She’d done her best with the residents. Some wanted nothing to do with anyone, and she left them alone as they wished. Five people had departed since she’d arrived, bringing the population down to thirty-one. But the ones who stayed and spoke with her, gave her valuable information. She catalogued everything that needed to be fixed, inventoried every failing system and broken component, and compiled a list that made her stomach hurt to look at. It was long.Verylong.
But she had already made progress.
She’s also spent time at the table in her unit going over the bounty of records and receipts that hadnotbeen included in the material Mr. Binn had given her. Charles had ceded the day-to-day running of Moone’s Landing to Sam and Alyce as his health declined. He didn’t allow them to purchase anything, of course, outside of the absolute essentials. They had access to the station account, which transferred to Holly when she accepted ownership of the outpost. Mr. Binn had given her the option of taking Alyce and Sam off the account, but Holly had declined to do that. She was very glad she had.
Charles’ personal account, which was now Holly’s, was nearly empty. It contained thirty-seven hundrednits. The deposits into it had been regular for the past decade, but much smaller than the income Hollyknewhe was drawing from the outpost’s revenue. Not that the revenue was great. It wasn’t. But Moone’s Landing was still the only stop when one needed to charge a power cell or repair a hull.
Today, though, Holly needed a breather. She decided to go to the gardens to get some dirt under her fingernails and sweat on her brow, andnotlook at a spreadsheet for a couple of hours. The simple pleasure of gardening would put some things in perspective, and hopefully work the kink out of her neck from bending over her d-pad for too many hours. Also, she’d fired Cody the day before and the uncomfortable feeling she had from that still clung to her.
He’d taken the news better than she expected. His shoulders had slumped and his expression had turned sulky, but he hadn’t argued much. “But you haven’t even tried my food,” he’d said, fiddling with one of his many necklaces. “How can you fire me without tasting it?”
“The kitchen is so filthy, I’d be afraid to try your food,” Holly had said, even though it felt like a fish was flopping around in her belly. This hadnotbeen pleasant. “You’re not keeping it clean. Someone could get sick.”
“I know!” He’d clapped his hands. “Get your Homeboti to clean it.”
Holly’s brow had dropped into a scowl. It took brainlessness or a wildly inflated ego to assign another person’s bot to clean up their own messes. Holly wasn’t sure which Cody suffered from. “No. The kitchen is the cook’s responsibility. I’m sorry, Cody, but your employment here is over.”
“You’re firing your own cousin?” Cody had sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, and had the grace to look sheepish,at least. He also, wisely, had chosen not to push it any farther. “Can I at least stay at the hotel until I figure out what to do next? Or where to go?”
Holly had wanted to say no. Her gut told her to say no, but she could only do one deeply uncomfortable thing like this at a time. Also, with one paying customer, the hotel wasn’t exactly booked up. “Fine,” she’d said grudgingly. “But find something soon.”
“Sure, cuz. No problem.” Then, he’d wandered off with his hands in his pockets, humming to himself, and Holly had wondered if anything ever truly bothered him.
That had been yesterday. Today was a new day, and now that that unpleasant task, which had been hanging over her head, was done, she could breathe a little easier.
With a roll of her tight shoulders, Holly clipped on Bean’s leash and took him out. Weeding and planting was exactly the brain-clearing exercise she needed. Several beds were surrounded by wire fences, and she thought she could let him off the leash to run around in there. Hopefully he wasn’t one of those dogs who liked to dig.
She almost turned around and went home when she saw Mish in the garden and her children playing ball nearby. So, sure. The sight of them made Holly’s palms sweat with primal fear, but those kids were residents, too.
She passed through the garden gate in a pair of sturdy pants, a green sleeveless top (both new from The Emporium), and a smile.
Mish looked up, grinned, and excitedly waved her over. “I’m so happy to see you here.” She fetched Holly a set of gloves and a trowel from a nearby potting shed.
Holly hesitated before unclipping Bean. “Is he safe…?”
“Oh yes.” She waved a hand filled with weeds. “The children don’t bother any small animals, and they like Bean, anyway.”She bumped Holly’s shoulder lightly with her own. “They won’t botheryou, either. They are mentally and emotionally linked to me, and since I have no fear of you, neither do they.”
“They seemed a little unsure when I first met them,” Holly said, kneeling beside Mish.
“That’s becauseIwas unsure,” the other woman murmured. “I wasn’tafraidof you, exactly, but I was very anxious about your plans for the future of this station. They sensed that and it made them a bit defensive. But not to worry. They trust you, now.”
Mish’s fourteen scary children had indeed decided that Holly was not a threat. They looked at Holly from the circle they’d formed in one of the unplanted sections of the garden, then returned to throwing a ball to one another without missing a beat. Truly, it was a relief to not have them cluster around her when she approached.
“What are their names?” Holly asked, pulling on the gloves.
“Oh, Uvians don’t name children until they’ve reached individuality,” Mish replied airily. “And often they name themselves. That’s what I did.”
“You named yourself,” Holly mused. “So right now, they’re just…child one, child two?”
Mish chuckled. “They’re just ‘children,’ because they share a single mind. They are indistinguishable from one another.” She squinted up at Holly, then pointed her trowel toward four beehives a distance away, where the crops ended and the orchard began. “You wouldn’t name individual bees in those hives, would you?”
“So, they’re a superorganism,” Holly said, beginning to understand.
“At this age, yes.” Mish dug out a purple weed with white flowers and set it aside. “Our home planet is a violent, dangerous place with too many species vying for domination. I don’t thinkit’s evernotknown war. Our species evolved this way to ensure more of our young reached maturity. Acting as one, without fear and the complex thought processes we adults have, they can protect each other and survive.” She swiped an errant lock of hair from her eyes. “Although, as a parent, I prefer to raise them where theydon’tneed to fight for their lives.”
“Like here.” Holly nodded. “I get that.”
As they pulled weeds from an overgrown patch of carrots, Holly summoned the courage to ask a question that had been on her mind. “So, how did you actuallybirthfourteen children?” She winced as the words came out, cursing herself for not just looking up Uvian birth practices. But, it was out, and now she really wanted to know. “I mean, your body looks like mine, and I can’t imagine fourteen babies fitting in here.” She pointed a gloved finger to her belly.
