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“Is…is it safe, though?”Celiadidn’t like the idea of flying straight into the swirling vortex.
“Perfectlysafe—Fierceonly uses stable wormholes when we fly,”Holdassured her.
“Well…all right.”
“Youcan hold my hand if you’re nervous,” theLightTwinoffered, holding out one catcher’s mitt-sized hand to her.
Fierceshot her a look.
“I’doffer mine too, butIneed both hands for flying,” he remarked. “Notthat you’d accept.”
“Afterthat remark you made about me being pregnant?Idon’tthinkso,”Celiasaid coolly, and she tookHold’shand, letting him entwine their fingers—his were long and tapered and artistic looking, she noticed, which seemed right for a doctor.
“Fuckinggreat,”Fiercemuttered.Andthen he pushed the steering yoke forward and they plunged into the swirling mass of kaleidoscope colors.
13
CELIA
“Okay—I’mready.Dios, this is tight,”Celiamuttered, tugging at her warm suit as she came out of the small bathroom at the back of the ship.
Despiteher anxiety about the wormhole, they had landed safely onTranqPrime.Noneof them had been outside yet but the viewscreen showed a frozen wasteland where nothing grew.Celiawondered how anything could live on such a barren planet, butHoldassured her that most of the living went on underground, in the grottos.
Theywere docked right beside the entrance to the abandoned grotto where the jewel moss was, so all of them were getting ready to go.Celiahad gone to the back of the ship to change into her warm suit but now she couldn’t help feeling exposed.
Thewarm suit looked more like a wet suit—the kind you scuba dive in—than any kind of parka or cold weather clothing she had ever seen.Itwas form- fitting and made of a thin material that hugged her curves.Atleast it was black, though—the color was slenderizing and went well with her long dark hair.
Therewere furry boots that looked likeUggs, fuzzy mittens, and a long, scarf made of special insulating material to wrap around her face to go with the form-fitting warm suit.Allof these items were red, which went nicely with the black,Celiathought.Kathad let her choose the colors of all her garments and had whipped them up quickly on herReplicator—a kind of 3-Dprinter that made or copied anything you wanted.
“Nowkeep this on the whole time you’re onTranqPrime,” she had instructed, as she handed the warm suit toCelia. “Aslong as you keep it dry, it will hold in your body heat and insulate you even from the most extreme cold.”Sheheld up a finger. “Butwhatever you do,don’tget it wet!”
“Why?”Celiaasked and laughed. “Willit turn into acoldsuit then?”
“Youlaugh, but yes it will,”Katsaid seriously. “Thismaterial is just as effective at holding in the cold as it is at holding in the heat.Ifyou get it wet in those temperatures you’ll be in real danger of freezing solid—Imean it.Soif you don’t want to be a human popsicle,stay dry.”
Celiahad promised that she would be careful and stay dry, but she didn’t think it would be a problem.Despitethe extreme cold, there didn’t seem to be much snow or ice on the ground.She’dread once that a tundra was basically a frozen desert with hardly any precipitation.Sohow could she possibly get wet?
“Hello,lelka.Don’tyou look fuckinggorgeousin that warm suit,”Fiercegrowled as she came back to the front of the ship.Hewas sitting in the pilot’s seat but he turned around to see her, his dark eyes raking her curves in the form-fitting outfit.
“It’sto keep me warm—notto make you drool,”Celiasnapped. “Besides, it’s too tight—it makes me look fat!”Shepulled at the stretchy black fabric in vain, wishing it was a little looser.
“Itmakes you look like anElite—a female theGoddesshas blessed with extra-full curves, that’s all,”Fierceremarked, completely unrepentant. “TwinKindredloveElites,” he added. “Imean, allKindreddo but they’redefinitelyour ideal female.”
Celiahad no idea what to say to that—it still seemed strange to her that theKindredactuallylikedfull-figured women.Butshe supposed each culture had their own particular favorite body types.Shetried not to blush when she considered the fact that she was apparently theTwinKindreds’ idea of a super model.Itwas odd—especially since her whole life she’d been trying, not always successfully, to lose weight.
“Whatdoes ‘lelka’mean?” she asked, pretending not to notice the way theDarkTwinwas still looking at her. “Youkeep calling me that—is it a word in your own language?”
“Yes, it is,” he growled. “ButI’mnot telling you what it means—it would only piss you off.”
Celiaput a hand on her hip.
“What—is it derogatory?Youbetter not be calling me something nasty in your own language, you bigpendejo!”
“Oh, you mean like a name that means ‘stupid’ or ‘son of a bitch’ like you were calling me last night?”Heraised an eyebrow at her.
“Exactly.”Celiastood her ground, crossing her arms over her breasts.
“Lelkadoesn’t mean anything derogatory,”Holdsaid, coming up behind her.Hewas wearing a long coat made of shaggy black fur that made his silver hair and hazel-green eyes look amazing.Hisshoulders looked even broader too—if that was possible, since both brothers were already so muscular and broad,Celiathought.
