Shadow Of The Past Trilogy ∞ THE DISPLACED

121 ∞ first night on the moon

[Mature for intimacy]

Day Twenty-three ∞ Early Saturday morning (PST)

WEAVER TOOK FIRST WATCH while digesting his meal. The sisters had retired to their ships along with their boyfriends, and the other men stretched out on the benches between the ships. But Eckstein was still awake, writing in his journal.

Weaver stood in the center of the dome and looked up. The area around their camp and vehicles was illuminated by he couldn't see what, but it was swallowed up by the dense darkness above. Casting his gaze around, he decided to take a round outside the perimeter.

He activated his helmet and exited the bubble. Skirting toward the back of the shield, he found a section of the smooth cavern wall. His headlights extended the circle of visibility, but it was only by his heads-up display he could ascertain where the cavern ended at the entrance shaft almost two clicks away. He reached the other side of the dome and continued past the gentle curve of what he assumed was the fore of the ship-in-the-making. It already rose two stories, and its surface was alive like a slick mud pool filled with busy organisms. Midway, he found an opening, and he shone his lights inside. Dots of minuscule movement glimmered as far as he could see into the dark.

He stepped back, about to continue his walk when his HUD alerted him of a movement behind his left. Swiveling to face it, he relaxed his arms. It was that strange girl bouncing toward him. She hadn't approached from a distance, or his HUD would have registered her sooner.

"Don't touch, don't enter," Artemae said with her unwavering cheerfulness.

Weaver hadn't planned to do either, even if he hadn't heard the instruction. "Funny, my wife says the same thing all the time," he said at the spur of the moment, curious how this girl would respond.

Artemae halted to look up at him and cocked her head. "You're not married."

"Yeah, true. But I'm guessing she'd—"

"Why would you say an untruth? It serves no purpose."

"I was just being sarcastic. You know." He lifted a brow. "Sarcasm?"

She tilted her head the other way. "Why?"

"Nevermind." He waved it off. "I have no intention of doing either."

"Oh." Then she smiled suddenly at him. "Okay." She studied him for two more seconds before she turned away to continue skipping. After a few paces, she left the ground, floated to the other side of the cavern, and disappeared, both from view and his HUD tracking.

Weaver grunted, shaking his head. He didn't think he'd ever understand that girl. Scanning the surroundings, he decided to continue his patrol by air.

∞

Refreshed and wearing T-shirt and boxers, Danny exited the hygienic. He stepped barefooted across the soft cabin floor to the sleeping bench where Mickmi sat sideways with legs folded, looking outside. Sliding up to sit behind her, he wrapped an arm around her. Her ribs heaved with a deep sigh before she relaxed against his chest.

Outside, the hull of the growing mothership stretched out of sight into the darkness. The two excavators formed an opposite boundary of visibility. Danny couldn't see a ceiling or any walls—it was as if the cavern didn't exist. On the left side of the viewport, a set of glowing numbers showed the external readings.

Stroking Mickmi's hair away from her neck, he asked next to her ear, "How long before it's operational?"

"I know not. But it will be long before it grows to its final size."