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“Oh. We… shake at the colonies.”
“Shake?”
“Like, you take my hand and shake it.”
Kaia frowned when Alina dipped forward to grab her right hand, waving it up and down limply within her own.
“It’s a greeting.” She grinned. “From Old Earth times. We kind of try to replicate some of that lifestyle, so we can, you know, go back to it once we find the planet.”
Right. The colonies were forever searching for another planet like Old Earth. Back when it was green and beautiful and habitable. Before the invasion.
Never mind that there were plenty of habitable planets around. Desert planets, iron planets, planets with an atmosphere, even ice planets—those were the ones they drilled for water.
But none that matched the criteria that the colonies were after: that elusive “New Earth” which would be perfect, provide diverse food sources, indefinite sustenance and comfort. And water, of course. It had been thousands of years since Old Earth went down, and these chumps were still hoping to find something that most people had realized long ago didn’t exist. Instead of making the best of what was there, they used up their hoarded wealth to go ever-deeper into space on their silly little “expeditions.” It’d be funny if they weren’t so filthy rich and everyone else so fucking poor.
“I brought some clothes.” Alina held out a small stack of folded fabric. “You’ll get something nicer later, of course.”
Nicer. The fabric under her fingertips was the softest she’d ever felt. Why did these people have to put in all these caveats? Apologizing for their fancy cabin, downplaying their fancy clothes. Did they not realize how the vast majority of humanity lived?
Kaia stroked the clothes a little as she placed the stack on the bed, hoping the girl didn’t notice the indulgence.
“I’ll also be your guide on the ship. I’m so excited! We don’t get newcomers.”
“Maybe you can guide me to learning how to open the door.”
“Oh yes, that. I heard. Sorry about that. It’ll only open from the inside from now on. Otherwise, only you’ll be able to get in.”
“And Orion.”
Alina tilted her head, oscillating between confusion and amusement. “Well, sure, blood has access everywhere. If it’s anyone else, like me, just tell it to open. The cabin’s already analyzed and mapped your voice.”
Great, another piece of me taken without my permission.
“Fine.”
“When you’re ready for your tour, just chime. And here, a comms device until you get your own NS.”
Kaia fitted the bracelet onto her wrist, not bothering to explain that she was definitelynotgonna be getting a Neurosync implanted into her brain. Those things were creepier than any tech she’d heard of.
“Get some rest. Hope the tablet helps.” Alina leaned in conspiratorially. “The ship has a wicked library of romance reads. I’ll show you later.”
“Sure.”
When she was finally alone again, Kaia got crawled back into bed with the tablet and the S54 card. It wasn’t just about the card… these tablets were usually “all-in-one” things. Big and bulky, about the size of her whole palm, but multifunctional.
Ping a connection no more than twenty-four hours after you’re on the colony ship. Or else.
So the first thing she did was go into the comms function and confirm it wasn’t disabled. She keyed in the sector and station IDs for Riker 109. Kaia was well aware that comms was probably monitored onColossal—shit, they’d be idiots not to. So she didn’t dare make her message anything too obvious.
RECIPIENT ID: A35R109-*
FROM: CCLSL-25109
Data: NONE
A basic ping, something inconspicuous. Nobody who intercepted it, or who received it on Riker 109—which would be everyone with a comms device—would pay it any mind.
Nobody except for someone who was waiting. Loran would understand. With two-way comms established, he’d contact her with further instructions.
