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An AI system pinged, and a sunny female voice announced, “We’ll be arriving at Tern, a remote outpost in the Reiner System, in approximately thirty-two suns. If you wish to know more about Tern, please scroll through the options menu on your armrest. Topics include its recent recolonization after a plague, a map of the only settlement, Yurstille, and a gallery of goods for purchase at the local bakery. Please do not hesitate to ask me if you have any questions. My name is—”
“Enough. I wish for quiet.” Beneath me, the black rocks of the Nara district grew smaller. Everything I knew and loved faded away before my eyes, until all that remained was a hollow ache. A jungle cat perched on the high peak above the tree line lifted its head as if saying goodbye.
I whispered, “I’ll catch you one day.”
It had been one annum since I was driven from Yagras’ lush forests to Tern’s barren rolling hills.
“Blanting pink dust.” From under the worksite’s roof, I stared through the space a wall would soon occupy. Endless blue snow-covered hills stretched far into the distance.
One dwelling at a time, the building crew I was foreman of had transformed Tern for new colonizers. Where a vast pink desert once sat, the settlement of Yurstille now thrived.
Sully, the mech-grader operator on my building crew, drove past, kicking up dust while leveling the ground for our latest client’s accommodation.
A curl of smoke spiraled from Yurstille’s bakery. Even two streets over, the yeasty tang filled my nose, and the honey-sweet aroma of graneth bread melted over my tongue as if I were eating it.
Sully’s deep voice bounced off the plasmasteel studs going up, pulling me back to the moment. “We’re going to knock this one out in no time.” A much-larger-than-called-for grin was plastered over his face. “I’m disappointed they don’t want to put in a pool, though.”
Sully’s family had arrived on Tern from Yagras among the new batch of colonizers, and since then, he’d been obnoxiously happy—rightly so. Finding a mate was every male Rock Dweller’s dream, except mine. Way too much work.
Despite the rarity of Rock Dweller females, the compulsion that had driven my friends to Tern to find compatible mates was foreign to me. I’d been satisfied with my career. A female would never have been enough motivation for me to leave Yagras voluntarily.
For a moment, a sliver of guilt shot ice through my veins. One annum ago, someone had killed a rare female on my home planet. That meant one less male would find their mate. But who had set me up, and why had they risked our dwindling population?
Beside me, Sully positioned the hydro-tamper over the loose soil, shouting over the loud whirring, “Bish, JayJay, cheer up. Geo will be back any rotation now.”
Though I missed my human friend and boss, that wasn’t the reason behind my sullenness. This rotation marked the first anniversary of my fall from worthiness. Representative Devile had done everything to break me, but nothing could dampen my love of home, not even banishment to this desolate land of pink dust and endless blue snow. I longed for Yagras.
“I have just the thing to brighten your rotation.” A swath of compacted soil followed in the wake of Sully’s machine. As he worked it over a tricky rocky spot, the wide grin spreading over his face had me bracing. “TeyTey invited Ginger for dinner. You should join us.”
Every vertebra in my spine snapped to attention at Ginger’s name. My three fingers loosened as her image came to mind—pale-faced and silver-haired. The shovel slipped from my grip and I yelped as it landed on my boot, making me hop on one foot. Ever since Ginger had come from Earth to visit her friend Geo, weeks ago now, she’d lurked in the shadows of my mind, tiny and clever like the jungle cat on Yagras, and just as elusive.
Nuh-uh. No way. Voluntarily sharing space with Ginger was out of the question, even if my boss had expressly asked me to watch over her while he dealt with an emergency. I might’ve considered it if I didn’t freeze in her presence like some towering bald idiot.
Sully’s grin faded, and he paused his work to focus on me. The hydro-tamper bumped against a reclaimed beam, where it idled. “Before you say no—” Sully swiped a grimy hand across his sweaty forehead ridge. “—you know TeyTey will ask you herself. I’m just preparing you.”
Disgusted by my incompetence around females, I rolled my shoulders back. I was a fierce fighter, with dozens of hellsna dead at my hands to prove it.
With a new resolve, I committed to fulfilling my promise. Geo would be back any time now, and Ginger would be his responsibility once more. I could suck it up until then. Besides, I would never turn down Sully’s mate.
“You need more practice talking to females if you ever hope to gain the attention of a mate.” Sully’s laughter rumbled through the building’s skeleton frame and dampened when it hit the berm of blue snow surrounding the construction zone.
I didn’t want a blanting mate.
Females confused me to begin with, but one, in particular, confused me so much that my brain didn’t seem to connect to my mouth in her presence. Ginger was so different. Much smaller and more fragile than a Rock Dweller female. No Rock Dweller female would visit an unfamiliar planet on their own. Well, besides TeyTey.
Plus, Ginger had hair, and when the silvery curtain swished around her face, it awoke something I couldn’t grasp inside of me. I wanted to touch it.
I passed the hydro-tamper back to Sully, telling myself I couldn’t deny a request from TeyTey. “What time should I come?”
Sully’s jaw clamped tight as he held back his grin. “Sundown, and bring some of that hiscus wine. Ginger’s raving nonstop about it, and my female loves it.”
Great. Now a looming dinner with Ginger would occupy my mind for the rest of the blanting rotation. The dwelling could wait. I needed to wash away the grime, polish my head and find something besides overalls to wear.
Avoiding TeyTey, I crept through the back entrance to her and Sully’s dwelling, into their solarium, and relaxed near the lazy river. One finger traced the leaf of a frilly plant lining the humid oasis, and my thumb pressed into the tiny bumps on its underside.
“Blasterball!” YimYim shouted, tucking his knees into his chest and jumping.
I jerked as he doused me in warm water. Thrown back into the moment, I wiped the droplets off my head, preparing to battle Sully’s eldest son. Eight annums old and as tall as Ginger, he could easily throw her into the pool if she were here.
