Chapter 6 #2
“Sure. The Amphirans are running my ag ship while I’m here. But I arrived on my research ship. So I have everything I’d need on board to get started.”
“Great. I look forward to working with you after the race.” Ohni rests a hand on my shoulder. “Have fun. I’ve got to check on some others.”
I watch her walk back into the crowd as I rejoin Sky. “Hey, this place is kinda loud. Do you want to head below? The race starts soon.”
“Please.”
We get in the elevator at the far end of the room and ride it to the fields below. When we step out onto real grass and take in fresh air, I feel like crying. It has been a long time since I stood on solid ground. The pain of losing my family kept me from coming home.
“Wild, isn’t it?” Sky asks as we walk to the railing, where a few other women quietly wait alongside us. “A whole world in space.”
“You know that statement applies to a planet, too.”
She snorts and hangs her head. “True. I just meant the envirodome. It’s a feat of engineering.”
“So are starships.” But I realize I’m just ruining her wonder.
Sky hasn’t seen the universe like I have.
Not yet. This is her first time. “But yeah, it’s pretty impressive.
And to be honest, I don’t really want to leave my mobile farm behind for good.
It has just become too much for me to handle on my own.
I see that now, after a few days of rest, somewhere safe. ”
“How safe is the Mindor world?”
“It’s about like any other, apart from the leading battle forces like Amphirans, Nytheralians, Isonians, and a few others.
” I watch her gawk at the complex and remember my first flight into space alone, heading to a distant world in need of assistance because their crops were dying from a blight they didn’t know how to fix.
I lift a hand. “I’m with you. I’ll check on you after the race, too. Okay?”
Sky takes my hand. “Okay. Thanks.”
I assess the hoverdrone screen above the race field to see how much time we have left to wait. “Fifteen minutes.”
My heart pounds a little faster. Sky makes a disgruntled noise like she isn’t ready.
“Sky…”
She shrugs. “What? It’s just a complete 180-degree turn in my life. Running machines and fixing things alone to having a mate, living on a new planet, likely pregnant, and taken in front of a whole pack. My brain can’t rationalize it.”
I squeeze her hand. “My dad was a soldier when he was younger. He taught me something that really helped me. He said that every day is a fresh start. Just get out of bed and be happy for another chance that not everyone gets. Make it to breakfast. Then focus on making it to lunch. Don’t think about the what-if’s.
Think about what is. Make it to dinner. Any problems are problems for future me. ”
I shrug. “And fuck that bitch. We hate her.”
Her eyebrows pinch upward.
“I added that last part because I’m alone out there. I fuck up a lot. It’s how I cope.”
Sky cracks a smile. “Okay. One step at a time.”
“Like repairing a motor.”
She inhales deeply. “I can do that.”
Sky doesn’t know how much she’s helped me. I’ve covered my own fears of the future by filling the idle space in my mind with concern for her. But as the race nears, I have to remind myself to take my father’s advice, too.
More women exit the elevators and line up along the railing with us.
Above us, Ohni steps out of a door onto a platform that breaks away from the complex and hovers out over the field, before rotating her toward us.
“Welcome, ladies.” Ohni lifts her hands, and confetti cannons go off on the countdown drone, showering us in colorful bits of paper.
“Stars, she looks good in that suit,” a woman remarks beside us. “I wish I was like her.”
I have armor just like it, but in white. Mine isn’t polished for the holofeed. It’s to reflect as much light as possible when I’m working. But I realize I’m luckier than I thought. Sure, my life was hard, but a lot of the women around me dream of that life.
I once did.
“The males are just minutes away.” Ohni keeps talking, but Sky is hyperventilating like many other women. Some bounce in excitement. The railing blinks faster and faster.
“Sky.” I give her a pointed look, and she slows her breathing. “We’ve got this.”
She nods.
I’m the one who’s not ready.
Everything suddenly feels wrong, like I was ungrateful for what I had because I forgot the reason I started the life I did.
But I’m here. I have to deal with the consequences of my choices.
The railing stays solid green, and a horn goes off. Women pour over the railing and charge out across the field. I join them with less enthusiasm. But I don’t know who is going to pick me.
Maybe I’ll win the money because no one will want me.
Sky is fast. She looks back. “Come on, Brynna! Haven’t you ever run from a haywire droid before?”
I’ve run from Denarso and Novarks. A thorndog. And a scavenger squad at a spaceport.
Women shout and squeal as a thunderous drone of engines fills the envirodome.
I look up to see the males transport entering the arena, the blue shield brightening around the vessel.
A door opens, and someone jumps out. He falls ten stories, slams into the dirt, and straightens. Then he starts running.
“Holy fuck.” I sprint to catch up with Sky. I’ve seen some strong alien species, but that is never something I expected.
I shove Sky onward as I envision being tackled by that dude. More like obliterated! “Run!”