Rasker sat apart, as outsiders do when they know they’re not part of a group. He had departed on a transport the day after their underground kiss, and had been gone for the better part of the previous week for a “work obligation,” which he’d not elaborated on. Holly had not pressed, but she’d expended just enough mental energy wondering what that kiss meant to be annoyed with herself. Whatever his mystery trip had been about, he’d returned from it the previous evening, quietly. Holly had received a notification that the guest in room seventeen had re-checked in at the front desk late at night, and she had then spent a longer than reasonable amount of time staring at her ceiling.
“Thank you all for being here,” Holly said, scratching Bean’s neck where his silver charm rested on the back of her fingers.“I know it’s been a few weeks since the first meeting, and I know some of you have been looking for updates. So we’ll start with the obvious ones. The rain system now falls on all parts of the station, including the square, which desperately needed the water. The force field around the landing pads now operates at full charge thanks to a repaired solar energy system, and the daylight cycle is putting out the optimal amount of light for the forests to thrive. Although we stilldoneed a groundkeeper at some point, the refurbished cleaning bot is keeping the paths and roads tidy—thankyou, Sam,” she said with a nod to the man on her left. “You’ve likely noticed that the air circulator has been replaced.”
“I noticed the morning after it went in,” Alyce said. “I thought I was imagining it at first. My sinuses have been dramatically improved.”
“We like the rain,” Orba said in a whispery voice.
“Also, the whole outpost smells better,” Harry added. “Overall, the station is much improved.”
“Which brings me to the reviews,” Holly said. “We’ve had three new ones in the past few weeks.” She’d read them so many times, she no longer needed her d-pad. “The first is positive. A guest who came through for hull maintenance noted a marked improvement over their previous visit.”
Harry made a sound of approval and crossed his arms.
“The second one,” Holly continued, “gave us a three out of ten. They cited the replicator options as limited and outdated. They also had thoughts about the hotel’s decor and the age of the room functions. Neither of which I disagree with.” She glanced at Harry, who looked like he wanted to interject. “Before you start in, a new food replicator isnotin the budget right now. Honestly, it’s going to be a while before it is. I’m sorry about that.”
“How long is a while?” Harry wanted to know.
“Commercial-level models start at twelve thousandnits,so I genuinely don’t know.”
He grimaced, but absorbed the bad news graciously, which was the best she could ask for.
“The third review,” she said, “was neutral at five stars out of ten. They noted that their landing thruster was repaired in an acceptable amount of time and that the fee was not exploitative.”
“Not exploitative,” Sam murmured. “High praise.”
“I’ll take it,” Holly said. “And it says to other travelers that we don’t up-charge, so that’s actually a strong check in the plus column.”
“Canweleave reviews?” Harry asked. “Residents? Would that help?”
“Absolutely not,” Tyer said, not looking up. “Harry. Welivehere.”
“I’m just asking a question.”
“Harry,” Sam said, taking on a tone that did not invite discussion. “It takes time to turn these things around. We keep doing what we’re doing. That’s how it works.”
“Sam’s right,” Mish said. “But.” She folded her hands in her lap. “If one big thing goes wrong right now, we’re in trouble. There’s nothing in reserve. If the water system has a serious failure, or the dome develops a crack, or the power grid has another problem…” She spread her hands. “We’re spread too thin to fix it.”
The room was quiet for a moment. It was true. They all knew it.
Holly glanced toward Cody, who sat there with his ankles crossed, eating a cupcake. He looked relaxed, like someone watching a mildly interesting sport on their screen. He caught her eye and gave her the small, lazy nod he gave everyone.
When she finally allowed herself to look toward Rasker, he was not looking at Cody. He was looking at her. And therewas that thing between them, heavy and warm and entirely unaddressed. She moved her gaze firmly elsewhere before her face revealed something she didn’t want it to.
“I want to talk about the garden,” Holly said.
The room’s temperature shifted slightly. Unsurprising, since this was a subject everyone had been carefully avoiding.
“You all know what happened,” Holly continued. “I don’t believe anyone in this room is responsible, but I do want everyone to keep their eyes open. If you see anything out of place, anyone acting strange, I want to know about it.” She paused. “I’ll be direct: there are some very powerful developers that want this outpost, and I don’t know yet what lengths they might go to in order to make a sale happen. I’m not pointing fingers. I’m just asking you to be aware. And donotaccuse Rasker. He isn’t responsible for any of this.”
Still, most pairs of eyes traveled, with varying degrees of subtlety, to Rasker.
He raised his hands, palms out. “I’m not here to cause trouble,” he said. “I’m here to make a case for my client, if Holly decides to sell. That’s the beginning and end of my involvement.”
“You’re causing trouble,” Luv said, pleasantly, from her spot near Holly, “by trying to romance the station out from under our Holly.”
Holly would have enjoyed taking in Luv’s possessive “our” before “Holly,” but the room erupted.
“—Has he? Has something happened?”
