Tom walked into the Outreach Center, his gaze searching for Nenen. He found her where he had last time, curled up on a bench with a book under her nose. It hurt, knowing the I'na had to give up books and art first. He hoped what they'd lost in those books, humans had been able to replace, if at least until a new generation of artists and I'na novelists came about.
"Nenen." He sat by her, smiling wide. "You look better. You're glowing."
"I feel much better." She reached her hand out, taking his. She wrapped her fingers around his wrist—long, spindly things that felt like ice. Her skin was soft as silk. "What favor will you ask?"
"I'm not sure. Gotta think that over now."
"When we first heard about Earth, we wondered if you knew about us, but didn't know how to reach us. We thought Earth was an advanced hub of intergalactic life," Nenen said.
"Wait. Is there—more? Out there?" Tom pictured wild aliens with long necks or tentacles. People had loved Star Wars once. Tom's dad still had some copies on an old Blu-ray player. As a kid, Tom had marveled at the cheesy graphics and the stories about Finn, Rey, and Poe. Now, those stories didn't seem so unreal. When the I'na came, people speculated that there'd be more.
Nenen smiled, her wrinkles tugging at the corners of her mouth like someone pulling back drapes. She pat Tom's knee. "Why don't you humans find out?"
"Ha! Believe me, we're trying. We've put so much junk into space trying to find more. Nothing yet, so if you want to give us some tips?" Tom leaned forward. "It'd be pretty cool to be a spaceman." Flying through the deep black of space. To see clouds as bright and colorful as Iilo's skin. To boldly go…
"A spaceman." Nenen chuckled. "Humans are the most expressive things I've ever seen, and yet there's something holding you back. Your curiosities are paired with fears. Hinders your species so much. But there was a man I met back in Atlanta. Curiosities were paired with power. Fear may not be so bad when the alternative is what he did to some of our people."
Tom leaned forward. He was too afraid to speak, lest he accidently derail her train of thought. Tom played a dangerous game with her conversations; she never did quite pick up where she left off when he asked a question.
"I don't know his name. But he looks a bit like you—charming and handsome."
"Sau mentioned he looked like me too, but I haven't heard anything since and the FBI are all over the case now."
"Tom, I'm old. Do you really think I can see that far away? Give me a way to take a picture of him, and the next time I see him, I'll snap it for you."
"He's been here?" Tom's stomach dropped.
She nodded.
"I'd like to call in that favor, Nenen." Tom reached into his pocket, grabbing his phone. He should go home and tell Parker immediately about Nenen, but this felt a little too good to be true. Tom met it with cautious suspicion. And if it was true, he'd rather tell Iilo before anyone else. The moment that made Iilo's suffering worth it. "This is my phone. Please be kind to it. Don't—don't look through my pictures. Here, let me show you how to take them."
"I know how!" She pulled the phone away from Tom when he tried to reach for it. "Don't look at your pictures, hmm?"
Tom went red.
"I may have taken a few shirtless gym pictures." Tom wished he hadn't given her the phone. She absolutely seemed the type of person who'd find a way to broadcast them on live TV.
"Oh." Her brows raised when she tapped through his pictures.
"Hey! That's—okay, whatever, just don't send them to anyone." Tom shook his head. He hardly knew her and yet she stressed him out more than most ever had. "Take a picture when you see him. Do you know how to get to my contacts? There's one called Work Phone, and if you call that, you'll get either me or Carlos. Tell us immediately. Leave a message if you have to. Here, you just hit this icon and then—yeah. Great." Helium inflated Tom's insides. Nenen knew more than any of them could have ever hoped for. And she got antibiotics to help her live. The give and take was a perfect exchange for Tom if it meant saving Iilo's people. Saving Iilo.
"Why didn't you tell me before about this?" Tom asked.
Nenen shrugged. "I needed medicine. Is it really that more complicated? You had something I needed and I have something you need."
"Guess not. How'd you learn to speak English so well?"
"I read your books."
Tom smiled. He wasn't giving Nenen enough credit. Her age made her unassuming, but she was sharp as a tack.
"You were on Inaan. Could you tell me something about it so I could maybe tell Iilo?"
"We don't talk about it much, especially to the children. It's not fair when this is the only planet they've ever known. Inaan translates to 'Rock of I'na'. We're about as clever with our planet as you were with yours. Earth. At least yours isn't Rock of Human. Hah!" She coughed a bit and cleared her throat. "We lived by a smaller blue sun. Our planet further out than yours from it. During the daylight, it was almost too bright. We mostly slept during day and went about our lives when our moons were out."
"So you had more than one moon?"
"Three," she said.
"It sounds beautiful." Tom's heart squeezed. "I'm just sad Iilo never got to see it."
"I am too." Nenen wiped a tear from her eye, her lips trembling. "I always wonder if it was because of our interferences that Inaan died. Or if Iibeebee willed it."
Tom bit the inside of his cheek. He couldn't imagine an existence that didn't include Earth. The ice caps were close to melting entirely away, the polar bear long extinct. What did humanity have to lose before it finally realized Earth wasn't going to recover? The I'na were the precautionary tale and humans weren't listening.
"Our moons shimmered like our skin. Have Iilo go outside with you when it's bright. We don't glow because of suns. We glow because of moons."
"Thank you for sharing this with me." Tom grabbed her cold fingers, giving a squeeze like Iilo always did. Tom had always assumed it was the sun that gave the I'na their varied markings. To know it was the moon. Tom liked that story better. The moon was quiet and gentle, the sun an angry burning fire.
"Come here," she said.
Tom frowned, but he let her guide his head to hers. She pressed her ID to the side of his face, humming.
"Oh!" Tom had hugged, kissed, and an assortment of other things with people before. Holding his head to hers though? Feeling the way her body hummed and the energy flowed through it—this was intimacy. It left him feeling naked and like he'd been reduced to childhood again. He held onto her because she willed it, and he obeyed.
When she pulled back, she smiled.
"You've never had a proper I'na send-off, have you?" she asked.
"No. Just the hand squeezes. I picked that up from Iilo."
"Greet him like that. See what he does next time. I'll snap your picture. You have a good rest of your day, Tom." She waved her fingers and smiled, wrinkles once again filling her face.
Tom couldn't wait to see Iilo again. He delighted in thinking about the kind of reaction he would have when Tom shared part of Iilo's custom with him. All thanks to Nenen.