Free Shifter Planet by D.B. Reynolds Page A

the initial crash landing, not to mention people. Families and loved ones, specialists of all kinds. They had to prioritize. Simply surviving became everything.”
    “I know, sweetling. I understand.” Her mother stood up and rested her cheek on top of Amanda’s head, one hand stroking down the length of her braid. She straightened, then kissed her on the forehead and both cheeks before walking over to the closed door, where she paused with one hand on the control.
    “You will write to me, Amanda,” she said, looking back with her best stern mother expression. “At least once a month. And I will write to you. It may take months for the dispatches to wend their way through the various uplinks until we find each other, but we will do it anyway. Promise me.”
    “I promise,” she managed to choke past a throat thick with emotion.
    “I will not lose you,” Elise said. She punched the door open and stepped into the hallway, and Amanda heard her mutter as she walked away, “Not you, too.”

    A manda stood on the landing field, watching as technicians loaded the last few pieces of equipment that were going back up to the ship. Everything the fleet was leaving behind was already secure inside the blocky, gray building the engineers had constructed to hold the new computer facility. The enclosure was functional, and ugly as sin. It stood out among the other buildings of the capital city like a troll among elves. She knew it was necessary, that the dull walls and reinforced ceiling carried heavy shielding to protect the delicate new equipment. But she couldn’t help wincing guiltily every time she looked at it, as if she was somehow personally responsible for bringing this visual blight to Harp.
    The people of Harp hadn’t complained, though. Most of them seemed thrilled with the new facility, as well as the fact that the planet would now be on the regular trade route. In practical terms, that meant a supply shuttle would visit only once most years, twice on rare occasions. Cristobal Martyn had made it clear that Harp would not be open to tourism of any kind, and they didn’t have enough exportable goods to justify any meaningful commercial traffic. No one on the planet seemed to mind that either.
    Cristobal had issued a carefully worded statement on behalf of the Harp government, acknowledging the gift of the computer facility, and welcoming the renewed contact with Earth. And all while somehow managing to avoid even the tiniest hint of regret that the fleet was moving on, or that future contact would be brief and infrequent.
    In fact, while the people of Harp had been kind, if not exactly welcoming, to Amanda and the rest of the team staying behind, she was convinced that they could hardly wait for everyone else to be gone. Rhodry had certainly made no bones about how he felt that day in the forest. He wanted them gone. And after that disaster, she could hardly blame him. Although, she’d wondered more than once if he knew she was among those staying. It was impossible to think that he wouldn’t, but he hadn’t sought her out. Nor had he said a word to her on the few occasions they’d been in the same room since.
    She thought about all of this as she watched Guy Wolfrum fussing over some last minute piece of cargo being left behind. He was dancing around the poor guys carrying it down the ramp, as though it contained his most precious possessions. Which maybe it did. She shook her head in renewed amazement. Commander Wolfrum was now just plain Guy Wolfrum, PhD. She’d found out just this morning that he would be remaining on Harp along with her and two computer techs. That would have been surprise enough, but apparently Nakata had objected to his decision, and so Wolfrum had resigned his military commission in order to stay.
    Speculation was rampant that Wolfrum had found one of those friendly Harp women her mother had warned her about that very first day, and that he was staying behind for love.
    She hoped the