It was probably the least elegant kiss in the history of kisses. She grabbed the front of his wrinkled shirt and pulled him down to her, crushing her mouth to his with tears on her cheeks. Someone had taken Bean’s leash from her because her hands were free.
Behind them, the square erupted. Harry whooped. It was loud and joyful, despite the gravity of everything that had just happened. Mish started crying, even as she frantically worked to soothe her alarmed children and keep them from choosing a culprit for their mother’s tears. Holly heard Alyce talking with her mother, probably filling Mirth in on everything Alyce knew about the man Holly was kissing, and the rest was a jumble of voices. Finally, she leaned back and looked into Rasker’s eyes.
He rested his forehead on hers, arms wrapped around her, and they stood there as the sound of her community washed over them like warm rain.
Then reality moved back in.
She pulled back and looked up at him. “We can’t stay here,” she said. “Even if Rest ’N Recharge’s grievance succeeds, they won’t pay to fix all of Cody’s damage. If I file my own claim against Complete Respite, it’ll take years. We have a stationthat can’t function. No water. Terribly outdated systems. No income.”
Rasker kissed her forehead. Then he placed his thumb between her eyebrows and rubbed the crease that had formed there. “Look around,” he said.
Holly turned.
The dome’s lighting system seemed to be running properly. The air moved. She could feel it on her skin and smell the freshness of it. She looked up and saw three of the four turbines turning. A breeze touched her face, carrying the scent of soil and growing things from the direction of the gardens.
“It’s not perfect,” Sam said. “But I got a few things going.”
“Sam, I—” Holly began, but didn’t get to finish.
“Can I start it?” asked Harry, who stood near the fountain. “This simply cannot wait another second.”
“Fine,” Sam replied with a sigh. “Start it up.”
“Start what?” Holly asked, but as she asked the question, Harry flipped open an access panel on the fountain base, turned a knob inside, and suddenly, there was a sound that Holly had not heard during her whole time here.
Bubbling water gurgled up to the top tier, then cascaded over the two bottom ones, clear and bright, catching the light and throwing it back in shifting patterns across the square. The mineral deposits that had crusted the stone were still there, but the water flowed over them and around them, and the sound was just as beautiful as Holly imagined it would be.
“How?” Holly whispered.
Sam shrugged, but she caught a glimmer of what looked, if she squinted, very much like pride. “A lot happened while you were in bed.” He rested a hand on the bottom tier of the stone fountain. “Harry put out a transmission the day after the inspection. Told his entire network what happened. Didn’t hold back. Told them about the sabotage, the failed inspection, thewhole thing. Called it an injustice and said he was going to lose his home.” Sam glanced at Harry, who was trying to look modest and failing spectacularly. “His fungus people responded.”
Harry raised an index finger. “They’reFungi Frolickers, thank you. And my follower count has increased since then to sixty-two thousand eight hundred fifty-four.” He raised his chin and smiled. “I may have to hire an assistant.”
Sam spared him one pained nod, then went on. “Anyway, donations started coming in. Small amounts, mostly, but a lot of them. Thousands of people sending what they could.”
Holly pressed her hand to her mouth.
Sam waved a hand. “Some Lokrian singer who has a thing for mushrooms, I guess, heard about it. She came to the festival, apparently.” He shook his head, but Mish let out a little squeal and rocked on her toes. “Right, well, she performed at a benefit concert and donated the proceeds to Moone’s Landing.”
Holly thought of the luminous woman who had bought strawberry muffins and sipped a blue and green drink surrounded by enthralled travelers. A soprano for the High Council on Outetta-5.
“Orba and Sula contributed a sum of currency units as well,” Sam continued, with a nod toward the Vepins, who stood at the edge of the group with their usual serenity. “They say it’s a gift. No repayment.”
Orba inclined their head slightly. “We have liked being here,” they said, in that whispery voice. “We shall remain.”
“The donations weren’t enough to cover what we need for all the work left to be done, but it was enough to use as capital for Alyce to apply for a loan from the Central Quadrant Bank system.” Sam winced slightly. “It’s a big loan. I won’t pretend otherwise. But the donations cover the first several payments, and once the station is reinspected and back on the navigation charts, we’ll be generating income again.”
“You did all of this,” Holly said. “While I was lying in bed.”
“You needed the rest,” Sam said. “Once Rasker shared with us what he’d discovered, we got to work. The hardest part was keeping Cody in the dark so he wouldn’t bolt.”
“No, that was the mostenjoyablepart,” Tyer said icily, flicking back a lock of white hair. “Deceiving that miserable waste of air was pure pleasure. I relished every moment of it while waiting for this day.”
“Ah, okay.” Sam rubbed the back of his neck. “I fixed the fountain for you, Holly. Least I could do. The clogged connection was hidden inside the base. Had to take the whole thing apart to find it. You were right about that.”
Holly stared at the fountain. The water flowing over the three tiers, bright and alive and exactly as Oliver Moone must have intended it.
She crossed the distance to Sam and hugged him. “Thank you, Sam.”
