What he doesn’t know is that I actually went down to the med lab because I wanted full confirmation that this pregnancy was really happening, and that all was well. I went in expecting a readout and a due date. And there I was, tears in my eyes, as a very calm machine voice stated,Pregnancy confirmed. Gestation normal. No anomalies detected. Estimated term, standard.
“The good news is that medical records here are strictly confidential,” the tech had assured me. “Nothing about this will route to your supervisor.”
I was pleased for both the confirmation of my pregnancy and on the confidentiality.
This is only a short-term assignment. Soon, I will have Timbur’s grid fixed and audited, collect the very handsome bonus, and return home to New Earth. Meanwhile, I won’t tell a single soul in Minecorp that this is happening because it has nothing to do with my work performance. I’ll simply get this job done, then return home and that’s when I’ll jump-start this whole new ‘being a mom’ huge, huge, life change.
The hardest part is keeping this to myself. I want to tell Andrew, of course, but I’m ninety-nine percent certain he wouldn’t be able to keep the news private. I’ll wait to tell him the moment we step off the transporter disk back in Singapore.
I’d like to tell Leah, my new friend from across the hallway. Twice today my thumb has hovered over Leah’s name on my tablet. She’s a mother herself, but I can’t tell her either.
I’m an engineer with a grid to fix, and that is all I’m going to be while on this assignment.
Today’s work,at least, is going well. No, I haven’t found the problem yet, but I’m almost done with my audit of the new grid.
I love it down here, working on the Timbur mine. This is the most impressive thing I’ve ever set my hands inside, and every level I descend into makes me love this place more. I’ve of course, worked on systems powered by Illibrium before, but I’ve never been to the actual source. I’ll remember this special posting for the rest of my life.
The crystal-light runs blue through everything, soft and steady, and the Illibrium itself, when I get close to a live vein, is genuinely beautiful, a thing I could look at for a long time and not get bored. I’ve spent my whole career reading power systems the way other people read faces, and this one has a face I actually like.
And I’m close to figuring out what is wrong with their grid.
What I need to finish this out is the information I requested from that mysterious Fever Brother, the one who keeps following me around like he’s security, but he’s not.
All I keep thinking about today, besides the work and the baby…is that Scar will show up sometime today, with that extra information. And I’m not excited simply for the info…I’m thrilled to see that handsome miner up close and personal again.
Jeez.
I want it on the record that I am a serious woman. I’ve never once in my career gotten flustered by a colleague. I’m always focused on my work.
And yet, here I am, all hot and bothered over a Xylan Margol miner.
He barely talks and has a scar carved down the side of his face. But to me, this only makes him even more handsome in an edgy, mysterious, kind of way. His chest, thighs and ass are utter perfection. His lips are so very kissable. I’ve even taken a glance at his crotch several times, trying to catch a glimpse of his epic package.
What is wrong with me? Are the pregnancy hormones making me horny?
Thank the gods for the gloves of the unmated, honestly. My body is out here making decisions without consulting the rest of me, and I have never in my life been so grateful for regulation handwear.
I’m going to be a total professional about this though. Brisk. Competent. All business. He’s a records source and a colleague, and that isallhe’s going to be, and I’m not going to think about his forearms even one more time.
A few hourslater I’m having lunch with Leah Hernandez in the employee cafeteria.
The cafeteria is enormous and I’ve enjoyed taking most of my meals here. It’s a long, bright room carved half into the rock and half out of it, one whole wall of tall windows looking out into the jungle so that the green presses right up against the glass while you eat. Crystal-light and daylight mix overhead into something warm and golden. It should feel industrial, a company canteen, and instead it feels like the busiest, happiest kitchen you’ve everwalked into. Xylan miners and Minecorp employees pack the long tables, enormous, loud and easy with each other.
I came to Timbur, braced for ration bars and gray protein, and instead there’s a fancy food dispenser in my quarters and a human female named Jana who runs the whole food operation. She’s an amazing chef Minecorp managed to recruit who has decided to stay because she also fell in love with a Fever Brother, the same as Leah. In fact, Jana’s pregnant right now with her second child and still working.
I wave and smile as I make my way down the buffet line. Then I take a seat with Leah at a table for two. My tray has some kind of rich layered stew over grain. “This is genuinely one of the best things I’ve ever eaten,” I mumble.
“Right?” Leah beams like she made it herself. “Jana’s a wizard. And thank you, by the way, for eating with me. I usually grab lunch with Naomi, but she’s holed up in the studio with a deadline.”
“No, thankyou. It’s nice to have found another human female I can talk with on this position. Normally, when I work off-planet, I’m the only human female in the entire facility.” I lean forward. “Can I ask you a hundred nosy questions?”
“Oh, please do. I love talking about myself. It’s my favorite hobby after gossip.”
“Okay, start at the beginning. How does a human end up here, living on a Xylan outpost?”
“Ugh, I was so green,” Leah laughs. “Fresh out of university, with no experience. And I get this training position atMinecorpthe only company in the universe that mines Illibrium and I about lost my mind. I was such a fangirl I didn’t even care that it was temporary.”
“Temporary?”
