Allie hummed as she connected her final replacement pipe. She'd encountered a few new colonists during her repairs, but this apartment's occupants, like the people who'd move into the others in this ring, were probably still queueing up in the cargo bay. She told the AI to make the temperatures comfortably cool in the apartments she'd worked on. Now the ice was melted and cleaned away, no one would ever know about the damage to their new homes.

Well, except Galen and Ira. And that shifter family who'd reported the ice in the first place.

"How many pipes does Galen have left to fix, Col?" Allie asked, unable to resist.

"Three," the AI replied. "I do not understand your need for pet names."

"Col," Allie repeated, spelling the word out. "Short for the Colony. It's what I'll call you. It feels too impersonal just shouting at the walls without a name. Now you have a name, I can pretend you're another very helpful person in the next room."

"Illogical sentiment," the AI said.

Allie laughed merrily. "Yep. That's why you're an AI and I'm not. Don't ever change, Col. Now, how long do you think it'll take Galen to finish work? I don't want to embarrass him by showing up early. The poor boy is supposed to be my superior. He should at least feel like it on occasion."

"Forty-three minutes."

Allie whistled. "That long? I wish I'd brought a book." She thought for a moment. "Can you bring up footage of the arrivals area on the main screen in here? The occupants of this apartment won't be here for an hour or so, right?"

"The shuttle carrying the sasquatches has not yet landed," the AI said. "The apartment will be vacant for an estimated six hours and twenty-six minutes."

"Mine for the moment, then," Allie said, sanitising her hands before pulling out a ration bar. "Arrivals area, on screen."

She sank down on the floor to watch the colonists oohing and aahing over their first glimpse of the Colony interior as they entered Metropolis. Titan and Human alike looked just as awestruck. Maybe Ira was right and their two peoples weren't as dissimilar as they appeared. That's why this huge social experiment had to work. Allie would do everything in her power to help it along. She craved peace more than even chocolate. Peace meant no more loved ones would die, and maybe, just maybe, she could let her crushed heart love again after so many losses.

Even if there was no one left in the system for her, at least she'd have the satisfaction of knowing others could find love, and keep it. Take young Galen, for example. It was only a matter of time before he found the right girl and persuaded her to share his quarters. Then the two of them would work on repopulation like rabbits, the hopping creatures she'd seen someone unloading into the agricultural dome.

Lucky boy, to have such a future. Allie had no children, but now she had no partner to give them to her, so they seemed like even more of a tantalising dream than ever before. Never mind. There were plenty of children pouring into the Colony down below, she saw on her screen. Children who would be guaranteed employment as ambassadors when they left the Colony and reached adulthood. Quite the coup for their parents. Who wouldn't jump at the chance to secure their children's future with an opportunity like this?

Allie saw so much hope in the Colony. Perhaps Titans and Humans truly could achieve peace in a place like this. And if they could do it here, they could do it anywhere. What price wouldn't she pay for peace, above and beyond the one she'd paid already?

Allie wiped away a stray tear. There was no point crying over the past. She'd mourned long enough before the war ended. Now it was time to look to the future, and find out how Galen was going with his pipes.

"What's the ETA on Galen getting back to his apartment, Col?" Allie asked.

"Minus four minutes. He appears to be smug."

Allie rose. "Get a robot to clean up the crumbs, please, Col." She left the apartment, striding along the corridor back to where Galen waited. The man did look smug, but his smirk widened into a genuine grin when he spotted her.

"Looks like I beat you," he said cheerfully. "But my mother would never forgive me if I let a lady take me to dinner, especially on a first date. Shall we?" He waved open his door and gestured for her to go inside.

Allie couldn't help laughing. She hadn't heard gallantry like this in a very long time.

Galen's refrigerator turned out to contain very different rations to her limited kitchen. While she'd been given a week's worth of ration bars to sustain her until the shops and eateries opened in Metropolis, he had frozen meals that could be reheated into something that actually resembled Human food. His apartment didn't have a view of the stars, and it was a lot smaller than hers, but there was space for a sofa and a tiny retractable table with two chairs where they sat to eat their meal.

After two mouthfuls of her shrimp pasta, Allie heartily regretted requesting ration bars for the week. Galen's food actually tasted good. She might have to spend some of her credits in the restaurants after all. She hoped they opened soon. Maybe Galen would be willing to join her for dinner on occasion. The young engineer wasn't bad company at all.