The Other Earth (24 page)

Brandon turned me around to face him again, letting the water wash off the suds from my back, "Yeah, what's with that anyway?" he asked.

I cleared my throat, "Well, to tell you the truth after it happened and I came home, I actually had every intention of telling you about it, but once I heard the water running all I could think about was
seducing you. Once I had, I forgot all about it" I said.

Brandon raised his eyebrows, "Oh really? So what you're saying is that my body was so completely irresistible you lost all coherent thought?" he asked, with a teasing smile.

I laughed, "Well so much for being mature" I said.

"Let's just forget about all of it okay?" he asked, pulling me to him until I wrapped my arms around his waist.

I nodded, "Yes I would love that" I said, standing on my tip toes to give him a quick kiss.

"How long do you think V
anessa will be gone?" he asked.

I shrugged my shoulders, "I don't know. She could be gone for a few hours, or be back in ten minutes" I said.

Brandon leaned down, "Well I guess we should be quick then" he said as his lips met mine and I forgot who I was.

I
wrapped my arms around his neck as he pulled my body up toward his, "Not on your life" I said as I wrapped my legs around his waist, hoping that Vanessa would take all night.

Chapter Twenty Four

I looked over at Brandon as we stepped out of the elevator and walked toward the bus, which was parked in the same spot as before. He looked at me and smiled, his eyes brighter than I had seen them in days.

"I'm going to sit up front with the driver. There
are a few things I want to ask him about" he said. "Is that okay?" he asked me.

I nodded, "That's fine" I said quietly, happy we had managed to clear the air the night before.

He smiled before he turned around and stepped onto the bus, taking the very first seat behind the driver. I continued to walk until I made it closer to the back of the bus and dropping my bag onto the seat in front of the last one, sat down and scooted to the window.

"So what do you think?" Vanessa asked, sitting down next to me on t
he bus.

"About what?"
I asked her.

She smiled, "Europa" she said.

I looked around and saw that Brandon was up at the front speaking with the driver, so nobody would be listening to us.

"It's a nice place to live. It's just sad though" I said truthfully.

Vanessa tilted her head, "What do you mean?" she asked.

I sighed, "Well. Yes it's a nice place to live. But, it just seems sad to me that the entire planet isn't like that. I just wish everyone could live free and happy" I said.

She nodded, "Yes it would be nice, but what other choice do I have? The government has been dictating everyone's life for over a hundred years. I don't even know anything different" she argued.

I sat back and looked out the window, "I miss home. It may have pollution but at least we'r
e free to do what we want" I said without thinking.

My heart starting pounding as I realized that I had said something out loud to Vanessa that I should have kept to myself. I continued to stare out of the window, but I was not seeing what was outside. I was thinking of a way to smooth this over and as I th
ought, I started to silently panic, knowing that I would never be able to lie myself out of this one.

"What does that mean? What is pollution?" Vanessa asked beside me, obvious confusion in her voice.

I looked back over to her, "Nothing. Forget I said anything" I said, turning quickly to look back out of the window.

I held my breath as I waited to see if she would say anything else or drop the subject. I really wanted nothing more than to take back the last few seconds. I had come to care about Vanessa as a
friend and I was actually pretty tired of lying to her about where I was really from.

I looked back over to her and she was still looking at me with a confused look on her face.

"Randi, what's going on?" She asked me quietly.

I sighed, "Okay look. There a
re some things you don't know about me, and I don't think you will understand so I want to just forget I said anything."

Vanessa narrowed her eyes, "Randi, do you think I'm stupid? I know you're different. When I had my meeting with the officials in Europa
last night I asked them about you and Brandon. They told me they have never heard of anyone with your names in any underground city. So, I know you aren't really from the underground, but I don't care Randi." She said.

I sat back and closed my eyes, "Okay
if I tell you the truth you can't repeat it anywhere." I said.

I opened my eyes and looked at her as she nodded, "I promise" she said, whispering so quietly I had to strain to hear her.

"Okay. I am not from this planet. I am from a planet nearly identical to Terra called Earth. I am a scientist and I came here to study your planet and to learn from you because you have no pollution here" I said quickly.

Vanessa's eyes grew wide, "Are you serious?" she asked.

I nodded, "Yes." I said simply.

She shook her he
ad, "What is pollution?" she asked again.

I sighed, "It's hard to explain, but it's basically a smoke that stays in the air and makes it hard for us to breath. Our planet is dying because of it."

"Okay, if this is true, how exactly did you get here?" she asked.

I folded my arms to hold myself, "On a spaceship." I said slowly. "I know that sounds crazy, but it's true."

Vanessa sat back in her seat, "I don't know what to believe" she said.

"Our mission was to blend in and learn as much about this planet and h
ow you kept pollution out, and when we got here we had a ready made underground story just waiting for us to take it" I said, trying to make her believe me, even though I knew if someone had told me this story I would have thought they were a mental case.

"How long did it take you to get here?" she finally asked after several minutes of silence.

"About six months" I said.

She looked over at me so
quickly, I thought she might have given herself whiplash. "Six months?" she asked, obviously surprised.

"Has any
one on Terra ever been to space?" I asked her, curious if they had already explored their moon.

She shook her head, "No. They don't even let us explore our own world, much less what is out in space, as you call it" she said.

I groaned, "Okay. I know I sound crazy Vanessa, but you are just going to have to believe me on this one." I said.

She looked at me for a few seconds before looking away, "I don't know. I'll need some time to absorb all of this." She finally said.

I nodded, "I completely understand, take all the time you need. In the meantime, tell me about your meeting last night, how did it go?" I asked her.

"Oh, they will reserve an apartment for me for when I'm ready to come" she said in a strange voice.

"Well that's good news" I said, smiling, trying to take her mind off of the world shattering secret I had just told her.

She nodded, "Yes, it is. I'm tired, so I'm going to go and lie down." She said, getting up and moving to an empty seat far enough away
from me that she couldn't see me as she disappeared into the seat. I sat back and sighed, wonder how I had managed to make two people run to the other side of the bus from me in just two days.

***

I looked up from the window as the bus finally came to a s
top. Vanessa was now sitting up front by the driver, looking like she couldn't wait to run away from the bus. Brandon was grabbing our bags from the seat in front of me, a smile on his face.

"Hey, I thought you were still asleep. We are here, time to go" h
e said.

I wondered for a second if Vanessa had tried to ask Brandon questions about what I had told her, trying to see if I was telling the truth or not.

"What's the matter?" Brandon asked me.

I looked up at him and smiled, "Nothing." I said.

"Come on, let's go." He said, helping me up out of my seat.

I followed him off of the bus, looking around to see where Vanessa had gone. I finally caught a glimpse of her straight black hair as she quickly walked into the main government building. I looked over at Bran
don and figured that she needed some space to think about things so  I grabbed his hand as we walked back toward Flora's house.

"Randi, I'm not sure we should be holding hands here" he said, though not letting go of me.

I sighed, "Honestly Brandon, I really don't care anymore. I'm ready to go home" I said.

"We're going home. We'll be there in a minute. What's the matter with you?" he asked, noting my surly attitude.

"I'm talking about Earth home, not Flora's stupid gray house" I said with an attitude.

Brand
on stopped walking and I looked over at him. He had a concerned look in his eyes that I hadn't seen since he had accidentally hit me in the head with a baseball and knocked me out when we were sixteen.

"Okay, you are starting to freak me out Randi. What th
e hell is wrong with you?" he asked, his voice taking on a deeper note.

I sighed, "I'm just sick of this place. I miss Stacey, and color, and being able to hold your hand anytime I wanted to" I said.

Brandon laughed, "Yeah I know. I miss home too, but need I remind you that you would not hold my hand back home? Maybe I'm not ready to go back to that. Besides, we have to at least try to finish our mission" he said.

I let go of his hand and put my hands on my hips, "Okay, wait just a minute. We talked about l
eaving early and you agreed with me that there was no reason to stay here for the full year" I said, wanting to yell, but managing to keep my voice down.

He nodded, "I know I did. It's just that after going to Europa, I think there is still so much that we
don't know about this planet, and maybe we should stay longer" he said.

"I told Vanessa" I blurted out before I could stop my mouth.

Brandon's eyes narrowed, "You told her what exactly?" he asked me.

I bit my lip, "Oh um. I told her that we were aliens he
re to explore their planet" I said in one breath.

Brandon threw his arms up, "What the fuck Randi! You just completely blew our cover! How could you tell her that?" he said, yelling loud enough that I had to shush him.

"Be quiet! I was tired and cranky and it just sort of slipped out. I don't think she will tell anyone. I will talk to her tomorrow and explain to her how important this mission is." I said.

Brandon put his hands onto his head, "No way. You think I'm going
to let you walk into the main government building tomorrow, with someone knowing that you are from another planet. Are you crazy? They will kill you!" he said.

I shook my head, "No, don't you see. Vanessa doesn't trust her government anymore and wants to m
ove away to the underground. The only thing keeping her here is that she has been trying to convince her parents to go with her, but they are happy the way they are."

Brandon grabbed my hand and started to pull me faster in the direction of Flora's house.
"What are we doing?" I asked quickly.

"We are going to get to Flora's house and pack out stuff and get back to the ship as fast as we can" he said.

"Why?" I asked, knowing in my heart that Vanessa would be okay and not tell anyone.

"Are you crazy? We have
to get out of this sector. We can find another underground city and do more research there and change our names or something, but we cannot stay here" he said.

"Brandon. I trust Vanessa" I yelled to his back.

He didn't say anything as he kept pulling me behind him. I ran with him, scared to stop, but knowing that I needed to reason with him once we stopped. We ran the rest of the way to Flora's house, still holding hands. Once we reached the front door, Brandon opened it and pushed me inside ahead of him.

"Go upstairs and pack Randi, we don't have time to debate this" he said frantically.

I stopped and turned to him, "Brandon I really don't think she will tell anyone" I said.

He pointed toward the stairs, "It doesn't matter. We are leaving and will wait it
out a few days, find out how things are after that. Now, go!" he yelled.

I turned and ran up the stars, letting Brandon's hysteria start to worry me. Maybe it was a good idea to hide out in the spaceship for a few days, and maybe I could convince Brandon t
o leave this planet and go home. I ran to my room and stuffed the gray bag I had brought with me from the spaceship with only the things I had come with, plus the clothes I was already wearing.

Brandon walked into my room from the bathroom, his bag already
packed as he pulled it onto his back, "Are you ready?" he asked.

I simply nodded as I followed him back down the stairs where Flora was waiting for us, "What happened?" she asked.

"Our cover is blown and we need to go back underground before people start to come and look for us" Brandon said, not knowing that all of this had happened for Flora before.

"Was it Vanessa?" she asked.

Brandon looked over at me and nodded, "Yes, we are afraid that she has told someone about us and before they can come find us, we are leaving" he said.

Flora looked over at me, "I tried to warn you that she was not trustworthy. She trusts in the wrong people. I have a feeling my time here is limited. They are going to notice that this has happened again. Be careful and hopefully I
will see you again someday when the coalition finally wins." She said, then turned around and disappeared into the darkness of the hallway.

"Come on let's go" Brandon said as he pulled me toward the back door.