Page 1 of Claim
Chapter 1
“—So then he tells me, he sang it perfectly tuned to my pleasure and it won’t stop vibrating until I do.”Kinsley blushed so red, it clashed with the bits of badly colored hair wafting down around her as June snipped away.“And I guess that’s when I blacked out.”
Across the little workroom table, Adeline—her well-kept locks currently hidden in a deep conditioning turban—giggled.“He could probably sell hundreds of those at the Luster.The universe needs all the pleasure it can get.”
June brushed away the last of Kinsley’s dye-fried ends and stood back with a satisfied sigh.“Nowthisis a pleasure.Look at the lighter streaks I found and some pretty curls too.”She sifted her fingers through the strands, making them bounce.
“You are as much an artist as Sil.”Kinsley turned her head side to side, admiring herself in the mirror Adeline held up.“I forgot I had some blond in there.”She snorted.“The only gold I ever had, and I covered it up.”
Adeline smiled, happiness radiating from her like sunlight through space.“We’re all finding our fortune out here.”
June smiled back.
But deep inside, a little black hole remained.
Adeline had found Teq, his protectiveness perfectly matching her mothering instinct.Kinsley had found Sil, and the two were clearly meant for each other, both of them clever and focused.Two of the other four Earth women who’d signed with the Intergalactic Dating Agency—Anne and Maria—had also chosen three orc mates between them, while the last two—Mary Louise and Carmen—were still happily dating among the crew.
Leaving June the only one still unmatched and unhappy about it.
But desperation wasn’t a good look on anyone, so she kept her hands busy.“Is Ollie still liking his hair?”At the seven-year-old’s request/demand—with his mother’s approval—she’d recently added streaks of electric blue to his fine, brown hair so he’d “look like an orc” with their blue-bronze hues.
“Loves it,” Adeline said.“He’s been helping Teq refurbish theDeepWander’s hatching chamber.”
Kinsley let out a little gasp.“Hey, is there something you’re not telling us?”
Adeline shook her head.“No.At least, not yet.But seems likely that the ship will have its first non-cloned baby at some point.Amma says the orcs don’t produce seed-tokens until they are happily mated, so…” Her smile turned a little sly.“Maybe it’ll just be a surprise.”
June had read the IDA handbook cover to cover—twice, or maybe three times.There was some uncertainty about how long a hatching might take, since it would be the first known Earther/orc baby.While the IDA had done extensive testing to ensure compatibility between the species, there were always surprises.
Surprises were scary.
See, hair didn’t do surprises.Sure, there might be unexpected damage (nobody ever wanted to admit to their stylist how much they’d screwed up, as if she wouldn’t notice the moment they walked in for their appointment) or a cowlick that revealed itself once the work was underway, but those weren’t really surprises, just previously unknown realities.Even the worst hair issues could be fixed with the right style, cut, wig, or a good moisturizing sunscreen for bald heads.
Deciding to join the Big Sky IDA had seemed like finding the best stylist ever: someone with knowledge and experience to choose the perfect look.
Instead, so far, dating in space was more like accidentally crimping chewing gum into over-bleached hair with an iron missing its grounding prong while standing with one foot balanced on the toilet rim.
Not that she’d ever done that.
She would never over-process.
Keeping up her usual cheerful conversational flow, she checked Adeline’s mask then softened Kinsley’s long bangs.She’d had a spa day with Carmen a few day cycles previous, and it all felt very…usual.
Just another day for a hairdresser in space.Getting everybody ready for the upcoming Luster.Not that she was like Adeline, who could’ve been Cinderella she was so beautiful.And not like Kinsley who sometimes acted like a tough evil stepsister.Not even like the other Earth woman who’d all found their places so readily.Nope, she was just regular ol’ June.
Wow, that sounded kinda bitter.Maybe she needed a clarifying shampoo herself.
She’d just finished her friends and was sweeping up when her door comm chimed.“Mag,” came the gruff identification.
The three of them looked at each other before both Adeline and Kinsley blinked at June.
“Well,Idon’t know why the apex is here either,” she said defensively.Not that she could read minds, but holding a hairdresser license was basically a PhD in figuring out what people weren’t saying.
But since the biggest orc was the ruler of the ship that was her home, she quickly approved entry, and the door slid open.
Mag didn’t just loom.He didn’t just fill the doorway with his broad shoulders—all four of them.When he took a step inside and straightened, antennae unfurling and the hard carapace at his back partly flaring, like a dark cloak, he dominated everything.
Of course he’d been born to rule the orcs, but did he have to besobig?He made her feel small, and she was already the shortest of the Earth women.She didn’t need to be even more inadequate, thank you very much.
