The following morning, the day before the finals period begins for the season, his dad talk to him about that 20-day data collection voyage, several weeks before it begins.

  “You’re going to spend twenty days doing what?” Killanaus’ dad gasps.

  “Collecting data on aliens, as well as taking samples. For this, we need to go off-world for twenty days. After that voyage ends, I’ll have a better idea of what I really want out of the field!” Killanaus informs his parents. “During these twenty days, I’ll be far away from your interference!”

  “What do you mean?” his dad asks him.

  “I’ll need to maintain radio silence for these twenty days! So I won’t be able to stay in touch”

  “If you survive the voyage, you’d better tell me all that you found that you’re legally authorized to talk about! I have the feeling that Lokath got you a temporary security clearance!” his dad gives him a stern warning about what he must do upon return.

  “Dad, if Lokath got one for me, you would need to sign an NDA about it, in which case you can only talk about the project with other people holding the same level of security clearance as I, or higher! And mom would also need to sign one!”

  “Trust me, as a prison guard, I know what security clearances imply! And that not everyone with a given security clearance level can access all information at their level!”

  “You might have had to deal with state secrets as a prison guard, to the extent they concern inmates you guard, but I don’t trust you to keep family secrets!”

  “Let me be clear: if you commit crimes during that twenty-day voyage, I won’t forgive you! I’ll turn you over to the police, and you won’t be in the will!”

  “He’s worried about you, but this kind of experience is more about finding out that you don’t like, rather than what you really want!” his mom tells him, a little concerned herself. “By acting like you’re a prisoner, dad is only hurting you in the long run!”

  “If you think I act like our son is an inmate at home, this would be a halfway house, and he would be at the pre-release stage!” his dad retorts. “Or perhaps minimum security! Speaking of prison security levels, I was offered several times to work at high and maximum-security prisons, they pay more, but they tend to be in rural areas, and, of course, are more dangerous places to work at! I stayed at the min-sec I work at to ensure our son’s safety! And… mine, too”

  Usually, an early-career prison guard starts out working at a min-sec. One doesn’t become a high-sec or max-sec guard without first getting three or five years of experience respectively, his dad reflects on where he’s at in his career.

  When he feels like his parents are about to quarrel regarding his upbringing, he steps out of the room and then goes to campus to study for his courses, especially cell signaling and bioethics, which are the hardest two courses on his schedule for the season. Fortunately for him, cell signaling goes first, and then it gets better for the rest of the finals period.

  After the second season of the coursework year ends, ten days later, graduate students, along with the off-season undergrad interns, turn their attention to their research work.

  For some, it’s the chance they have to show what they can do outside of a classroom, for others, it amounts to exchanging the stresses of coursework for the stresses of having something to show for an off-season in the lab.

  Especially those who harbor dreams of scientific research. Law schools, along with professional healthcare schools, while they value research experience, don’t necessarily emphasize whether it yielded any kind of tangible result. And yet, pre-meds are more likely to hit the lab than pre-laws.

  Yet, since Killanaus’ research project is about the action of analgesics on nociceptors, or more specifically caffeine as an analgesic, on the first day, Lokath assigns him readings about nociceptors, analgesics and what pain pathways analgesics neutralize. And, of course, how do nociceptors act on a cell signaling level, and even their molecule geometry. Both on their own race, and on other races, sentient or not. What we need to take samples of is nociceptors. And, of course, determine what these use to transmit the pain. However, that’s the hard part, Killanaus muses about what the whole project is about, on a conceptual level.

  Speaking of analgesics, a few of the regulars of the common room bond, which is less crowded than in the regular seasons, over their cups of analgesics. Especially since the analgesics they drink are mostly coffee. Before Killanaus sips his analgesic:

  “I’m a little confused: while I have a pretty good idea now of how analgesics work on a nociceptor, wouldn’t the process of getting the analgesic to a nociceptor depend on the molecule?”

  “You must first understand the concept of bioavailability” Aqqar tells him, while putting a pod of half-and-half in her analgesic cup. “You might understand that membranes have various degrees of permeability for a given molecule”

  “That’s all I know about bioavailability, I’m afraid. What started out as a project about caffeine as an analgesic seems to carry more implications than I first suspected”

  “Please keep in mind that you have a set of route-dependent bioavailabilities. For a given organism, they are characteristic of a molecule” Keyela tells him, before meeting with other people.

  That’s a lot to take in, but I guess there are more metabolic factors in play. As I could imagine, a lot of them are biochemical in nature, Killanaus then sends an email to Lokath, asking about caffeine’s bioavailability.

  But then comes Qinlei, who, rather than to conduct a research project with a data collection phase in orbit of some alien world, instead does it without having to leave the planet. And yet, she comes to him for a different matter.

  “Do you know when you’re going to depart on your twenty-day voyage yet?” Qinlei asks him during a discussion of bioavailability.

  “In thirteen days. I’ll finally be able to assume my responsibilities the way I want then, for twenty days after that!” an ecstatic Killanaus answers his friend.

  Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

  “Maybe we should have one sending-off party before your UFO leaves. This voyage means a lot to you, I can tell”

  But this time around, I won’t notify my parents that I have a party. I could always claim I needed to stay at the lab longer that particular day, to ready the lab supplies, and then finalize the packing of my own stuff, such as clothing, and all that, Killanaus muses about what his plan is going to be.

  “So, you’re asking me out then? I guess, I accept, this is better than to be with my overbearing parents! I’m paying for the both of us, so we’re going to go wherever I want, is that ok with you?”

  “Sure”

  “I almost never went out in my first two years of college” He then checks his bank account balance to ensure that he can pay for that night out with Qinlei. “These studies were so intense I couldn’t date anyone…”

  For the next 13 days, he’d continue his lit review and then get familiar with the various UFO systems, as relevant to his role in the voyage. As well as their maintenance, such as the electronic systems, waste closet, food conservator and other essential systems. Like the dishwasher and the washing machine. And the tractor beam, an essential system for abductions, too.

  But he is also told about what he can’t service during the voyage, such as the fusion reactor and ultraspace, as well as sublight drives. Not that he would have wanted to, since he knows how dangerous these are to maintain while in flight.

  And, on the morning of the last of these 13 days, he checks around campus for whatever salt-free restaurants there might be on his map app. That is, after checking against what supplies he deemed necessary to put into that big suitcase for a 20-day voyage. Clothes, electronic devices, some hygienic implements, and so on. And maybe even some other items he feels are needed for that voyage. Like a lab coat and goggles.

  After the final day prior to departure at the lab draws to a close, Killanaus tells Qinlei about his destination for tonight’s date. His first night out that doesn’t involve meeting his advisor behind the mall for a while.

  When Qinlei arrives at Ginger Pines, still wearing her lab coat she wore earlier that day in the lab, he realizes something is amiss.

  “Qinlei, did the experiments end late for you today?” Killanaus asks her, before entering the salt-free restaurant.

  “I’m afraid so, yes. Now, on to that one last date before you leave on this twenty-day voyage!” Qinlei tells him before they get to the waiter.

  “A twenty-day voyage I will cherish my entire life, my first real taste of freedom…” Killanaus starts crying. “But is the only thing you like about me is my work ethic?”

  “Of course not. I’m aware that you have a terrible life at home”

  “Dad acts as if careers in our field have fixed schedules, when the only biology career on a fixed schedule is in, like, secondary education. Flexible work schedules are part of the deal elsewhere”

  “There’s nothing wrong with some of our classmates pursuing secondary education, not everyone can practice a healthcare profession, law, public health or do research”

  “It just doesn’t fit me; knowing the material, and being passionate about it, isn’t the end of the story as a secondary school teacher”

  And biology having a much bigger pool of graduates to draw teachers from, sometimes biology teachers might be asked to teach lower-level chemistry, Killanaus starts to think of what could make teaching biology at the secondary level a poor fit. I’d have a lot on my plate, maybe too much. I’d probably suck at classroom management… or have stage fright.

  “Please follow me” the ma?tre d’h?tel ushers the couple to a table for two, menus in hand.

  The couple realizes that a lot of the guests at Ginger Pines lean older, sometimes with their families in tow, but still some young couples eating salt-free meals there. He recognizes Majuro eating there, but doesn’t recognize the other person with whom Majuro eats, whom Killanaus never met. I guess, Majuro’s guest is health-conscious, too…

  And, as the couple is guided through the restaurant by a purple-skinned usher, they come across lots of wooden fixtures and furniture.

  “Let’s see: because tomorrow holds a special place in my life, I want tonight’s dish to be a special one to me, too!” Killanaus scans the menu for the main course, and serving sizes.

  “I’ll do the same for you!” Qinlei exclaims, while she also chooses her meal based on how special this voyage is to him.

  “Your order please!” the waiter asks.

  They ask questions about serving sizes so that they can ensure they eat only what they feel they need.

  But once their order is placed for some salt-free meals, they only have salt-free spices at their disposal if they want to add flavor to their meals. Like shiny globe stew for Qinlei, containing shining yellow globes the size of lemons, and the sizzling tiny little feet for Killanaus. That, even though the “tiny little feet” are actually a cut of meat, and both meals contain an ingredient tasting like ginger.

  “How do you feel about eating salt-free?” Killanaus asks.

  “Better eat salt-free now so that you don’t have to do so later! But the only way to eat tasty dishes without salt requires proper dosage of spices”

  They promptly order one cup of analgesic each, to finish off this meal, with some cream and sugar for both. Once the meal ends, and the bill has been paid:

  “This starts to feel like a final meal to me…” Killanaus starts crying.

  “A final meal? Your twenty-day voyage isn’t a one-way trip to death!”

  “My life will never be the same again, starting tomorrow!”

  Stay strong. One more year and I’ll be gone from my parents’ home! Dad can go work at a high-sec or max-sec prison after I graduate, and mom can live out as a retiree, Killanaus keeps crying, when he realizes that the next 20 days won’t simply be the first 20 days of freedom in his life, but also the key for the rest of his future.

  Once he returns home, cutting it short for the family curfew, he swiftly goes over the mandated abduction procedures specific to class-1 abductions, as he knows these will be important to his life during the next 20 days.

  The following day, unlike the previous days of the off-season, Killanaus is driven to campus by his mother, in her glopsk, because of the size of the suitcase. Which is very cumbersome to carry around as a hoverbus rider.

  I never set foot on the University’s campus. So this big UFO-shaped building is where he spent most of his days for the past two years, his mother muses as the self-driving car finds a parking slot near the biology department’s building.

  Once his mom’s car is parked, the two go up the elevator and to the hangar on the Flying Saucer’s top floor, where Aqqar and Lokath await them. They all brought more or less the same amount of luggage for a 20-day voyage.

  “For something as important as your first trip off-world, and for research no less, just come back safely home after the twenty days are up!” Killanaus’ mom makes her wishes while all three occupants of the UFO are about to board their UFO, loaded with fuel for 20 days. She turns to Lokath after hugging her son: “Why did you meet my son behind the mall at midnight, and ask him not to bring anyone?”

  “No time to explain here, madam. I’m afraid the reason for this is classified, at least for the time being” Lokath explains to her before boarding the UFO, and turning to the undergraduate. “Remember, Lokath, when performing abductions for research, you can’t always stop a task whenever you want! And remember that work has priority over chores! Be thankful that you can move chores around, so do them whenever you deem adequate to do so!”

  Once all 3 people are onboard, Killanaus gets seated in the pilot’s seat, with Lokath behind him to supervise him during the takeoff sequence. This begins by entering the coordinates of the destination and then pressing a button to initiate the sequence.

  However, the UFO’s navigational computer asks the pilot to confirm the destination. Once the destination is confirmed, everyone fastens their seat belts before the takeoff.

  “Coordinates confirmed, takeoff sequence initiated!” the UFO navigational computer says.

  Once the UFO departs the hangar, and gains some speed, the UFO’s occupants then go to their respective cabins, each the size of a single-occupancy bedroom in a college dorm. When Killanaus is done unpacking his baggage:

  “Yes, the happiest day of my life! No more having to endure my overbearing parents for the next 20 days!” an overjoyed Killanaus shouts for joy.