Glacia grabs my hand and we retrace our steps past the boulders and squirting water and vines. We wander around until we find a shop where Glacia can buy gifts for her brother’s wedding. The tourist shop sells an assortment of ornaments and glass souvenirs sculpted in the shape of the Belvun Embassy and many of the planet’s prominent features. Other shelves are stuffed with blankets and a range of unique clothing items. Glacia takes interest in a large quilt. Three images are woven into the fabric, which is manufactured from Armici leaf fibers. The Embassy’s glass towers make up one corner, a river flows along the bottom half, and a gray mountain rises from a red and orange forest in the last corner.

“I like it,” I say.

“Me too.” Glacia has me help her fold it, then drapes it over her arm. “Jaston will think it’s cool.”

We examine the rest of the boutique to see if we like anything else. There are silverware sets, handcrafted plates, and even decorative cabinets that smell like Armici trees. I end up buying a glass mug that’s engraved with a glassy silhouette of the Belvun Embassy. The city stands against the forest and pink sky, and the rest of the mug is orange, representing the field and hill.

Glacia buys the quilt and a book filled with one hundred pictures of Belvun from orbit and scenic places around the planet, and then we catch a bus to the northwest sector.

Back in our hotel, Glacia spreads the quilt on my bed and admires it. “It looks awesome,” she says for the tenth time since we left the shop.

“If it wasn’t a gift for your brother, I’d be under it right now,” I tease.

“Would I be, too?”

I open my mouth to answer, but hesitate. I’m at a total loss for words and can feel my face starting to turn red. Luckily, Glacia just giggles and hugs me.

“Thank you for helping, mister,” she says, drawling her words in a sarcastic tone.

“You’re welcome,” I reply in the same way.

She steps back and drops her hands to mine. Our eyes lock. She’s standing right here. We’re alone. Her eyes flick down, then up again. Neither of us moves. Maybe we’re thinking the same thing. But if we kiss, I want it to mean something, and be somewhere worth remembering. Not a hotel room. I don’t want to make the same mistake I made with Ladia.

Glacia deserves more than that.

I wake up early so I can meet Captain Blitner and walk with him to breakfast. I ride a bus to the southern sector and wait in the lobby of his hotel. Three chandeliers hang over the carpeted atrium, and twin marble staircases diverge at the rear wall.