Chapter 3

“Kiskan, would you like something to drink before we get started?”

“No thanks Barnim. If you want to get something, grab it and join me at the table.”

As I opened the fridge, I saw it was full of everything I liked. Not having eaten, I figured a bowl of Golden Grahams and OJ would work. Somehow, I knew where everything was without thinking about it and grabbed a bowl and glass.

Sitting down at the table, I looked at Kiskan. It was amazing looking into her eyes. They were bottomless pools of emerald green. If they say the eyes were the windows to the soul, then I’d be ok being a peeping tom around Kiskan.

There was this calming peace that enveloped me while I was sitting there.

“Barnim? Hello Barnim. BARNIM, are you ok?”

“Sorry. I just got lost in thought.”

“What was so interesting? You kind of zoned out.”

“I thought you could read my mind.”

“I stopped after earlier Barnim as I didn’t want to intrude unless offered.”

I blushed again from embarrassment for staring into her eyes but relieved that she wasn’t reading my mind like earlier. Through all this I still only had an inkling of what was going on.

“I’m sorry. I was kind of mesmerized by your eyes. They’re probably the most beautiful eyes I’ve ever seen in person.”

I could only guess she was blushing. Her cheeks were kind of a purplish color plus the way she scrunched her nose. It only made her that much cuter. The only thought I had was that I needed to concentrate to get through this without embarrassing myself any more.

“Barnim, I’m flattered with how you feel about my beauty. But we have a lot to go through. Do you think you can concentrate long enough? You’ll like what we have to offer.”

Kiskan then proceeded to tell me some of the story of the Agen. They were a species that had been around for untold millennia and were a people of primarily architects and historians. They had come to earth about a thousand years ago. The ship we were on was on the dark side of the moon and was cloaked like on Star Trek. Kiskan’s ship was stuffed full of historians that studied and learned about other species. As a general rule they didn’t interact with the species they studied, however the Agen on this ship did so occasionally when they felt it was needed. Thus, my sitting in a fake hotel suite.

As it turned out, every 100 years, the ship holds a game of intelligence. The judges are the top 10 personnel on the ship. Whoever wins, gets to pick a human, and gives them a second chance at life. It turns out Kiskan won the last competition and I was her choice.

“Well Barnim, I’ll tell you why I chose you. In my searching, you were somewhat unique. I saw something that could be special. You treat everyone with respect, no matter who they are. You just need a little push.”