April 5, 2238

Keirn,

I've always wanted to be part of something greater, but I find it difficult-- at best-- to believe that my mail is being caught in a temporal flux of some sort and sent to the future. Amazing things don't happen to girls like me, and Proper Young Ladies don't get to have Grand Adventures. I gave up on that dream long ago, when I got my first hair-comb and became a Young Lady. Mother made sure of that.

You live on Eraea? Oh, I hope you're not fooling with me, because I hope so badly that this succeeds. I am afraid to hear what you've got in your history books about my father. He is a good man, and I couldn't bear to hear that something had gone wrong. It is just as hard knowing that even if it does end up going horribly wrong, and you do know about it, you cannot tell me because of Time Streams.

I am not a silly young miss who knows nothing other than her parents, and I do realize that as we actually live here, more must be going on than lessons. That does not make this any easier to bear. I miss my home, and my friends. I miss my pets. We have a Dog, you know. They're exceedingly rare anywhere besides Original Earth, and I consider myself incredibly lucky to have one. They are amazing companions, and they always make things better. It broke my heart when Diana left, and Dog made it better. (Our Dog is named Dog. I was young, when I named him.) Are Dogs still rare in your time?

The trouble with this school is that everyone is so aware of Status. They know that I outrank them, and therefore they ignore me. It matters not that I have told them that I do not care what their parents do. It matters not that I explained that with my father away, I have no true status. What matters to them is that my father was a Governor and is a Colonizer, and therefore I am too important to require things as basic as Friends. How does one get past that? I am at my wit's end, trying to be friendly, trying to be nice, trying to be interesting. Being myself didn't work and I cannot come up with a ploy that will work, either.

So, Keirn, it seems that you and Diana are as close to friends that I have, and you are both eternities away. Her in space, and you in time. It is terrible to not have friends close by. So please, tell me what you can about Eraea. At least I know my father's mission will be a success, but how is it? Is it as beautiful and green as we have hoped?

Yours,
- Cass