Earth Awakens (The First Formic War 3)

"I didn't know you. I wasn't working for your father when you left. I'm relatively new."

"But you would have missed me. We're old friends, remember?" He was kneeling at her desk now, his elbows on the desktop, his chin in his hands.

A shy smile. "I suppose."

"You suppose? Des, we're old friends."

"My name's Despoina."

"I know what your name is, Des. I'm using the shortened version. It's snappier. Close friends have shortened versions of each other's names. Like Lem. Do you know what Lem is short for?"

"Lemminkainen."

He raised his eyebrows. "Whoa, you didn't even have to think about that one."

She blushed.

"I usually have to give lots of clues, and people still don't get it. We need to put you on a quiz show. How did you know that?"

She brushed the hair out of her face, shrugged. "I don't know. I've seen you on the nets."

"So we are old friends. Good, you don't have to pretend to be happy to see me. I'm certainly not pretending." He pointed at his smile. "This is one hundred percent genuine, Des-induced glee."

Later, after dinner, as they rode in his skimmer around the surface of Luna, he had learned everything he needed to know about her. She was the daughter of the CEO of a big avionics company based out of San Diego that had a longstanding relationship with Juke Limited. Ukko and her father were friends apparently.

"You can probably fill in the blanks," she had said. "My father calls in a favor. 'Ukko, she's my girl,' he says. 'College degree. Good school. Very smart. She's got job offers, but I'd like someone I trust watching over her.'"

"That's sweet," Lem had said.

"No it isn't. My father's overprotective."

"It's better than overbearing. Trust me, I speak from experience."

"Anyway, your father was kind. I was mortified that my dad even asked. I really didn't have any other job offers. Not good ones anyway. But I didn't want a job as a favor. I was tired of my life being handed to me. Does that make sense?"

"More than you know."

"Anyway, your father said, 'She'll be one of my office assistants. It doesn't sound like much, but it's a great way for her to meet the senior VPs. They're always pilfering from my office staff. I don't force them to hire anyone. I simply give my office staff a chance to shine, and the VPs come begging for them in short order.'"

"Sounds like a respectable opportunity."

"I thought so, too. So I took it. And here I am."

Her bashfulness had eroded, and after another hour she had invited him to her place. Lem hadn't thought this through very well. He could have said no. Sleeping with her was not on the agenda. Despoina was just out of college. He was seven, eight years her senior. Maybe more. And despite his reputation on the gossip nets, he did not sleep with every woman he met. With Despoina, he had anticipated a nice dinner, some helpful, revealing conversation, and that would be the end of it.

And yet here they were, lip-locked in the kitchen the morning after with Despoina as giddy as a schoolgirl.

She broke off the kiss and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Let's do something fun today, go somewhere. I'll call in sick. You can, too. We'll take the skimmer out."

He didn't know what to say. "Where would we go?"

"I don't know. Where do couples go on Luna?"

Couples? This was veering into dangerous waters. Over wine, as he had expected, she had told him everything she knew about the State Department visit. The Americans wanted to purchase some of Father's fleet, weaponize them, and use them to attack the Formic ship. Father, according to Despoina, had named an exorbitant price he knew the Americans couldn't afford, and that had been the end of it.

It was nothing Lem could use against Father, and it wasn't even particularly interesting. All things considered, it was hardly worth the price of dinner. And yet, Lem had stayed the night anyway.

The thought suddenly repulsed him. While Victor's and Imala's corpses floated in space, while Chinese families burned under the onslaught, Lem had drunk himself silly and rolled in the sheets.