Page 34 of Devin
Devin strode passed her and both of them knew that was not the end of the conversation. He continued down the path to the site, thankful that he heard no footsteps behind him.
Up ahead, though, he saw a problem. Charlette was sunning herself on a rock near the force fence. She was wearing a very small bikini and had spread her hair out in the sun like someone posing in the Terran magazines. When he paid her no mind and continued past, she seemed to take offense.
“Oh, space man, what are you doing?” she asked.
“Working,” Devin replied, not even glancing back.
“Come talk to me for a while. I’ve got a favor to ask of you.”
He turned, and that was probably his mistake. She hopped off the rock and bounded over to him.
“In less than thirty minutes, a few tons of steel and rock are going to fall from the sky, and if I’m not over there to make sure it’s ready, the whole thing may collapse. I have no time for silly Terrans!” he exclaimed.
Charlette’s response was one that Devin had begun to recognize in its early stage. The trembling lip, the hiccup ofbreath. He turned and punched the access code into the force fence. He was on the other side before she broke out in full hysterics. He set the fence on a timer and it closed ten seconds after he was on the other side.
Devin ran before he could feel any obligation to her or her mate came looking for him. Terran females were incomprehensible sometimes. At least Val was not prone to tears. And he could honestly say that he’d never seen Jane cry, but the rest of them were annoying and got on his last nerve. He’d be happy when the city was complete and he could move on to another job.
Though, would Val be happy far away from her species?
This was his city. The bones were there, and it could take years to flesh it out. Weren’t they talking about filling it quickly? There could be dozens of cities left to build, and not all of them would be next to Kave. There would be no need to move planets just to get away from the ridiculous habits of one rogue Mahdfel.
Devin arrived at the observation spot, high up on one of the trees, that he’d chosen for watching the spectacle of the supply drops. The other Mahdfel on his team would watch from the safety of the command center. Most of the work was done by the computer, but final adjustments were not uncommon.
Devin began the climb with ease. It was a giant tree, perhaps a thousand years old. He’d had to shift the whole city slightly to the right to accommodate it. Tearing it down would have been too much effort, and besides, it would be a crime in and of itself to kill something that ancient. If left alone, it would add flavor to the city. He imagined Etlon having trees this size that his ancestors had climbed. They were natural tree people before the Suhlik had corrupted their DNA.
From the top, he could see nearly the whole site. He pulled out his tablet and checked. Everything was going smoothly. He put on his shielding glasses and stared up at the sky. Sureenough, he spotted the first structure lighting up as it came through the atmosphere. Flanked on all sides, it was followed by four more pinpricks in the sky.
Devin’s communicator beeped. He ignored it. The telemetry data was perfect. It came down, blazing in a fiery light. The air trembled and the tree buzzed with the force of the tons of the building being lowered slowly to the ground. It hit, and the foundation bolts locked. The force fields protecting the windows and interiors lowered, and as soon as the quick gel set, the building would be as permanent and strong as they came.
Devin didn’t have time to celebrate because the next four buildings were nearly down as well, with two more waves in the sky. He watched with an overwhelming sense of pride as they dropped, one wave at a time, until finally as the dust settled, 21 buildings formed the heart of his city. There was still plenty to do — sky bridges to install, walkways to finish, landscaping to establish — but the main design of his city was finally real. He practically hopped down the tree and ran towards the buildings.
He reached out, touching the first building of his first residential block. It was still warm from the descent, but otherwise unscarred thanks to the force fields that had surrounded and protected it. The quick gel in the foundation was nearly set, but given another twenty four hours, it would be able to survive a direct Suhlik assault.
Devin rounded the corner of the building. He would be the first to enter each of the new city’s structures. He told himself it was a safety inspection, but he knew better. It was pride in his work that drove him to be the first. Everything was perfect, except an unknown object lying on the ground outside the door. He moved to look closer and noticed that it was dusty and a bit charred on the end, but its shape and green color made it unmistakable and clearly recognizable.
It was an Etlonian hand.
Chapter 20
Devin
The sound of Terran screeching echoed in his ears. For such a puny form, Charlette could let out a deafening cry that went on for a good five minutes. He should not have presented her with the one remaining portion of her mate that was left.
Devin had never had anything against Haxit personally. He was just the wrong fit for the job. And of course he mourned the passing of any of his Mahdfel brothers, but Devin just couldn’t figure out why Haxit had been at the construction site in the first place. He’d ignored all safety protocol, and gotten so deep into one of the building footprints that his last lunge had been just short of safety.
Had he not extended his arm, Haxit would have disappeared entirely, and no one would have known where. They would have probably just assumed he’d been dragged off into the jungle and eaten by something. Glorious stories and songs would have been written in his honor. But there was nothing noble in being squashed by a building that you knew was coming.
Devin had scooped up the hand, used his scanner to determine the unlucky Mahdfel and presented it to Haxit’s mate. He’d expected some tears, yes, but then a calm ‘thank you’,for giving her some sense of closure. Besides, everyone knew Charlette was not that fond of her mate anyway. What he got was a full minute and a half of uninterrupted screaming until Jane rushed in with a sedative that put Charlette out like a light.
“What the fuck, man?” Jane said. The others had begun to gather.
“Haxit is dead.” Devin held out the arm as evidence.
“No shit, Sherlock.” Jane rolled her eyes and pointed. “Put that thing away. And do not under any circumstances let any of the other women see it.”
Devin stared down at the severed limb. Unfortunately the other mates were fast approaching, and he had nowhere to hide it.
Meadow was the first to ask. “What is that behind your back?”
