I couldn’t remember. Were you supposed to brace by holding onto something, or relax your muscles when heading into a crash? ’

Surely, I’d read something about this.

The scream of metal twisting around us almost blocked out Xander’s curses as he fought with the ship’s controls. We skipped and bounced as he jerked up, trying to level the craft out.

It’d been just seconds since the alarms started, but already my head ached, like they’d been screaming forever.

I closed my eyes, but that didn’t make it any better.

Just as I thought I couldn’t take the waiting anymore, we hit, the sudden smash jolting every bone in my body. My nails bit into my palms, and with long screech and hissing sound, the ship slid, finally coming to a shuddering stop.

Xander leapt from the pilot seat and had me unbuckled and in his arms before I could blink. “Gotta get out. No idea what’s gonna blow on this thing.”

“I can walk.”

“I know, babe, but the question is can you jump?”

I looked around, confused, and disoriented.

Somehow in the crash I’d failed to notice we had rolled on our side. The portal gaped open, but was now at the top of the rocking bridge.

With two quick bounds Xander carried me out to the lip of the hull, then off again, to the planet waiting outside.

Gently he put me back on my feet, and I swayed slightly on the unfamiliar surface.

Sand.

I looked around. Unbroken stretches of desert unrolled before me off to the right.

To the left lay long dark covered rows, almost as far as I could see.

No other ships were anywhere near us.

“How far are we from the landing field, anyway?”

“I don’t know, I quit looking.” Xander answered. “I was just trying to get us a down in more or less one piece.”

Lifting up onto my toes, I kissed his cheek. “And we are, so I’ll take that for today’s victory.”

“Looks like someone’s heading our way.” Xander faced down the end of the dark rows towards something I couldn’t see yet, while the metal groaned, hissing as it cooled, sinking a fraction more into the desert sand.

My legs a bit shaky, I stepped forward, shading my eyes as the vehicle came into my view. It didn’t look official. But how would I know what official looked like out here? Who was I to force myself on this mission, come up with my crazy plan?

Maybe I should’ve stayed back on Outlander Terminal. Maybe I should’ve gone home to Orem

Xander stepped next to me and the tension in my spine unwound, just a bit.

Maybe I belonged right where I was.

The wreckage stopped shifting and sinking in time for the battered truck to glide to a stop before us.

If this was an official vehicle, the planet was poorer than I’d realized. Once upon a time the truck might have been green and blue, speckled and bright, but the beating sun had faded it to a mottled greenish gray, the fans of the hover-belt screeching as it scattered the sand below it.

A large shape emerged from the front seat, and Xander stepped in front of me.

“It’s all right, look again.”

The man’s steps were half shuffles, his tall body muscled with work, but bent with age. White hair, still thick on his head had been kicked every which way by the wind.

“Not much of landing there, son.”

“Sorry for the inconvenience,” Xander’s easy grin slid out, ready to be friendly with anyone. “Bought the ship secondhand, wasn’t as good a deal as we thought.”

Heavy trousers and layers of long-sleeved shirts protected the man from the biting sand. As he stepped past me to examine the crash-site, I caught a flash of movement in the cab of the truck. Someone else was there, waiting. Watching.

“Got anything in there you want to haul out?”

I stuck with our story. “Well, we’ve been hoping to fill her up with algae stock, so it was mostly empty.”

“Except some supplies,” Xander added.

“You’ve got water, and there’s any way to get it out, be a waste to let the sand take it.”

“Wait,” I called but Xander was already in motion, scrabbling up the side of the ship and sliding inside.

“Sir, I think we should step back a bit.”

“What do you think your young man’s going to do,” he cocked a bushy eyebrow.

“There’s no telling.”

I was glad he followed me though as there wasn’t much time between the call of ’beware below’ and the thud of the crates of water and rations we’d paid for back on Outlander landing on the sand.

The old man didn’t say anything, just nodded. “It would’ve been a waste. Better to take it with us.”

Xander rejoined us.

“Is this your holding?” I asked.

“Tillie and I have worked it for coming on seventy years now. It’s ours as much as it can be anyone’s.” He stuck out a hand. “Mills Jorsa. Always nice to meet new folks, even if they drop in on us.”

The joke was so bad I had to laugh.

Xander opened his mouth to introduce us, then paused, flustered. Damnit. He didn’t know what I’d picked for our names yet. I stepped forward, hoping my smile smoothed over any uncertainty. “Xander and Loree Meauneux. Nice to meet you.”

“We’re sorry about that,” Xander continued. “Didn’t mean to come down so close to your land. Is there a mech nearby that could help us haul her out?”

“Might take a bit, but we’ll see what we can do.”

The hours until the hiring freeze ticked off in my mind. “Sir, how far are we from Bartrowe?”

He scratched the stubble on his chin. “Hundred and thirty, maybe forty klicks. Pretty much due west.”

My stomach sank. I’d never be able to walk it, not in time. Probably not at all, even with my new improved legs. Xander could though. With the improvised ID in place he’d be able to get through and I could help remotely and-

“Know anybody that could get us a ride?” Xander interrupted my circling thoughts.

“Son, I’d be happy to, we’re headed that way in two, maybe three days. Need to get the harvest loaded up.”

“I’d be happy to help with that,” Xander said, even as I winced. Two or three days wouldn’t leave much time.

“Be appreciated.” The man looked at Xander’s shoulders. “Expect you could keep up with me.”

He headed back to the truck. “Come on, kids. Throw that water in the back and crawl in under the tarps. We need to get you checked in with Vang.”

I grabbed the smaller of the water containers, refusing to let Xander take all of them.

He tried anyway.

“Who’s Vang?” I asked.

“Well, he’s supposed to be the fellow that talks people down to to the port. Doesn’t seem like he did such a good job with you.”

“Not sure if that’s entirely his fault,” Xander said, lining the water boxes against one side of the truck bed, then lifting me in.

“Whether it is or not, it will be a fine thing to tease him about.” The woman’s voice, high and clear despite the fitness of age, came from the cab. “Sorry I didn’t come out to meet you. My legs don’t do so well on the shifting sand.”

Mills slid in to the cab. “Tilly, don’t fill those youngsters’ heads with any nonsense. Vang does his job as well as he can.”

“Which isn’t much, if you ask me.”

As we whipped through this desert I huddled against Xander’s chest. His arms pulled me tight against him as I fought to get my thoughts in order.

“What are you thinking so hard about?”

“Just worrying about time.”

“We’ll make it work.”

I looked up at the still oddly unfamiliar face. But he smelt like my Xander, his chest under my hands was my Xander. “Another one of your hunches?”

“No. I wish it was. We’ll make it work anyway. By the way, same last name?”

My cheeks warmed. “Didn’t bother to change our first names. Too hard to remember on such short notice. Too easy to slip up. It looked like a fairly conservative colony, at least in the beginning. Figured same last name might keep us from being separated. “

“No chance of that,” he promised.

Night fell quickly in the desert, and by the time we pulled into a large corrugated metal building I shivered despite Xander’s heat.

The click of unfolding metal caught my attention as we jumped to the floor. Mills helped Tilly slide into a mechanized walking frame and she stepped towards us, hands outstretched.

“Now I can say hello for real. Nice to meet you.” A broad smile made her beautiful, despite the years. “Not a bad job on the landing. I suspect it was trickier than it looked.’

“That’s all his doing,” I poked Xander. “Either his fault, or his credit.”

I looked around the warehouse. Dark hatches ran down one side, and I suspected they matched with the long covered runs we’d seen in the desert. Neatly stacked rows of waist high cylinders filled about a third of the space, but the rest seemed oddly empty.

“Those vats are what needs to be loaded?” Xander asked. “I can get started now, just tell me where to put them.”

“You’ll do no such thing,” Tilly snapped. “It’s suppertime. Growing boy like you needs his food, and Mills wants you to check in with Vang, foolish as that may be. Come on.”

I took the hand of my ’growing boy’ and followed the older couple through the darkened warehouse.

As we emerged into darkness I fumbled for a moment.

“Handrail to your left,” Mills said. “Mind the rise.”

My steps echoed as we walked on something hollow.

“Sometimes the wind comes up so strong the sand can blind you. Fast enough to strand you between the house and the shed,” Mills explained. “No getting lost this way.”

The hitch and clank of Tilly’s walker echoed softly. No getting stuck in the sand for her, either. Thoughtful.

The bridge entered a short coverage tunnel. The exterior door slid behind us, then the whirr of an air circulator sounded.

“Helps keep the dust down, just a bit,” Tilly confided. Cycle finished, the interior door opened. Light bounced from smooth curved walls, highlighting the rich textured fabrics that covered chairs, pillows and draped the entryways leading further into the house.

“These are beautiful,” I murmured, itching to stroked the deep cyan cloth on the wall next to me.

Tilly waved off the words. “Just something to keep me busy. When the winds up, we’re pretty much stranded in the house.”

“You can only play so many hands of tonk,” Mills agreed.

“It’s my turn to finish up dinner,” Mills said.

Tilly shooed him away. “Get Vang on the comm and our visitors checked in. I can manage to pull a meal out and plate it.”

She moved behind half wall and we heard a clatter of plates.

“Should we offer to help?” Xander asked.

“If she said she can do it, she can,” I reminded him, more heat in my words than I meant.

Mills nodded. “Don’t let the braces fool you into thinking she’s not stronger than anyone you’ve met. Besides she’s right, need to get you checked in.”

With careful hands he unhooked a brightly striped hanging to reveal a commpanel set into the wall.

“Don’t have much use for it,” he explained. “Better have it covered than let it stare blankly into the room.”

In moments a harassed looking young man appeared on the screen. “Mills, ain’t got time to chat. Somebody crashed somewhere out of town, SysSec is up my ass asking about it, but won’t let me patch into our own satellites, and nobody is answering hails.”

“Well,” Mills snapped, “if you’d stop talking and listen for a minute, you’d learn something. I’ve got your new guests right here.”

I stepped to the screen and waved. “Hi!”

The man’s shoulders slumped further. “Hello, ma’am.”

“Was it you I was asking about algae strains?” I shoved the chipper tone back into my voice.

“Yes ma’am, yes it was. Luckily for you, your new host can answer all about that.”

I pulled the tablet out of the bag and waved it in front of the camera. The screen was cracked but I’d still get it to operate. But this man, Vang, didn’t need to know that. “I wish I could send over the rest of our paperwork, but until we can get back into the ship I’m not sure what to do.”

“No worries,” he answered. “I can pull your basic identification from your flight documents. That’ll do. Now, can you explain the cause of the crash?”

I stepped away, let Xander take over. Machines I was good with. Comms I was a wizard at. Ships and engines, not exactly my thing.

By the time Vang was satisfied a bewitching smell wafted from over the partition.

“Don’t much care for those replicators,” Tilly said as Xander and I cleared the dishes. “Not that I mind using them. That be more than a bit hypocritical. For just a little extra effort and were all happier.

“But the carrots,” Xander argued. “If they’re not from replicator, how did you shape them?”

Tilly and Mills stared, then laughed. “We grew them.” Tilly said. “Doesn’t take much algae for the three of us,” Tilly corrected as Mills face grew stony, “two of us, doesn’t take much land. Algae makes for fine compost. That, time, and a little bit of hydroponics, and we get by.”

An awkward silence settled on the table.

“Sir,” Xander started, “would you mind showing me what we’re going to do in the morning? I always sleep better knowing what’s ahead.”

I squeezed his hand quickly. Had there ever been a time Xander couldn’t think fast enough to deflect whatever the day threw at him?

The two of them left, deep in discussions about haulage and lift parameters.

I ran my hand down the crimson runner draped over a side hutch. “Are your dyes from the algae as well?

“Different strains. Let me show you this one.” Tilly’s leg braces froze mid-step. “Dammit.”

“Do you want me to take a look at those?” I asked softly. “I know what it’s like to be dependent on something you can’t trust.”

I loosened the joint enough for her to move to a padded chair I suspected Mills had built for her, with a double set of armrests that let her pull herself down safely.

“There’s tools in that chest over there.” She rubbed her knees. “Should have everything you need.”

I pulled it out, found a set of micro-goggles and a driver and got to work. “Looks like a little bit of grit in some of the workings, and one of these servos fried. Let me see if I can reroute it.”

“If you’re handy with machinery like that, maybe you could look at the loader in the shed tomorrow.” Tilly pulled a blanket over her legs, opened up the side of the table near her and pulled out yarn, began to work.

“Well, I won’t be much help lifting those barrels.”

“We all do what we can.”

I reset the frame before me, flexed and tested them. “Almost done.”

By the time Xander and Mills returned I’d readjusted most of the joints in the walking frame. “Should be smoother now. Take less effort.”

Tilly put them back on, tested them herself, nodded in satisfaction. “Good work. Appreciate it.”

“Sweetheart,” Mills poured a glass of water and handed it to Xander. “I’ve made a bit of a bet.”

“Really.”

“This boy here thinks that he can have the crawler loaded with the season’s harvest in time for us to get to Bartrowe by dark.”

“I’d rather we managed it in time for you to be back home by dark,” Xander said. “You’re braver man than I am if you want to be stuck out in one of those storms you warned us about.”

“He might have a secret weapon, you know.” Tilly smiled at me. “Sounds like it better be an early night. Let me show you to,” Tilly faltered for a minute. “To the guest room.”

The frame working properly now, she strode easily before us, pulling back the drape from the third smooth arch in the hallway leading from the main room.

“Privacy booth’s one more door down,” she said. “I’ll call you for breakfast.”

I stared at the fallen curtain.

“The walls are pretty thick, but the door...” I trailed off.

“Isn’t really there. I noticed.”

I snuggled into his chest as he turned down the lights to a gentle glow.

“Do you think-” I broke off, as Xander spoke the same words. “You go.”

“This could be us someday? Maybe not the farming,” I clarified.

“Or the sand.”

“But how much a part of each other they are? That’d be nice.”

“Someday. But not yet,” Xander whispered, his hand running up my leg, leaving a trail of shivers in the wake of his touch.

I squirmed against him.

“The door, remember? There’s not one?

“You’ll just have to be quiet.”

“What? No!”

He moved down the bed, stroking and petting, teasing my nerves with every caress.

“I didn’t kill us today, I think I’ve earned a reward.” His hand drifted lightly over my folds, and I bit back a moan.

“I can think of other rewards,” I forced out, reaching for him, but he lightly batted my hands away.

“This is what I want,” he insisted, then slowly, maddeningly, licked my inner thigh from knee to my hot core. Then the other leg.

Soft kisses turned to nibbles, intensity increasing until I fisted the covers. He forced my bucking hips down, no escape from his devouring touch.

When he finally pierced me with his tongue, I held the pillow over my mouth to muffle my scream, helpless against the fire between us.