“I know this sounds flippant, but I say banish them from the planet and let them find their own way. At what point do we lay down the line and say that’s enough? I know it’s easy to say that if you don’t like the waythisplace is, then leave, when the reality is that not everyone has the means or resources to leave a bad situation, never mind just a situation they don’t like. But being hateful for the sake of thinking you’re entitled enough to treat another person like shit for something as simple as the color of their skin when obviously, that’s something out of their control and how they’re born needs to be snuffed out of the human race.”
“That’s a really big vision.”
“It is. I guess that’s truly the direction I want to go with my career. A means to find peace for everyone.”
“Have you started looking for jobs?”
Arush shakes his head. “I need to finish my education first. I took the semester off because I got to thinking about environmental engineering and how I can apply that to space colonies.” He laughs. “I was a little ahead of myself, though. Even if we knew there was a planet somewhere outside of our solar system that could support human life, we can’t get there in a single lifetime. I think we need to address that hurdle first, right?”
“I suppose in the big picture, yeah, that would need to come first,” I agree.
“We can set up a hockey team on our new planet,” Arush says and I feel him grinning against my neck. “You can handpick your players and we’ll find a planet that’s all ice and it’ll be a huge game for everyone to watch.”
I laugh. “Space hockey. I like that.”
“Definitely. Start making up the rules. In a couple hundred years, our ancestors will find them and make it happen.”
“You think so, huh?”
“Why not? There are people all over trying to reconstruct ships and weapons from manuscripts of the ancients. They still don’t know how some sporting events or board games were played, but they’re trying to figure it out. Why not space hockey, too?”
I stare up at Jupiter with a big smile. I can see all that. I can see alien planets and us working in a field outside our house for food. Exploring never-before-seen forests and caves. Finding wall paintings and our leading scientists saying they’re a hoax because clearly no other living people have been here before.
More importantly, I see a future one, five, even ten years from now when we’re still spending evenings like this and talking about the stars and distant planets.
CHAPTER 22
ARUSH
I havethe three food containers in my hand, balancing them precariously so I can make sure I have my key and am able to shut the door behind me. Julian helped me prepare some food from home. We made some pani puri with some sauces, biryani, and some gujhia for dessert. I also have a whole big thermos of mango lassi as well as some ingredients to mix up more if I need to. Julian added his favorite fried chicken and collards for us, too. I’m excited to try his favorite foods, though I wish he was here when I did. He spends so much time making food from my culture to make sure I’m comfortable that he rarely makes what he likes.
“Do you need some help?” Paul calls down the hall as I step outside my door.
“I got it,” I call back. The door clicks shut behind me and I push on it to make sure it’s latched.
Julian has an early game today, at three. Ellie and Paul invited me over for tea and to watch the game. Somehow it turned into a potluck of different meals, and Julian agreed to help me cook them in preparation.
And byhelp me cook, I mean he cooked them and I primarily got in the way from time to time.
As I’m passing the elevator, the doors open and Skylar jumps out with her parents behind her. “Hiya, Mr. Arush, the esteemed zjohadrr! Where ya headed with all those things that smell good?”
I give her parents a smile and look back at her. She’s taller than I thought she was. And her hair is blue. Was it blue when she stuck her head over the privacy wall on the balcony last month?
“Just there,” I tell her, nodding in the direction of Paul standing in the open door to his condo.
“Are you feeding them?” she asks, waving at the older man just as Ellie steps into the doorway.
“We’re watching Julian’s game.”
“Oh,” she says, and I see her shoulders sag. “Well… have fun.”
“Would you care to join us?” Ellie asks, stepping into the hall toward us.
Skylar’s entire face lights up. “Mean it?”
I grin, nodding. “Sure. There’s plenty of food.”
“Are you sure?” Skylar’s father asks.
