Chapter 18

Chapter 18

T hree days and nights, Primula slept without a single nightmare. Oh, she had dreams, but Trafford wasn’t in them. Daedalus was, though, occasionally with clothes but more often without. There had to be something wrong with her. Lusting after a colleague – if that’s what it was, because she definitely woke up wet, and once with her hand clenched between her thighs – was hardly appropriate. When she was off duty after an office party, maybe it was acceptable, but not when they were working in close quarters on the same space ship. Or in the deserted city, just the two of them, until she tumbled into bed, exhausted.

Luckily, Lothario slept beside her most nights, so she wasn’t even tempted to leave her bed to…do anything silly.

On the fourth morning, Trafford was back. Telling her she was useless and worthless and that her fish would die. Fury rose up in her, jolting her awake before the explosion. This time, she didn’t reach for the calming tea. Instead, she climbed into her work clothes and headed out to Delta City with her tablet.

The fish were fine. Better than fine. In fact, the first batch she’d released were spawning in the lotus lake. Swimming. Breeding. Exactly as she’d predicted and planned for.

The first viable aquaponics facility on an alien planet.

“Shut up, Trafford. You’re wrong,” Prim said aloud.

Dread curled in her belly, because talking back to Trafford always meant terrible consequences.

But he wasn’t here. He’d never be here. This was her home, not his. He was lightyears away, and he’d never tell her she was useless again.

A shadow moved down one of the side streets.

Primula had never seen anyone in the city before, but Daedalus had said there were other people on the planet. “Hello?” she called.

No response.

Past Primula would have dismissed it as nothing and run back to the ship. But fury at Trafford still galvanised her veins, so present Primula marched forward to confront her fears.

“It’s nothing. There’s no one else here,” she told herself.

Wait…was that…? A dark shadow perched on the edge of the raised canal that ran alongside the road. The hulking shape moved, and she knew.

“You monster. Stay away from my fish!” she shrieked as she tackled the enormous owl to the ground. It was bigger and heavier than she remembered, but she toppled it all the same. Only somehow she got tangled up in its wings and limbs and…one moment it was soft and feathery, then the next, warm and hard and freaking huge. And was that its…well, his, because girl owls definitely did not have anatomy like that.

“Get off me. I can explain,” Daedalus said.

Primula leapt to her feet. She’d mistaken Daedalus for an owl? Oh, stars, and he was naked. She’d had her hand on his…yep, there it was. She was pretty sure owls, no matter what their gender, did not have massive cocks.

“Where are your clothes?” she demanded.

He grinned. “In my quarters, where I left them. This is a Titan planet, after all. We’re a bit more lax about nudity than Humans, given the number of shapeshifters in the population.”

“Yes, but…” Primula’s mind whirled. Feathers, then skin. “The monster owl is you? You’re…what, an owl shifter?”

“I’m a tengu, actually, and the fish owl is my favourite form. Well, next to being a man. Opposable thumbs and the ability to speak are hard to beat.”

He was deliberately distracting her, just like he had the night she first saw the monster owl. That night he’d tricked her into spilling all her secrets, while hiding his. “I don’t care what you are. You’re stealing my fish! You’re just as bad as Trafford. No, you’re worse. He just said I couldn’t do this. You’re actively sabotaging me!”

Daedalus winced. “That is not true. Your own report says that tilapia don’t spawn once they get to a certain size, and that extra large and less active tilapia should be harvested from the system to allow more resources for the smaller fish. I’ve been sitting here for half an hour, trying to pick the fattest fish.”

“When did you read my report?” she demanded.

“When you sent it to me. The one with the maps. I had to know where to bring the tanks, and it made for good beach reading. I was a technician on the Titanic before I worked in Eden. It’s always been my job to make space ecosystems work. Understanding the plants and animals I’m meant to be building equipment for helps me do my job better. I mean, take the chicken salads. Normal chickens stay under the heat lamps for up to six weeks, until their adult feathers come in. Chicken salads run at a slightly cooler temperature once their leaves grow, and a normal heat lamp burns them. I had to build two different brooding rooms, but I did it. Just like I would have rebuilt the entire system here if your fish weren’t thriving the way they’re supposed to. But you didn’t need my help, you’ve got everything under control. The only problem with your system is that your fish breed like rabbits when they’re young and small, but once they get big, they also get lazy. Just the right size to become fish fillets. A perfect source of protein in the city’s aquaponics system."

The anger drained out of her. How could she have forgotten? She’d written the bloody report, but she’d never had a properly functioning aquaponics system to follow the protocol with. She’d spent all her time focussing on initialising the system, not on what to do if it actually worked.

“How many fish have you taken?”

He shrugged. “Overall? Maybe a dozen. Barely even a blip in the overall population. I’m sure you allowed for losses during transport. I just made those losses…selective. Fish you wouldn’t miss, because they were supposed to be removed from the system anyway. You’ll have to set catch quotas for the Delta City residents, or maybe just restrict fishing to minimum sizes, so the breeders stay in the system. There are a lot of Titans who like fresh fish, but the Mer have a monopoly on them in the Colony. Now, we’ll have all sorts of aquatic Titans clamouring to come to Delta City for the fishing opportunities. All thanks to you.”

“I don’t know what to say,” she said quietly.

Daedalus held out his hand. “How about joining me for breakfast on the beach? I’ll get the food synthesiser to make something appropriate for a victory celebration, dig out another bottle of champagne from the captain’s stash, and we can toast your triumph at opening the first functional aquaponics system on an alien planet.”

Primula placed her hand in his. “I’d like that. And I don’t know what a Titan celebratory breakfast includes, but I hope it includes pancakes. I haven’t had decent pancakes since…” Before she moved in with Trafford. After her dad died, because he’d cooked the best pancakes. “Since I was at school.”

“Pancakes it is.”