By the end of her first fortnight, Allie found herself humming all the time, she was so happy. Galen had assigned her the task of all the eating house fitouts in Metropolis and she couldn't wait until they were all open. While she finalised the plumbing in each premises, she got to see the menus and sometimes even sample the dishes they planned to offer their customers. By the time she'd finished her job in one restaurant or bar, the new owners had caught her contagious good mood, and after signing off on the job, they inevitably offered her a free meal once they opened.

Soon, she had enough invitations to keep her from cooking for the next month. And all the flavours...Human foods even more diverse than Titan ones, as if they'd compensated for all looking so similar to one another by varying their cooking styles as widely as they dared, while still ensuring the product was edible. Eateries that sold only ice cream or chocolate or coffee or tacos or sushi or crepes or...what in the world was a kebab? Allie wasn't certain, but she definitely intended to find out.

Maybe it was just her imagination, but there seemed to be more Human establishments than Titan ones. Or perhaps all the happy Humans were recommending her services to their friends, so she was kept too busy to visit more than the occasional Titan bar or two. Allie didn't mind. The more people she met, the more she learned about what had brought them to the Colony in the first place.

Some had come for the money, or the security it offered them and their children. Some came for the promise of peace, at least for a little while. But they spoke of peace as a dream, a temporary ideal that none of them thought would last.

Allie understood. If she hadn't lost her husband in the war, maybe her thoughts would be more focussed on mundane concerns.

"Are you finished already?" Melete, the muse who owned the exotic dance club, asked. "You'll have to come back when we open. I have dancers to appeal to everyone. When they hear you're the one who installed the showers that will be the envy of every dance club in Metropolis, they'll all be clamouring to thank you. Human, Titan, male, female, more than one...where ever your tastes lie, we can satisfy you, I'm sure."

"Thank you. I'll keep that in mind if I find myself lonely one evening. But you really don't owe me anything. I try to be as quick as I can. I have...many demands on my time," Allie said carefully. As if to illustrate her point, her comm sounded an alert. "Speak of the devil..."

Melete nodded respectfully and retreated deeper into the club.

At times like these, Allie appreciated the effect her reputation had on people. On Titans, anyway. She had yet to meet a Human who'd heard of her in relation to anything except her wizardry with plumbing.

Allie answered the call with a cheerful, "Hi, this is Allie."

"I thought you were still working, not spending time in a strip club." Ira, the Titan in charge of the Watch on New Hope, didn't sound impressed.

"You're just jealous your job doesn't let you spend much time here," Allie said lightly, not fooled by his tone. She'd known him for long enough to know he was nowhere near as stern as he seemed. "Plumbing is very important in the washrooms of a dance club. But the showers are all installed now, with lovely water pressure, if I do say so myself. So, what can I do for you? You got a leaky pipe in your office?"

"More like one that's blocked. You haven't reported for two weeks. Time to come in."

"Yes, sir. I'll get that pipe unblocked directly," Allie said, snapping off a salute.

"Not now. After dinner. Just make sure it's tonight." Ira ended the call abruptly. He was a busy man who didn't have time for goodbyes.

Maybe he should spend more time in strip clubs, or at least doing whatever he called fun, Allie mused, breathing in the scents of the eateries that were open for business. A particularly rich, salty smell caught her attention more than the others. Making a sound that came out very close to a moan, Allie caught herself, closed her mouth, and followed the smell to its source. A shop that sold something called pizza, apparently. More new Human food she hadn't tried.

Food worth sharing. On a whim, she called Galen.

After a few seconds, he answered, "Hello?" He sounded distracted.

"What are you doing for dinner?" she asked.

"I don't know. That's hours away," he said.

He must have been working as hard as she had today. "Nope. It's now. Tonight is pizza night, if you get your bossy butt down to Metropolis in the next ten minutes. Sending you my location." She sent her coordinates to Galen, then held her breath as she waited for his response.

"My bossy butt?"

"You're the boss, and you have a butt. Bossy butt. Don't you like pizza? It smells incredible." She breathed deeply. If he took more than ten minutes, she was going in without him.

"Pizza sounds great. I'll get down there as fast as I can. Bye."

She didn't have to wait long. Galen stepped off a skimmer, looking like he'd been hard at work in the workshop all day. Allie probably didn't look much better, but it wasn't like they were on a date or anything.

"You look beautiful," he breathed, his admiring eyes reinforcing the compliment.

Allie laughed. "You're just saying that because I had to deal with all the burst pipes today, while you got to stay in the office. One of the perks of being the boss, boss."

Galen just shook his head and raised his eyes to the sign above the pizza shop. "So this is where you want to eat?"

"Sure do." Allie led the way inside. The rich aroma intensified, reminding her that the ration bars she'd eaten for lunch were a long time gone.

"I smell why," Galen said, inhaling deeply. "I haven't had pizza since my mother..."

"Is she a good cook, your mother?" Allie asked. She didn't dare mention hers. Her own mother had never cooked a thing in her life.

"She was." Galen closed his eyes. "She died when I was fourteen."

A decade ago. Roughly the same time as Allie had lost her husband. "I'm sorry," she said sincerely.

Galen sighed. "Me, too. But not as sorry as the one who killed her will be. They told me she was a casualty of war, but I know better."

Allie's sympathy overflowed. "Your mother wasn't a soldier?"

Galen shook his head. "A scientist. I get my skills with machines from her. She encouraged me to tinker when I was a kid, letting me build things in her workshop. My father wanted me to be a doctor, but I wasn't interested in how Human bodies work as much as machines. I think I disappointed him, but he died when I was a kid, too, so I'll never know what either of them think about what I've become."

"I'm sure they'd be proud of all you've achieved. You're very young to hold the position you do here in the Colony," Allie said. Her parents had made no secret of their disapproval for her choices, but then she'd never really been close to them.

"If there's some sort of afterlife for them, I hope they will be," Galen replied. He waved at the menu board. "What do you want for dinner?"

Allie chose one pizza, Galen chose another, and they both sat at a corner table to wait for their order.

"So what about you? Where did you grow up?" Galen asked.

Allie choked on her drink. If he didn't know, then she couldn't tell him. "We moved around a lot, so no one place really stands out. These five years on New Hope will probably be the longest I've ever lived in one place."

Galen nodded. "We moved around a lot, too, when I lived with my parents. Dad was the ship's doctor, and Mum was one of the technicians, so we went from ship to ship until they died."

Anxious to keep the conversation on his family and not hers, Allie ventured, "How did they die? You never did say."

"They were on the Poseidon when it was attacked. They didn't make it to the lifeboats in time." Galen plucked the straw out of his cup, threw it on the table and drank from the lip of his cup instead.

"Why weren't you with them?" Allie asked.

Galen laughed. "I was. I was in the cabin we shared, while they both worked the evening shift. When I heard the alarms, I headed for the lifeboats, but I was the only one. There were no other survivors."

The image of a sole lifeboat, floating alone in the waves, popped into Allie's head. Orphaned at fourteen and then alone at sea for so long before he was rescued. "It must have been terrible for you," she whispered.

Galen slammed his cup down on the table. "It's just part of war, or at least that's what everyone told me. The innocent suffer, while killers go free. That's why this war had to end, and this place has to succeed. No more killing."

Allie felt the peculiar urge to kiss him. "Absolutely. No more killing." She raised her drink in a toast that Galen seconded.

Their pizzas appeared, and Allie waited just long enough to watch Galen take his first bite before she tried to emulate him. It was messy and unfamiliar, but by the stars, it tasted so good she didn't care.

"Oh!" she mumbled around a slice. "We have to come back here."

Galen grinned. "Next week? I spotted a couple of places I'd like to try, too. One that sold yiros, which I haven't had in forever."

"Yiros?" Allie hadn't heard of that one.

"Ah, seasoned meat and sauce and salad, all wrapped up in flatbread? Some people call them kebabs," Galen explained, gesturing with his hands.

The mysterious kebabs. "Tomorrow, then, if they're open?" Allie suggested.

Galen swallowed. "A third date already, and a fourth next week? Careful, you'll have all the Maintenance guys talking. They'll think you like me."

Let them talk. People always did. Especially about her. "I do like you. I'll have dinner with you every night until we've tried every restaurant in Metropolis. And the other guys can talk until they lose their voices or find something more interesting to discuss."

Galen's eyes warmed. "I'd like that."

"What, them not talking about us? I'll see what I can do." Allie resolved to take care of that problem tomorrow. The Titans would be easy. The Humans might take a bit more effort. Only a little, though.

Galen shook his head. "Gossip can't be stopped. It's like radiation – once it's been released, there's no stopping it. That's why we left Earth."

"Sure there is. It just takes time and patience. Thousands of years, in some cases, like Earth. And there are ways to stop it. Radiation shielding, for one. Every problem has a solution. It just comes at a cost. Sometimes a higher cost than we can afford, or are willing to pay." Allie bit into a slice of pizza, forcing herself to concentrate on the flavour and nothing else. She already knew there was no price too high for peace, at least from her perspective. She'd given everything she had, and she'd give more still.

"Even peace," Galen said, like he was reading her mind. "Peace is worth any price."

More than ever, Allie wanted to kiss him. But she couldn't do any such thing. She had a meeting with Ira tonight, and she didn't want to start anything with Galen that she couldn't finish. Another night, perhaps.