"Whoa, whoa, whoa... eh what!" Ryota became hysterical He sounded almost like the astronaut's mother, only tinier. "We'd better get back to the base. I think you have a fever. Ha ha ha, in love... I'm laughing! Ha ha ha ha..."

"Pong! He was knocked out with one hard blow. Sensitive things were foreign to Ryo's circuit boards.

"Sorry, but it's your fault he reacted that way, you didn't teach him anything in those things. And... seriously, you can't blame him. Out of the blue? What... who did you see anyway?" Tomo had been much more elaborate in situations like this. Whoever had his fingers in the programming around here could be proud. Tomo was almost like a ... father? "I know you wish for an easier life, without handicaps. ... But you can't keep flying around in space. Whatever you saw, it's not here anymore. It was true. There was nothing left to hear. No "pflop" or "flop" no "tak tak" or crow. Ryota, who of course had gone back up, was as happy as a little child when the radar suddenly flared up and pinpointed her location.

"Guys! We're back on course. We're ahead of "Outland" and in about an hour we'll be out of here," he rejoiced, not noticing the trodden faces of the others.

"And the To ...?" Torio did not finish his speech. His hands clenched into fists despite the enormous burns. He didn't want to admit it.

"They were playing a joke on us! I don't believe it. No more skulls, no more aliens, no more annoying noises. Everything's fine," Tomoya cheered now, too, and nudged the visibly dejected astronaut. "Everything will clear up, also the thing with your ..."

In his report, about the incidents before the landing, there was nothing about alien beings with wavy hair and big eyes. Only engine noise, coming from various systems on the spacecraft. And the accident with the grill pan. The two robots had a strict ban on talking about the exact events and they obeyed their boss for the sake of their boss. Somehow it was smarter that way. There would have been a big excitement or they would have branded Torio as crazy and never put him in a rocket again.

From that point on, the blond man in the wheelchair was even more silent and moved into his barrier-free apartment at the far edge of the dome. They would stay here on the base for at least six weeks, as some examinations were imminent and his body would get used to gravity again. A normal daily routine became possible again, since everything was simulated here. Day and night, rain and sunshine even heat and snowfall, just like on earth.

Torio hated it already and they had been here for less than a week. Even the company of other colleagues he already knew did not lift his spirits. He didn't have bok on food or conversation, depressed you could say.

"I won't leave the apartment for the next few days," he growled in the direction of his companions. "And I don't want anyone to bloody interrupt me. ... I feel so sluggish and heavy, as if I had 150 kilos." In fact, he weighed almost 70kg, clearly too little for his height. He lifted himself out of the wheelchair and rolled onto the king-size bed. "You can take the day off. I can do the most important things by myself."

"Otherwise you can radio us any time and we'll be here right away," came the quick answer from Tomo. He pushed his robot friend out of the room in front of him and got a stunned look from him.

"You? ... You will let him out of your sight voluntarily? ... I can't believe it."

"Shut up, Ryo I've thought of something terrific Torio needs a change "And we're going to provide it."

April, the blond American girl, was one of Torio's colleagues. They visited the same UNI, shared common subjects and lectures and also met regularly during their education. She was a tall, thin woman with many good qualities. Smart, nice, pretty and from the first moment, in love with the ambitious wheelchair user. But he treated her like one of his buddies and gave her little hope. Only one thing counted for Torio, he was far too lost in his idea to go into space, that everything else didn't seem to matter. Besides, he couldn't imagine living in a relationship. He was moody and rude in his choice of words, and what could he offer a woman but to be a burden to her? Until now he got along quite well with Tomo and Ryo. There was no sentimentality or jealousy, so why change. And the sex thing? There was no denying the idea that he didn't like the idea of never having the upper hand in bed. One dominant woman in his life was enough, and that was his mother. It was a done deal for Torio, he wasn't going into partnership.

But this said Miss April was very persistent and not a child of sadness. She put away the constant cancellations, had fun there and there, but always kept up with Torio. She would get her chance, she was sure of that. A little ruse was to help her and the two robots, the astronaut's companions were, so to speak, in cahoots with her. Since Tomoya had the same idea, everything was planned. Today he should still swim in his self-pity, but tomorrow morning she could finally show him how serious she was and she would gladly make any sacrifice for him.

"The longing for love in his beautiful eyes is unmistakable. Even if he's still not ready to admit it to himself, he needs a woman." The chubby companion nodded, but Ryota spoke in the bachelor's words:

"He doesn't need heartache, heartache, or any of that Torio is happy... if he can levitate. "That's all he wants." He said it casually, and the other two just rolled their eyes. So it was a done deal, Ryo had to go to the repair shop and Tomo, who was supposed to help with words and deeds for now, would leave Torio's apartment sooner or later. So the tasks of the robots were left to her responsibility and she was quite relaxed about the whole thing. It all sounded very simple and well thought out, but what April didn't know at that time was that someone else was after the blond astronaut.