Leo really loved his work on Nangiyala, man-kinds first exo-planetary mission. This year, however, he cheered as he was chosen as one of the few to return back to Earth through the Black Hole Portal for Christmas leave. As he'd traveled the unimaginable distance, the first real-time communication with Earth, the voice from entry-control, seemed like a celestial sound, accompanied by the marvelous sight of the blue planet.

After ten years in space, it felt almost surreal to get his feet down on earth’s crust again, he thought, while recovering from wormhole travel in the arrival station of Carnavaral Spaceport. After getting up on his feet, the Christmas welcome announcement from the speakers slowly pressed into his consciousness. Still dreamy, Leo first realized that he really was back, as he heard the voice of his old friend Tino: "Hey Buddy, merry Christmas, and welcome back to earth!" - "It’s good to be back…." he answered, but staggered as he saw a familiar face in the crowd.

Her face, her elegant figure, and gone again. Eleven years had passed, since their last dance... Could she possibly know? Was it circumstance or fate that he saw her across the walkway in the corridor, catching eye-contact, then disappearing through a door. Almost forgotten…

"Hey, are you okay?", Tino asked. Leo looked at his friend. "Oh, it’s nothing, man. Guess I'm seeing life size ghosts from long ago… it couldn’t have been her!", he answered, but a strange melancholy widened his heart. Knowing too well his old friend, Tino, ceased to inquire, instead they marched on to catch the hyperbus to Tino's home.

"Home Sweet Home!", Tino shouted, and no doubt, it was a sweet welcome. Enjoying his first real red wine and naturally grown food in years Leo thought "Christmas tradition really grows on you over the years in space." Intoxicated from the merry spirit and the wine pitching their synapses, they went on out and booked a “Earth in Hindsight” planet roundtrip for the night. “How is she beautiful, our Earth” Leo exclaimed, flying over the night-lights of Saharan Forest Cities.

“Hey, Leo… You gotta say yes! We’re having a get-together at the Blade and Soul Café in New Kyoto” Tino said excitedly, “the whole old crew is going to be there!” And, so they got of the shuttle, and enjoyed a night with the widest beats and most delicious sounds. In the haze of the silken voice of the musicians’ vocalist, a most euphoric night unfolded…

Leo dreamed of her, it was a pleasant dream. She talked to him, and he understood, understood she’d never been lost. Why had he…? He woke up, still feeling her embrace. Her touch was like a dope noir, that engulfed his heart, entrancing and full of ardor.

Casting aside the fog from his mind, Leo got up and rushed out of the building. “The others will understand, and Tino knows…”, he thought, running through the busy streets to catch the shuttle back to Carnavaral spaceport. The time seemed to stretch endlessly, while he again and again recalled the image that had burnt into his mind yesterday. And he now knew exactly, why she’d appeared yesterday: to show him where to find her. “The entrance to the secret 18th gate… So she’d made it! She had been chosen for the covert superluminal exploration project. And now she has chosen me to go with her.“

He ran down the corridors of the spaceport and found the secret door she’d hinted to him the day before. The room was dark, but he felt her presence. First a tiny speck of light emerged in the center of the room, growing to an ever larger scintillating sphere. He looked at her, taking her hand and returning her faint smile. The two human beings stepped forward into the light, the entire galaxy lying ahead of them.