"All right," said Da’kea, coming up beside . I was lying down on the couch in front of the fireplace, just staring at the fake flas like they held all the answers to the universe in them.
And maybe they did.
Maybe the answer to everything was to burn it all down and start again.
Scooping up, he walked us over to the other end of the living room, where there was the smaller, round table with six chairs. Each one of my guys was sitting in one, the only empty chair being Da’kea’s. I wondered how out of it I had to be not to realize that they were here.
"Here is the list of planets that are suitable for habitation," continued Da’kea as he settled in his arms and passed a tablet.
"I don’t know why they did that," grumbled Jun Li over the speakers. "I had found you the perfect place to live," he continued. I stiffened. I hadn’t quite forgiven Jun Li yet, even though there was nothing to forgive. The ship was a physical representation of him; if he didn’t want in it, then that was his choice.
"We want to give her options," grunted GA, not looking up from where he was scrolling through his list.
"Is there anything that is a necessity? Or even sothing that you wanted to have?" asked Ye’tab, looking at , his face full of concern.
I thought about what he had said.
This was going to be my forever ho. I wanted it to be absolutely perfect.
"I want seasons," I said without thinking. But on Earth, there was nothing I enjoyed more than the changing of the seasons. Especially fall into winter. It wouldn’t be ho without seeing all of the leaves changing color.
"What else," asked Midnight as he typed sothing into the tablet he was working on.
"Waterfalls and forests," I continued, getting more and more into this. I wanted to be able to walk out of my ho and see a waterfall. It was one of those fantasies I had always had. Honestly, I had never even seen a waterfall outside of pictures or comrcials. And who didn’t want to go for a walk and get lost in the woods?
"Nothing too hot or too cold," I smiled as the guys nodded. "Things for you guys to hunt so that you will be happy there, up, preferably a prebuilt ho; I don’t want to have to wait to move in... but no place where there are a lot of people either."
I was getting so into my list that I didn’t even notice the guys stopping what they were doing to look at . "What?" I asked, cocking my head to the side when I could feel their penetrating gazes.
"You want a planet we could hunt on?" asked Da’kea like it hadn’t even been a possibility.
"Of course. I know that we will still have a bunch of ships. But I don’t want you to be long for long periods of ti." I dropped my head and studied my hands. Was that too needy for to say? Would they be upset if I didn’t let them go off-world to hunt?
"Never mind," I said, quickly shaking my head. "We’ll have to find a new ship for you if Sha Shou decides to take off and leave you stranded, but you can go hunting on whatever planet you want."
Da’kea nodded his head but didn’t say anything. He and GA shared a look before both of them went back to studying the list in front of them.
"I don’t want it to be too dangerous," I started before realizing that that might seem stupid. I was pretty sure that I was going to be bringing my own nightmare and Istar bunny with , so dangerous was a relative term. "I just want it to be safe for the kids to go off and explore on their own without having to worry," I explained.
"Makes perfect sense to ," grunted Raguk. "And if the planet is big enough, and if you are okay with it, I can settle my horde on the other side of it so they would have a place to call ho."
"My crew wouldn’t mind taking a part of the planet, too, if there is enough room," added Midnight. "I know that they would be happy never to see the inside of a ship again if they could."
"We might even be able to find a place to ho Princess if that is what she wants," pointed out Ye’tab.
I studied the males my DNA called to in a way I had never done before.
It just hit . I was creating my own world. Was this the way my ancestors did it? By finding a planet and letting those who need a ho settle down with them? There was actually sothing calming about the whole thing.
"Then take off any planets that currently have a population. We will find a place that is just for us and those we accept," I said as the rightness of it settled into .
All six n looked at before dropping their heads down to look at their tablets.
No one said another word for a long ti.
"I think I have found it," said Tha’juen slowly, studying his table. "It is at the very outer edge of the known universe, but it has everything we want. There even appears to be four structures in four different points on the planet."
He handed his tablet with the planet pulled up, and I looked through it. It looked almost like Earth, but the water was a light purple color instead of blue. The forests varied depending on where you were, and there were even mountains and waterfalls in the pictures.
It was perfect.
But if that was the case, why had no one settled there before?
"Jun Li," I called out, "Can you take us to this place?" I asked, holding up the picture of the planet to the lens so that the AI could see it.
"I can," agreed Jun Li.
"Let’s go ho then," I said with the first genuine smile on my face in a while. I had a ho.
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