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“Yes. If the terraformer is not fixed promptly, every day it is off will first set us back weeks, then months, until eventually a single day will cost us years of progress.”
Jacek nods. “Some of the components are buried deep, and in order to fix them, I’d need the arm.”
I frown, frustrated. “Is there any way we can remove some panels to get further inside? Maybe work from the outside of the ship to get to the innards?”
Jacek shakes his head back and forth slowly. “The way it’s built will not allow for that.”
I beat my fist against a control panel, barely able to control my rage. “Why would they build it so nonsensically?”
“Because it was the most efficient design, and it allowed for the best weight distribution while traveling across the galaxy,” Jacek says.
“Then we’ve failed,” I scoff. “Or rather, have gone so far off course, none of us could ever hope to see glory again.”
Ramsey walks up to the passage leading to the issue and stares through the opening. “There is another option.”
“And what is that?”
Ramsey smirks. “Elena.”
27
ELENA
Some harsh realities you can only avoid for so long.
Lack of water is an issue that forces you to act almost immediately. A shortage of food will get you moving, but not with the same urgency.
Pregnancy, however…well you can avoid that for months.
“Back at home, you could urinate on grain to see if it sprouts, or pee on a periguin bush leaf to see if it changes colors. Here, time will tell.”
“Thank you, Nori, but I’m fairly certain the mystery is solved.”
Getting pregnant while stranded on an island is perhaps one of the dumbest things I’ve done, and now I have to live with the consequences.
As much as I’d like to say it was for the good of my tribe, that I was trying to secure us a brighter future, there’s more to it than that. I liked Grixis. More than liked. For all his strength, he was kind, and he made me laugh.
And the way he made me feel was…indescribable. Like my body was bursting with warmth and cataclysmic pleasure.
“If we tell the men, do you think they’ll be willing to reconsider taking us in?” Meg asks. “Now that they can see what we have to offer?”
Nori shakes her head. “It’s hard to say. While I think Grixis would be thrilled, the others might react with anger at the thought of their lines being tainted by ours, as they would call it. It could make them hostile towards us.”
I hate that she used the word tainted, but that’s how some would see it. They’re so stubborn, they’d rather break than bend.
“Then we don’t tell them,” I say, head bowed sheepishly. “And hopefully they’ll ignore us and never find out.”
“But if something goes wrong, they could help,” Meg insists.
“I know you’re worried about me, but we need to consider what this could mean for the tribe.”
I can tell Meg wants to argue, but instead, she says, “Then how do we prepare?”
Nori bites her lower lip as she does when she’s thinking. “Clean blankets, getting a stash of herbs and roots. We’ll have to consult with Violet for that. Lots of meat for Elena.”
“And you’re going to have to take charge,” I tell Meg.
“Like bloody hell!”
