“Yeah, same. I can’t get ahead. I’m tired of risking my life and getting sworn at by rich people as they whiz by me. I just want to feel important and valued without feeling like I’m going to die for no reason, even if I don’t have money.
“Right now, no one will notice if I’m gone. Someone else in robotic road repair will take over. But the government doesn’t pay shit.”
“We used to have a farm on Earth,” I tell her, sitting on the bench, feeling less alone talking to her. “But the regulations were insane. They put caps on the price of food in our state, so we just had to figure out how to grow food for less than that. One bad year for crops put us below the break-even point. We didn’t have enough to reseed and fertilize for the next year.
“So we sold it to a corporation and made enough for my parents to get a small place outside of Vale. I bought my ship, filled it with a few plants and hydroponics, and slowly built it up year after year. But the war causes fuel cell replacements, hypercapacitors for high-speed travel, and other items that need replacement often, to be taken up for warships.
“Prices went up on everything ship-related in the last few years. I’m tired of always looking over my shoulder, being the pilot, maintenance, and gardener. And a soldier. That was never on my to-do list. I just didn’t want to die. Or lose all my crops.”
“I never thought I was going to have to wear body armor to work.” Sky braids her brown hair and fixes her boot laces. “So what kind of man are you looking for?”
“Don’t care. Just want him to be nice to me. Unafraid to handle the monsters. Someone I can trust, who understands what it’s like to have lost family.”
“Well, you saw him in your dreams, right?”
“That was just in my head. A dream.”
Sky groans like she thinks I should have figured it out. But that can’t be right. I can’t want what I can’t have. There’s no way that would work.
“A dream, yeah,” Sky says with a shake of her head. “They have had a long time to figure out how to tap into our deepest desires. You looked through the participant list of species, right?”
“Well, yeah.” I had three days. I looked at it a lot, especially the different species’ unique matingimplements.
“What did you see during your hormonal nap?” she asks.
I grimace. “A species not in that catalog.”
“Really?” Sky packs her things in her bag and opens a locker.
“But I just got done with helping them, so I’m sure that’s why the species is on my mind.”
“Or you’re regretting being here instead of there, helping them. Maybe that should tell you something.”
6: Brynna
I think over what Sky has suggested as she fixes her makeup in the mirror.
Maybe she’s right. Jorusk has been on my mind. But I’m not sure if it washimor if it’s just Drathious that I like.
“I got Mindor. They handed me blue bands. But I’m not really shy, just passive.” Sky finishes her mascara and packs her cosmetic kit back into her locker.
“Well, that’s what the Mingle Celebration is for, right? We race, get picked, and then socialize to meet everyone.”
She hums a disgruntled note. “Or we don’t get picked.”
“Are you hoping for the million credits if you outlast the other girls?”
The way she darts her eyes at me and turns away tells me she thinks no one will pick her. “Aren’t you?”
“I hadn’t even considered it. But I could make some serious ship upgrades.”Like a really big gun. Maybe a hot tub for me. Or at least a massage chair for the days I’m super beat.“Hire a security guard.”
“A hot one.”
I wrinkle my nose. “Are you reading my mind?”
“No. I’m human, not Vlinari.”
“Worked with one before?”
