Ragna stared out the window of their quarters as the Merchant Marine ship dropped into orbit around her new home. As the ship turned, Ragna got her very first look at Oed V and her heart broke. It was so barren, lifeless. Revna couldn’t possibly be serious. There were two very small spots of green on an otherwise lifeless world. Revna could not possibly mean to settle here. She couldn’t know how bad this was. Did Seamus really know it was this bad when he took the job? There was nothing. Other than those two circles of green the world was a monotonous bland brown of dirt. Not even dirt, dirt was life and soil and the possibility of growth. Revna had lost her mind! No…no this was punishment for her outburst before Revna had to return to the Delta. She was being punished and now Seamus with her. He’d given up the home he had built with his own hands. No…Mike…Mike couldn’t possibly punish Seamus like this for her misdeeds. Revna wouldn’t either, would she?

She set her palm to the transparent aluminum window. No this had to be a mistake. Revna and Mike had made a huge mistake!

A distant roll of thunder growled just at the edge of her hearing. Ragna shook her head, thunder in space. She was loosing her mind. Revna had lost her mind, sending the clan out here! Her right eye twitched and there was a stabbing pain behind it and the low warning throb of a migraine. She stared out at the giant brown orb that turned slowly below them. She felt the ship jar and she looked up startled. They weren’t moving anymore. That must be the docking clamps engaging. Maybe? Or had the ship been hit by another one. There were SO many ships out there.

Maybe it wasn’t so bad? Maybe it just looked worse than it was. It would be better once they got to the planet. Seamus said it was going to be amazing. She took a deep breath and turned away from the window. She grabbed her bag, they would be hours in customs going through all the cargo they brought. She and Seamus were supposed to meet the agents in the cargo hold before they would allow them to have everything transported down. The captain had already arranged to have someone take them down. She plastered a neutral expression on her face, that Seamus would know was fake. She didn’t say a word though. She’d promised she wouldn’t say another word about it. She promised a year and he promised to take her home then if she couldn’t stand it. “Should we go?”

Ragna McKenzie