Future Prospect (8 page)

“Got it, just over a meter and a half tall and wild.” Lia started to walk away, her legs far too long to be ignored, but Colan did his best.

“I’m heading this way.” He waved in the opposite direction and called out to the miscreants. He passed all four buildings and saw no sign of them, so he doubled back and jogged in the direction Lia had gone, glancing in between structures as he went. Lia was nowhere in sight, and he wondered where she’d gone when he noticed the door to the science building was open. He heard raised voices and went inside to find both boys backed into a corner as their mother glared at them. Lia stood near the door and did not look any lower than his chin when he stopped at her side. Gina was reading her two sons the riot act, and when she noticed Colan she swung on him.

“Here he is! Now I’ll get the straight story.”

Colan held up a hand. “I didn’t see anything. The noise woke me up, and I went out to see what the hell happened.”

“The noise of an explosion! What did you blow up, Perrin?” Gina stared at her oldest son as he tried a shamed expression. He didn’t pull it off.

“Just those old buckets in the back. You said we were going to 'cycle them so I figured why not?”

“Why not indeed? Dangerous, foolish behavior, and you disturbed the neighbors. Poor Colan here is running around in his nothings searching for you!” Gina ranted as both Ermil and Perrin shot him unrepentant glances of amusement. Little Ermil seemed ready to burst into laughter as his eyes sparkled. Lia shifted on her feet, and Colan risked a glance at her. She looked as if she suppressed a laugh as well as she tightened her lips and avoided his gaze.

“That’s it from you. You’re both confined to the house for the rest of the day—”

“But mom, we were supposed to go watch the building with Joli.”

“Not anymore you’re not. You go home, clean everything up, and apologize to Colan.” Gina took a breath as she glared at her sons. “You’re both lucky no one was hurt. I know we just got a doctor with a medical suite, but I hardly want my reckless children to be the first patients. Ermil, tell me how you blew it up.” Gina stared at her youngest as if she thought at his young age he’d spill the truth under pressure. Colan could have told her Ermil was as tough to crack as a Freton gambler. The little boy widened his eyes and stayed quiet, but Perrin couldn’t resist showing off.

“It was really phenom, Mom. We synthesized a compound from cleaning supplies and put it in a pressurized container,” the older boy enthused, and Gina’s disciplined composure cracked in the face of scientific discovery.

“What cleaning supplies? Where did you get the idea?”

Colan realized Gina was going to delve into the scientific minutia with her offspring, and he was no longer needed in the vicinity. He said farewell and stepped away, anxious to disappear. Gina waved to him and returned to questioning Perrin about covalent bonds. Lia followed him, and he wished she hadn’t.

“Good morning. I need to go back home and get some, ah…” He tried inch away, but she followed him.

“Right, get some clothes on. Do you mind if I walk with you? I have some questions.”

Of course she had questions, likely wondering if such doings were normal for her new home planet. As he squelched along the street in his unfastened boots, Colan wished he had a pressing appointment somewhere else. Not that he was dressed for an appointment anywhere other than his bed. He wasn’t going to think about going back to bed as Lia walked next to him in those incredibly tight clothes. How could she run in them? She also had mud spatters up her calves. Very nice calves that curved—

“I’m not criticizing.”

“Oh, go ahead and criticize.”

“I won’t. I’m curious.” Lia stopped, and he automatically halted and looked at her. The oddness of the situation hit him at once. Here he was wearing only underwear and having a conversation with a leggy woman in the middle of the road. He’d had some strange experiences, but this was in a class by itself.

“Is there a school here?”

Colan blinked. He hadn’t expected that. “No. There aren’t that many kids. Just Ermil and Perrin, a couple of older girls, and one baby. Not that many people start families all the way out here.”

Lia nodded and was silent for a moment. Her gaze drifted lower as she glanced at his shoulders. He could almost feel it like a touch on his skin.

“We can make a school happen. Especially once extractors start to arrive. Most are independent adults, but some are bringing their families along.”

“That would be great. Gina tries to teach her boys, but she is so busy with work I know it gets tough.”

“Does she have a partner?”

“No.” Colan didn’t want to talk outside any more. He’d spotted a few people emerging from their homes and taking notice of them, so he gestured toward the path which led back to his hut. “The boys’ father died a couple of years ago. Lost out in the forest.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry.”

“We all were. He was a good guy; smart, friendly, curious. In fact, he would have been the ideal person to act as liaison with you folks.”

“You seem to be managing.” Lia quirked an eyebrow his way as they entered the Healy backyard through the door he’d cut in the plank fence.

“Not so well this morning.” Colan walked up to the safety officer who seemed to be engrossed in taking digimas of the far-flung buckets littering the space. Lia wandered around and looked over the debris as Colan wondered if he should continue to talk or make his way back to his hut for some clothes and maybe a cup of coffee. If he did that, he’d have to make coffee for the congressionals. He already felt like a lackey. Coffee-fetching would turn him into a serve bot.

“I heard you found the kids,” Zashi spoke up. He put away his datpad and walked over to Colan, seemingly unperturbed that Colan was practically naked.

“We did. No injuries, and they’re in the custody of their mother.”

“Excellent. I don’t have a juvenile facility set up yet.” The other man pressed his lips in a grim line, and Colan couldn’t decide if he was joking or serious. Maybe he would have been more capable of subtlety after a cup of coffee or two, which reminded him to be civilized.

“I’m going up to start my day properly. Can I bring you some coffee in about ten minutes?”

“No need. I’m heading back to the facility.” Shooting Colan an evaluating look, Zashi shook his hand and moved away, calling out to Lia he was leaving. She made her way over to Colan by hopping over some split and melted buckets and waved goodbye to her exercise partner, assuring him that she’d see him later for lunch. Colan’s vague suspicion the two congressionals might be involved remained unconfirmed.

“So, about the school.”

“Great idea. It would go over well with people here.”

Lia narrowed her eyes. “I didn’t suggest it to make points.”

“I didn’t say you did.”

“You implied it.”

Colan’s irritation with the day returned with a vengeance. He’d been rudely awakened about a half an hour ago and had already been embroiled in explosive drama and officious confrontations. Lia just stood there half a meter from him with a spark in her eye, her slim hands on her curvaceous hips, and he fought the insane urge to kiss her. Kiss her without a thought for not having brushed his teeth. But finding out what she tasted like would certainly improve his outlook, at least until she belted him or laughed. Then he’d be back to dismal.

She waited for him to reply for a couple of beats and shrugged her shoulders. “I’ll message you the day’s updated schedule in an hour. If you have any questions, please let me know.”

Turning on her heel in the soft ground, she marched away, and Colan allowed himself the very elemental pleasure of watching her body sway as she left. It was probably a good thing she’d retreated when she had, her snappy attitude and alluring figure had begun to heat his blood and that would have been hard to conceal in his current apparel.

“You must be joking.” Moca shot a dissatisfied glance at Assistant Magistrate Cordon as if he was responsible for the disaster they were now attempting to manage. Her second-in-command had arrived at lunchtime with the bad news that the congressional committee tasked with managing the settlement of Gamaliel had completely reworked the claim lottery system. Everything from parcel size, location, and the order in which sections of land would be assigned had been modified in a last minute meeting.

Lia poked at her lunch and tried to ignore her datpad display. It blinked an agonized scarlet with all the destroyed timetables. The entire team on planet was now in their own last minute meeting, attempting to reinvent their carefully thought out plans. Settlers would begin to arrive in less than a month, so Lia, Cordon, and Moca were having a working lunch. Claude had managed to cook them a decent meal on short notice, but she wasn’t feeling much of an appetite for quinoa patties with cheese and mushroom sauce. She’d already eaten all the roasted sprouts and sliced tomato and hoped that would be enough to fuel her for the upcoming session.

“I’m not joking, Moca. Imagine my shock when I boarded the ship and this new information buzzed into my feed just as we were taking off. They timed it perfectly so I couldn’t reply. ” Cordon shook his sleekly handsome head. Lia had developed an interest in the man when they first started working together, but that dissipated when she’d gotten to know him better. He was far too ambitious and politically connected to be a comfortable companion for her since his schedule would have always superseded her own plans and desires. They’d developed a good working relationship, and Lia was pleased he was on planet and could take over some of the bureaucratic duties she’d had to assume in his absence.

“It’s unacceptable to completely gut our entire plan and leave us no time to adjust! Just look at this directive; ‘all sections will be equal in surface size and distribution of ephiphytes.’ This planet isn’t filled with cultivated fields of these things we can parcel into tidy little lots with square corners. It’s a wild environment that's impossible to divide in any sort of equal manner. What are we supposed to do, go out and measure each branch and leaf?” Moca ranted, obviously not expecting anyone to answer the questions which lay before them—the impossibilities spoke for them.

“It’s going to require a complete rework of everything. Our maps, our survey methods, how we conduct the landings,” Cordon concluded with a dour expression on his well-formed face. He was attractive even when distressed. Unlike Colan Nestor who looked like a rumpled hermit in just about any mood she’d seen him in and especially riveting when he’d been nearly naked that very morning while searching for those mischievous boys. Lia tried not to let the thought of how his muscular body had caught her attention intrude on her current assignments. She’d be hopelessly distracted and not able to contribute much to solving their new problems.

“Of course it is,” Moca snapped and scowled at her displays. “Right. Cordon, you and I will sequester for the next twenty-four hours and reformulate everything. Lia, you continue pushing through construction as if nothing has changed. We’ll send you reworked plans as we finalize them.”

“What about the Pearlites?”

“Continue to run interference for us. We’re going to be too busy to deal with backyards and plumbing for the near future.”

Lia took a breath, her hopes of avoiding Colan after this meeting dashed. Not that she was going to feel embarrassed about seeing him again. He’d acted as if his near nudity was no cause for notice, so she should be able to ignore it right along with him. She could forget his muscled arms, broad chest, and all that hair curling over tanned skin. Of course she could.

The meeting room door swung open. Colan appeared with a surly grimace, and Lia gulped. She’d known he was on the agenda, but somehow the sight of him was still a shock to her system. Moca called out and invited him to take a seat, which placed him across the table from her. Now she was unable to avoid looking directly at him unless she stared at her quinoa or unhappy datpad. He shot her a glance she couldn’t interpret and then turned to Moca.

“Cit. Nestor, I’m so glad you’re here. Thank you for coming. This is Assistant Magistrate Cordon, newly arrived with bothersome news.” Moca shifted in her seat and smiled, but her irritation with the situation was impossible to disguise with good manners. “It seems our congressional supervisors have reworked the settlement plans for us. Simply put, they want absolute equality of natural resources and physical size between each apportionment. In the interest of fairness.”

“And in the interest of not having to listen to people whine about what their neighbor has,” Cordon added with a scowl. His scowl was puny compared to the one curling across Colan’s face.

“You’re joking.” Colan’s voice was cold with disapproval.

“That’s what
I
said.” Moca smiled at him in a soothing way. Lia wished her luck. “But they aren’t. They also aren’t here or apparently well-versed on what the term 'initial colonization' means. Or 'undeveloped land'. Or ecosystem maintenance'. In any case, we now have some new parameters to work through, and I was hoping you could walk us through your planetary survey.”

“You want me to explain the entire planet’s geography to you?”

“Yes, in as much detail as you can manage in the next fifteen minutes.”

Colan sucked in a breath and looked as if he wanted to stand and walk right back out of the room. Lia couldn’t resist watching the way his chest expanded against his battered shirt and picturing the muscles shifting underneath the fabric. Maybe this meeting might have some unanticipated benefits, at least for her private thoughts. But when he shot her an incendiary scowl, all contemplation of his physique disappeared. Why was he angry with her? She hadn’t caused any of this or summoned him here.

“Fifteen minutes for tens of thousands of square kilometers of land mass and even more oceans? And that’s just the continent we’re on. Unless Congress has decided to open up the entire planet to these extractors now?” His brown eyes flashed, and Lia suppressed a shiver. He was hard to ignore when he was agitated, and some dark part of her psyche wished he’d focus some of that intensity on her. Some near-painful twinges in sensitive parts of her anatomy accompanied the idea.