There was no one at the mesa at this hour of the day. Most of the colonists already went to sleep, and only the ones working in the lab came here for a midnight snack. The room was silent, and Lisa thought it looks real nice, with the bluish gloom that came through the glass dome from Aonara, which hung out there, motionless. But then, Lisa thought that all things look better under in the blue light of the sun.

The floor was warmer in the mesa, she thought as she walked barefooted to the fridges and food dispensers. She took out the pay card and selected a chocolate bar. The machine made some humming noises and spitted out the sweets.

Lisa took the bar, and looked up. The Aonara sun, blue, due to the nitrogen atmosphere and the large distance from the planet, was partially covered by A-575, the planet nearest to the sun and orbiting with almost the same speed as Enosis. It made Aonara being not as bright, and it's shape a little more like the earth moon. Lisa found that strange, yet wonderful, even now, after 6 years in Enosis 5. It was never a waste of time to look at the blue sun a little more.

"You still up?" she heard Alan from behind. She turned, and saw him entering the mesa. Barefooted, just like her.

"Still watching the sun, Lisa? Thought you get bored by now." He smiled.

"I just thought the same thing." She smiled back "But I still like watching it. Why are you up here this late?"

He took his eyes off of the sun and hesitated.

"I've heard you going here, thought I could keep you company. If you don't mind, of course."

"I don't mind. And you don't have to be so conservative. I won't bite your head off if I don't like you here, I am not like a zerg you know. Or the lieutenant."

He didn't say anything, so she added

"It's nice to have you here."

"Yeah." He looked at the chocolate bar. "You for a snack here? Let me get something too." He went for the fridges. Lisa followed.

Alan was not a scientist, he did as a security officer. During the stay at Enosis Lisa had a chance to know him very little, as marines and all the military staff was living in the section F, had a mesa of their own and never had a reason to visit D.

It was not long ago, when she went on excavations with doctor Simmons, when she actually got to meet the soldiers. Alan led the squad assigned to them, and since then he was moved to D, so that doctor Simmons wouldn't have to request his assistance and wait for it. This way moving outside was almost immediate.

The food machine made some humming noises again.

"You always walk naked at night?" Alan asked when his cup filled up.

"No, only when I expect to meet soldiers that ask inappropriate questions. And I'm no naked, it's my pajamas I'm wearing. No use of working at the desk when I can work from bed." She explained. She was blushing.

"Nice looking pajamas." He said. "Sorry to be an inappropriate pig. It's just I haven't seen a beautiful woman in pajamas for too long." He paused "You plan to go outside again this week?"

She was glad he changed the subject.

"Yes, we have to get the readings and ground samples from T6a, and then we'll get the comparison of all T6 caves."

"The northern cave. When are we getting there?"

"In two days. It'll be much darker and colder then, but doctor Simmons doesn't want to wait for Enosis to make a full turn." Alan nodded his head pointing at the table, and they went to sit.

"Sure." He said "That's good. We'll take the big guy out."

The 'big guy' was the siege tank that was in store in F, rarely ever used. The techs at Enosis1 used those for excavations entry points. There was a hatch at the bottom of the vehicle, so that when the tank was in Siege mode, the crew could get to the cave without getting out on the planet surface. Enosis 1 was far to the north, where getting solo on the surface was suicide  here at E5 scientist and crew could actually use SCV during Enosis daytime. But since an Enosis day lasted 20 standard days, there was a seven, say eight day period of warmth outside the compound. And then there was the night.

At Enosis5 they actually never user the big guy. They were always ahead of schedule, and had plenty of mining spots not yet exploited, or even ready to set up a mine. Enosis5 was founded in this valley, as the ground analysis proved, that there is a lot of vespane gas in the area, and near the surface. It made life pretty easy, if you can call life easy on a planet with an explosive atmosphere and when mining for highly explosive gases. Still, at Enosis5 it was the safest to work, as there were never excavation trips during nighttime. The next trip with Simmons was actually one of the first to go on the 'dawn' part of Enosis cycle.

"You think that it'll be that cold to take the big guy?"

"Not my decision, but I think no one wants to risk being frozen out there. Is there a reason not to go tomorrow?"

"Well, a few hours ago the wasp went down. " The wasp was the name for the drill that could probe the ground for substances. Most of the form with gathering ground samples was done with the wasp. Enosis5 had only one since a moth back the other one went to Enosis6, farther south, and techs from E1 haven't send a new one to E6 yet.

"The techs will take a look at it tomorrow, first thing in the morning. But even if they fix it by noon, "she wasn't allowed to finish

"It'll be too late for us to go out to T6a. It's too far out." Alan interrupted, but Lisa continued.

"Exactly. And Simmons doesn't want to wait with the comparison for ten days because of a single ground sample. Especially because of the results near this cave. If we're lucky, we won't need a drill. Vespane gas is most probably just behind a thin wall there. We just seal the entrance and set the pipe."

"I see."

"Just one sample to prove we're right and another gas source ours." She smiled.

He looked at her for a moment, then smiled.

"You like it."

"Like what?"

"The job you do. Digging for gas here and there, guessing, how to get to it faster."

She hesitated.

"It's your game, I can see that."

"We try to do our job." She said calmly, but Alan was not convinced.

"You just plain like it." He grinned "I see eggheads here and there, they all work, but I can tell when someone is having fun. You are having it."

She looked at him grin, and then smiled herself

"You're right. I am having fun. I like it here. Most of the people hate the place, some leave to E1 and back to Tarsonis after a year or even few months, and I heard it so many times that I even don't want to argue with then anymore. But in fact, I like the place a lot. The job, the people, and the sweet blue Aonara."

Now Alan laughed.

"I've never heard someone calling the sun like that." He said.

"Well I just did." She frowned "I like it. Do you?"

He look up through the dome, where Aonara was shining in its strange moonlike shape.

"Yeah. I think, I do. I mean, Aonara is the only thing I couldn't get used to in here, but it makes this place what it is. A blueworld."

"Yeah. That's how I called it, when I first got to E1. My eyes were tearing for months, if I didn't wear the glasses."

"Everyone gets that." Alan said.

"You know what I liked the most?" Lisa said, her eyes suddenly focused on the table.

"The Ursadons?" Alan said

"No. NO. Why did you say that? This zoo in E1 was a mistake. Good thing its gone now."

"Sorry. I didn't really want to say that. I'm being sarcastic everytime I have a good time. Please tell me what did you like the most."

"Can't remember what I wanted to say. You've ruined the moment." She smiled softly. "I think it's getting late. I'll need to get up earlier tomorrow, to finish up with a report."

"Ok. So let's go." Alan said and stood up. Lisa got up as well, but turned to the glass dome again.

"I'm just gonna take a look at Aonara."

Alan took a step and he stood right beside her.

"You smell nice." Lisa said suddenly. Alan said nothing, and she didn't turn back to see his face.

The weird shape of the sun was now waving though the clouds. Lisa knew, that Alan was right and it is the sun, that she never could get used to in this place. But this was Enosis she knew, with the strange sun, explosive air and the people, that were here to find fuel for other people and make it to another day. She liked them all, the techs, and the scientists, Simmons too, even though, he was a martinet. And now she started to like Alan, a soldier who actually had something interesting to say. She liked the way he smelled and the way he kept her company. She felt happy, standing there with a man, because she couldn't remember when was the last time she felt this way about anyone. But she knew, that even tough he was right there, wanting to much would spoil it all.

"Goodnight." She said and turned to the door. She walked away with a sound of bare skin touching the floor. And then, she disappeared in the entrance and it was silent.

"Goodnight." Said Alan.



It was the middle of the day, when she felt it. First she turned away from the computer screen, just as if she heard something, but she realized that there was no sound. Still, she knew, that something caught her attention. She stood up.

Through the hatch in her office she saw Aonara. It was in the same place as yesterday, as it barely moved on a daily basis.

Below the blue sun was the whole VesFac facility, and the yard filled with empty Vespane canisters. It wasn't snowing yet, but the wind started to blow strongly. This was the way Enosis nights always started. The wind will now blow faster and faster until it gets dark.

On the Yard there was some movement. Lisa turned back to the room, to search for the Farscope. There was a bunch of clothes on the bed, the closet was opened and prints were stacked on the desk in large irregular piles.

"What a mess." She thought and one by one she opened the drawers. She looked through the ocular when she finally found the Farscope.

The marines have brought the big guy out of F hangar. Right now one of them was racing around. Another one was yelling to him to stop.

"I wonder if that's Alan." She thought briefly.

And then she felt it again, this time much stronger. Louder.

She looked up. It was coming from above, she was sure. But there was nothing above except the blue sun.

She sat on the bed and looked to the ground.

This was the first time since she was six, that she felt something this way. This was strong and pure, unstoppable.

When she was six, she was taken to a test that was suppose to check her ability to read thoughts, or so they said. She failed that test and did not leave the home town  this was a huge relief to her mom and dad. But what she never told anyone is that during the test she actually heard things. Or rather felt things. Not thoughts, but noises. Maybe that is not enough to become a ghost, and thank the god for that, but still, she knew that she has it.

Everytime she passed a detector, she felt it's silent thought-humming, that she learned to ignore. But what she felt a moment ago, was a loud noise. And she didn't like the sound of it.



"What do you mean, the zerg are coming?" doctor Simmons was suddenly scared. "How to you know? Who told you that?"

"I heard them. I mean " Lisa looked at doctor Simmons, and suddenly realized, that this is not the person that could believe her. Knowing him, she would have to be a legitimate telepath to make him believe her. Still, she wanted to tell someone.

"Well?" doctor Simmons forgot how to be scared, now he got on his furious tone.

"I have some minor telepathical abilities. They tested me as a child, and I got a negative on Himsley-Boatz, but also a 3 on the Proster Scale. Not a zero. And there was something telepathically big and loud above the camp today at noon. Big and unfriendly."

Simmons looked at her for a moment.

"They have a trained telepath at Enosis1, if something was wrong, there would be a communication. But I'll check with them in a moment. Now go, if you want, you can go to A and call Enosis1 yourself and check."

Lisa left Simmons quarters and went down the corridor to the lab. She didn't think about going there, she just went there. It was her place, a place, where she could focus. She sat at the deactivator chair, as it was the most comfortable.

She looked up, at the ceiling, where the installation was hanging, and tried to hear something in her thoughts. But there was nothing.





"Wake up Ms. Bates." She heard dr. Simmons call her name. She opened her eyes. She felt asleep in the lab.

"The technicians just came with the wasp fixed, and they were wondering why the lab is closed. What happened?"

"I was thinking if double calibration would speed up the deactivator's particle intake, but I "

"Alright, ms. Bates. You felt asleep. Don't worry." Said Simmons, as two techs came in dragging the long circular object. They mounted the wasp on it's seat and started to make sure it won't fall out.

"We're done with the tests anyway, so I don't see any reason for you to stay in the lab. You can go to your quarters and get some more rest. Tomorrow were moving to T6a."

"Yes, I remember doctor." She grumbled.

"I talked to Henry at Enosis1. There's nothing wrong he knows about, and he even talked to that ghost of theirs about it. No reasons to worry Lisa. Get some rest before tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow doctor." Said Lisa and left the lab.

First she went up the stairs to her room, but when she got to the corridor, she noticed the clock and how late it was and she turned to the mesa, hoping.

Alan was sitting there, sipping something from a mug.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

He looked at her for a moment.

"Well, if I said I was dying for a mug of coffee, would you buy it?"

"If you ask, then I don't buy it." She said in a bit nervous tone. She felt nervous.

"Ok. I came, cause I as hoping I might catch a pretty geologist in her pajamas and then we would have a chat."

He didn't stop looking at her.

"Why the sad face?" he asked.

Now she hesitated.

"For a no good reason."

"Oh yeah" Alan smiled "You girls have it that way, being sad or happy for no reason."

Lisa shook her head.

"No. What I meant was that I have a reason, but not a good one."

"Oh. So what is it?" he asked.

She looked at him and tried to look really serious this time.

"Ok, but don't laugh and don't try to piss me off."

"Promise." He said and tried to hide a smile in the mug.

"Seriously." She said, and he put the mug down.

"Okay." He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand "Fire away"

"I think " she hesitated "that the zerg are on Enosis."

There was a moment of silence, but then Alan asked:

"Okay" he looked at her with caution "How do you know that?"

"Cause I felt them. I am a telepath, partially. 3 on the Proster Scale, If you know what I'm talking about."

"I know. Three is almost nothing, right? They tested me and I got zero. Telepaths start like from 20 Proster or something."

"Well, yeah, but today I felt something big, like a giant something sneezed. Or roared actually."

"Shit, and you're not making fun of me, right?" Alan said and now he looked worried.

"No."

"Shit." He paused "I believe you."

Lisa was stunned. She didn't even believe herself.

"You do? Why?"

"We've got a word from command at E1, ciphered channel, that seven dropships come our way. Four stay, the rest goes to E6. The boys thought, that these are some secret eggheads transport, no offense."

"Non taken."

" but now it seems like reinforcements, or even an evac team. Shit, this is real." Lisa watched Alan getting nervous.

"You mean no one told you that this could be the zerg?"

"Nope, no one. Avoiding panic, probably. I don't know if I want to tell the boys back at F either. Some will shit their pants, some will get adrenaline-high. Nothing worse for a commander then a squad on a fear drive."

"When will the 'evac' come?"

"If it's evac. Tomorrow at this time I think. Next day at E6."

Lisa saw Alan transform, from a man she liked to speak with into a soldier. With some bad language and focused on military actions. She didn't really liked that, it wasn't what she came here for.

"What should I do?" she asked.

"Stay at D. Keep me informed if you hear any other roaring zerg around. That'll be it."

"What about the T6a excavations?" she asked.

"Simmons will have to call this off. If you're right, this would be suicide."

Lisa nodded.

Suddenly it came to her, that they are no longer in a safe place. That she will have to leave it, and, from what she have heard of the zerg, never return. She looked up at Aonara, the bright blue sun that was always only partially visible.

"Suicide." She repeated "We'll leave" she said then unknowingly, and moved her hand on the table grabbing Alan's hand. His hand was warm, and held her so strong. She looked down, in his eyes. He stood up, but didn't let go her hand. He walked around the table, and hugged her. She hugged him back and kissed his lips.

"We'll leave here." She said again. Alan said nothing, but just kissed her.

"Let's go to my room." She said.

Alan kissed her forehead, and stepped away, to look in her eyes.

"You sure?" he asked "Sure you have a good reason?"

Lisa looked back at him, and she felt like blushing.

"No. Not really." She hugged him again. "I'm just scared. I didn't really mean it. Just forget it." She sighed.

"Thank you." She kissed his arm slowly and looked up at his face again to see him grin back.

"Don't mention it." He said "Next time I'll keep my mouth shut and you'll get the tour to the room. Next time."

They laughed.

"I missed that" she said.

"What?"

"Laughing."

"We laughed yesterday, remember?"

"It was like eons ago. Seems to me this was a very long day."

"This is a long day. We're on Enosis." He smiled.

"I mean "

"I know what you mean. You're tired of being worried. Get some sleep."

Lisa thought for a moment.

"I slept 4 hours in the lab." She tried to argue.

"Some real sleep."

"Okay." She said. "In a moment. Let me enjoy." She hugged him strong again. Without a move they started to dance to the blue silence.