied Ohte's father's name into the search engine. Oro Ohtamacil proved to be a much more viable option. He was still alive, and living on Erana Prime. More than that, he was the patriarch of his family and quite wealthy. He owned land and had a reputation as something of a philanthropist, engaging in charity projects in some of the neighboring systems. Such generosity with aliens was rare among the Eranae.

Tess wondered how such a venerable man came to sire a beast like Ohte. It wasn't difficult to imagine how Ohte had sired Erik, though. No wonder his mother had slapped him for speaking of it. The biography provided was brief – he and younger siblings had amassed much of the family's current fortune in foreign trade, though the Ohtamacil house had been wealthy for generations immemorial and traced their heritage back to the planet's historic nobility. Ohte had been Oro's second son of three, but the only one of his five children to 'go bad'. The eldest son was Oro's business partner and the youngest son was employed with government in some capacity. The two daughters had married and moved off the planet to a neighboring colony some decades ago.

The trick now, of course, would be contacting the family. Tess was ambivalent on whether or not she even should. The Eranae were rather insular and did not interbreed with other species commonly, and considering the reputation of Erik's father, they may not want to associate themselves with Ohte's offspring. Would Erik's family accept him, or would it just be another lesson in ostracization? It was obvious that he had not had a very happy life back in France. She knew nothing of his history, but his tendency to panic around crowds spoke of cruelty at their hands. It didn't take much for human beings to reject one of their own, and physical ugliness is not a sin that humanity forgives readily.

Tess downloaded the files on Erik's family and punched in the coordinates for one of the neighboring star systems. He needed to get a translator implanted before even considering a meeting anyway, and she needed to think about the best way to approach this latest quandary. Tess leaned back and fell asleep herself until Erik began to stir and the sound woke her.

"I'll bet your back is sore."

Erik sat up and groaned at the movement.

"That's what I thought. Well, get up and stretch out a bit, we're going into another city."

Erik seemed horrified at the proposition but stood up nonetheless.

"You need a translator implanted. It's a bit of neural wiring, basically, that translates spoken foreign language for you. Sounds scary, but it's harmless and quite useful. The operation only takes half an hour."

"You want to let some doctor put wires… in my head?"

"Well, that's kind of the idea. I have them. It's totally painless and the implants are so thin you can't even see them without a microscope… You can't function in intergalactic society without it unless you want to learn a few hundred thousand languages. You might as well get it over with."

Tess chewed her lip, trying to judge when the best time to tell him about his spotty family history would be. She'd have to say something eventually, but at the moment it seemed best to take each issue one at a time. There was one thing she could go ahead and take care of, and ducked into the cargo hold to retrieve her earlier shopping, tossing the paper bag to him.

"I bought some clean clothes for you at the satellite. You ought to change before we go into the clinic, it's kind of hoity-toity and you look like you've been wearing what you've got on for a week."

Erik pulled the clothing from the bag and unfolded them. His disappointment was obvious.

"I know they aren't the height of fashion, but they'll be comfortable enough. Trust me, you want something comfortable. Just put them on."

He glanced around for privacy and finding none, stared at her incredulously. Tess rolled her eyes and turned her back on him.

"Don't worry you big baby, I won't look."

She listened to the rustling of fabric and stole a few covert looks at his warped reflection against the stars in the angled Primeglass of the cockpit. Even with the distortion, she got a pretty good idea of how he was put together. He looked entirely human from the neck down, albeit rather underfed and bearing more than a few scars. He was wiry, but well-muscled.

He finished dressing and Tess piloted the ship to the planet's surface. Luckily, they didn't have to walk through the crowded sidewalks. Tess was lucky to find a spot to land the Stardust right next to the clinic. The place was decidedly higher-class than the health clinic she'd taken him to earlier, with clean white walls, ugly statuettes and modern sculpture and architecture. It still smelled of antiseptic though. They didn't have to wait ages in a room filled with casualties, at least. Tess filled out datapad forms at the desk and Erik rubbed his sore muscles and looked around, his obvious disapproval of the décor written all over his features. Tess randomly poked him in the side without glancing up, eliciting a very un-phantomlike squeak.

"This shouldn't take long. The doctor will send a nurse out to fetch you in about an hour. We didn't exactly have an appointment after all… Might as well sit down."

Tess flopped onto a plush couch and Erik sat beside her after a moment's hesitation. Tess leaned her head back against the cushion and closed her eyes. She'd not had enough sleep lately and exhaustion was creeping up on her.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Hm? Doing what?"

"Helping me. I was dying you know. Would have died in peace if you'd not snatched me from my opera house."

The corner of Tess's mouth twitched but she didn't open her eyes.

"Snatched? You followed me of your own accord, if I remember correctly. As to why, I dunno. I was bored, I guess. You looked like you needed help."

Erik huffed.

"Boredom? That's an interesting reason to give someone aid… Though I suppose I ought to be grateful you are honest…"

"What did you want me to say? That I thought you were cute and looked lost?"

Erik wasn't sure what to make of that statement.

"No… And I wouldn't believe you if you said I was 'cute' anyway."

Tess shrugged.

"Why not? 'Cuteness is in the eye of the beholder' after all."

"Beauty."

"Beauty what?"

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. That is the adage. Not 'cuteness'."

"I know that, dummy. I was simply making a point."

Erik sighed. Why had he followed this girl? She was clearly insane.

"Boredom isn't much of a reason to help someone."

Tess opened her eyes and scowled at Erik.

"Well, I don't know, okay? I've been a Hunter for three years and maybe I'm sick of traveling by myself. Does that satisfy your insatiable curiosity? What does it matter anyway? If you're lucky you'll get a family and home out of the deal, and at least you won't be living under an opera house with rats anymore! What were you doing under there anyway?"

It was Erik's turn to scowl.

"Because everyone at the surface hated me! You wouldn't understand..."

"Understand what? What it's like to have everyone hate you? I know that well enough, I didn't have a single friend from preschool through high school. I was the neighborhood punching bag."

Erik huffed in disbelief.

"So you had to put up with a few schoolyard bullies. You know nothing!"

Tess rolled her eyes. Leave it to her to pick up the world's biggest emo boy…

They were spared further argument when a nurse appeared announcing that a client had cancelled her appointment and they would be able to do the operation immediately. Tess roughly shoved Erik in the nurse's direction and slumped back down on the couch to sulk.

Erik was led by the nurse into a sterile-looking room and motioned over onto an operating table. He lay down nervously and the sedative was a welcome relief. He dreamed that Christine had come to him on the back of a winged horse, begging him to visit the moon with her, but her expression turned to horror as he approached and held out an arm sprouting blue feathers to her. He was running after her as the horse took flight and soared off toward the stars when he woke up. A hand with too many fingers was shaking him by the shoulder.

"You're awake. Good. Do you understand me?"

Surprisingly, Erik did. He nodded his assent.

"Ah. Thank the gods! I wasn't certain the implants would function correctly. Your neural physiognomy is somewhat unusual. I don't suppose you would enlighten me as to your origin?"

Erik looked the alien doctor up and down and decided he looked untrustworthy.

"No, I wouldn't. If you don't mind, I need to get back to Tess."

"Tess? Oh, that little Tellurian you came here with? Yes, she's in the waiting room. Rare species, Tellurians. I was a bit surprised to see one. I don't believe their society has achieved interstellar flight yet."

"No, they haven't."

"Where did you pick her up then? I'm told that class 3 planets are off-limits."

"I didn't 'pick her up,' she found me."

Erik slid off the table and staggered on unsteady feet.

"The sedative won't fully wear off for another few minutes. You should regain your coordination shortly. Contact one of the nurses if you continue to have trouble."

Erik sneered at the doctor and walked to the door, retracing his steps back to the waiting room. Tess was sprawled on the couch, sleeping. He got his revenge for her earlier jab, poking her sharply in the ribs. He almost didn't dodge the fist that flew toward his face. Tess blinked at him, momentarily confused as to her surroundings.

"Oh, you're finished already? Good, let's get out of here. The smell is giving me a headache."

For once, Erik agreed with her fully.