“Good lord,” Constance exclaimed, combing a hand compulsively through her sand-colored hair. “What’ve they gotten us into?”
“What do you mean, ‘not here?’” Constance Beckett demanded. “We can’t very well live on that iceball of a moon.”
“Not the moon,” Clyde agreed, following the younger woman’s gaze out the window. “The tower.”
“The tower,” Miss Anna repeated, her tone equal parts thoughtful and incredulous.
“According to your friend Lamont and the others that went over there, it’s got a breathable atmosphere inside. Not only that, but maybe even food and water too. They said they found something like a garden, believe it or not.”
“Maybe so,” Constance grumbled. “I don’t care if it’s got a five-star hotel with room service. It ain’t no colony.”
“A garden?” Tessa asked. “With bumble bees?”
“They don’t mean to leave us there,” Clyde explained. “Just until the ship’s been repaired. And not just the colonists—most of the crew will be going over too so that the whole ship can be shut down if need be.”
“Good lord,” Constance exclaimed, combing a hand compulsively through her sand-colored hair. “What’ve they gotten us into?”
Miss Anna gazed out the window, her eyes taking on that distinctive aspect of looking far beyond the tower, beyond the planet. “It ain’t our home, Constance,” She assured the younger woman. “We’ll move on.”
“I want to see the garden, papa,” Tessa said.
Constance took a step in the direction of the window, her mouth working thoughtfully as she regarded the glimmering copper profile of the tower. “It’s hard to imagine all fitting in there together, let alone living there for weeks. It looks like a needle.”
“Or a sword,” Miss Anna observed.
“It’s bigger than it looks from here,” Clyde explained. “Any given level of that thing is bigger than Westward, and it goes down for hundreds of miles. There’s no telling what might be in there.”
“You seem mighty enamored with it, Clyde Jackson,” Constance snapped. “Was goin’ over there your idea?”
“No,” Clyde assured her. “Spratt suggested it first. But look, Miss Beckett, at least we have options. What if something like this had happened out in deep space? Then we might be making some really hard choices.” He glanced down at his daughter, his mouth tightening.
The young woman nodded reluctantly. Then she asked: “Do they know what happened, exactly? And do they know it won’t happen again?”
Next: Innocent Bystanders