"So, Guardian changed her, because he thought she would be happier that way."concluded Veronica. "However, apparently, the arrival of the settlers seemed to have had a negative effect, but…she overcame it. Admirable."
"I guess so."
"I still don't see why she would have chosen to live in isolation."
"It might have seemed the best way."
"I suppose. Well, we'd better get on."
The spend the night in the house where long ago, the Keeper and the Guardian had lived, alone. Veronica looked out the sky, at the stars. Down in the valley, she especially looked at the western horizon.
"Isn't it getting cold?"asked Moira, coming down with a blanket.
"Well, what can you expect from a planet in a wider orbit? Much more drastic weather changes. More drastic, and longer seasons."she said.
Moira nodded. David joined them.
"You see that? Down there, on the western horizon, so tiny and small?"Vero pointed out. "Sol. It's the Sun. Earth."
David nodded.
"Every year…"he began, but Vero cut him off.
"The star over there, in that constellation,"she said. "That one was the first star I traveled to. The first I discovered. I named it Munir."
"How could a star have a name?"asked David.
"Whenever a person discovers a new star, they name it."Moira explained. "Ra, for example. The person who discovered Ra, gave it that name."
"But Ra is not a star."
"Of course it is. All suns are stars."
"It means bright."Vero kept saying. "It's such a bright star. It burns a little warmer than Ra. Only two habitable planets around it. Gas giants. The rest of the habitable worlds are satellites. Gas giants always have thousands of satellites. You notice them more, the hotter they burn. And of course, distance also has a lot to do with it. Another, Junayd. That one's a red dwarf, so the name means small. Mostly, I like to choose Arabic names. Most of the stars have Greek or Roman names. Ra is Egyptian, so is Isis. I like Arabic better. For the planets and satellites, too. My pets, too, of course."
On Denebon 5, Fernanda looked out her window. As the red light of Dynpa was fading, the stars would soon be out. Dynpa was a giant, red sun. In actuality, it was no more than a mere red dwarf. So close was Denebon 5 to its sun, that it almost took up about half the sky, and gave just about everything on the planet a reddish, pinkish glare. As she looked at the sky, she wondered just how she would tell Earth in that crowded sky. Or Isis.
"I believe on the other side of this mountain range is the sea."said Vero.
"What's the sea?"asked David.
Veronica simply rolled her eyes, and kept staring up at the sky. Tears began to flow from her eyes, as she fixed them on the western horizon.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing. Earth, humanity's home. We're all Earthpeople. I went to do my studies there, and get qualified. It was the only planet I ever got attached to."
She wiped her tears.
"Why didn't you stay?"
Vero shrugged.
"I can't be around people, besides, I doubt I could ever stay still too long. I was a little too curious. I feel…safe in my ship. With nothing around me. Just empty space. Emptiness, nonexistent, you know. I don't know, the ship gives me comfort."
Moira really could see what she meant. She had spent most of her life in a spaceship, with her father, Mike.
"I always wanted a place to call home."she said.
Vero smiled.
"My ship is home. No one tells me what to do, I do as I please, I go where I please."
"Don't you ever want to see other people?"
"I have my computer. We can chat, talk, or communicate over the Internet, over the phone, I have my television. I have my pets. I have D. What else do I need?"