until she had prepared the outer-space equivalent of fried chicken.
She wore the bandeau and blue silk skirt on their tour after dinner. She needed to walk after the fried chicken, mashed potatoes and corn. It had taken quite a lot out of her to prepare it all.
He offered her his arm, and they walked through the station, past the commissary, into the memorial hall.
She stood quietly as he looked at the images of the women as they had come from Terra. Kora watched him read the biography that had gotten her into this program. The capsule they had shipped her in was full of gel, but she had still arrived with nine broken bones.
“They outlined all of your procedures.” He spoke softly. “How did you survive that?”
She ghosted up next to him, and she whispered, “I wanted to live.”
She turned and gestured to all of the images of the women who had left the earth to turn themselves into experiments. “We all wanted to live. Surviving was our primary need and this was a chance offered that our people couldn’t offer, so when it was offered, we took the chance.”
“Did you know it would be successful?”
She nudged him with her hip. “It was just a gamble. I took a chance and let them put me in a pod to ship me across the universe. It was just a chance, but I am glad that I did it.”
He put his arm around her waist and caressed her hip. “I am very glad as well. I don’t think that your people would take kindly to my arriving on your world and demanding you.”
She snorted. “Until the Alliance arrived, we hadn’t had any exposure to alien races. In three years, we went from first contact to the Volunteer program. I think seeing a Selna would have been more than most Terrans could have imagined. I know that my heart stuttered when I saw my first Selna, and it skips a beat every time I see you.”
He chuckled. “Am I pleasing to your eyes?”
“You are. To my eyes, my senses and my heart.”
“Ah, Kora, without you, I have no heart.” He kissed her in front of the image of her badly broken body, her scans and the interview playing softly in the background.
“I suppose I want to Volunteer, because I have a chance at a future out there, somewhere. I can be useful and pretend to be normal.”
The interviewer’s voice said, “What if you can never be normal?”
“Then, at least, I can be something. Here, I am a burden, a drain of resources, and I have no chance at life. I want to take that chance.”
“It is quite a gamble.”
Her broken face twisted in a smile, “All life is a gamble if you do it right.”
He pulled away from her slightly. “What are they doing to Star Fairy ?”
“They are fitting her with couple’s quarters. We don’t want to kill each other right away, and my bed is a little small for some of the acrobatics you are pulling.”
He grinned, and they saw the rest of the transporter displays before they walked to the oxygen factory or garden.
“I can’t believe that no one knows about this station.”
“It was built for a very specific purpose that thousands of planets abhor. It cannot be part of anything but the imperium itself.”
“Why?”
“Because, we would be destroyed. You saw the attitude that the Keylan Guardians pulled. That was nothing. I have been pursued, attacked and injured by Guardians in the past, all because I am a technological abomination. If they knew about the ship being sentient, all bets would be off and I would be dead.”
He paused as they entered the garden. “It is that dangerous?”
“Most places, no. Most places do not care, they simply see it as a kind of vanity marking, but some worlds fight against the integration of living tissue and machine and that is what I now embody.”
He lifted her hand to his lips. “I will have to become aware of it and pay attention. When I look at you, all I see is my amazing mate. I worship the whole, not the parts.”
“Worship?” She batted her lashes at him.
He lifted her up,
She wore the bandeau and blue silk skirt on their tour after dinner. She needed to walk after the fried chicken, mashed potatoes and corn. It had taken quite a lot out of her to prepare it all.
He offered her his arm, and they walked through the station, past the commissary, into the memorial hall.
She stood quietly as he looked at the images of the women as they had come from Terra. Kora watched him read the biography that had gotten her into this program. The capsule they had shipped her in was full of gel, but she had still arrived with nine broken bones.
“They outlined all of your procedures.” He spoke softly. “How did you survive that?”
She ghosted up next to him, and she whispered, “I wanted to live.”
She turned and gestured to all of the images of the women who had left the earth to turn themselves into experiments. “We all wanted to live. Surviving was our primary need and this was a chance offered that our people couldn’t offer, so when it was offered, we took the chance.”
“Did you know it would be successful?”
She nudged him with her hip. “It was just a gamble. I took a chance and let them put me in a pod to ship me across the universe. It was just a chance, but I am glad that I did it.”
He put his arm around her waist and caressed her hip. “I am very glad as well. I don’t think that your people would take kindly to my arriving on your world and demanding you.”
She snorted. “Until the Alliance arrived, we hadn’t had any exposure to alien races. In three years, we went from first contact to the Volunteer program. I think seeing a Selna would have been more than most Terrans could have imagined. I know that my heart stuttered when I saw my first Selna, and it skips a beat every time I see you.”
He chuckled. “Am I pleasing to your eyes?”
“You are. To my eyes, my senses and my heart.”
“Ah, Kora, without you, I have no heart.” He kissed her in front of the image of her badly broken body, her scans and the interview playing softly in the background.
“I suppose I want to Volunteer, because I have a chance at a future out there, somewhere. I can be useful and pretend to be normal.”
The interviewer’s voice said, “What if you can never be normal?”
“Then, at least, I can be something. Here, I am a burden, a drain of resources, and I have no chance at life. I want to take that chance.”
“It is quite a gamble.”
Her broken face twisted in a smile, “All life is a gamble if you do it right.”
He pulled away from her slightly. “What are they doing to Star Fairy ?”
“They are fitting her with couple’s quarters. We don’t want to kill each other right away, and my bed is a little small for some of the acrobatics you are pulling.”
He grinned, and they saw the rest of the transporter displays before they walked to the oxygen factory or garden.
“I can’t believe that no one knows about this station.”
“It was built for a very specific purpose that thousands of planets abhor. It cannot be part of anything but the imperium itself.”
“Why?”
“Because, we would be destroyed. You saw the attitude that the Keylan Guardians pulled. That was nothing. I have been pursued, attacked and injured by Guardians in the past, all because I am a technological abomination. If they knew about the ship being sentient, all bets would be off and I would be dead.”
He paused as they entered the garden. “It is that dangerous?”
“Most places, no. Most places do not care, they simply see it as a kind of vanity marking, but some worlds fight against the integration of living tissue and machine and that is what I now embody.”
He lifted her hand to his lips. “I will have to become aware of it and pay attention. When I look at you, all I see is my amazing mate. I worship the whole, not the parts.”
“Worship?” She batted her lashes at him.
He lifted her up,
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