Chapter 4

Chapter 4

“ O h, I miss coffee already. Any chance you could pretend your first sip is of the best coffee in the galaxy, so I can pretend to live vicariously through you? I’m so sick of herbal tea, or plain milk,” Anna said, her gaze fixed on Primula’s coffee cup with such longing, Prim almost handed it over.

“Why can’t you have coffee?” Prim asked, taking a careful sip. She didn’t even need to pretend. Eden had better coffee than anywhere else she’d worked. Maybe because the fresh roasted beans were grown right here in Eden Labs, and the rich flavour carried all the caffeine she’d need to get her through the rest of a hectic day. Everything had to be perfect.

Anna glanced around, then stepped in close. Close enough to take a deep breath of the steam from Prim’s coffee cup, which she held for three blissful seconds, before reluctantly releasing it again. “Valentine and I are going to have a baby. We only found out a few days ago, and it’s too early to share the news yet, but I’m determined to do everything right. No alcohol, no caffeine, no soft cheese…fish are okay, because there’s no risk of heavy metal contamination in the Colony, unlike back on Earth, but there are so many other things I can’t eat. Including liver, which I’ll be happy to avoid. Not that there’s much of that here, with the limited livestock and all. Anyway, please don’t tell anyone. It’s sort of a secret.”

Prim nodded dutifully. Who would she tell, anyway? It wasn’t like she had any friends here, aside from the people she worked with, and even they weren’t particularly close. She hadn’t had friends since she first hooked up with Trafford, who’d disapproved of all of them. He’d said they all talked about her behind her back, saying the most awful things. Things that had probably been true, come to think of it. But at the time…

“Is that why you’re going to Delta?” Anna asked.

Prim blinked. She must have been too lost in her own thoughts to listen to what Anna was saying. “What?”

“I asked if that was why you decided to go to Delta. So you could spend all that time alone with the big D.”

Nope, now she really was lost. “The big who?”

“Daedalus, the big D, of course. Eden’s resident Romeo. From all the rumours running around after the last office party, he’s gifted in all the right ways, if you get my drift, and if I didn’t have Valentine, and was looking to hook up with a hot Titan, he would definitely be my first choice. Maybe you’ll even get lucky and he’ll get you in the family way, too, so you’ll be eligible for the baby bonus. We could be pregnant together!”

Prim just shook her head. “I’m not dating Daedalus. Where did you hear that?” She’d heard some strange rumours around the office, up to and including human clones working in the labs, which she knew to be impossible, but this one had to be the strangest story she’d heard yet. Daedalus had never looked twice at her. Why would he, when he could have any woman he wanted? He probably already had, given he’d slept with three different women on the night of that infamous office party.

“You’re better than dating him. You’re going to be alone with him on the Burro all the way to Delta and back. On the ship with the biggest beds in the whole system, because it used to be Princess Vesta’s pleasure cruiser before Eden Labs bought it. Promise me you’ll tell me if the Big D really is as big as everyone says he is…and if he’s truly as divine in bed, too.”

Maybe Anna’s pregnancy hormones were messing with her brain. She had to be delusional to think Daedalus would even look at Primula, let alone sleep with her. “I’ll spend the whole voyage taking care of my fish. Nothing’s going to happen.”

Anna looked sceptical. “Oh, you say that, but it’s a long trip, and you can’t spend every waking moment with your animals. You’ll have plenty of time for recreation…especially on the return trip, when you won’t have any animals to distract you. Well, except for the sexy beast of a pilot…fifty credits says you’re riding his joystick before you hit orbit.”

Prim sighed. When her colleagues started placing wagers, there was no point in trying to convince them otherwise. “And fifty credits says I don’t even see his private parts, let alone get close enough to measure anything, for the whole trip.”

Anna slapped the break room table. “Done!”

Lilith entered the room. “What are we betting on?”

“That Primula and Daedalus do the deed while they’re alone together on the Burro .”

Lilith rolled her eyes. “I wouldn’t take that bet. Big D’s been making sheep’s eyes at her for months, even before the office party. Rocail thinks he only slept with Lulu, Eva, and Vega to earn a reputation as a good lover, to improve his chances.” She set her cup underneath the spout, and pressed the button on the coffee machine. She turned to face Primula. “Make sure your birth control injections are up to date before you leave. Most condoms aren’t rated for zero G.”

Primula choked on her coffee. “I’m not going to have sex with Daedalus!”

“Then you’re crazy. He’s hot, he’s single, you’re single, and you’re going to be alone together on that ship with nothing to do. Live a little. Life isn’t just about work.” Lilith glanced around. “Don’t tell Rocail I said that. I need to get back, before he notices I’m gone.” She hurried out of the break room, coffee cup in hand.

Anna regarded Primula over the rim of her cup. “She’s right, you know. You should have a little fun, and not work so hard. If Daedalus isn’t your type, join one of those speed dating nights popping up at various pubs in the Colony. It’s no fun to be alone.”

Anna would know. She’d thought her husband was dead, killed during the war, until his body had turned up in an emergency escape pod, just before Valentine’s Day. Now the former war widow was expecting a baby with her resurrected husband.

But it wasn’t the same for Primula. Anna was pretty and smart and doing the impossible, bringing species back from extinction. If her husband hadn’t come back, she wouldn’t have stayed a widow for long. Whereas Primula was…always going to be alone. Definitely not hooking up with Daedalus, or anyone else.

At least she had her fish. Maybe when she won the bet with Anna, she’d use the money to buy a fish tank for her apartment, so she could have fish both at home and at work. Then she really wouldn’t be alone.