Since Ben was on vacation—almost, and since there was nothing that necessitated his early departure from bed heaven, he decided to sleep in. It was late when he rose—and he greatly appreciated the rest. He slung his body suit over his shoulder and stepped into the bathroom—still stretching and yawning.
After finishing his morning quotidian, and still drying his hair, he walked into the main living area.
Lyil was sitting on the form-fitting couch reading a book. She looked up as Ben entered. In a light humored manner she said, "Late as usual, I see."
“Yeah," said Ben. He had heard too many times how 'the early bird gets the worm.' (Not exactly in those words, since that was an ancient Earth saying.) And then he thought of a couple of other ancient Earth sayings and replied, "But I'm just as healthy, wealthy, and wise as the early guys."
Obviously ignoring Ben’s strange, off-world quote, Lyil said, "I have some news." She paused, waiting for Ben to reply with the customary "What?" But it didn't come.
"Aren't you curious?" she asked.
Ben was busy pushing buttons and deciding which breakfast he wanted. "Yeah, . . . absolutely," he said in a distant voice."
She waited until he finished fiddling with the buttons. "Mandril called on the viewer this morning. She said the search was successful. They found a large complex beneath the city of Newusa."
Ben gulped and had to swallow quickly to keep from choking on his late morning coffee. "Great," he sputtered thinking this was the appropriate response, but at the same time realizing he didn’t mean it. The news made him glad and sad at the same time. It would probably be one of the great archaeological finds of the century bringing with it a lot of unanswered questions about Earth, but now he would have to leave Lyil, the woman he had been secretly looking for his entire life. When he was a young man working hard on the swording mat everyday, he would sometimes think about finding the right woman and having a good marriage like his mother and father. Even though he was young he was smart enough to know there is no such thing as a perfect marriage, there will always be disagreements between two people who love and respect each other, but arguments between his parents were rare, and they always supported each other when it counted, and more importantly there was a lot of love. As he looked at Lyil he realized he would have been happier if they hadn’t found the complex. "So when will I be leaving?" he asked.
Lyil drew in a deep breath and said, "The Galaef is aware of your championship match tonight. He keeps informed of the people who work for him, and he won't be calling to give you the news until tomorrow.
“But the rumor is, you'll be leaving in two days."
Ben looked at Lyil’s beautiful, red hair falling upon her shoulders and down her back. He set his coffee on the bar, stepped forward and ran his fingers through it, then he bent over and kissed her, sweet and long. When they finished, he stepped back and frowned. It occurred to him that once he boarded the spaceship it would be a long time before he would be able to kiss her again.
It was a look which Lyil didn't miss. "It's okay," she said with an air of resignation. "We'll keep busy with our work and when your mission is finished, we'll figure out how we're going to spend the rest of our lives together."
This was the first time either of them had mentioned a serious commitment. But time was running out, and the subject had to be broached. Otherwise it would turn out to be just another fleeting relationship.
Ben nodded. "Why wait for the mission to be over? We can discuss it now." He picked up his coffee cup and took an uncomfortable swallow. "I think we should make the necessary arrangements so we can spend time together."
Lyil looked thoughtfully discontented. "We're going to have some problems figuring it out, since I don't want to quit my job, and I'm sure you won't want to quit yours either."
Ben set his coffee on the table in front of the couch and sat down next to Lyil. "Actually I have been giving it some thought, and it has occurred to me that I could take a sabbatical from teaching for a year, and move to the Outer City. I could do work on translating more of the ancient Earth records. Or if we find something on Ar I could work on that."
A pleased smile crossed Lyil’s sensuous lips. "Don't be silly,” she said. “You could move in with me and do your work here."
"Or, I could move in with you," said Ben. "After a year I'm sure we'll know just how serious we are and, at that time, we can come up with a more permanent solution."
"Sounds good to me," said Lyil. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him as though they were making love.