Two days ago:
"Ouch!"
"Sorry," mutters Rich as he watches another clump of golden hair fall to the ground. " Hair stylist is not my major specialty."
Lisa chuckles as she sees her hair descending.
"Tell me about it," she says. "I used to pay over a hundred bucks a pop for a hair cut."
"Do you miss that lifestyle?"
Rich's question causes her to pause.
"Yes," she says softly. "The money, the fame, the maids, the butlers, sleeping till 12 pm... Yes, I do. Is that wrong?"
"I don't know," he answers as he continues to cut her hair. "I think it's okay to miss it. That was your lifestyle until three years ago. What matters is that you didn't let yourself be a slave to the past. You have managed to survive in a world that is very different than the way you grew up. You have done well."
Lisa smiles. She feels his hands depart from her head. He becomes silent.
"Well, "she asks.
"I'm done. I think."
She laughs.
"You think? You better not think... let me see."
He reaches into his duffle bag and hands her a small mirror.
She almost dies when she sees her reflection but he did do a good job, she thinks. Jim always said she should get it cut short. He had said that it would look sexy. She brings a hand up and runs it through her hair. It feels very good and it does make her look sexy.
"Now," Rich's voice interrupts her thoughts. "What color?"
He reaches into his bag and hands her a flip case. She opens it to find a small mirror on top and a row of buttons across the bottom.
"Push the yellow button," he says.
She does as he says and is surprised when her image freezes in the mirror.
"Say what color you would like your hair to be."
She speaks into a tiny microphone embedded at in the far right corner of the case.
"Red head."
Suddenly her image fades out and is replaced by the same picture but this time her hair is red. She laughs at the image.
Rich walks u and looks over her shoulder. He tries not to laugh but cannot help it. Lisa jabs him in his stomach with her elbow.
"Black."
"Nah," she thinks.
"I got it," she says. "Brunette."
The image shows her how she would look as a brunette.
Rich whistles in agreement.
"You like," she asks.
He nods his head.
"Brunette it is, what next?
"Push the orange button."
Lisa does as she is instructed and is surprised by the hum of a small motor from within the case. A tiny 'ding' echoes in the night and a small vial of red liquid rises from the top of the case.
"Swallow the liquid," encourages Rich.
Lisa opens the lid and gulps down the small amount.
She gags at the taste and looks at Rich.
He smiles and hands her the handheld mirror.
Lisa is very shocked to see that, in seconds, her hair has gone from blonde to brunette.
"Oh my God..." she whispers.
"I know you said your Earth was more technological advanced than mine but...What other toys do you have?"
She hands him the mirror and he places it into his bag.
He laughs.
"Oh, lots of goodies."
He pulls out a small spherical object.
"Damn!"
"What is it," she asks, noticing that for the first time since they have met, he is very visibly shaken.
"This, my dear, is a jamming device. It has stopped working. In other words... the aliens know where are."
One Day Ago:
Rich sits at the bar and, for the first time in seventy five years, feels very conspicuous. Lisa is late and that worries him.
After finding the jamming signal broken, he was able to repair it but he knew that it had been broken long enough for the aliens to have some idea as to where they were headed. He could have given up the quest right then but Lisa convinced him that they couldn't stop.
They decided to split up and meet at the bar he suggested by the end of the day.
