Alondra Catalina Alcazar Moreno sat in the small, stuffy office. She was lucky to be alone, just her, in this one room. Outside, she could hear the roar of cars and crowds. She shook her head. She hated all these noise. Sometimes she felt she hated people, period. They were the reason, after all, why she had to endure all that noise, all that commotion, all that pollution, the reason she could never be truly alone. She was alone now, but the space was so small, and there was someone just beyond the door. She sighed. Hopefully today, the private investigator would have the information she wanted. She saw the door opening, and he stepped into the room.

"Good morning Miss Alcazar."

"Good morning. You asked that I come to see you, because you had something you wanted to tell me in person?"

"Yes, indeed."

"Have you found them?"she asked, anxiously.

"I guess in a way, yes, I did."

"What do you mean, in a way?"she asked, sharply.

"I mean that, I have found your birth parents, but they are…or were…"

"Just say it. I hate it when people go around and around. It's easier to just say it point blank. Now get to the point."

"Very well."

He shuffled some papers.

"It appears that your birth parents worked for STC."

"The Stellar Travel Consortium?"she asked, shocked.

So her parents worked for those people. Very few people knew how she felt about them. She always thought they were nothing more than a bunch of irresponsible cowards, all of them! Them and anyone who had anything to do with them. She had always hated them all. If she disliked people, it was nothing compared to how she felt about the STC officials and anyone who took their 'help'.

"My parents? Work for those people!"she exclaimed aloud. "Why…that's something else. What do they do?"

"Did, Miss Alcazar. Did."said the investigator grimly.

"You mean they are dead?"she asked.

"Yes."

Alondra looked at her hands in her lap. So both of her parents were dead. At least now she knew for a fact that they were dead and she would never meet them. She didn't think she could ever find the place where they were buried, because it would probably be with loads of other people, or they were probably not even buried, but rather burned. Space was so limited, so precious, that it was not the custom to bury people anymore, unless they were going to use the land to build over, or something.

"Well, at least now I know. There is nothing worse than not knowing. At least now I won't be feeding false hopes, will I? It is a pity I didn't find them when they were still alive. I would have liked to know exactly why they gave me up for adoptions, but I don't think I can complain. After all, it's not like I had a terrible life. The Alcazars were always very good to me, except for the fact that they lied to me about them being my parents. I never knew until my mo, Mrs.Catalina Moreno viuda de Alcazar told me before she died. I would just have liked to know. But what did they do? Were they part of a crew of settler ships? I must say, I don't know much about them, but just now, I am quite ashamed to be related to them. Me, of all people! Related to people like them! Who don't have the courage to face the consequences of their actions! I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, though."

"They were not part of a crew of a settler ship. No."said the investigator. "They kept the Light on one of the STC planets. Isis."

"Keepers of the Light?"

"Yes. On Isis."

"So, that means…but you said they are dead?"

"Yes. That is something else. From what I've been able to find out, they kept the Isis Light for six years. Their term of duty was for twenty five years."

"So they came back to Earth? Or they died on Isis?"she asked.

"Isis. They died on Isis."

"And someone else keeps the Light today?"

"Yes. That is something else. You see, Miss Alcazar, you have a sister."he said.

Alondra was speechless.

"A sister? Where is she?"

"On Isis. She was born on Isis, and has been keeping the Light after your parents' death."

"Hasn't Isis already been colonized?"she asked, remembering having heard something about that.

"Yes. It has been colonized for at least forty five years."

"Oh."

"That is not all, Miss Alcazar."the investigator told her.

"There is more? Oh, but of course, there is more. Me, forgetting the most important thing! Right, you still haven't told me their names."

"Gareth and Liz Pendennis."the investigator told him.

"Gareth and Liz Pendennis."she repeated after him. "Well, um, certainly very nice names. Gareth and Liz. And what has become of…my sister?"

"Miss Olwen Pendennis has been keeping the Isis Light ever since your parents' death. However, there is something else."

"Oh?"

"Miss Pendennis was born on Isis, as I have already told you, but….she was not the only person born on Isis."

"What do you mean?"

"Miss Alcazar, you were born on Isis also."

"Me? But…but I'm here, on Earth."she exclaimed.

"Miss Pendennis is more than just your sister. She is your twin. Your identical twin."

"I have an identical twin?"

"Yes."

"But how could that be? Why didn't I grow up on Isis, too, then?"

"Apparently, your parents had you shipped back to Earth, because you needed certain medical attention that their equipment could not provide. They asked that you be send back to Isis as soon as possible, but with their death…"

Alondra looked up as soon as he had spoken of her health. She looked down. Yes. She knew what he was talking about. Those stupid seizures that still came to this day. She still took medicine for them, of course, she had always hated them, and blamed her parents for passing such a condition on to her. Were they the reason she had grown up with strangers?

"So, if my parents died, how did my sister survive? How old was she?"

"Three years old."

"Three? She could never have survived!"

"No. Apparently, the robot looked after her."

"Cared by a robot."she said scornfully. "Thank you for your time."she said, getting up and paying him.

"It is my pleasure."

She left the office and walked out onto the dirty, crowded street. She always felt suffocated at the presence of so many people in one place. She looked at her watch. There was no way she was going to be able to get home in less than an hour, whether she decided to walk or not. If she took a taxi, then she would be stuck in traffic. If she decided to walk, then she would have to push and be pushed by the amount of people all around. I have a twin, she thought to herself. An identical twin. When she got home she did something she didn't usually do. She went to the mirror, and looked closely at herself in it. How similar were her and, what had he said her name was? Olwen. In what ways were they alike? In what ways were they different? She thought about it, so much, that she almost missed her novela.

"Oh, dear!"she exclaimed. "I'm late."she walked over to the television. "What do you think?"she asked her dogs and cats. "I have a sister. A twin. And an identical one at that. She lives on another planet, would you believe it? Do you suppose she would be lonely?"

She didn't sleep much that night. She fed her pets as usual in the morning, but she wasn't looking forward to her breakfast, as she usually did.

"What am I going to do?"she asked them. "Maybe…perhaps I should go to Isis? Oh, dear. You don't suppose it's…well, a bit dodgy? Well, we'll just have to find out, now, won't we?"

She left the kitchen, and walked to her computer. She looked up everything there was about Isis. Evidently, the planet had been colonized for forty five years. Isis was the fourth planet of the F5 star Ra, in the constellation Indus. About five or so parsecs from Earth. The original settlement was in one of the valleys. The mountains were not safe, due to the high ultra-violet radiation and the low oxygen. That must be harsh, she thought. She had always loved heights. She loved to fly in airplanes, to see everything below her from the heights. Poor Olwen, she thought. Today the heights would not be a problem, with oxygen tablets and force-field belts.

"Oh, dear."she thought.

It said that the original Earth population was in primitive agricultural phase.

"Oh, no. That would mean that I should not go there."

She frowned. She didn't care. She would just have to bring along something to protect herself, that was all. Why, she could even tell those people she was from STC. That she had been sent to…well, she would think about that later. Yes. After all, if they were just a primitive agricultural community, what could they possibly do to her? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Perhaps throw stones at her? Call her names? Ha! And no one would have to know she was there. A lot of people wandered the Galaxy on their own. She would simply have to be smart, that was all. The quarantine wasn't going to stop her. See her sister she would. Her twin.