The next morning, Keleon and I were making our way to see my aunt, Helen.

The remainder of the previous evening had primarily been spent trying to think of alternative reasons for our mysterious floating incidents. We'd finally conceded to the likelihood that we wouldn't get an explanation without further investigation. We'd retired to our rooms with the intention of reflecting on it another time.

We knocked on Helen's door and she let us know we could come in with some excitement in her voice. She immediately swooped in for another hug and a kiss on the cheek. I noticed Keleon observing our interaction with interest.

"I'm so sorry I didn't get a chance to catch up with you yesterday," she said. "There were some things I really needed to take care of."

"No problem," I replied. "Mia and Keleon have been doing a great job of making sure I'm OK."

I shot a smile in Keleon's direction, which he returned.

"We're living on basics at the moment," Helen said. "But you're welcome to anything we have. It's been so long since I've seen you," she continued. "I can't believe how much you've changed, Damon. You're a man now."

"Yeah, it's been way too long," I replied. "What is it you're doing out here, anyway?"

"Sit down," she offered, pointing to her set of blankets. "There are things you need to know."

Helen went rummaging around in one of the bags that were at the side of the small room and pulled out a piece of paper.

"About three years ago, your mother met up with me, under the guise of a coffee and a chat," she said, handing the piece of paper to me. "It was all very pleasant conversation on the surface, but when she slipped me this piece of paper and put her finger to her lips, I knew people were listening to our conversation and that I needed to not ask questions."

I opened the tatty folded paper and read it out loud.

"'They've got Damon on Selenia. Get him out,'" I read. "Wow, that's quite extreme. Mind you, Mum never did like hospitals."

"With good reason, Damon," said Helen. "The outpost on Selenia isn't a hospital, or any kind of medical facility. It's a genetics research facility run by a group called Genetics In Action, or G.I.A. Their main purpose is to further the capabilities of the human race through genetic augmentation. Therefore, if one of their scouts finds someone with certain genetic markers, they investigate further."

"What? Why?" I asked.

"Any number of reasons. Not all humanoid species are friendly, so perhaps there are those that think it would be to our advantage to weaponize advantageous genetic traits. Financial reward is also a powerful motivator. Some humans will pay healthy sums to become stronger or faster."

"And they're allowed to do this?" I asked incredulously.

"Well, 'allowed' is a hazy word. They operate under the pretext of a medical research facility, on the grounds that they're advancing the treatment of unusual medical conditions. But there are a lot of us who suspect that isn't their primary function. Legally, they shouldn't be detaining you unless it's on medical grounds and it's beneficial for you. We think we're now in a position to challenge them if they try again, but they are a powerful organisation and we needed you on the outside before we could do that."

"They told me I was there because I had a blood anomaly and it could affect my health," I said, with the slowly sinking feeling I'd been lied to.

"You do have a blood anomaly, but as far as we know, it isn't doing you any harm," explained Helen. "Your mother knew that if G.I.A. ever found out about your blood, they were likely to attempt to harvest it and research it. Which is why, as much as possible, she kept you out of hospitals."

"Why didn't she tell me?" I asked.

"The fewer people who knew about it, the better," replied Helen. "If you didn't know about it, then if they used any techniques in an attempt to extract the truth from you, you wouldn't be able to tell them anything."

"But you knew?"

"Well, I don't know specifically what it is they're after," she continued. "Your mother just warned me when you were born, that something like this may happen one day. She didn't give me any further information in case they got it out of me, and it put you in jeopardy. It seems she's the only one who really knows the full story. The fewer people that knew, the better."

"I was a lab rat," I whispered, as the truth sank in. "So, you can't tell me what's in my blood that makes it so different?" I asked.

"No," confirmed Helen.

I thought back to the previous night, and the other incidents we hadn't been able to explain.

"This could sound like a really random question, but could it be something that distorts gravity locally?" I figured I might as well ask the question. "I mean, is it possible that it could make things around me float?"

"Have you been experiencing gravity distortions then?" she asked back.

"Yeah, I think so," I replied. "We haven't been sure what's causing them."

Helen shook her head.

"I don't know," she admitted. "I wish I had answers for you. All I know is that whatever it is, was genetically passed to you by your father."

"Which is why he's disappeared," I said, putting the pieces together. "Because if G.I.A. knew where he was, they'd be after him too."

She nodded.

"That's why he left us before I was born, then?" I asked.

"I don't even know whether he knows you exist," said Helen. "Your mother may not have told him, in her efforts to try to protect everyone involved." She took a deep breath before continuing. "The reason I was busy yesterday is because I was trying to put something together after I received a message that G.I.A. have your mother."

"What? No!" I cried.

Keleon reached out and touched me gently, letting me know he was there, and I gave him a grateful look, before focusing back on my aunt.

"She knew I would try to get you out," Helen continued. "But she also knew that I had no way of telling her when or how, so she visited you like she normally would. The only form of communication that wasn't monitored between us was paper, like we used to use when we were kids, and that's difficult to send across the galaxy."

"What will they do to her?" I asked, slightly panicked.

"They're not complete monsters, Damon. They'll probably just detain her until they get you back. Which, by the way, isn't going to happen, but it won't stop them trying."

"But they're detaining her illegally," I insisted.

"She's also the only one with the evidence we need to be able to prove that detaining either of you has been done illegally," replied Helen. "We need her out too, before we can do anything. I know she'd rather they detained her than see you in there being tested to death. But anyway, we're going to try to get her out. The main advantage we had before, other than Keleon's aptitude for getting into the building, was the element of surprise," she continued. "We don't have that this time, because they've probably guessed that we're going to be trying to attempt something. So, we need another advantage."

"Do we have another advantage?" I asked.

"Not yet, but I'm hoping we can get hold of one," rationalised Helen. "Yesterday I located a disrupter module. There aren't many around that would have the right frequency, so I don't know how long it would be before we could locate another one. The module can knock out enough electrics, at the right frequency, for us to be able to get into the building undetected and look for your mother. With any luck, it will also create confusion as well; they're be relying on their cameras and security equipment to locate us. If they're busy trying to get everything back online, it should distract them from what we're doing. Plus, it will disable any forcefield she's being kept behind."

"OK, great," I said. "How do we get this disrupter module?"

"Well, that's where it becomes trickier," she explained. "My sources tell me it's currently owned by a Kikorangi. Kikorangi generally don't like outsiders, so they're only likely to sell it to us if we're very persuasive."

She looked over at Keleon meaningfully.

"You need me to be persuasive?" he asked, smiling slightly, showing off his dimple again. "I'm up for retrieving it. What do you think they want for it?"

"We don't know," admitted Helen. "I didn't get that far. Have you got anything you think they might want?"

"I can have a look," replied Keleon, standing up, and moving towards the door.

"Thanks, Keleon," my aunt looked gratefully in his direction, and he nodded as he disappeared from the room. "Sorry to have dumped all that on you so suddenly," she said, focusing back on me. "Are you OK?"

"Yeah," I replied. It sounded like, at least for now, Mum was safe, even if it wasn't ideally where she wanted to be. And it sounded like we had some kind of beginnings of a plan going on to get her out. I was a little shaken, but not too bad. "Thanks for getting me out, Helen."

"I couldn't have done it on my own," she said. "Mia is the daughter of a very good friend of mine, someone I grew up with. She's young and vibrant and has the energy required to do the physical things I can't do any more. As soon as she heard I was looking for help, she came straight here, and brought her travelling companion. Talking of which," she continued. "I saw the way you looked at each other."

I felt myself blush furiously.

"Yeah, we've established we like each other," I verified. "We're going to see where it takes us."

My aunt smiled widely.

"Aw, sweetheart, that's lovely," she beamed. "And I'm not trying to interfere, it's just that ... well ... with Keleon ... you're aware there may be some ... things ... he might not understand?"

"I'm aware," I confirmed confidently.

Everyone seemed aware that he'd not been in a relationship before and needed some help grasping some of the concepts. It was nice that people were looking out for him, and I had every intent of supporting him as much as I could.

"So, what's a Kikorangi?" I asked, shifting the spotlight away from my love life.

"Kikorangi is a word that means 'blue' in ancient Maori. We call their species that because of their blue coloured skin."

"Is their planet far away?" I asked.

"Not too far. It shouldn't take more than an hour or two to get there. We'll have to work out if we have anything of value to trade, and then our chief negotiator will probably need to meditate before he goes in."

"I'd like to go with him," I stated.

Partly because I wanted to see Keleon's negotiating skills, and partly because I just wanted to be close to him.

"I understand," she smiled at me. "We've only just got you back, and we need to make sure we don't put you in any unnecessary danger. Mia and Keleon possibly know more about the Kikorangi people, and whether it's likely to pose any kind of threat if you go along. So, let's consult them first and see what they think the risks are."

I continued to chat to my aunt about the facility I was being kept in, how Mum was, what life had been like for Helen since then and other things. It turned out Helen had spent a fair portion of the last couple of years trying to get together enough funding to buy ships and their parts, and of course assembling their little team. I was grateful for all the effort she'd gone to and wasn't sure how I could repay her kindness. She assured me that I couldn't, that her family was very important to her, and it was just nice to see me out of there at last.

About an hour later, the four of us were gathered back in Helen's room to discuss the disrupter module, and how we would get it. My stomach did a little excited flip as Keleon entered the room and smiled at me, and I wondered whether I would ever stop reacting to him like that.

"I've had a look at what I have available to trade with," he said to the group as he made himself comfortable on one of Helen's blankets. "It turns out I've got some fire opals. I believe the Kikorangi find them valuable because they don't naturally have any gemstones that colour on their planet." Keleon opened his hand to reveal a selection of the beautiful orange and red gemstones. "I could take those and some other gemstones with me to negotiate with."

"They're so pretty," I said, picking up a scarlet one and holding it to the light. The way the light refracted through it reminded me of a sunset. "How do you feel about me coming with you?" I asked, as I gave Keleon back the precious mineral.

Keleon looked at Helen.

"Any objections?" he probed.

"I thought you'd probably be better placed to understand the risks than I am," she answered. "I haven't encountered the Kikorangi before, and you probably know more about them than I do. Obviously, we don't want to be putting Damon at unnecessary risk. But I also recognise that it may be just as dangerous for him staying here. What are your thoughts?"

"The Kikorangi aren't a violent people, but they're not keen on other races," replied Keleon. "They tolerate outsiders because their planet is beautiful, and the tourism brings them good business. If the outsiders don't bring anything of value, then they tend to just ignore them. They may not be very friendly, but they're not into attacking people either. It should be fine for Damon to come along. And besides, I'd enjoy the company."

He smiled at me, and my heart warmed at the idea that he wanted me with him.

"OK, so when's the best time to go?" I asked.

"The contact I've been given, Aryk, is willing to meet our representative whenever we're ready," Helen said. "The Pavo's been checked over and is ready to go. You could leave around lunchtime and be back before dinner, assuming all goes well. Keleon, does that give you long enough?"

Keleon pushed himself onto his feet.

"I'll meditate now, and check I have what I need," he said. "I'll meet you in the hanger at 13:00," he said directly to me, before leaving.

"I guess I don't need much," I said to the remaining ladies. After all, I was mainly going along to spend more time with Keleon.

My stomach chose that time to let everyone in the room know I was hungry.

"Sounds like you need food to me," teased Mia, and she stood up. "Come on," she nodded towards the door. "Let's grab something to eat before you go."