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“What about this planet?”
Miranda ignored Fanian. He’d taken her to four planets, all were a short distance away from the Sket’s homeworld, and on each one, as soon as they’d stepped onto the planet’s surface, he’d asked that same question. She was so used to it that she’d mimicked his words as he’d said them.
It was weird of him to think she would know something like that right off the bat. No one had ever asked her if Earth was where she’d wanted to raise her family. It was a given. The only option. Now, she was given a choice as to where she wanted to stay. Such decisions couldn’t be rushed. Something Fanian didn’t seem to understand.
He’d given her the demographics for each planet. They all sounded great; good air quality and breathable (a must!), good educational system, readily available transportation, work opportunities (not that she had a skilled trade applicable to an alien world), fair and trusted government, agreeable weather (she’d wanted a planet with warm weather for most of the year), and population growth so they wouldn’t stand out (too much).
But she needed more than two minutes on the planet’s surface to determine if she wanted to stay. Besides, anywhere she ended up would be without him. Possibly another reason why after all these weeks of looking, she couldn’t commit to one planet despite his constant prodding.
“I know you want to get rid of us, but let me look around first. This is a big decision,” she grumbled under her breath as she stepped off the transporter’s ramp and onto the waiting platform.
She didn’t wear a cloak to hide her face, but Fanian did. According to Fanian and Omni, while Skets didn’t live on this planet, they visited often enough the locals wouldn’t give her a second glance.
For this trip, she had on light, loose-fitting pants and a long-sleeved shirt. Fanian—or she should say, compliments of Az’ud since they were currently living off the credits he’d paid Fanian to catch her with.
This sun was a little bigger than Earth’s, per the information Omni had given her. She felt it as soon as she cleared the shuttle. The heat of the sun’s rays immediately hit the back of her exposed neck. She was glad for the bun she’d put her hair in. If she’d worn it down, it would already be sticking uncomfortably to her.
The other passengers who’d been on the shuttle with them began to meander out and down the plank. They’d all boarded the shuttle at the space station where the Fortitude was docked. Now all twenty-eight passengers were safe on solid ground.
Miranda took a deep breath and briefly closed her eyes. Fresh air circulated through her lungs. The atmosphere on the ship was too crisp, cold, dry, and recycled. She took in all the different scents, and it felt good. She allowed her head to fall back, letting the heat coat her face. Real light was different, better, than the artificial lighting on the Fortitude.
Although it was good to be off the ship, she liked living on the Fortitude. After being on board for three months, it had become their home. They took all their meals together. They talked and joked, discussed news, planets, and the goings-on about the ship. At night, he helped her ready the kids for bed and stretched out on the extra bed, listening to her as she read their bedtime stories. They’d fallen quickly into a routine.
Despite knowing absolutely nothing about space or a spaceship for that matter, Miranda spent her time learning the ropes of ship life. Both Fanian and Omni were excellent teachers. They were also teaching Adam what some of the controls did and how to make minor repairs. And at night...when the kids went to bed...those hours belonged to Miranda and Fanian.
Fanian started his familiar refrain. “You know I’m not trying to get rid of you. I’m worried. The longer we stay together—”
“We increase the chances of Az’ud finding us,” she finished for him.
“If you want to stay away from him, you need to pick a place soon. Az’ud is getting close to finding me. He’s already discovered half of the Fortitude’s fake credentials.”
She’d heard the string of curses Fanian had let out this morning when he’d found yet another one of the Fortitude’s fake signatures had been burned. With Az’ud closing in on them, she had to stop being picky about where she wanted to settle down. Doing that also meant giving up Fanian, and no matter the danger over their heads, she couldn’t bring herself to do that yet.
He blew out a breath and ran a hand over his face. “I fear the longer it takes to find me, he’ll begin to grow desperate and contact the Thruul.”
She instinctively rubbed his arm at the mention of that name. It elicited a lot of stress for him. Many nights he’d awaken confused and disoriented, then remember his family was gone. She’d held and rocked him back to sleep.
Fanian gave her hand a quick squeeze for the comfort before lifting Adam to sit on his shoulders. He still didn’t trust Adam not to run off again, and frankly, neither did Miranda. Once Adam was settled he re-adjusted Lexi. She was strapped in her carrier around his chest.
Her heart melted at the site of them. Fanian, her strong hunter, covered with her kids. Their father had never carried them both as Fanian did. Neither had he fussed over them. She didn’t choose this space life, but because of it they’d found Fanian and she wished to God that they could keep him in their lives.
“Besides, you know you can’t live on my ship indefinitely. Omni said that despite adding vitamins to your food, you’re all still losing the nutrients your bodies need to survive. Humans shouldn’t live on a spaceship, Mishka. You’re getting paler. Omni also says you need sunlight to survive.”
“We need vitamin D, and yeah, sunlight would help a lot with my coloring.” She lifted her hand and studied her blue, pronounced veins that were the same color as Fanian. She’d never been dark and never tanned well, but she was beyond pale now. Someone back on Earth would mistake her for being sick. “Omni is working on it, though. She’s building a natural sunlamp for us. She’s turning one of the cargo bays into a playground. Besides the natural sunlight, she’s going to add dirt, grass, and trees.”
“What?! No one asked me about this. What am I supposed to do with my supplies?”
Miranda smirked. “You mean the junk you hoard? She’s having the bots move them into one of your other two cargo bays.” She patted him on the arm as they started off. “You’ll survive. It won’t be forever, just until I make a decision.”
Fanian didn’t like to throw away anything. It was like living with a packrat. If it made it onto his ship, it was there to stay. She thought it was cute and also sad. He’d had to leave his galaxy with only the clothes on this back. It was easy to understand why he had such a hard time letting things go. Miranda had hoped once upon a time he’d keep them as well, but all he talked about was getting them to safety and away from him.
“Come on.” He directed her down a crowded path. “We’re late for our first appointment. The available housing on this planet is well sought after. I don’t want them to give away our spot.”
“How is this going to work when I don’t have any credits or a job? I was a financial advisor back on Earth, and I doubt there’s something like that here. Besides, I can’t advise when I don’t fully understand this credit system.”
Not for lack of trying. There was one universal credit system, but some planets had their own system, and on top of that, some people opted for a barter system. It also depended on which financial institution your credit account was set up with. It was all so very confusing.
“One problem at a time. We’ll find you a home, and you should have enough credits leftover from Az’ud to live comfortably for a while. By the time you run out of credits, I should have more jobs completed and can take care of you and the kids.”
Yet another reason she felt guilty. Fanian wasn’t currently taking any bounty hunting jobs, wasn’t making money, and was forced to live off Az’ud too. Fanian didn’t like it. She saw it on his face with every credit spent.
“You said you wouldn’t come back after you dropped us off. So how exactly will you be helping us out?” She had to force out the words. It hurt just thinking about him abandoning them.
No. She had to think of it in different terms. He wasn’t abandoning them. Splitting apart was necessary. Az’ud could track her through Fanian. She knew it was for the best, but that didn’t mean she had to be okay with it or that her heart had to be okay with it either.
“I can’t come back to visit you.” When he paused, she glanced at him and found the tick in his clenched jaw working overtime. “I’ll transfer credits into your account through a secure banking system.”
He led her to a building where people waited in line to pass through a security. She’d learned that the nicer planets had such security measures in place. They didn’t let just anyone in. They were selective. Thanks to her new identity chip and biomarkers from Senur, she wasn’t afraid of being stopped.
“You didn’t steal us from Earth, Fanian,” she whispered as she scanned her comlink over the panel beside the glass door. She kept her voice low, so the guard standing near wouldn’t hear their conversation. Once the door opened, she stepped through and waited on the other side for Fanian and the kids.
Once through, Fanian led her toward the exit. “I know, but if it weren’t for me, you might’ve had a chance of getting caught by another hunter, someone who was truly looking for a mate.”
She stepped out onto a bustling sidewalk and almost got trampled by the crowd. Fanian stopped beside her, and with a show of teeth and angling of his body, blocked someone from almost mowing her down.
“Like I would ever wish one of the other hunters would’ve caught me.”
She glanced around. There were high buildings, all with the same large city vibe. The buildings looked to be made out of silver glass that reflected the sunlight. Many of the skyscrapers touched the clouds. While that looked normal to her, there were many differences between this place and Earth. The transporters in the sky were a significant difference. They didn’t fly in a random pattern. There was a clear directional path that they all followed. This wasn’t the first planet she’d been on where the sky was used as a mode of transportation, but she would never get used to looking up and becoming scared one of the flying vehicles would come crashing down on her.
Someone brushed by her and Fanian let out a growl. She turned her attention from the sky and back to the ground. The aliens that passed them seemed to be in a rush to get to their destinations. They were dressed business-like, not the leisure garb that the aliens on the first planet she’d gone to had worn. These aliens seemed like they were important business people.
“Not all hunters were bad. You made it to Level Two. The chances of finding someone who treated you well were in your favor.”
Miranda shook her head. “I’d rather be out here struggling than forced to be someone’s mate.”
She wanted to say “out here struggling with you,” but that conversation wouldn’t get her anywhere.
Someone else almost mowed her down. Fanian moved her out of the way. “Well, until you find a mate, I’ll have to take care of you.”
“Like a burden.”
He glared. “I didn’t say that.”
“You don’t have to.” She turned toward him. “So what happens when you find a mate? I’m pretty sure your mate would take issue with you taking care of some random family.”
He didn’t answer her.
“Fanian?”
“I don’t intend to get a mate. It’s too dangerous for me. I couldn’t imagine hiding from the Thruul with a family in tow.”
Was it wrong for her to wish he would never find anyone, and would pine for her forever? Yes. “You’re a great guy. It will undoubtedly happen. I’m just trying to think of the future.”
“You know I can’t take that risk, Mishka. Family life isn’t for me. We can drop the subject now.”
“Oh, because you don’t want to talk about it, we have to drop it?”
“Yes.”
She rolled her eyes. “Typical male.”
“So, you know enough Givvek males that you can compare us?”
“I said, typical male. Meaning, you’re acting like every other male, not specifically Givvek.”
His lips twitched. “Are we arguing?”
She lifted her chin. “No.”
He chuckled lightly. “Come on. Let’s look at the first apartment.” He tugged on her arm, making her follow him. “From all the hateful looks, we’re obviously in everyone’s way.”
She followed him down a path. The green light on the ground had arrows pointing in the direction they were walking. Across a barrier, there were red lights on the ground. She guessed if she was on that side and walking in the opposite direction, the ground would be green.
“Ugh. An apartment. I hated living in one on Earth. Now, it looks like I’ll be stuck in one on an alien planet. Just my luck,” she grumbled the last part.
“This one is nice. Well, I’ve never seen it, but it should be nicer than living on a spaceship. Omni said it has plenty of room for Adam and Lexi to play without you being afraid they’ll hurt themselves or break something.”
“I appreciate your efforts. I do. But for once, I’d like to live in a house.” She closed her eyes, remembering the house across the street from her parents. She’d been in love with it since she was a kid. “Brick, two-story colonial-style house. Blue shutters and matching blue door. A nice wrap-around front porch with an immaculately landscaped yard, surrounded by a white picket fence and in the backyard, there would be a jungle gym for the kids.”
“Picket fence? Shutters?”
Miranda sighed. “Never mind. Let’s go look at this apartment.”
* * *
FANIAN WORKED HARD, pretending everything was fine. It’d been his idea to look for available housing. Whenever he’d thought about keeping them and becoming part of their family, he’d been the one to press her about finding a home planet. That didn’t mean he had to be happy about giving them up, which now seemed inevitable.
Miranda liked the second apartment they’d viewed. It was also well within their price range. Thanks to Az’ud, they could pay five years’ rent upfront, stock up the food processor for just as long, and she would still have enough credits left over to live comfortably. She wouldn’t want for anything.
Without worrying about Az’ud, Miranda could settle into her new life, make friends, and eventually find a suitable mate.
And if she found a mate, Fanian would break his rule, come back and kill him.
“Are you going to keep grumbling and growling under your breath, or are you going to get that?”
Fanian stared at Miranda blankly. They were sitting on a bench in an outdoor cafeteria. She’d wanted to feed the kids lunch before they viewed the last apartment.
She ate her sandwich and tilted her head to his comlink. “That thing keeps going off.”
Fanian shook his head, trying to erase thoughts of having to spend the rest of his life without her. He glanced at his comlink, and seeing the familiar name, ignored the incoming holo-call.
“Az’ud?”
He shook his head again. “No, but it’s most likely someone acting on his behalf. Az’ud’s reach runs deep. He was able to secure me a spot in The Hunt. I should’ve guessed he would have a contact there who would attempt to track us down.”
“Who’s trying to contact you?”
“Bradliix, the Game Warden’s assistant.”
“You know...” she said thoughtfully.
“What?”
“When I was in the processing center, I was too shell shocked to ask about the others. It would be nice to know where they ended up. Maybe I could live on the same planet as them? If the Game Warden’s assistant is trying to keep up with us, that means he might know where they are too.”
“Trust me. He isn’t contacting me to provide details about the other humans. He’s trying to figure out where we are so he can tell Az’ud.”
She waved a utensil in the air. “Omni said he couldn’t track us by the comlinks. She scrambled them. So what’s the harm in answering?”
He gave her a meaningful look. “You may not want to know how they fared, Mishka. The Hunt isn’t...”
Some of the humans were taken in Level One. Those humans were probably pets and used as breeding mares, or they’d been auctioned off to the highest bidder. He didn’t want to make her upset.
“We ended up okay. I have to believe the others made it out okay too. I just have to,” she begged.
His comlink pinged again with an incoming request.
“Answer it,” she urged. “Please.”
He couldn’t resist her and reluctantly tapped the communication icon. “What do you want from me?”
“I’ve been trying to get in touch with you and Miranda,” Bradliix responded.
“I’ll tell you the same thing that I told Az’ud. I’m not giving Miranda to him. So you can stop contacting me.”
“I don’t know who Az’ud is.”
“He’s the person who paid for me to enter The Hunt. You and the Game Warden are aware I was a contracted hunter and under his employment.”
“That doesn’t concern me. You claimed the prey, er, Miranda, and per the rules, she is your responsibility now.”
“Then why are you contacting me?”
“The other humans she was in The Hunt with are trying to locate her. I must remind you that you’re under no obligation to allow her to talk to them, but if you would allow—”
Half of Miranda’s body was across the table with her hand on his wrist, pulling it closer, before he could blink. “The others? Can you tell me about them? Where is Esme? Ben? Are they safe?”
“Yes, they’re safe, and they’ve been looking for you.”