Very likely, it was both. They were poor in almost every resource, but the one they seemed poorest in was skills. They had more politicians and more unskilled laborers than they needed-at least at the moment. They didn’t have nearly enough trained soldiers. They had a handful of engineers and mechanics that were so specialized it left enormous gaps in the things they needed, a few doctors and nurses who had no specialized skills, theoretical and research scientists that were more interested in collecting data than actually inventing anything… and the list went on. They couldn’t seem to fix any damned thing that broke down without spending weeks or months pouring over manuals-when they could find them-and even then, more often than not, they couldn’t find the parts or tools to do the job.

    If their situation hadn’t been so desperate, it might have been laughable that their civilization had come so far and then lost virtually everything overnight.

    He dismissed the thought. They had the building blocks to survive-assuming they actually had managed to collect a moon to jumpstart Venus’ rotation. The planet should cool down enough without the oppressive gases and with a better rotation that they could settle fairly comfortably near the poles. It would still be hotter than any of them were accustomed to, but they would be close enough to conditions they were used to to be able to acclimate themselves to it-as long as they still had the technology to cool their environment when needed. They wouldn’t have seasons like the Earth did unless Venus developed a similar wobble on its axis, but that wasn’t altogether a bad thing, as hard as it would be to grow accustomed to. They would have more time for growing food and that was the most critical problem they were facing-food shortages.

    They had several excellent causes for celebration a few weeks later. Their transplanted moon was stable, Venus had achieved a rotational velocity that made the days a more acceptable fifteen hours, and they got word that the first payment from Earth for their land lease was on the way.

    They had mixed feeling about the latter. The food couldn’t have come at a better time when the Plutonian colonists were demanding to be allowed to move to Venus, but no one was really looking forward to having humans as close neighbors. Earth was close enough.

    Privately, Anka agreed with them. Publicly, he reminded them that they’d agreed to the terms and Sumpturians always honored their word-to the letter and with graciousness.

    Unfortunately, although he would’ve liked to have allowed them to actually celebrate with more than cheers, they couldn’t afford it until the Earth people actually did arrive with supplies, and the vessel bringing both the unwelcome neighbors and the very welcome food was crawling between Earth and Venus at a snail’s pace.

Chapter Thirteen

    Sybil watched the viewing monitor as the U.S.S. Cosmos settled into orbit around Venus, remembering the first time she’d come to the planet, fearing any moment that the Sumpturians would blow them to bits before they could report back to base. She didn’t think there was any chance of that this time, but the knowledge did nothing to tame the nervous quivering butterflies in her stomach. Unconsciously, she lifted a hand and coasted it lightly over the slight mound of her belly, remembering when Anka had appeared on the ship, remembering those first frightening hours on Venus, remembering the first time Anka had kissed her, the first time they’d made love to each other.

    She’d had nearly two months to do little besides think and she still had no idea what she was going to do beyond the fact that she absolutely refused to spy on Anka for her government. She didn’t believe he was any threat whatsoever to her country or mankind in general and she wasn’t going to betray the father of her child.

    She just didn’t know how she was going to protect their child and protect the father of her child at the same time.

    She still had trouble believing there was really and truly a baby growing in her belly even though she’d begun to feel feathery movements that told her she wasn’t just getting fat. As time passed she’d ceased expecting any day that she would miscarry and she’d allowed a tentative hope to bloom that it was alright and meant to be. She supposed it was that fear of letting herself accept when it seemed so unlikely that it was possible that made it so hard believe it was real and not some sort of strange dream. Soon it wouldn’t be hard for anyone to believe, though. By her calculations she was nearly half way through her term. There wouldn’t be any doubt once her belly began expanding, but for now no one seemed to have noticed and she meant to keep it that way as long as she could.

    It would give her time to figure out what she was going to do.

    It all depended upon Anka, really. If he’d lost interest in her or decided to simply ignore her because he’d taken a new lover then Meachum couldn’t expect her to report anything to him. That was the ticklish spot-just how vicious the bastard was. He might decide to have her sent back if she wasn’t of any use to him, in which case she might still be tried for treason and god only know what would become of her baby. She thought she might appeal to the Sumpturians for political asylum if he recalled her because she was more inclined to think he would want to punish her than let her go.

    She actually thought that might be her best course anyway-asking them to allow her to stay. It might be hellish living among a people completely alien to her, but it certainly wouldn’t be any harder on her than it would for her baby to live among humans.

    Unless it looked nothing like Anka. She found it hard to hope for that, actually, although she knew that would make her life easier. If it could pass as completely human, she might prevail on the Sumpturian government to take her back to Earth. The only upside to the chaos back home was that it was harder for the government to keep up with everyone than before. Of course, they tried harder than ever before, but between all the disasters that had forced people to move and the economic situation that also had everyone moving around, she thought she had a good chance of eluding them.

    The problem with that idea as a solution was that it could cause problems for the Sumpturians and they might not be willing to risk it for her sake-either by giving her asylum or helping her escape Meachum.

    And none of that was going to be an issue if Anka fell into their trap. She’d have to figure out some way to convince him to let her go to his quarters to escape surveillance. Then she could make up whatever she wanted to tell Meachum to appease him.

    It was awful to want to be with him and know that every time she was she would be risking discovery. Eventually, he would figure it out and he would hate her. As unhappy as it made her to think of him being with another woman, she thought that wouldn’t be as bad as the alternative. She didn’t want him to hate her.

    Sighing, she left the observation deck where everyone had gathered to stare at the world where they would be living for the next several years and headed back to her quarters. She’d packed her personal belongings up already and had nothing to do but sit and wait and think some more until she was summoned to the shuttle that would take them down to the planet.

* * * *

    The Earth people were certainly going to think they were delighted to have them, Anka thought wryly as he watched the excited activity of the crew that had been selected to prepare for the ‘welcome’ festival that had been planned. Not that that was a bad thing, all things considered. If they hadn’t been so enthusiastic about the opportunity to party they might’ve had trouble expressing any warmth at all and that might have created more animosity in an alliance that was already tenuous at best.