Page 10 of Atlas: Colony: Nyx #5(Intergalactic Dating Agency)

TEN

Watching the Human girl's wonder as she danced around, staring up at the night sky, made Atlas's envirosuit grow uncomfortably tight in the nether regions. Well, she was a pretty thing, and any girl who appreciated the stars as much as he did attracted him on a whole different level to the physical, but he didn't have time to think about that right now. His focus, and hers, had to be on capturing the comet.

So instead of removing the envirosuit, like he normally would once he was back in the cool climate of the observatory, he left the bulky thing on and proceeded to give the girl a tour of the facilities.

"The staff bunkroom is through there. Bathrooms, too. You'll have the whole place to yourself, so pick any bed you like. Uniforms and protective clothing are in the cupboards along that wall." He pointed, then headed deeper into the facility. "Combination kitchen and mess hall are here. There's not much to cook, with only ration bars in the cupboards for now, but if you want anything else, the food fabricator can handle most things. It was salvaged from a cargo ship, so it's a pretty basic unit that delivers everything at room temperature. If you want your food hot, you'll have to use the microwave."

Peri frowned. "What's a food fabricator?"

It was his turn to frown. Did Humans not have those on Earth? How backward. He led her over to the fabricator, and activated the display. As he'd told her, it was a basic unit, rendered even more so by the absence of the Central Intelligence's database of foods and personal preferences. The one he'd had on board the Drakon could make a bigos hunter's stew so perfectly, he'd been hard pressed to believe it didn't contain real venison. Until the Central Intelligence had gone mad, of course. After that, all his fabricator had been able to produce was a tasteless broth with unidentifiable chunks of protein in it that bore no resemblance to any kind of meat. This one didn't have bigos in its database, so Atlas hadn't been brave enough to try to order it.

He owed the meowl a big bowl of treats for her discovery of the comet, though, and the fabricator could make passable sashimi. He dialled up a portion of tuna sashimi, then watched the display count down timer until the machine chimed and the hatch slid open. It was a person-sized portion more than a meowl sized one, but he knew from experience that the meowl had a huge appetite, especially for chicken or fish.

Peri screwed up her face. "Does it only make raw stuff?"

"You can explore the menu for yourself. Personally, I recommend the chicken Kyiv. The garlic butter isn't quite as flavoursome as using real, fresh crushed garlic, but it isn't half bad." He seized the sashimi platter, intending to head to the orchard so he could divest himself of the suit and feed the meowl, then realised he should probably show her how to use the telescope computers, so she could take the first shift watching the comet. Reluctantly, he set the platter down on the table. "First, let me show you how the observatory works, and what you'll be doing."

The longer he spent in her presence, the more uncomfortable his suit became. He needed to get away from her, and fast. This would be the quickest employee induction he'd ever given – thank the stars he still had the manual for her to refer to if she needed help.