RG-742

“So, ya coming or not?”

Slipper was leaning against the shop bay door, chewing on a toothpick. He’d invited Grokka aboard his ship. “It’ll be fun,” he said. Just a short trip, He was running a load of contraband out to Chunzur, the Orange Planet, and picking a load up. Give her a tour of the ship, and a chance to see what a pirate’s job was like. “Besides,” he said. “I could really use somebody to take a look at the engines.”

Off world, that’s what he had said. He seemed to feel about this planet the way she felt about her shop. A little hole in the wall in a dark corner of the universe, good for working on engines and storing spare parts, but not nearly as interesting as the world outside. A thrill went through her.

No Mokhra had ever been off planet. Especially not her. She did not really want to go. This was her world. She felt safe here. All his talk about yellow suns and year-round summer made her nervous. She wanted to stay in her shop and tune engines. Her idea of adventure was two months’ vacation to help with the breadnut harvest. No way. She was not going.

“I’ll go.” She said it quickly, and ran a hand over the engine she was working on. Slipper’s engine, for the third sled. Static electricity crackled under her fingers. She didn’t look up.

“Great,” he said, and unfolded his long thin body to a standing position. “See you in the morning.” She turned around and squinted through the dim light. He was gone already.

“What am I doing?” She shook her head. She hadn’t wanted to say yes. But she did. What was it? The thought of a world where long winters and blazing-hot summers didn’t force you into the caves? Or was it what Slipper had said? “Out there, you can see the stars as thick as snowflakes.”