“Sure.We are literally the only two people on this world.Who are you going to tell?”He flung his arms wide and did a slow turn.“No one.I don’t think Boss eats, so you will have to consume your own experiments.”
“Do you prefer to be by yourself?”
“Not particularly, but that is how things have always worked out.”
They started walking again, and they ended up in an empty commissary.Birun took her by the hand, showed her to the scanner, which chirped, and showed her a selection of foods she could eat.
“Choose what you like now, and after you eat, I will show you the unit you can use for experimentation.”
“Wait, so there is a unit I can take apart?”
“Certainly.I will prepare the contract to make you tech of this base, and we can discuss what you want from life.Or from me.I am good with either.”
She frowned, and then something dawned on her.“You are speaking one of the Terran languages.”
“Kethen said it was important as there were some words that defied translation.”
“You took advice?”She was watching the counter as her food was prepared.
“I can, and I do, especially when I have been asleep for a few centuries.I am not sharp until I fully wake, and I cannot do that by myself.”
She glanced at him.“What is needed for that?”
“A consort, but we have time.I don’t need to spring into action right now, so immediate waking is not needed.”
The unit chimed, and she got her tray, walking toward the seats with narrow backs.He followed her and smiled as he sat.“You have associated with Hmrain before.”
“Nebel and my grandfather liked to discuss nano machines.When other Hmrain came to visit, Nebel and Lily brought them over to chat with an elder Terran.There weren’t a lot of them.”She picked up her spork and prodded at the stew while she planned her attack.
“Why not?”
“Surviving was rough.Grandpa and I got a desalination plant up and running.Got well pumps and geothermal heating units working.Our first six months were frenzied, and we even got some hydroponics going.From there, I just had to keep him healthy until we could get a rescue.I didn’t calculate it coming from space, but I shouldn’t have been surprised.”
He blinked.“You know how to do all that?”
“Oh, all that and more.I read every mechanical manual that I had access to and even took out folks on raids to get more books from libraries.”She grimaced and started eating.
He smiled.“Well, once you finish playing with the base, I suppose we can expand your playground to the planet itself.”
She paused, blinked, and kept eating mechanically.
Birun laughed silently.He had her hooked.Now, he just needed to get her a set of tools and set her loose.His consort was a mechanic.
