“Just inhale this, Leaves Above.”

He had a thin white aerosol can in his hand. He sprayed a puff of mist into the air in front of my face. I leaned forward obediently and took a sniff, my eyes darting to the mirror at the same time.

“It’s grapefruit scented,” the Seeker said. “Nice, don’t you think?”

“Very nice.” My brain was suddenly sharp, focused.

The big moving truck slowed and then idled on the road be-hind us.

No! Mel and I shouted together. I searched the dark floor for one half second, hoping against hope that the little pill would be visible. I couldn’t even make out my feet.

The Seeker glanced absently at the truck and then waved it forward.

I looked back at the truck, too, a forced smile on my face. I couldn’t see who was driving. My eyes reflected the headlights, shot out faint beams of their own.

The truck hesitated.

The Seeker waved again, more broadly this time. “Go ahead,” he muttered to himself.

Drive! Drive! Drive!

Beside me, Jared’s hand was clenched in a fist.

Slowly, the big truck shuddered into first gear and then inched forward through the space between the Seeker’s vehicle and ours. The Seeker’s spotlight outlined two silhouettes, two black profiles, both facing straight forward. The one in the driver’s seat had a crooked nose.

Mel and I both exhaled in relief.

“How do you feel?”

“Alert,” I told the Seeker.

“It will wear off in about four hours.”

“Thank you.”

The Seeker chuckled. “Thank you, Leaves Above. When we saw you racing down the road, we thought we might have humans on our hands. I was sweating, but not from the heat!”

I shuddered.

“Don’t worry. You’ll be perfectly fine. If you’d like, we can follow you to Phoenix.”

“I’m just fine. You don’t need to trouble yourself.”

“It was nice to meet you. I’ll be pleased when my shift is over, so that I can go home and tell my partner I met another green-first Flower. She’ll be so excited.”

“Um… tell her, ‘Brightest sun, longest day’ for me,” I said, giving him the Earthly translation of the common greeting and farewell on the Flower Planet.

“Certainly. Have a pleasant journey.”

“And you have a pleasant night.”

He stepped back, and the spotlight hit my eyes again. I blinked furiously.

“Cut it, Hank,” the Seeker said, shading his eyes as he turned to walk toward the car. The night turned black again, and I forced another smile toward the invisible Seeker named Hank.

I started the engine with shaking hands.

The Seekers were faster. The little black car with the incongruous light bar atop it purred to life. It executed a sharp U-turn, and then the taillights were all I could see. They disappeared quickly into the night.