Claw: Colony: Nyx #3 (Intergalactic Dating Agency): Colony: Nyx, #3 by Demelza Carlton

Author:Demelza Carlton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lost Plot Press
Published: 2022-10-19T00:00:00+00:00

NINETEEN

Franny was thoroughly sick of farming. If she never had to fill a seeder again, she would die happy. Admittedly, she'd felt this way before she'd seen any of the rest of the Colony, but it grated even more now that she knew she could be in Claw's bakery right now, doing things she was actually good at, instead of planting wheat or potatoes or cabbage or whatever crops were supposed to grow in this field.

Rue would know. She actually liked farming, and she paid attention to the farm more than the people around her.

"So what are we growing here again?" Franny asked.

For a moment, she didn't think Rue had heard her. Then Rue said, "Rats," half under her breath, kicking at the soil, before she met Franny's gaze. "What?"

Franny repeated her question, and Franny frowned.

"Another wheat varietal. That's the fourth one this month. They're trying to find one that will grow in the light of a red dwarf sun, so we can use it to terraform Elysium. We haven't had a decent harvest from any of the new breeds yet, and I think they're starting to get desperate. But maybe it's not the wheat to blame. Maybe it's the rats."

Franny reared back, horrified. "There are rats here? In this brand new city, halfway across the galaxy from home? How is that even possible?"

Rue shrugged. "Same way rats got everywhere, I guess. On the ships that carried the colonists."

"Well, are we putting down poison? Buying a cat? Or one of those little dogs that kind of looks like a rat?" If they weren't doing something, no way was she sleeping in here. Not if there were rats. She'd sneak out to Claw's place and ask if she could stay with him.

"Donna hired a rat catcher to deal with them. I haven't seen any live ones since then," Rue said.

Franny breathed a sigh of relief. "So they're gone, then?"

"Maybe."

"Do you still miss home?" The question hung in the air, heavy as humidity.

"My home's gone. So's yours," Rue said, marching up the next row with the seeder.

"Yes, but just because they're gone, doesn't mean you don't miss them. Don't you..."

"The sooner we get a good wheat crop, the sooner you'll have flour to start baking again. I'll have a farm. You'll have a bakery. You can't change the past, no matter how much you want to, and the people...the people we wish were still there, at the home we no longer have, they'd want us to be planning for the future, not mourning the past. They'd want us to be happy instead of miserable. Wouldn't your mum want that?"

"Yeah, she would."

"What's the first thing you're going to bake, when you get your bakery?" Rue asked.

"Strawberry tarts," Franny said, ducking her head to hide her smile. Claw had given her one to take home, and it had looked so good, she'd eaten it before she arrived back at the Cantina. It had been years since she'd made one, but some things you didn't forget.

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