By Imperial Decree: ESTO Universe by Angel Martinez

Author:Angel Martinez [Martinez, Angel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Mischief Corner Books, LLC

Chapter Seven

"Are all residents station-born?" Shiro asked the question with half his concentration. The other half was busy fixating on the glove Keira had given him. The material on the palm turned red if he touched a ripe lime and remained an inert beige if the lime wasn't ready for picking.

"Most are." Dorae grunted as she shoved the hover-bin closer to them. "Not everyone, though. There's standards, but people do immigrate and apply for residence."

Bees made of light had invaded his head—an entire hive. They'd zipped around Shiro's brain in distracting ways ever since he'd kissed Marsh. Staying on one thought for more than a glimpse at it had become difficult. The bees were flame, sending warmth through him. No, they were glass and flashed mirrored reflections and prismatic rainbows. No, they were velvet, soft and insulating, filling up the empty spaces—

"Shiro?" Keira stood at the foot of his ladder. "They're very pretty limes, but they need to go in the bin."

"Oh. Yes." Shiro felt his face warm when he realized he'd been staring at the same lime for goddess knew how long and dropped the ripe fruit into the harvesting bin. Navigating his way through his head bees, he managed to locate the last thing Dorae had said. "I imagine immigrants are people with special skills?"

Dorae harrumphed. "Some kind of skill, anyway. We don't have the space for royalty to be lounging around everywhere."

Keira hissed in a sharp breath. "Dorae."

"What? He's not loafing." Dorae pointed pruning shears toward Shiro. "And besides, he has actual skills, if it came to that. Fine tools and such."

Keira still shook her head. "But yes, an outsider has to be able to demonstrate that they'll be beneficial to the community. And they'd have to be able to join a union, like everyone else."

"Are there…" Shiro hesitated, locating another ripe lime before he went on. "Are there many unions? Every job has one?"

"Probably not as many as you'd think. We're Growers Union, but that includes everyone involved in making food, even the lab folks who synthesize proteins."

Shiro tried to guess. "And Marsh is Mechanics and Engineers Union?"

"Almost." Dorae hooked the bin and pulled it to the next tree, the signal that Shiro should follow with his ladder. "Marsh is UEAMM. United Engineers, Artificers, Mechanics, and Machinists."

"Bit of a mouthful."

Keira's too-serious face might have been holding back a smile. "We would never tease him that they have to adjourn meetings once they get through the name."

"Never," Dorae added, equally solemn.

They glanced sideways at each other and broke into helpless snickers, and Shiro hummed a little laugh right along with them. This was… oh… dangerously comfortable, the way Marsh's mothers just fit so well together. The way they accepted Shiro as, perhaps not quite an equal since he didn't know enough, but as someone worth their time—it made him feel included, valued. So easy to think of the orchard as a cocoon of safety, a refuge from the life waiting out there for him.

The afternoon went quickly. Four harvesting bins filled with limes while Shiro tried to get his head bees under control.

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