Queen by J.S. Fields

Author:J.S. Fields
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: LGBTQIA+, sci-fi, action/adventure, lesfic, scientists, kidnapping/abduction, sand pirates, beetle riders, crazed bunnies, spaceships, AI shenanigans, grief/grieving, HFN, intersex
Publisher: NineStar Press, LLC
Published: 2022-04-27T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

The discovery of the electronics-grade silicon dioxide on Queen during the equatorial terraforming project came too late. The domed settlement had already been established, the land within terraformed, a culture blossoming. Earth governance—a group of loosely elected leaders from the remaining functional countries—asked the colonists to relocate first. Then bribed. Then begged.

Finally, they forced.

The colonists fought back.

Ember

Ember hadn’t had a good night’s sleep since Earth, though there’d been a handful of years spooned around Taraniel that it’d been okay. She awoke well before anyone else, Nadia so soundly asleep that drool leaked from the corner of her mouth and into her hair.

Ember took the corner of her sleeve and wiped off as much as she could. She’d spent a lot of time braiding that hair, or pulling it, depending on the situation. Nadia had such a sensitive scalp. No need to exacerbate their problems with tangles.

Her sister didn’t stir, even when Ember cautiously lifted her head to put her folded blanket under it. Even when Ember warmed her own hands with her breath and put them over Nadia’s, trying to gauge how cold her sister was in the thin colony shirt and only moderately thicker mella pants. Nadia’s fingers felt cool but not icy. Ember could only just see her breath if she deeply exhaled. She’d fallen asleep before the AI’s report was ready but didn’t need it to see they were screwed.

Ember didn’t know anything about spaceship mechanics. If it didn’t use photosynthate she’d, traditionally, tuned out. But the residual heat trapped inside the flyer wouldn’t last forever. They needed heat, which meant they needed the greater ship systems working, not just the AI, which sounded like it ran on its own independent power source. Kate was their engineer, right? Wasn’t that what she’d said during their foray to the snow side where conferences and intergalactic politics were playing out? Meh. They needed another option, a quicker option than tinkering, and they needed it soon.

Ember threaded around chairs and flailed limbs to the back of the cockpit. She slid her hand into the crescent indent in the door and tried to slide it right. It didn’t budge.

“Hey,” Ember whispered to the wall. “Unlock the door.”

The AI didn’t answer.

“AI,” Ember tried again.

More silence.

“Tara. You there?”

When the ship still didn’t respond, Ember put her palm on the scan pad to the left of the door and watched the gel beneath turn red. Of course, she wasn’t keyed to access any of the ship, but it had to have sent a message to—

Ember?

Ember didn’t like how the AI’s voice made her feel as though she was drowning in sunlight. Other parts of her body responded, too, which was a whole separate problem. At least the AI had whispered. Ember needed a few minutes alone before the crew woke.

“Could you open the door?”

Of course.

The pad turned green. This time when Ember tugged on the door, it slid easily into its pocket. Cold air hit her face, and she shivered. Breath and bodies had kept the tiny cockpit warm.

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