She stared at the empty cargo bed. “You want me to ride back there?”
“Your bag.”
“Oh. Right. Sorry.”
Heat flooded her face as she lifted her duffel into the cargo area. He slammed it shut, moved to the driver’s side, and climbed in without checking whether she was following. She scrambled into the passenger seat and looked around.
The interior smelled like earth and animals. The seats were worn, cracked in places, and when she sat down the cold from the material seeped straight through her pants. He started the engine without waiting. The transport lurched forward.
She grabbed for the handle above the door. Turning her head, she caught a glimpse of the other women—Autumn climbing into a cleaner transport with her host, both of them talking. Aida laughing at something Daax had said.
Then they turned a corner, and the colony center disappeared behind them.
The silence stretched. Just the hum of the engine and wind outside. Goraath drove with both hands on the controls, eyes fixed forward. His jaw stayed tight, a tiny muscle pulsing in the corner, and his shoulders angled away from her. She had a feeling if he could have driven the thing while outside of it, he would have. Just to get away from her.
The silence made her anxious. And when she was anxious, she talked.
“So.” Her voice sounded too loud. “How long have you lived on the ranch?”
He grunted. Not even a word this time. Just a sound.
“What kind of animals do you raise?”
“Six-legged cattle.”
Progress. Three whole words.
“That’s different. What are they called?”
“Krulaati.”
“Are they dangerous or?—”
“Yes.”
The word landed like a door slamming. Message received.
She stopped talking, biting her lip.
The landscape rolled past the windows. They’d left the purple fields behind. Now the terrain was rockier, hillier, covered in that blue-green vegetation that looked almost black in certain light. No buildings. No people. Just open land and mountains getting closer with every kilometer.
Her fingers twisted together in her lap. She made herself stop and look outside instead. The sky was beautiful. Strange, with two suns creating shadows that fell in odd directions, but beautiful. Mountains with jagged peaks topped with snow that caught the orange light and turned it pink.
She’d faced harder things than this.
“How long to get there?”
“An hour.”
An hour. Sixty more minutes of suffocating silence.
“Do you go into town often?”
“When necessary.”
“What’s necessary?”
His hands tightened on the controls. “Supplies. Council meetings. Emergencies.”
