She thought her head might break. Did he just give me something positive?

It didn’t take long for them to finish eating. They all transported to the far east coast of the continent, to Boullish, the next largest city the bugs had attacked.

The scent of the flowers was still wondrous, but they were different here. There were more purples and blues. The trees had large orange leaves. Others had yellow and green striped leaves the size of what you’d see in the tropics. The temperature was cool, yet the scenery was fantastic.

Something within Viera yearned to spend more time on this planet. The garden-like world of Abritos meshed with her soul. While she connected with … the magic? The soul? The something … of the planet, the others found another Double Dome Ped.

Once they found it, the next few hours were a repeat of the morning, down to there being no krottel found.

While they ate under the glow of two of the three moons, Viera couldn’t imagine how tired Thorn and Juniper must be. She leaned against Thorn, enjoying the contact.

I wonder what the three moons are called? What is it like having three moons? And one of them is pink!

Thorn sipped the wine someone brought down from the Ziner. “If I can get the others to agree, would you like to visit my home, and if it’s still in habitable order, stay there with me tonight?”

A warmth blossomed in Viera. “I would like that a lot.”

They finished their meal, and Thorn headed off to speak with Horax and the crew of her ship. After several minutes, Thorn returned. “Okay, they’re ready to transport us to my home.” Her eyes shone, but her hands trembled.

“Are you sure you’re ready?”

Thorn bit her bottom lip. “I don’t know.” She shook out her hands. “I’ve been dreaming of this day for so long, but what if it’s destroyed? What if it’s overrun by bugs? What if it’s uninhabitable?”

Viera wrapped her arm around Thorn. She was exhausted after their day, but she knew how important all this was to Thorn. “Then we’ll figure it out together.”

***

Thorn lived in Roxillion, a town close enough to Traxton she could take a Pedesterizer into the big city for the day if she chose. The day the krottel attacked, she’d transported into the government building to save time. Despite the close proximity, the pedal bikes weren’t always more convenient.

When the world stopped wavering and dripping like a watercolor painting, they stood in an underground road. The tunnel system amazed Viera. Riding in the back of the dome bike, she mostly had her eyes closed, searching for the krottel. Thinking of them, she did a quick search … nothing. Phew!

The walls, ceiling, and floor glowed with lines and specks from the roots, bacteria, and small animal life that emitted a type of bioluminescence. Most was a light blue, almost a cerulean, though some glowed green and light purple. It was bright enough to read by, as long as the typeset wasn’t too small.

Each tunnel she’d seen was as wide as the small street she lived on back home on Earth. Barely wide enough for two cars but plenty large enough for the Double Dome Peds. The ceiling wasn’t too high, but she couldn’t reach it, even if she stood on tiptoe.

She could feel the excitement emanating from Thorn. “God above, Viera, I’m home.” Hand trembling, she reached out and tapped a pad by the door. The door slid to the side and a wave of stale air wooshed out. Thorn’s hand waved back until she found Viera, and then the two walked in.

Chapter 20 - An Unexpected Date

Viera

The first room of Thorn’s house was a large open space with a glass ceiling. After years of disuse, the wind had blown dirt, large orange-and-blue-striped leaves, and other natural detritus over the surface. There were small areas of blue sky that peeked in but, for the most part, the room was dark and impenetrable. It smelled a bit stale, like the air hadn’t circulated in years … which it probably hadn’t.

“Wait here,” Thorn whispered, as if she didn’t want to disturb the quiet of the room. Their hands, that had so recently clasped together, slid apart. For a moment, Viera felt alone as she heard Thorn shuffle away, her body nothing but a shadow against the light from the road.

After a few moments, Viera heard tapping. “Panel, bring up lights.”

At first, nothing happened. A sense of dread and sadness filled Viera. There had been such hope for this adventure, for Thorn to arrive home and show off what was hers. They’d both known it may not work, but they’d tried to ignore that possibility. Everything else had seemed so promising so far.

The planet was clean of krottel in the two major cities. According to both Thorn and Flower Prancer, that was enough to start moving the ships in that were a few hours out. They’d stayed out of range of the planet so as not to start an accidental war. Now that it seemed the krottel were gone, they could bring the military in and use the high-tech sensors to do a deeper-penetrating sweep for the bugs.

The lights in the room turned on, shocking Viera from her thoughts. “They work!” she said happily. The room was large, similar to a great room on Earth. A large living room area in which Viera could imagine Scout and Thorn spending evenings together, reading and discussing their day. A small dining table adjacent to a kitchen.

Thorn turned to her with a smile. “Yeah. The system had to reboot after being turned off so the krottel couldn’t access our technology. I forgot we’d done that.” She faced the wall again. “Commander Firoza to the Ziner.”

“Ziner here, is your location secure?”

Thorn shot a glance to Viera who nodded. “Affirmative. The panel in the house works and there aren’t any krottel within sensory range of Pillar Kor.”

“Sounds good. We’ll keep an eighteen-hour watch on the coms. If you need anything, someone will be available. Otherwise, enjoy your leave and time at home, Commander Firoza.”

“Thanks.” She shut off the link and sighed. “Panel, start a cleaning session of the roof.”

There were a series of beeps. “Cleaning session has begun.”

Thorn’s shoulders dropped. “Okay, now that that’s done, let me show you my home.”

The wall with the panel was across from the main entrance. To the right was a huge room which appeared to be a kitchen, though it wasn’t like any on Earth. One counter had a downwards slant, as if it were a sink. Controls like the shower were at one end … to clean things? There was also a faucet … for water? There was a peninsula jutting out with seats along one side. A dark panel lay in that counter. Is that a stove … or heating unit?

Thorn moved around touching all the items. “I miss this room almost most of all. I used to cater my baked goods, a bit of savory with the sweet … I know, you know that, but the thought of making you a meal in my home on my world fills me with such joy. I’m hoping the panel can produce some basic stock items. If not, I'll call the items from the ship.”

Viera tilted her head. “The Ziner has a kitchen. Why not cook there?”

Thorn’s face contorted and she shook her head. “Up there I’m the Commander. If I’d started making food, people would’ve lost respect for me. I needed to maintain the air of command.”

The pain behind Thorn’s words stabbed Viera to her soul. She walked over and enclosed the other woman in a hug, protecting her from anyone who would see her as anything but the wondrous, dynamic, and intelligent beauty she was.

Thorn cupped Viera’s face in both her hands and gave her a slow kiss before stepping away. “Okay, now for the rest of the house.”

On the other side of the main room, there were several doors along both sides of a wide hallway. The first on the left was Thorn’s office. Then a bathroom. The last was Scout’s bedroom. Much like his on Earth, it was filled with books and knickknacks of things he loved. Thorn walked in and touched some items. A fuzzy creature Viera didn’t recognize, a book, and a figurine. “These were Scout’s favorite things. In the rush, he didn’t have time to grab them. I should bring back his favorite book and toy, see if he remembers them. I know we’re returning soon, but families won’t be top of the list, even if I am the Commander.”

Slipping up next to her, Viera wrapped an arm around Thorn. “I think that’s an excellent idea. Though Scout will be jealous you got to come home, he’ll love that he got a piece of his past back.”

On the other side of the hallway was the master suite, as they’d call it on Earth. A bedroom/bathroom combination with a huge walk-in closet. The muted earth-tones of light browns, greens, and blues relaxed Viera right away. “I love it!”

The two took a moment to stand and appreciate the room. Thorn sighed. “Okay, I’m going to get some new linens from the panel. If you can make the bed and clean up in here, I’ll get dinner made. We have our bags, so if you want to shower, getting a soak wouldn’t be a bad idea. There is a layer of magic on Abritos, just not as thick as on Earth. You’ve done a lot today and you need to replenish.”

They embraced before they each went to do their own thing. After her shower, Viera almost melted at the scents floating in from the other side of the house. “God above, that smells divine.”

She quickly dressed, finding a black cocktail dress and black flats in her bag. Along the wall between the main room and kitchen was a table. Thorn had set it. Two plates, two water glasses, wine, and candles.

Viera gaped at how beautifully her lover moved in the kitchen as she finished the meal.

“If you could come and find two wine glasses. They’re in the cupboard above the sink. I think we’ll be ready to eat.” Thorn winked as she brought a large dish to the table with something Viera didn’t recognize, but her stomach growled, letting her know it very much wanted it.

She found the glasses, and at the table she filled them. They both sat, and Thorn served a pasta-looking meal with a protein.

“What is this?”