Page 13 of Instinct for Disaster

“You are a refreshing new addition to my world, even though you are a citizen and not under my thumb.”

She chuckled and went on to another flower. “I don’t mind contract restrictions. I just find that acting for myself is more lucrative.”

“You do have quite the balance. What are your plans for it?”

She shrugged. “I will find options.”

“You would not have chosen this place if you did not have a plan. That I am sure of.”

She glanced at him. “My chosen family is here.”

“I have read your intake records. Your genetic family is here as well.”

She waved her hand. “Yeah, whatever. They tried to destroy everything I love when we could have lived quite calmly and safely on what I had put aside.”

“So, they murdered your animals.”

Cassandra nodded, straightened, and stared off into the woods. “They did. To have a dietary change. My sister-in-law and brother killed four chickens to have a splashy holiday. Those birds would have provided twenty-eight eggs in one week. It was cruel and wasteful. There would have been hundreds of more eggs from those birds if they hadn’t decided just to destroy them and my plan for survival. So, I left and took my other animals to a place they would be safe.”

“Your chosen family.”

“Yes. We took care of the surviving animals, and when the call came, we got confirmation that we could bring the beasts with us. We got the animals onto a shuttle and onto the station. Our group went through assessment and education, and we were separated.”

“You went to the mines.”

“I did.”

“You didn’t pay the bond on your biological family?”

She chuckled. “I did not. They are on their own. If I see them, they will be horrified that I survived.”

“Are any of them unattached?”

“No. They were all married when I saw them last. I can look them up when I get my own tablet.”

“There is one wired into your home.”

“Where are your guys?”

“I am imagining they found someone trying to occupy your home. They are extracting them and watching over the housekeeping staff who came to tidy.”

“So, you knew that there was someone there.”

“Yes, bond jumpers look for empty homes. They likely had no idea that they abutted my property.”

She heard a footfall and turned to see Kiddel.

Yasku’s attention was still on the flowers. “So, what do you plan for your retirement? Family? Children?”

“No. I have no draw to them. I prefer to work with animals.”

“Some say that offspring are little animals.” He nodded as he watched her hold out her fingers to a butterfly with fantastic colours.

“I have heard that. I don’t do well with children. They look for something in my expression and body language that isn’t there.”

“That is what nurses are for.”

“It was not an option on my previous worlds. I am content alone. It is calm alone. I can predict my own behaviours. Other beings, including children, are harder to predict.”

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