Chapter 6
I think over what Sky has suggested as she fixes her makeup in the mirror.
Maybe she’s right. Jorusk has been on my mind. But I’m not sure if it was him or if it’s just Drathious that I like.
“I got Mindor. They handed me blue bands. But I’m not really shy, just passive.” Sky finishes her mascara and packs her cosmetic kit back into her locker.
“Well, that’s what the Mingle Celebration is for, right? We race, get picked, and then socialize to meet everyone.”
She hums a disgruntled note. “Or we don’t get picked.”
“Are you hoping for the million credits if you outlast the other girls?”
The way she darts her eyes at me and turns away tells me she thinks no one will pick her. “Aren’t you?”
“I hadn’t even considered it. But I could make some serious ship upgrades.” Like a really big gun. Maybe a hot tub for me. Or at least a massage chair for the days I’m super beat. “Hire a security guard.”
“A hot one.”
I wrinkle my nose. “Are you reading my mind?”
“No. I’m human, not Vlinari.”
“Worked with one before?”
“A snotty rich one. So…?”
“I got a Drathious.”
Sky blinks like she’s never heard of them.
“Not as oversized as Talhuskins, but they burn like demons, can throw fire, and have wings more like dragons that catch fire.”
She puts in a pair of stud earrings that shine like blue sapphires. “Lot of fire.”
“Yeah.”
“You must know a lot after living in space. Is this even exciting for you?”
I move aside for another woman, who’s returning from the showers. “Quite a bit, and…I’m not sure. I was, but I’m mostly looking for a change in my level of safety. Not sure if I’ll find it.”
“What are Ginarigons like?” the woman beside me asks.
“Prefer sister-mates. They usually have a few females, harem-style. Cocks aren’t as big as you’d expect, but they’re known for their frequent hunger. And watch out for the drugging bite,” I reply. “That’s how they get you, whether you like it or not.”
She tilts her head and shrugs. “I can get with that. Thanks.”
Sky watches her get dressed and hurry off to chat with some other friends like they all arrived together. “Please tell me Mindor are not like that.”
“No. They are pack animals,” I reply. “Think of them more like wolves if wolves were shifters and a community. They watch out for each other’s mates.
They take their mate in front of the pack as a rite of passage to the woman becoming part of the pack.
And if her mate dies, another male will care for her. ”
“That sounds nice. A tight-knit family.”
Yeah, it does.
Mine has been broken since my brother died. Then Ahna left. We sold the farm, and my parents moved to the city. Then Mom died, and Dad followed just days later.
I miss when we felt whole, strong, like we were going to stay together forever.
When Sky is ready, we head through the doors to the buffet hall where women carry plates loaded with food to tables and booths. The clatter of silverware on ceramic meshes with excited and nervous chatter in a numbing drone.
Sky’s right. I should be elated to be here, but something doesn’t feel right. Part of me feels that it’s because I’ve walked away from my ship and my job right when it’s especially needed by a hurting species.
“Unless the female dies,” I mutter. “I encountered that a few months back.”
“What happened?” Sky gets in line for the buffet with me.
“I was doing a drop off of medicinal plants.
Mindorans are a lower-tech species. They try to keep things traditional, though they have substantial forces in orbit.
But life on the surface is pretty natural still.
So if she dies, the male will shift into his wolf form and leave the pack.
He becomes what they call a Night Stalker.
“Night Stalkers patrol the perimeter of the dens for infiltrators and for sneaky teens hoping to howl at the moons. Only non-mated males will take a widow as a mate. These widowers stalk until they wander off to die. It’s pretty sad, really. But that’s how they survive, I guess.”
“What if they have kids?” Sky asks.
“The pack raises them. They believe in a mother and father, a nuclear family. If he is alone, he is not seen as enough.”
“That is really sad. So he loses literally everything when she dies?”
“Yeah.” I grab a plate and fill it with everything from fancy sandwich rolls and truffles to crispy mozzarella sticks and mini cupcakes.
“Gnakatoa are similar in behavior, but they’re a lot more like lizards, not to be confused with Lasinnce, which are closer to extinct Komodos of old Earth.
They are very independent and often fight each other for territory rights and mates.
It’s why they’re not in the races. They’re too combative.
But they look a lot like Gnakatoa in body structure. ”
Sky and I find an empty booth and take seats across from one another to look out at the race grounds. The TV screens on the walls around the buffet hall play video clips of the other women answering questions, but I’m not really paying attention. I’m still stuck on what Sky said.
“Yeah, I don’t know if Mindor is what I want.” Sky sounds disappointed.
“Might be comforting since you’re used to your robots. Except they’ll care for you. Plus, they’re warm. Even when they’re in their humanoid form, they have really light, very short fur all over. So they’re much softer than hugging a robot.”
Sky laughs at this.
“You didn’t want to join, did you? You just felt like it was a way out,” I offer.
She chews her lip and nods but won’t look at me. She scans the fields below, the mountains, the rope course complex, and the garden closest to the women’s hangars for our ships and those of our guards.
Sky wants the money but doesn’t think she’ll get it. That’s my guess.
“Hey, if nothing else, it’s an amazing week’s vacation, right?
” I toss a truffle in my mouth and savor the sugar rush.
Out in deep space, I live mostly on MREs.
“You don’t have to pick a mate. And if you don’t, you can work for Abr anywhere the system is in operation until you can afford another heat. ”
Sky seems to remember her food. “I guess you’re right. I’m overthinking this and worrying about what I can’t foresee.”
I arch a brow, understanding how she feels.
“I get it. I don’t like going in blind either, so I analyze everything, then do it again.
It’s like repairing a machine in a tight space where you can only kind of get a glimpse of what you’re working on.
Doing everything by feel isn’t my favorite, so I try to know everything I can ahead of time.
I’m always wondering if the piston is going to break free and smash my hand because there’s a loose set screw or something that I’m unaware of. ”
She smiles genuinely this time. “Now you’re speaking my language.”
We eat in easier silence for several long minutes. The room buzzes with other women in race suits with various colors of bands, doing what Sky and I are, making friends on a whim to stick with while we go through a strange new phase of life.
Then, the face of the Alien Bride Race appears at the other end of the room, and the entire mood lifts.
Ohni, the new race official and coordinator, checks on everyone.
This heat, her hair is swirled up in a braided bun, and her uniforms have changed into navy blue form-fitted body armor with a glinting gold Abr logo over her heart, complete with wings in a checkered flag pattern.
“Like the change,” someone remarks to her. She thanks them and asks how they’re doing at the booth beside ours.
Sky gapes at her like she’s a god.
I flick a truffle at her.
Startled, she brushes it away and corrals a flyaway hair behind an ear. “What was that for?”
“I had a big brother who always watched over me when I was little. He used to do that when I was staring.”
“Right. Sorry. She’s just so famous, and I’m nobody.”
I have no doubt Sky is nervous. “Everyone is important. It takes a lot of parts for machines to operate correctly.”
Sky gets the analogy and nods like she realizes she’s overthinking things again. She tries to politely smile up at Ohni when she walks our way.
Ohni points at the two of us when she arrives. “Glad you two are together. I have propositions for you for after the races, whenever you have time, that is. I’m sure you’ll both be busy for a bit with either your winnings or your new mates.”
She turns to Sky. “I could really use your help with the drones. I’ve got Kip, a Vinym, working in the programming side. But I could really use some help with durable battle upgrades. I need tough equipment.”
“Battle upgrades?” I ask.
“I want this complex totally fortified, under cover, of course. Ruby never wanted it to come to this and fought us on a lot of countermeasures.” Ohni looks at Sky.
“But since the Mars battle three years ago, we’ve been tracking reports of the Nebulous Empire inching closer toward this system.
So I want us ready in case they ever try anything. Which is where I want your help.”
“Sure.”
“After your week of racing is done.”
“Yes, ma’am. I’ll stay as long as you like,” she says.
Ohni grins. “Temp to hire then. Again, that’s mate-dependent. They come first. It’s kind of the whole point of this.”
Sky’s entire mood lifts.
“What do you need my help with?” I ask.
Ohni motions me up, and I follow her to the windows across the room, away from the elevators, to the quietest corner in the busy room. “I need to update our creature cages, the gardens, and the medicinal and food supplies that we have.
“Beneath this complex is a huge facility where we store backup supplies in case we are cut off from Earth or space, or the envirodome is ever compromised. I need your help getting it properly developed. My team has considered a lot, but I’m certain you can provide insight on the little details that will make the system run reliably without unexpected problems. Would you be willing to come on as a consultant? ”