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"When the pod was going down," he says slowly, "I saw so other than the Icarus Went by too fast for h to knoaslike that have to be, to be visible like this?"

I draw in a slow breath, h the calculations "Each of those objects would have to be dozens of kiloht"

Tarver lowers hi my waist His voice is soft and warm by my ear "What is this place?"

I have no answer for hi moment I see us as if frorass, nearly sed by the vastness of the plains

At soht fell silent, and the treas it slows, and his heartbeat, and the breeze slipping through the long grass all around us, and eventually I sleep too

"Every planet has its eccentricities"

"That’s true"

"What did you notice about this one?"

"The lack of co to be unhelpful I noticed it was a terraforn of a local population I’ve been involved in six cans in two years, I never saw a planet without people before"

"What did you think of your prospects?"

"I was realistic about theht now too"

SEVENTEEN

TARVER

I WAKE UP BECAUSE IT’S RAINING A fat raindrop lands right behinddown to so cold I shiver and roll onto ht between the eyes

Lilac’sas I shift away fro noise, reaching sleepily after ister the raindrops as they connect with her skin, and she sits up straight with a gasp I’o to sleep wrapped around a pretty girl, there are so that you don’t exactly want htlyto look casual, and she’s staring across atalarrabbed for the Gleidel, and she thinks there’s soe One of them is still a little puffy, the skin bruised and dark where her face hit the side of the escape pod Then a raindrop splats against her upturned face, and she jerks back As I watch her flinch, lifting her fingers to her face and staring astonished at her wet fingertips, it hits me: she’s never seen it before In her world even the cli," I say, voice hoarse froht fro over and trying to shelter froienic?"

I can’t help it It starts out as a snicker, but I’, and there’s a tension insideso hard I can’t stop