head back, watching the tall buildings brighten toward the tops. Windows were lighting up throughout the residential towers, blazing warmly as people returned from their jobs and settled into their home lives. A gentle breeze swirled down the street from behind me, and I drew in a breath that tasted of humidity and summer. We tended to forget about seasons on board the Endeavor.
Determined to enjoy the rest of my walk on such a warm, pleasant evening, I steered my crate around a bunch of cats all lazing on a quiet section of the sidewalk. They made me smile, even though the big dark-gray one eyeing me looked as though he would give me one hell of a fight if I disturbed them.
Cooking smells snuck down a side street and made my mouth water. A cat meowed. Music came from somewhere. It was too bad we had to leave Albion 5 so quickly. I wasn’t quite sure why exactly, but I liked this place better than I’d liked any planet in a while.
Maybe it was Susan and her devotion to old books, or the anonymity of a huge city, where I could both hide and get lost. Maybe it was the warmth and sunshine and the infinite adorableness of Bonk.
Or maybe it was Shade Ganavan, Space Rogue, the first man in ages I’d wanted to undress.
Walking steadily but without hurrying, I mulled over the disappointing unlikelihood of undressing Shade, given that he hadn’t made a single move in that direction the previous night. I’d thought he might, that he’d been about to, but then he’d gone quiet at the end of our outing and quickly dropped me off.
I would get over it. I’d certainly gotten over worse.
I eventually reached the bookstore and quietly knocked, since the lights were dimmed and the door was locked. Susan opened up for me, took one look at my large hover crate, and directed me around to the back.
Once there, I steered the crate through a double-sized loading door and into a mostly empty storeroom, let it touch down, and powered off. Susan closed and locked the door again, and I finally relaxed. I was off the streets. I’d arrived without incident.
Susan shifted from foot to foot, seeming giddy with anticipation and looking ready to tear open the crate. Her eyes shone brightly under the harsh overhead lighting, and her sunburst hair bounced. Her eagerness put a smile on my face and fed my own excitement now that I wasn’t so anxious. I’d already looked at the books myself, but now I could share them with someone who cared and who would appreciate them just as much as I did.
I punched in the security code I’d set earlier and then pushed the button that would retract the door. Susan immediately leaned closer to see what was inside.
“Can I help you unload?” I asked, stepping back to give her more room.
She nodded, and we took turns taking the books out and stacking them into the empty bookcase that Susan had made available for them.
I’d managed to read a few of the novels before we’d stumbled onto the floating lab and all hell had broken loose, but they were new to Susan, and she looked reverently at each one, treating them like the historical treasures they were. It was our duty to preserve them. Humanity had a rich past that spanned time and planets and that the Overseer was trying to beat out of hearts and memories because it didn’t serve his goals.
“Great Powers,” she said in awe, holding up a dark leather-covered tome with gold lettering. The edges of the thick paper were browning and not quite smooth, as though they hadn’t been cut by a machine. It was clearly ancient, probably from a place the book had outlived by far. I’d admired it as well, when I’d discovered it in my haul.
“I never thought I’d see something like this in my whole life. I think…” She looked over at me, the book clutched like a baby against her chest. I could have sworn there were tears in her eyes. “I think this book alone is worth more than the five thousand you asked.”
Despite Susan’s obvious distress, her words took a big load of guilt off my chest. I’d been feeling awful for taking advantage of her preserver’s spirit and charging her so much.
I unloaded another book and slipped it onto the shelf. It was actually a lot more than a simple bookshelf; it was a