Serendipity (Book 1 of the Dana Halliday series)

EPILOGUE. THE EISK. SERENDIPITY COMES HOME.

The Sturv woman banged harder on the door with her stubby fist.

"I know you are here," she called. "It's time to repay your debt, my friend."

    A chorus of high-pitched, monotonous calls issued from inside the dwelling. Oh yes, the pet creatures; the Eisk liked to collect them, though his attraction to the irritating things baffled her.

    Whispery words brought her attention to a nearby window, which slid open to reveal four of the Eisk's bulging eyes. "What do I have to do?"

    "Very little, don't worry." The Sturv gestured over her shoulder. Far in the distance, the morning sun lit up the Earther colony, an improbable mass of towers and tubes rising straight up from the surrounding mountains.

"You shall seek services from these Earthers and bring them here." She showed a small tablet to the Eisk. "I have word they will be back very soon."

    "I...need no services from the Earthers," sulked the Eisk.

    The Sturv waved a disgusted hand at the dwelling. "Make an excuse. Perhaps you need something built or repaired."

    "Maybe." The Eisk sounded doubtful, somehow.

    "You shall contact me as soon as you know when they will be here. Don't try to worm your way out of it, brother. I shall know."

    "I promise." With that, the window slammed shut.

    Well, the Eisk were not known for their social skills.

    Once, she thought, I might have amputated an appendage for that. Being an officer on a battleship had taught her a measure of diplomacy, but the urge was still there.

    She turned and began picking her way down the rock-strewn slope to her vehicle. To herself, she grumbled, "We just missed them on Tirza 50, Kolqor fail us."

This entire star-damned task was a waste of her time.

    The drive back toward the Earther city was pleasant, though. It was a hot, dry day, reminding her of both her personal homeworld and her current permanent address.

    Earther city, she scoffed to herself. There were hardly enough Earthers off their homeworld to make up a proper city, so this Magnolia Base nonsense was a joke. It wasn't even populated by an Earth majority.

    "Don't be uncharitable," her own brother had once told her. "You know it's better for them to feel like they have a place they can control. Look at all their small colonies. They like to make rules."

    "Rules that cause them more harm than good," she had grumbled, though she certainly believed in discipline where it was due. And the Tirzens, who had given the Earthers this little corner of the galaxy to play with, were usually correct.

    Let new spacefaring species make their own mistakes, within reason, if that was what it took to make them learn. For instance, look at the Bruttar: dreadfully backward in so many ways, but they were managing to adjust without creating drama for every species they encountered.

    A descending ship soared overhead, also headed for Magnolia Base. The Sturv blinked up at it; she didn't need magnification to know who it was, but she took out her binoculars anyway. Despite its dull black paint and simple design, it pleased the eye with its streamlined elegance.

She liked the look of the old Kolchoc support ships.

    Serendipity had come home.

(TO BE CONTINUED...)