Page 31 of A Monster's Light
“I’ll go bother her later,” I said. The last time I saw her, she had her handsinsidethe former Exotech super soldier, messing with who knew what. Igor just sat there, looking like he’d been turned off, until he suddenly opened his eyes and waved hello to me. The whole thing had creeped me out.
“You’ll probably want to recycle that phone after you recover the data. Unlike that one,thisone’s yours to keep.”
She was referring to the fact that we didn’t really own any of the devices we had in Nova Vita. Instead, we paid a transfer fee to one of the two colony-approved providers to connect the device to our contacts and then the monthly license to use them. That meant we technically weren’t legally allowed to make any alterations to them; this included downloading and running non-approved apps and programs or replacing the shitty battery with something not programmed to fail after two years.
“There are only three numbers programmed into it right now,” Tasha continued. “Penelope’s, mine, and Julie’s. So if you think of any questions, just drop me a message. We put the newcomer guides on the device. There’s one for the stronghold and one for Ellaston.” She handed the device to me, and I chuckled when I saw the image on the home screen.
It was a picture of Julie with her arms across her chest and the words “S’up, bitches?” written over her head. Back in our school days, we’d found antiquated Earth slang and sayings hilarious and had spent a good year using them. Was it nerdy? For sure. But we didn’t care. Also, it made us realize that people back in the day on Earth weren’t much different from us.
“I know they make it sound like the stronghold and the settlement are two very distinct places, but you’ve probably guessed by now that they are not. Basically, if you are a resident of one, you’re automatically welcomed at the other, though usually we choose where we want to stay most of the time. I stay at the stronghold with my mate, and Julie is there most of the time too. But Penelope flies back and forth because she’s technically in charge of planning part of Ellaston’s infrastructure. She went to school for colony planning, so it’s perfect. I heard you were a journalist back in Nova Vita.”
“Yeah. Well, as much as I could be working for Omnia Pictures anyway. Everything I wrote had to be vetted multiple times and match their pro-colony narrative.”
“I bet. Have you given any thought to what you want to do here?”
“Not yet. I’m not even sure I want to continue being a journalist. I mean, yes, I want to put out something respectable for once. But after?” I shrugged. “Honestly, everything still feelslike a dream, and I’m worried I’ll wake up in my bed at home in Nova Vita.”
What a nightmare that would be! Waking up to realize I’d never met or spent any time with Gnnar. And that it had been all in my head. That would make him a literal dream guy in the worst way possible.
“Well, if you are going to make a career change, now’s the time.” She stood. “Want to come stock the library with me? Penelope just finished her most recent Penny Wrights book.” She dug into her bag and pulled out a paperback book.
I gawked at the book. No one owned physical books anymore unless they were researching something in the archives or were freakin’ rich and had a private library. It was much cheaper to just pay for the temporary rights to read the electronic copies.
“Most people read the digital copies, but there’s nothing like physical books. I worked in the archives way back when. I started the library over at the stronghold, and when Chris and Mark started up here, they invited me to set one up here too. The collection is mostly digital, but I print up physical copies when I can, especially for reference material. And, of course, Penny’s work.”
“I haven’t met Mark or Chris yet, but I’ve heard all about them.”
“They’re usually either in their office or running around like mad trying to keep the place going. I’m sure you’ll bump into them soon.”
“I’m sure I will.” I started packing all my goodies back into the basket so I could bring them with me. “Say, you mentioned looking for me at the stronghold first. I was wondering if you know how Gnnar’s doing. Is he out of the infirmary yet?”
“Oh boy, do I have a story for you,” she said, grabbing her latte.
“I’m all ears.”
“We were asking around for you, and Gnnar comes out of nowhere in a rage and just punches my mate in the face.”
I gasped. “What? Oh no! I’m so sorry.”
She waved away my concern. “It’s the rut. They get like that. They tussled a bit, and Sarah offered to um… help him cool off…”
Who the hell is Sarah?demanded the little green-eyed monster in my head.
“But he completely ignored her. It took several warriors to restrain him so Rrak and I could retreat. I heard they’re worried it’s a side effect of some dart he got hit with, but I think it’s just the rut hitting him hard. He looked good though. Strong. I couldn’t even tell he was injured.”
“I see.” I wasn’t sure if I was glad he’d rejected the other woman or scared that he was acting so violent.
It had been hard not to think about Gnnar constantly while I was here. I kept thinking I saw him everywhere, and my heart would speed up, and I’d get that stupid, silly hopeful feeling. But when I looked, it was always some other warrior.
As we made our way to the second common building, I felt dozens of eyes on me. Sami had made general introductions when we first got here, but I didn’t remember anyone’s name on the account that I’d been dead tired.
“There’s Mark now.” Tasha waved to a man with his blond hair in a man bun.
The man she gestured to didn’t look very happy. He stormed directly toward us.
“You must be Dana. I’m Mark.”
“I am. Nice to meet you.” I stuck out my hand and put on my professional face, the one I used when meeting new people for my job, especially if I didn’t know if they were hostile or not.
