The Earthborns, grumbling at the rain they see as a nuisance more than anything else, stagger into the first buildings. The shipborns are panicked, but not so panicked that they’re willing to share space with the people from Earth. They race past the closest buildings, the ones the Earthborns chose, then pour into the ones behind the first row, packing each building so tight that there’s only room for them to stand as they watch the rain stream down over the walls.
I stop, letting the rain wash over me, and Elder watches me, bemused. I squint through the rain, trying to see the buildings clearly. They are ancient, far older than anything I’ve ever seen before. They remind me of the cave dwellings at Mesa Verde, the way they pop straight up out of the stone of the hill.
“Find shelter!” Emma shouts as she runs past me. She and the military are going to each building, checking them, trying to make sure that everyone’s arrived safely.
Elder starts to pull me toward the closest building—the one packed with dozens of shipborns all standing, shivering together.
“Let’s go this way,” I say, pulling him in the other direction. It seems stupid to cram together with others when there’s so much space here. So many empty buildings, with rain darkening their pale, dusty exteriors. Elder hesitates, but I slip my fingers through his, and he grips my hand in reply.
We climb the stone steps to the next level. The buildings are nearly all two stories high, with the second story smaller than the first, making a square deck. The path is paved with large, flat rocks and is as wide as a country road—a small car might be able to squeeze between the buildings if it weren’t for all the stairs, but two people can easily walk side by side.
Lightning flashes.
The buildings all look hollow inside, dark, and despite the fact that there is no glass in the window or doors at the entrances, the air inside feels musty and stale. The gaping maws of the doorways remind me of monsters’ mouths. And suddenly I don’t want to go farther. I don’t want to be here at all. Because these houses are the perfect size for people, but we’re supposed to be the only people on this planet.
When I stop, Elder tugs at my arm, pulling me into the nearest building. “This happened often on Sol-Earth?” he asks as another roll of thunder bursts out overhead.
I grin at him. “Not all the time, but it happened,” I say. “Isn’t it great?”
Elder looks at me as if I’ve completely lost it.
“At least it’ll be cooler after the rain,” I add. “On Earth, in the summer, it’d get really hot, and then there would be a quick thunderstorm. This must be Centauri-Earth’s summertime. ”
“So summer is a tim
e of terrifying thunder and fire from the sky?”
I laugh, but when I see Elder’s serious, I bite it back. “Not usually, no. Trust me, it’ll be over soon. And it’s not dangerous, not really. ”
To prove it, I step through the doorway again, twirling in the rain. I tilt my head back, looking up as the drops falls down, spinning fast on the slick stones.
Elder catches me before I fall.
The rain pours down. We’re both soaked, and the rain is falling so hard that I can feel it in my scalp.
“This is loons!” Elder shouts over the downpour. “We need to get inside!” He tugs on my arm, trying to pull me into the shelter of the closest building, but I tug back, pulling him closer to me.
Another flash of this lightning. The world illuminates for just a split second—I can see each glittering drop of rain as it falls—and then another huge crash! of thunder.
I don’t think anymore, I don’t feel. I don’t have time to be gentle or shy.
I just kiss him.
My lips press against his, my arms weave around him until we are so close that even the raindrops don’t slip between us. My fingers tangle in his hair, then slide down the back of his neck. His arms tense, tightening his hold around me, pulling me closer, closer.
All my senses burst into life: the feel of cool rain, the thunder cracking overhead ringing in my ears, but it’s all overwhelmed by the sense of Elder filling every pore of my being.
I see, through my closed eyes, another flash of lightning. It electrifies me—and Elder. He kisses me with passion that can only be described as voracious. I clutch at him the same way he clutches me: with a feeling of need, of longing, of insatiableness.
Always in the rain.
I stand on my tiptoes to reach Elder’s lips better, but I lose balance, slipping on the wet stones. Elder’s grip on me is so tight, though, that he easily lifts me from the ground, spinning in a slow circle, his laughter weaving in between raindrops to splash against my heart.
* * *
I shiver, my rain-darkened hair hanging down in clumps as the downpour ends as abruptly as it began. Already the sky is lightening, the air cooler. I lean back, blinking in the soft light of the twin suns.
“What is it?” Elder asks, and it’s only then that I realize I’ve sighed aloud.