Lidda Kandell had just finished her freshman year of college and was starting the summer 2045 semester at Sencarle Community College in southern California when she met the Tollsuns. Lidda was running late to class and almost bumped into the tall, dark-haired young man at the top of the stairs He was looking at a classroom directory on the wall.

He wore unusual clothing which looked a little out of place on the modern campus, a leather vest embossed with intricate designs and subtle animal motifs; his casual knit shirt and dark wash jeans were on trend, however.

Lidda was not one to start conversations with a total stranger, but decided it was time she overcome her shyness. She was about to be a sophomore and still isolated at school. There was something intriguingly different about this man. He had an air of calm alertness about him and she felt compelled to stop and talk to him.

"May I help you find your class?" Lidda offered.

"I think I've found it, but thanks." His dark eyes stared directly into hers as he replied. "I'm Reddge Tollsun. What's your name?"

"Lidda Kandell. Good to meet you." She pushed a strand of blonde hair back from her face and felt a warm flush in her cheeks. It was as though he was looking straight through her.

"Nice to meet you too, Lidda. According to this roster, we’re in the same class together."

"Which one?" she asked. He was distractingly handsome and Lidda was trying hard not to stare.

"Logic,” he said. “My sister, Casra, is taking it too. That's her coming up the stairs."

On seeing Casra, Lidda now recognized who they were. She could tell by Casra’s boho style dress they must belong to that bizarre religious group known as the Ring of Sora. Lidda knew little about them except for rumors and of course their unique manner of dress. Trying to keep an open mind, Lidda decided to accept them at face value; just harmless eccentrics, she supposed.

Casra looked to be a couple of years younger than her brother, Reddge. The clothes she wore were even more striking. They appeared to be hand sewn and expertly made. She wore beautiful sandals with little stones entwined in twisted links of leather. Her dress was comfortable and flowing, alive with brilliant colors and tribal patterns; a bit impractical for Lidda’s taste, but the unusual designs were fascinating.

Casra’s dark auburn hair cascaded down her back in a tangled web of braids woven with pretty beads. She looked as though she might have just stepped out of an eternal summer. Casra’s maxi-dress and gypsy hairstyle contrasted sharply with Lidda’s tee shirt, choppy hair, and worn jeans.

"Lidda,” Reddge said, “meet my sister. Casra, this is Lidda. She’s taking logic with us. Come on, we are running late." Reddge ushered them down the hall toward the classroom as though he were the one showing Lidda around.

He opened the door with an exaggerated flourish which Lidda hoped was to impress her. They were met with stares from the other students when they walked in together. Lidda wasn’t known for making friends easily. All her old high school friends had moved away and she hadn’t really made any friends since starting college last fall. Her reputation was that of a loner and the class looked surprised to see her sit beside the two newcomers. Lidda was amazed at how comfortable she felt talking with the Tollsuns even though they were from the fringes of society.

“I haven’t seen you guys around here before. Are you transferring in from another school?” Lidda asked.

“We're associated with Novaland University and decided to take a few classes here over the summer,” Casra answered. “We’re staying at a local nursery farm to learn horticulture as part of our curriculum.”

"A nursery farm,” Lidda said. “That's a little different."

"Yes,” Casra said. “Novaland has several campuses all over the country and has greatly expanded the curriculum. It partners with a lot of industrial and government programs as well as agriculture."

"I had no idea.” With that information, Lidda decided it must be extremely expensive. She was adopted as an infant to a middle class couple who struggled to make ends meet most of the time. She had to admit being a little jealous.

Lidda had heard about Novaland University and their cutting edge research facility in Provendor, but had never met any students associated with the school before. She would not have supposed members of a religious cult would enroll in a place like Novaland U.

She figured it the big university was totally out of her price range and hadn’t checked out what courses were offered. The Tollsuns must have money. Rich friends never worked out well in her experience as she always felt marginalized.

“What are you majoring in, Lidda?” Reddge inquired.

“Physics with emphasis in astrophysics. I’m just taking this logic class to fill my hour requirements.” Lidda replied. She realized how ridiculous this might sound coming from a community college student but she had been fascinated with space flight and the search for extraterrestrial life forms since she was a little girl. She bought her first real telescope when she was twelve by saving every dime she could earn and had been known as the kooky space girl ever since.

“Astrophysics is in the curriculum here?" Reddge asked.

Lidda nodded. "Yeah, I was surprised too." She noticed the way Reddge never took his eyes off her and seemed truly interested in what she had to say. Casra began thumbing through her textbook. Apparently their professor was running late for the first day of class too. The room grew louder as more students around them engaged in their own conversations. Reddge leaned closer and rested a hand on her desk.

“Sounds ambitious,” Reddge said. “What do you plan to do when you graduate?”

“I don’t know, teach maybe, research if I’m lucky.”

“Do you commute or live on campus?” he asked,

“I’m from Linfield, a small town just west of here. I decided to stay on campus though. I wanted to get out on my own a little. My parents treat me like I’m still in high school and if I don’t come home on the weekends they worry.”

The professor finally showed up and their conversation had to end. Lidda was both sad and relieved at the same time. She needed to sort out her feelings. Reddge definitely affected her on deeper level than she was accustomed. Their brief interchange had left her pulse racing.

Their first assignment was on logical syllogisms and as they were leaving class Reddge turned to Lidda and asked, “Say, do you want to be study partners with us?”

Lidda’s heart skipped a beat at the thought of spending more time around this handsome guy. She managed to get out a few words, “Um, sure I guess. Why not?” She had told herself there was nothing special going on here, just her over reacting to a man paying her some attention. Now it appeared he might actually be interested in her since he already had a study partner with Casra.

***

As the days passed, Lidda, Reddge, and Casra delved past simple logical conundrums and into many philosophical discussions. Their friendship grew far beyond study partners. They met in the cafeteria almost every day at lunch and would hang out on campus after logic class in the afternoons. The college bordered a large city park and nature preserve where they could walk the paths or find a place to sit down while they peppered one another with questions. It was next to impossible for Lidda to turn the conversation toward Redgge or Casra. They always managed to delve into her thoughts instead of revealing very much about themselves. Lidda missed their company so much she hated to go home on the weekends.

Reddge and Casra were the only persons Lidda could talk to about absolutely anything. They were open to all sorts of ideas and never judgmental. Lidda had always enjoyed people who could think outside the box. After getting to know someone for a while, she would notice a third personality seemed to emerge from the relationship, as though they were blended together to form a whole new person. This always seemed a little weird, and Lidda had never discussed it with anyone before. Lidda called these emergent personalities her "phantom friends," and she felt their presence very strongly with the Tollsuns. To Lidda’s delight, they seemed to understand what she was saying.

“What do you feel with the two of us?” Reddge asked.

Casra shot him a glance as though to warn him away from that particular line of questioning. Lidda had a distinct feeling they might be keeping something from her, but they really hadn’t known each other very long; let them have their secrets for now. She was thrilled to have some new friends regardless.

“I’m not sure. I rarely hang out with more than one friend at a time, but there’s definitely something here. To be honest it feels a little strange and not entirely human,” Lidda said, then winced. She didn’t know why she’d said that. “Don’t take that the wrong way.”

Reddge laughed. “I didn’t. You might be on to something.”

Lidda thought she heard a faint growl. “Okay, did you guys hear that? It sounded like some kind of animal.”

“No,” Casra said a little too quickly.

“I thought I heard a growl,” Reddge said.

“Now you two are just being silly,” Casra said. “Back to the logical realm.” She gave Reddge another sideways glance.

He smiled at her but returned his gaze to Lidda. “I kind of like the idea of phantoms.”

“Well, it’s time to get going. We need to get back the nursery,” Casra said. She picked up her things and herded them back to the parking lot.

Lidda was certain Casra was rushing Reddge to leave. She wasn’t sure why the phantoms were such a touchy subject. She pushed the thought to the back of her mind. Not important.

***

One of their favorite activities on long summer days was to pack a picnic lunch and hike for miles in the nature preserve. Lidda loved the way Reddge took all her questions seriously, but she didn’t quite understand the look on his face when she posed this one.

“So, do you think we will ever find other intelligent life in the universe?”

He looked amused and paused for a second before answering. “I’m pretty sure we will. What do you think?”

“It has to be out there. Just looking at the statistical probability, I’m sure it exists. None of the probes we’ve sent out have found proof of extra-terrestials, but we’ve proven many worlds exist which could support life. I’m hoping we may find evidence when we colonize Mars.”

“It’s a step in the right direction,” Casra said.

“There’s such a narrow window in universal time for us to find another culture close enough to interact,” Lidda said. “I don’t think the odds are very good we’ll bump into other intelligent life in the twenty first century. We’ve hardly explored our own solar system much less the galaxy.”

“Well, that’s the trick isn’t it?” Reddge said. He was lying on his back in the grass gazing at the few light clouds trailing across an azure sky. With a chiseled face and lean tanned body, he was deliciously handsome. Thick black hair had grown longer over the summer months and was tangled from the wind.

There was no denying she was attracted to him. His calm virility was drawing her in like a powerful magnet. Lidda had the overpowering urge to lie next to him. She could almost taste his lips against hers. She forced herself back to reality.

It must have shown on her face. The icy stare from Casra was real. Lidda wondered why Casra would object if she fell for her brother. Maybe it was because she wasn’t from a rich enough family or because she wasn’t a member of their religious group.

Lidda struggled to get her head back in the conversation. “I mean just because we’ve sent out probes, there’s no guarantee anyone will find them. What are the odds?”

“Maybe they've been looking for you,” Reddge replied. “And if they've mastered space travel that would greatly improve the odds.”

“Yes. Everybody hopes we could meet other life forms,” Lidda agreed. “I doubt we would handle it very well if we actually did.”

“Why is that?” Casra asked.

“Just look at Earth. We can’t get along with each other on this one planet. The UN only escalated our problems instead of solving them. When NATO fell apart, all of the same nations signed the big Transoceanic Treaty. How is a name change supposed to fix anything? They’re still playing the same games only now almost every nation has nuclear weapons capability.”

“Time will tell,” Casra said joining in the conversation again. “Stability is an illusion. Life is always in flux.”

“So everything always changes?” Lidda said. “But if that is truth, then truth has to change too. Fallacy?”

Reddge laughed. "The fault lies in the circular logic of including truth in every "thing" Truth is not a thing."

“But if it’s a true statement…”

“It's not a valid conclusion.” Reddge countered. "You've gone beyond your premise."

“I think some things never change,” said Casra. “Human nature for one.”

“We aren’t on logic anymore are we?” Lidda asked.

“Paradox,” Casra replied. “Truth never changes. Truth transcends our reality.”

Reddge was looking at Lidda a little too intently. She could feel his eyes exploring her body more each time they were together. He appeared suddenly self conscious of how obvious his behavior was and shifted his body away from her. Lidda certainly wasn’t imagining that he was attracted to her.

Reddge was more guarded around her after that day. Lidda realized how much she cared for him and had to admit her emotions were growing stronger. In truth, she obsessed over him and thought about him constantly when they were apart. The Tollsuns were just here for the summer and falling in love was not a good plan.

Casra had a habit of coming between them and she was always around, effectively preventing Lidda from ever being alone with Reddge. Lidda considered Casra to be a good friend and wasn’t sure why she was so protective of her brother, but maybe it was to keep them both from getting hurt.

Lidda avoided getting close to anyone ever since she was dumped by a guy at her senior prom. She discovered he only asked her out on a dare. It was a big joke to him. It was devastating to her.

She was certain Reddge was different, more mature. Lidda couldn’t imagine him letting her down. Part of her said let him go and you won’t get hurt. A deeper part of her demanded she hold on and hope the man she was falling in love with cared as much for her.