Chapter 38: Conversations

“What do you mean?” Vesta frowned.

The happiness of the moment crashed to a halt. Rycer looked pained, and took a breath.

“Vesta…I…”

“Condra Tae! Condra Tae!” Rolet came running to the commander. “You have a message…”

With a parting glance at Vesta, Rycer said, “I’m sorry…”

The commander took off at a run back to his space jet.

“It doesn’t matter if they are human or not,” Mrs. Fraser’s friendly voice broke Vesta’s poor mood. “Serious conversations are difficult to have.”

Vesta’s neighbor put her hand on the young woman’s shoulder.

“Come on, you’re having supper at my house tonight.”

Pushing Rycer’s words from her mind, Vesta retired to the Fraser’s house. First, however, she had to grab Merlot and put him in their house to prevent the cat from eating any more bugs. The pet seemed to have developed a voracious appetite for outerworld insects.

She returned to help prepare food for supper, and lost herself for a while in catching up with their old neighbors.