A Song of Staying by Himring

Chapter 1: The Letter

Dear Tetra,

I finally made it to Old Terra, almost—it involved taking three slow freight ships, one after the other, criss-crossing the galaxy, and I got told twice that there was no conceivable reason for going there, gaining the distinct impression that other planets close-by are inclined to resent all that history! But when I got to Luna, in the end, I was told that the whole planet was under quarantine and none of us was allowed farther than the lunar base. I could have howled with frustration, after all the effort I had put into getting there, but even more for your sake. I had wanted so badly to report to you from there, knowing what study you had made of the literature of the place. Apparently, the problem was some sort of local flu that the Terran physiology lacks resistance to…

There was nothing to be done, unless I wanted to wait for an indeterminate period until the quarantine was lifted. And I’m afraid, my dear, not even for you would I spend that amount of time on Luna—not my favourite place by far and very much not my idea of fun.  However, I had apparently made enough fuss loudly enough that I got several illegal offers, while I was staying in rented premises, waiting for passage to Betelgeuse. I rejected the one that involved being smuggled onto the planet—I didn’t think you’d be happy if I wiped out the Terrans by giving them a cold, apart from the suspicion that I was not intended to make it down there alive, anyway, once I had paid the smugglers the fortune they were asking.

I did buy the ancient artefact. Please don’t yell, will you? I know, I know! Such things should be handled by experts and within legal channels, only. But I wanted to have something to show to you for my pains. And I’m pretty sure it is genuine. At least, this way, it will end up in the collection of someone who actually knows what it is they have. Maybe you can even decipher it! It is a detached page from a typeset book, made of wood pulp, very quaint, unfortunately in very bad condition. I’m taking steps to preserve it better so that it doesn’t fall apart entirely before I can get it to you.

Happy second Pronoun Choosing Day, my dear! Please accept this gift in lieu of my presence at the celebration, for now, but I will be coming home before too long, I promise.

Your loving third-cousin,

Zeeza