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“I thought I’d never have to wake up at four in the morning again after retirement,” Ana grumbled from her room as she tucked her black work shirt into a pair of mechanic’s pants with deep pockets. Thick with her tools, they jangled as she walked.
I said nothing as I watched her mix instant coffee into a large keepawarm flask—enough for two of us, I knew.
“So, you gonna tell me about her or what?” she asked, screwing the lid on the flask.
I rose, rubbing off Juniper’s fur on my pants. “We’d better get to work if we want to get things fixed before the community wakes up.”
“Why you changing the subject? You know, if I try hard enough, I should be able to guess who it is just by the scent on you.” She tapped the side of her nose.
Not likely. I knew Ana’id thought I was just messing around with someone in the community. Since we were a closed Star, it was a pretty safe bet to make, if it weren’t for the unusual circumstance I’d found myself in.
While she was someone I trusted with my life, I didn’t want her to get involved with what I considered to be a rather messy and risky situation. I cared too deeply about her, so I said nothing.
“Come on, Cee. You know I’ll pull it out of you eventually.”
We felt our way around the house to where the bopper was parked. It was a sleek two-person silver-blue metal-and-glass machine that traveled faster than any other solar vehicle that I’d been in. Ana had built it by herself from scratch.
On the market, the retail price of these things was astronomical, and it’s not something that a retired peacekeeper slash mechanic could easily afford. So she’d taken the liberty to build one herself. It had only taken her six months to find all the parts she’d needed from a scrap heap.
“Maybe later,” I murmured, sliding into the passenger seat. She passed me the flask so she could navigate with both hands. The bopper purred alive.
Her large hand almost engulfed the navigation stick as she lifted us into the air.
“Imma hold you to that,” she said under her breath.
Sweat pooled at the edge of my brow and dripped down into my eye. I blinked the heavy droplet away hastily, clinging onto the metal scaffolding that crisscrossed the back of the solar panels.
The morning sun was merciless as it shone against the reflective surfaces of the panels and into our eyes. Ana had produced two dark eye workman’s masks from her bopper, which covered us from forehead to chin, but the glare was intense and penetrative even through the tinted bioplastic.
“Time would pass quicker if we talked,” Ana’s voice carried down from a few steps above me. She was inspecting a rusty old battery that was refusing to charge, pulling out different wires and reconnecting them again.
I paused, feeling that odd tug in my chest. With no free hand to assuage the ache, I winced, leaning hard against the scaffolding for support. Ana’s question only reminded me of the tumultuous conversation I’d had with myself through the night while listening to Twyla’s even breathing.
If I closed my eyes right now, I could feel the wispy tendrils of her hair curling against my chest, her floral-iron scent thrumming in the air between us. She slept so blissfully without the nagging doubts that plagued my mind.
Too many questions—no answers in sight.
“Since when do we talk?” I retorted, and she paused to look down at me.
Sweat—not mine—splattered on my forehead and I wiped it away with the back of my head.
“Thanks.”
“Sorry,” she mumbled. “Screwdriver.”
I handed her the tool as well as a couple of large screws I knew she’d need next.
“I’ve been scenting you all morning—”
I groaned.
“—and I can’t figure out who you’re messing around with. I’ve pretty much logged everyone’s scents before.”
“It’s a really long story, Ana.” My sigh of contention didn’t put her off.
“I’ve got nothing but time out here.” She moved slightly and looped her arm around a scaffold to get a better grip as she unwound a rusty old screw and let it clatter to the ground far below us.
“I wouldn’t even know where to start.”
