Autumn departed from the courier last, allowing Chris Alan to help her down the stairs that had been wheeled up to the port hatch. Rather perversely, she’d refused to use the ship’s short-range portal, which could’ve put her right on the ground with ease. Chris Alan had to smile to himself at that. Autumn was insisting on her independent mobility as long as she could get away with it, which was in a way a good thing.

Once on the ground, Autumn could get a good look at the young woman waiting for them. Whoever she was, she was the same height as Chris Alan and had the same barley-blond hair (only longer), the same intense blue eyes and the same skin complexion. If Chris Alan (in his slender Inspirer way) was “Adami most male” (as Nicholas Blackthorn and then Joshua Davidson had called him), then this girl was certainly “Adami most female”, if such a person could even exist. Even her facial structure seemed to match Chris Alan’s closely, but it was softer and feminine in its lines; her body’s curves were shapely and gentle. She had the same apparent age as Chris Alan as well: twenty-five Standard Years.

“Interesting girl,” Slate remarked approvingly.

“Quite,” replied Chris Alan dryly. “Don’t you have a starliner to catch?”

“You mean this is a private affair? Got it. Give me a shout when you need me, Blondie. Take care of yourself and the baby, ma’am.”

“I will. ‘Bye, Slate,” said Autumn with a wave as Slate walked off.

The lovely Lightchild walked up to Chris Alan smiling. “Look, I see the brightest star.”

“Yet that star is never far,” Chris Alan replied in Starbard-style rhyme, and the pair fondly embraced each other. Autumn felt a pang of jealousy. Maybe she’d go on whatever mission was being assigned after all, if only to keep an eye on this blonde girl.

“You haven’t introduced me, Alan,” Autumn nudged vocally.

“Allow me to introduce myself,” the young woman said kindly, and Autumn could hear in her voice a depth of intelligence and emotion comparable to, if different from, Chris Alan’s own. “I’m Christina Alana Starbright, Chris Alan’s first cousin; and this is Madeline Pearlwhite, my Guardian. Our work in Fleet Intelligence probably explains why your husband hasn’t mentioned me to you before…”