Chapter 51

They had one week. One glorious week of being the family she'd always wanted. The one she never had.

In the evening, she and Koby spent time with Karo, playing games and watching videos and movies, of which there were plenty digitally stored. Many of them from old Earth.

At night, once Karo went to bed, she and Kobrah fell into each other's arms. Making up for lost time. Getting in as much pleasure as they could because, though neither of them spoke about it, they knew it couldn't last.

Their serious moments came in the daytime when they crawled over every foot of the citadel. They'd yet to find anything out of place. Every room they checked, every item was in pristine condition. Every single system working.

The only thing that appeared old about the citadel was the outer hull. And Dara was in no hurry to clean it. First off, there appeared to be a ridiculous amount of barnacle clinging to the hull. Also, thick layers of what tests proved to be skin. Shredded lake-monster skin.