"Good point. I'd forgotten about the whole world-traveler thing," Ned says, joins her at the table with a contented smile. "Though I'm not sure this is North America. The climate might be the same, but River says the stars are wrong. So who even knows. Doesn't exactly look like the North America I'm from, anyway," Ned comments, poking at the eggs with his fork.

It could be the result of being in a different version of reality, where the constellations have shifted. Or, for all Ned knows, they could be on another planet entirely, one made to imitate Earth. Or they could be false stars they are looking at in a false sky that is really just a dome. Or countless other possibilities.

"So, um. What were you up to back home, before you got snatched? Are you in school?"