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“Not that it doesn’t happen where you might have multiple men and women get together, but it is usually a personal decision and not biological—or even something that’s done by that many people,” she added.
“Are you open to it?” Agor cut in eagerly, and she immediately drew back a step, a look of panic rising on her face. He inwardly cursed his enthusiasm, but once again, Brydis interjected quickly.
“Don’t mind him. It’s certainly not something you have to answer. He is just… drawn to you.” Brydis drew in a breath before plunging forward. “We both are. But it’s not something you are required to reciprocate or even entertain. Agor has always suffered a brain to mouth issue with little filter, so I apologize if his question came off a bit blunter than you are accustomed to. We are unaccustomed to being fascinated with someone of another species, which does not help, and are naturally very curious about you. Such as—to where you are heading so late?”
Some of the anxiety melted from her features and she noticeably relaxed a little again, her curiosity seemingly piqued once more, though she didn’t venture closer to them—much to Agor’s disappointment.
“I was just going to the eatery on deck four that serves the lower decks.” She fidgeted with an embarrassed smile. “I know it’s awfully late, but they’re the only place open at all hours, and I like the peace and quiet after everyone returns to their cabins.”
Agor perked, his own food forgotten, and not with the least bit of regret. “Oh! We would be delighted to accompany—”
He didn’t have the opportunity to say anything more, his voice was immediately muffled by the mouthful of wing Brydis slapped into his face. Cursing around the feathers, Agor knocked the wing away with an annoyed look directed toward his twin, but he melted when he heard the female’s soft laughter.
“We will leave you to your meal then,” Brydis cut in smoothly with a warm smile. “We hope to see you again.”
She nodded but gave them both a considering look. “As it happens, my quarters are on this level. I’ve pretty much stayed inside since you guys have boarded, but I’m sure we’ll run into each other now.”
“We look forward to it,” Brydis replied as he turned, nudging Agor with thumps of his wings.
Agor directed a snarl toward his twin but craned his head over the other male’s wings to give the female a longing look.
“Female!” he shouted as she made her way back toward the elevator. She slowed and turned toward him with a curious look. “What is your name?”
She smiled slowly in response before catching her lower lip between her teeth.
“Jill!” She shouted back before turning and hurrying the rest of the way to the elevator.
Stepping inside, she gave him a quick smile as the doors closed, cementing that last glimpse of her in his mind forever. Clasping a hand to chest, he sighed with pleasure only to be thumped in the head with a wing again. Directing a glower at Brydis, he huffed and slapped the male’s wing away so he could walk back to his post with as much dignity as he could muster, his twin’s soft laughter following him.
Foolish or not. Overeager or not. None of that mattered. All that mattered was that he had a name and had received a smile from Jill. He couldn’t wait until they met again.
Chapter5
“As far as we can tell upon conferring with them, their species, Geminidae, came from a planet that circles the star Pollux. The home world, Geminos, is a satellite that orbits the planet we have dubbed Thestias, along with its sister satellite, Gawallen, the latter of which is no longer hospitable to their species and caused massive evacuation of Gawallen’s inhabitants into our space to seek a new home. It apparently has atmospheric compositions similar to the terraformed environment on Ganymede. This is the source of their interest in it.”
“It isn’t going to be given to them… is it?”
Jill slowed and came to a stop at the edge of the gathered crowd clustered around one of the officers. Over the last couple of days, she hadn’t seen any of the officers venture to the lower decks. She saw more of the twins stationed on her deck than she did any of the crew other than those hired for service on the lower decks. The caged look on the man’s face, however, verified that he had not anticipated having to actually deal with anyone. Whatever brought him to the lower decks certainly wasn’t to allay the concerns of their passengers traveling to Ganymede.
He cleared his throat uncomfortably. “I really don’t know the answer to that.” He blew out a long breath, and she just knew he hated being the one asked this question. “Truth is, ladies, since most men prefer to head to work on Mars, where they can earn hefty bonuses working for Xenion Mineral Reclamations, most of the settlers going to Ganymede are single women and mothers. That in itself isn’t a bad thing,” he hastened to explain as several of the women in the crowd frowned at him. “But it’s skewing the population in ways that Earth hadn’t anticipated and leaving huge voids in necessary skills that are not being filled.”
“Okay, so it’s a small hiccup,” a woman at the fore of the group admitted with a wince. “But surely, if given a few more years, there’s bound to be a shift of some kind in the population.”
He shook his head. “It may be too little and not fast enough. The bottom line is that the government is losing money daily since Ganymede is nowhere close to being self-sustainable. Of the lot of you, there are only twelve men among ninety women transporting to the Mercurium port. And many of you are likely heading for jobs within the Ganymede port rather than labor intensive industries such as farming, which is the entire purpose of Ganymede, other than being a refueling port—to feed humanity and grow larger crops of medicinal plant materials.” His gaze shifted away to some distant spot beyond them, avoiding the people looking to him for answers. “And while those in power on Earth appreciate all of you who have traveled to Ganymede on a farmstead permit, the reality is—the moon isn’t providing goods quickly enough to dissuade negotiations with the Geminidae for sovereignty and settlement of the moon.”
“And what will happen to us and the others who are settling there if they are given Ganymede?” another from the crowd demanded.
He shrugged helplessly. “I know none of you want to hear this, but that will really depend on the Geminidae. From what I understand, none of them are advocating for your removal but just wish for a peaceful place to settle and call their own.”
“What? Our fate is to lie in the hands of aliens then?” a man loudly protested.
An unhappy murmur rose among those gathered, and Jill inched away. While she appreciated their concerns—after all, her own fate was also now uncertain—the vitriol that was developing was something she wanted nothing of. She understood some of the apprehension, but things were rapidly dissolving into angry, suspicious remarks directed toward the aliens—a species that they knew little of and Earth already had a terrible history of fanaticism that didn’t need repeating. Although she wasn’t entirely sure what to think of the aliens either, she was determined to withhold judgment as much as possible.
Besides, there was a certain something about Agor and Brydis that made it difficult for her to dislike them.
If only the situation could be diffused quickly. She was certain that everyone would calm down if they were assured that they would still have homes and lives awaiting them on Ganymede. Reassurances that would be better than the paltry ones the officer provided.
Clutching her bag closer to her side, Jill proceeded to hurry away from the so-called “entertainment” and social facilities of the deck where she’d gone to procure her meal and back toward her quarters. A tingle rushed through her at the idea of possibly encountering them again. Since her run-in with them a couple of days ago, she had only spotted them at a distance and had enjoyed a brief, private moment admiring them. One cool and dark and the other vibrant and bold, the twins were a study in contrast and completely opposite from what she would have expected of them by appearance.
