Free Greenshift by Heidi Ruby Miller

Mari lived in was overwhelming.
    It smelled great, though, thanks
to all the flowering plants. In one corner of the foyer several large pots
spilled over with blooms in varying shapes and sizes of white and turquoise
petals while a blossoming vine twisted down from a wall-length stone planter
inside the living room.
    “You have a way with
foliage. Or do you have some kind of secret grow lights?”
    “I do monitor the lighting,
but it’s just the same lights you have in your suite.”
    Minus the aquamarine fringed
lamp shades.
    “I’ve been growing plants
all my life. But this was the first time I ever tried in space. You’d think
with the artificial gravity and light that it would be pretty much the same,
but the plants know. So they take a little extra coaxing to flourish.”
    “Your coaxing is working
quite well. They’re amazing. And so many different varieties.” He wanted
to ask her specifics about a couple of plants on a stand nearby, but she had
disappeared into the kitchen.
    Being within her living space
brought those waves of warmth back in a big way for David. Everything in this
suite had been touched by her—bare toes on the cushy rugs, a brush of her hip
as she passed by an end table, a subtle caress from her delicate hands as she
cared for each bit of flora. David ran a finger down a hanging vine whose
leaves looked like upside down hearts. They even had veins of red shooting
through the waxy green exterior. He swore an electric tingle moved through his
whole body from just this one little touch.
    Get it together, soldier.
    “I forgot I was out of
coffee, but how about a drunken chai?” She handed him a mug.
    He took a sip and almost couldn’t
swallow it, but forced the cloying liquid down his throat. “You like lots
of sugar in your chai, don’t you?” The sweetness nearly masked the
aftertaste of alcohol.
    “Like my mother always told
me, everything is better with sugar.” Mari sipped her drink and made a
face. So maybe she was realizing not everything was better with sugar,
like expensive small batch malt.
    “Sorry. Give me that.”
She grabbed his mug. “I really should have tasted it first. I’ll sweeten
it up a little.”
    David took both mugs from her and
sat them on the counter. “I think I’ve had enough to drink.”
    “Really?” Her sly look
burned right through him, impacting him below the belt. “Then I have
something to show you.” She took his hand and pulled him toward a room in
the back. His mind immediately filled with images of bare skin sliding across
bare skin, running his hands through her blonde hair, kissing parts of her he
had only fantasized about, and…
    She flicked on the lights with
her wrist reporter. “How do you like my lab?”
    David laughed, glad she hadn’t
been able to read his mind.
    Mari’s expression said she
couldn’t see what was so amusing.
    He rubbed her back and tried to
make the laugh seem like a natural response. “I can’t believe how great this lab is.”
    Her eyes narrowed and he could
tell she wasn’t buying his feint.
    “I’m sorry.” He kissed
the top of her head. “I wasn’t expecting a lab back here.” He looked
around for the first time, taking in all the equipment and more plants.
“Especially one so well-equipped. This must have cost a small
fortune.”
    “It did, and until Dale offered
me that job, I didn’t have enough money to keep it. Look at this.” She
dragged him over to a mini-hydroponics unit enclosed like a greenhouse. Three
white pipes hung down from a square unit in the ceiling. Small sprays of leafy
plants stuck out of the pipe on all sides at ten centimeter intervals, each one
holding a different type of greenery. Mari went about identifying them for him,
but David’s attention remained with her previous words.
    For once, he didn’t focus so much
on Dale, but on the fact that Mari was struggling to keep her livelihood, her
hard-fought independence. He couldn’t imagine the pressure she had