Page 9 of Devin
Kave must have sensed his line of thought.
“When you have a mate, you will understand.” Kave shrugged again.
“I shall not have a mate for many years, and I do not understand now.”
“Whatever,” Kave said, waving him off with a hand.
Haxit chose that moment to report to duty. He was only a few minutes late, but he was out of breath as if he’d been running for miles.
Devin tried to mask his disapproval and handed the data pad over to the winded warrior. “I need this set of calculations finished by the end of the day.”
Haxit nodded and exited quickly, seemingly relieved that he wasn’t to receive any more punishment than a harsh glare.
Devin would need to spend precious time double checking all of Haxit’s calculations. He looked at the schedule and embedded a time slot to do just that. That he had to pre-schedule time tocorrect Haxit made Devin want to punch something. He stepped outside the com center. There were only eight other buildings in this camp. Six were quarters for the Mahdfel and their mates, one was the med bay and the other was a storage room.
There were nearly fifty temporary buildings at the main camp, and plenty of competent engineers, but Devin had not gotten to build his team. It was dictated to him by Kave who seemingly spent more time deciding how to make the Terran mates happy than he did for the actual job of building a functioning city.
Goru was fine. Though more of a chemist than an engineer, he at least had a head for geometry and his calculations could be relied on. Zenik was quiet, but he at least had a command of flying the small craft around and taking the necessary surveys. His mate, Jane, was the least annoying Terran Devin had ever met. She was clear and concise, a sharp contrast to Goru’s mate who tended to rattle onad nauseumabout the most irrelevant things.
But all three of the mates were pregnant and it was clear that Kave and the others were distracted by that fact. Devin had suggested twice that they all take a six months duty leave and be replaced with other Mahdfel who perhaps had no mates and could focus on the work.
Kave had laughed at him, and then proceeded to tell him that he was the only unmated Mahdfel on the planet, that it was he that was the odd one out. He would feel differently once he had a mate of his own.
Kave was relentless, but he wasn’t going to change Devin’s mind. Noven 90 was Devin’s chance to work with a blank slate, to truly bring his vision to life in a living, breathing city that was entirely his, and if he had to work single-handedly to fulfill his dream, he’d build this city block by block by himself, if necessary. He didn’t need anyone else.
Chapter 5
Val
The terror was real. Sure, she'd seen some of the vids about prison life, but Val had never really taken them as truth.
The prison itself was an older facility, hauntingly empty. There were five wings but only two of them were used, and those were filled sparsely. One wing was filled with lifers, women who were older than forty and could no longer be added to the lottery per the Mahdfel rules. They wore bright blue prison uniforms. The women like her were held in the other wing. Her outfit was a delightfully bright orange. It hurt her eyes to stare at it.
For the most part, the two groups were allowed to mingle together in the common room and the cafeteria.
There had been no time to say goodbye to anyone, not that Val had many people she'd want to wish well. From the small courtroom, to the smaller police car, Val had been efficiently whisked away to a large stone prison that had survived the invasion days. When the Suhlik had first attacked, guards refused to come to work, and some had decided that felons with guns were a great way to fight off an alien invasion. They'd emptied the prisons to form militias and many of the buildings became barracks and battlegrounds. This one was in the middleof nowhere, which is probably why it didn't get hit and wasn't considered a strategic spot for either the aliens or the humans.
She was escorted through the gates, which were minimally guarded. The fence looked new, however, it was probably hooked up with the latest tech that would make it nearly impassable without proper authorization. The processing room was a small box-like structure just inside the gates. With a signature on their tablet, Val was handed over to two female guards. One of them looked positively bored, the other looked like she'd crack with age if you blew on her. Val had to fight off panic when they strip searched her, and even more when they embedded her ID chip just above her wrist.
"You want something, you scan," said the processing matron holding the chip gun. "If you got funds on the outside, they usually take two to three weeks to process, so don't lolligag."
"Don't worry, Chicky. You won't last long," the old, crusty prison guard said as she handed over a stack of clothes and blankets. That's what Val was afraid of.
"Follow me."
In quick succession, the guard entered the main section of the prison and started pointing out the different sights. "Over there's the computer center. Restricted access. You want time, you swipe. That direction is the laundry. You get one free load a week. Any more, you swipe. Cafeteria's that way. You want food, you swipe. And over there, that's roof access."
There were twelve large white chalk marks on the door to roof access.
"Do I swipe to go up there?"
"Nah, just a reminder that there are only two exits from this place. One's through the transport circle into the deep reaches of space. That's the other. Nobody's gonna stop you if you take that one."
Val had no intention of killing herself. Prison was not going to be the end of her.
The guard entered the cell block and stopped at one and pointed. It was in a lower row along a long hallway of cell doors. Neither bunk was made, which suggested that she didn't have a roommate. For that, she was thankful. The ceiling was low and the walls were solid concrete, but the sonic toilet shower and sink setup were the latest tech.
"Doors generally stay open. If we go into lock down, you better be back in your cell. You'll know, unless you're deaf. It's the safest place to be in case of a second invasion. You want a nutri-nugget? Scan over there. Food in the ‘caf’ isn't much better, but there are garden privileges for those willing to work for them." With that, the guard was done with orientation. She turned and left without another word.
