The shuttle bay, a space the size of a football field, held but a single lonely vessel. Tina had been in too much shock when they’d brought her on board to remember many details of the space, but she had a vague memory of bustle and banks of computers, along with several rows of shuttlecraft. Like the corridors, the ship had been stripped.
“Are you leaving this here to drift?”
“It’ll be towed or put in a carrier’s cargo hold after the fleet arrives and—and does what it’s coming to do. The bow may have taken too much damage to repair, but there’s some salvage to be had.” Tukui’s voice echoed in the cavern.
“I wondered because a lot of parts are missing.”
“If we have to abandon it for some reason, we don’t want our technology falling into any enemy’s possession. That’s why it looks like a shell.”
“The Earther transport has plenty of room to store most of the components.” Osopa suddenly turned around.
The rest of the clan followed suit. Tina’s ease was rattled for an instant by the sight of Sister Katherine and her clan heading their way. It wasn’t a sense of shame that brought her pause, but the expectation of it. Yet it wasn’t there.
Why should she care if Sister Katherine thought ill of her? Tina had nothing to prove, not when her Kalquorians had sworn to give her the one thing no Earther had.
Clan Tukui waited for the others. “Clan Simdow,” Yorso whispered.
When Katherine stood before her moments later, Tina looked the former nun in the eye. The sight of puncture wounds on Katherine’s neck pleased her for some reason.
“You were clanned too,” she greeted the angelic blonde.
“Yes, I was.” Katherine appeared uncertain. Debating whether or not she should confront the younger woman?
Tina’s chin lifted in defiance. “I’m glad it happened. I’m glad, and I don’t care what you or anyone else thinks about it.”
“It’s not anyone else’s place to judge. If you’re happy, then that’s good enough for me.”
Tina stared at her in surprise. Sister Katherine had always been kind, the sweetest of the nuns. But she had been a nun, and sincere about her faith. A true believer in every sense.
“What about God’s judgment, Sister? The Church taught we’re condemned for such actions. You always said he was forgiving and would love us no matter what. Which is it?”
As mild as ever, Katherine answered, “My mind hasn’t changed. We’ve been good girls for a long time. Maybe this is our reward.”
She glanced at her clan. The three handsome young Kalquorians beamed at her. And the nun—former nun—smiled back, as if she were the happiest person in existence.
Second happiest. Because that title belongs to me.
When Katherine looked at her again, Tina couldn’t help but laugh. Katherine laughed too, and everything between them was understood.
The last chain holding her to her old life and ways of thinking broke. Tina tasted freedom, real freedom, the kind that came from the soul. She loved it.
* * * *
Their new quarters aboard the transport was spacious enough for a single person. There was ample square footage compared to the clan’s quarters on the spyship. But it was small in other ways.
The bed was a human-sized double, nowhere large enough for four, especially when three of those four were approaching gianthood. Though they also had a sitting room and a kitchenette, the chairs were tiny for Kalquorians. The blue-and-gray sofa was better, but only one fit at a time, with knees bent at uncomfortable angles. Their heads nearly brushed the ceiling.
It wasn’t merely the size issue that required adjusting to. They’d been settled in for barely an hour before Tina squared off with Yorso in the kitchenette. Her teeth clenched in frustration, she shook a rattling box at him as she tried to talk sense into the clan caregiver.
“Yes, you’ve read your files, but when have you actually cooked Earther food?”
“I can figure it out.” He grabbed for the can of tomato paste she held in her other hand. As she jerked it out of his reach, he snatched the box of pasta from her.
She adored him. That didn’t keep her from fantasizing about using the can to whack him upside his thick, pigheaded skull.
“Don’t be an ass. I can make spaghetti in my sleep. You probably can’t tell oregano from nutmeg.”
Yorso laughed. “Did you call me an ass? Like a butt?”
Tukui, amused at their argument, leaned on the dinette table while watching them. He nudged their fourth clanmate. “Turn around, Osopa, and let me compare. There could be a resemblance.”
Tina blew a raspberry at Yorso. “Ass is a word for donkey, which is a stupid, stubborn Earth animal. That’s what you remind me of right now.”
“We’ve been through this. I do the cooking.” He made another grab for the can.
She let him have it, but it was her turn to yank the box of spaghetti away. She bopped him on the head with it, satisfying her frustration without putting a dent in his noggin. “I’ll teach you so you can make it for me in the future. Put away that Imdiko urge to do everything for everyone for a change.”
“What about your compulsive need to please?” he countered, scowling at the laughing Osopa.
“I left it on your ship. Get out of my way before I deck you.”
Osopa clapped his hands together. “I like this new Tina. But if you must hit someone, hit me. Nobeks don’t cry.”
“You think I’d cry?” Yorso slammed the can on the counter, denting the surface before springing at Osopa. Seconds later, they were rolling on the floor, wrestling like children. Tina giggled, delighted at the silliness. Especially Osopa’s.
I’m not the only one who left some bad stuff behind.
Tukui came to her, pulling her close and kissing the top of her head before chuckling at the others’ antics.
“Whip those two into shape, would you?” Tina brushed a lock of blue-black hair off his forehead.
“Yes, my Matara. But you’re doing quite well with that yourself.”
Osopa, who hadn’t seemed to be trying nearly as hard as Yorso to win the bout, pinned the Imdiko facedown to the gray carpet. “You know what happens next,” the Nobek growled.
“Help! Somebody, make him stop!”
His pleas broke off into yells as Osopa’s palm smacked his ass several times. Tina snickered to see a grown man being spanked.
She set to work, searching out the pots she required and setting them on the cooktop. A couple minutes later, red-faced Yorso joined her for his first lesson in Earther cuisine. Tina considered asking him if his ass was as scarlet, but decided she’d leave him what was left of his dignity.
Tukui and Osopa busied themselves with gathering the former occupant’s belongings to be stored, chattering good-humoredly in their own language with occasional bursts of laughter as they worked. Tina found a bottle of wine and poured Yorso and herself glasses to enjoy as they cooked. It was the domestic bliss she’d seen only in movies and television shows, the home life she’d dreamed of.
Life was good. She hummed with happiness as her family settled in.
* * * *
The bridge of General Hamilton’s captured transport was a massive swath of open space. That was unsurprising, given how Earthers allotted twice as much area as Tukui thought they needed for any given task. Maybe it was because there were so many of them, he mused. Earth had ventured out of their own solar system in search of a second planet to colonize, which was how the members of the Galactic Council of Planets had learned of their existence. That had been only eight years ago.