He chuckled. “You look like a pet rodent I used to have.”
She grinned.
“He smiled, just like that.”
The other two chuckled. They were Skeelo. Green and lithe like mammals made of moving grasslands. They reminded her of mantises with warm bodies.
She spoke to Tohba, and he adjusted the course.
One of the Skeelo asked, “Hey, Urther. Why are you suddenly in the mix? Disease?”
She glanced at them. “Asteroid. Not being able to breathe was getting uncomfortable.”
They looked surprised. “The odds against that are astronomical.”
She snorted. “Exactly. I guess the moon was off duty that day.”
Tber and Hivr chuckled.
She looked at the team she was assigned to. “So, what brings you guys here?”
Tohba shrugged. “Disease ran through our population. They offered a vaccine in exchange for colonists. My wife is waiting for transport here.”
Tber and Hivr shrugged. “We have always worked for the Overseer Etska. He’s fair, and we get to travel. His particular field of interest is reclaiming and repurposing abandoned or deserted worlds. He gets them back into a functional position, and the teams are sent in to start the greening process. This place has been in the works for four hundred years.”
“Do any of you have kids?”
Tohba raised his hand, and the other two shrugged.
“The females raise them. We just get them started.”
She blinked—right, different strokes for different societies.
Tohba smiled. “Their gender-matched children will come to them when they are ten or so. What they are not saying is that they are both just adults and have not fathered anything yet.”
The green guys grinned. “It was more fun to not say that.” Hivr chuckled.
Athena pointed to the clearing in the zone they had been assigned. “That’s the landing site identified, but can we land on that rocky platform?”
“I can set us down. Why there?”
“I don’t want to take the chance of crushing something important.”
He chuckled, and they moved to the tiny plateau. The skimmer was set down, and they got their collection kits. Tohba said, “Back for lunch in three hours.”
It wasn’t a question, so Athena set her alarm for two hours and forty-five minutes and headed out to examine as much as she could, making notes and even tasting a few of the grains before recording flavour and flour-level impressions based on the bite. Then, she spit them out.
She took scans, images, and detailed recordings as well as samples. The morning flew by, and she had to return to the skimmer twice for new collection packs.
Lunch was a nice break, and afterward, everyone grabbed fresh specimen packs and headed out again.
In the afternoon, she concentrated on flowers and trees. She took samples of bark, sap, and floral specimens as she travelled. When her watched chimed to return her to the skimmer, she was tired, but it wasn’t too bad. All in all, it was a good first day as a forager.
She navigated back to the base, and the collection packs were taken for analysis. If they had found anything good, it would be recorded, and the bonuses would start. Tonight, she was just happy to be heading to her new bunkhouse.
Athena verified the bunkhouse number and opened the door. She paused at the sight of all the guys half-dressed. “Seriously? We even sleep in the same place?”
Tohba chuckled. “You want the top or bottom bunk?”
She wrinkled her nose. “Top, please.”
“It is yours. Our clothing packs are in the dispenser.”
Tber grinned. “We even have our own shower and waste facility. That must be a nod to you. The other bunkhouses have a community shower and facilities.”
She smiled and used one of the two cubicles in the waste facility before washing her hands and returning to the main room.
“Well, I am heading to the dining hall for a meal, then I am going to crash.”
The guys were all fully clothed in seconds. Tohba chuckled. “Well, Theena, it seems like these luxuries have been afforded to your team. We are going to stick close.”
Their little team headed to the dining hall, and they got their meals. The guys smirked happily when they saw the extra rations on their plates, and she sighed and walked to a table.
They all got together and were through the meal and entering their bunkhouse when Tohba asked, “Okay, Theena. What is the deal? Why are you getting extras?”
She kicked off her shoes and crawled up onto her bunk. “I suffered an injury during my education and was downgraded at my own request rather than adding years onto my bond.”
Tber looked at her with narrowed eyes. “Downgraded from what? Manager?”
She wrinkled her nose. “Administration companion grade. Fortunately, no one looks at you if you wear a facial scar. I also have K’liir venom in me, so it tires me out. The repair for that would have taken weeks and added a decade to my bond.”
Tohba stared at her with fascination and horror. “You are a classified companion?”
She wrinkled her nose. “No. I am a candidate with potential. I, fortunately, did not meet with any Hmrain so was never confirmed as compatible or not. The educators were guessing that I was.”
She looked at the three surprised faces. “So, I am asking you not to out me. If the samples we collected today are as good as we thought, the bonuses are going to start rolling in. Are we good?”
Hivr nodded slowly. “If the bonuses are administered when today’s collection is assessed, I will agree. So will Tber.”
Tohba looked at her and cocked his head. “If it will get my wife here faster, I am in.”
She sighed in relief. “Right, so can I tell you what to look for tomorrow?”
They looked at each other and nodded, and she began a lecture on desirable materials for a new colony.
The next day they received their base pay times four. The guys were on her side.
Chapter Two
Team Vel became the premier foraging team at the first colony of Hyrnan. Athena should have figured that this would get the attention of the administrators and overseer. Still, she really didn’t think that he would have scheduled a visit to this tiny, starting colony.
Tohba was excited. “I can’t believe it. We are being invited to a private dinner with the overseer.”
She gave him a serious look. “Good. I am going to plan a treatment for that night.”
Tber and Hivr looked up from their chess game. Hivr nodded. “Oh, right.”
Tber asked, “What? Why isn’t she going to come?”
Tohba filled him in. “Theena doesn’t want to become an expensive sex toy.”
Athena blushed and traced her scars. Her grey buddy stood next to the bunk, and he asked, “How close are you to a paid bond?”
She smiled. “About a month. I would have been done already, but someone ordered a food dispenser.”
Hivr shrugged. “It saves time and increases your caloric intake. You are stronger now.”