Blake had already left for his shift. She vaguely remembered him creeping about the room, dressing and downing a swift breakfast before kissing her forehead.
“Be good, go explore,” he’d whispered.
Drowsy and aching in the hips from their sexual exploits, she spent a few minutes under the mist of the shower, trying to wake up. What to do? Blake wouldn’t be back for a while. She dressed and with a sense of adventure growing, left the pod to see what or who she could find.
He’d given her a corporate credit card to order two new dresses. She negotiated the tunnels without becoming lost and located the small mall. The clothing store kept a stock of work clothes, a surprising quantity of sexy lingerie and basic women’s wear. No dresses. She asked the assistant, a young woman with waist length hair, about dresses. The online catalogue gave her a few options and Lysa, not being a tall woman, selected two above the knee and tight at the waist. Blake insisted whatever she picked had to show her ‘shapely legs.’
The woman swiped her card and placed the order. Lysa was curious—another wife—were they employed on the colony?
“If you don’t mind me asking,” broached Lysa, “are you married to a miner?”
She shook her head, frowning, as if Lysa had said something distasteful. “No,” she retorted. “My husband is part of the maintenance team for the habitat complex. He keeps all the life support functioning. Critical job. I came with him.”
A lifer then, not a Corporate wife. “You’re paid to work in here?”
“Yes, of course. We were both offered jobs. I’m not one of them,” she sneered, cocking her head over to a young woman examining bras.
Lysa continued to wander about the complex. She visited the gym, which had various machines for toning the body muscles. Blake had dropped a large hint that he expected her to look after her body and not let her muscles go to waste. The bar, with its chairs and tables, was devoid of activity. Too early in the day perhaps? No alcohol on the drinks list, but she didn’t expect there to be. Back on Earth, alcohol had become prohibitively expensive. Shipping it out to the Outer Rim worlds would cost too much and dru
nkenness didn’t fit well with safety protocols.
Her fingers itched to access the computer network. Blake hadn’t logged her in and pointed out she needed to make friends with humans before immersing herself in mining systems. She’d resisted the temptation to scowl at him, because he was right.
Returning home for a bit of lunch, she stared at the four walls. Loneliness would be a big issue if she didn’t find some way to occupy her time. She changed into her baggy pants and headed out to the Green Dome. A few hours cultivating plants would do her good.
Approaching the metal doors, she caught up with another woman, dressed in work clothes. “Hi,” she ventured. “I’m Lysa.”
The redhead turned and smiled, a warm greeting, which filled Lysa with hope. “Lysa. You’re Blake’s new wife.”
“Yes. As of yesterday.” She held open the door for the redhead.
“I’m Jen. Yuri’s wife.”
“So, you’re here to help make food for the colony?” asked Lysa.
Jen grimaced. “I’m here because unless I do another hour in this place I’m screwed.”
“Oh,” Lysa looked around the plant house. A few others were present. “I’m quite looking forward to keeping busy.”
“I can think of better ways of keeping busy, but until Yuri is off shift, I’m stuck in here,” Jen kicked the ground.
“What do I do?”
“There is a list of outstanding tasks displayed on the monitor over there. Pick one.” Jen pointed to a bank of screens by the door.
Lysa tapped on the screen, scrolled through the list and spied seed planting. She examined a plan of where to sow them and the location of the storeroom.
“Join me?” she suggested to Jen. “We can chat.”
“Sure,” Jen shrugged.
As they dug small holes in the soil, they nattered. Jen had been on the colony for three months. “You enjoy it?” asked Lysa.
Jen winked. “It has its moments.”
Lysa shifted on her knees, tossing a few seeds into the hole she’d made. “What did you mean about being screwed if you didn’t finish your quota here?”
Jen twisted her trowel into the ground. “You know. The dreaded punishment block.”