Planet Darmain

Kalene glided the hover skimmer and the hover trailer to a stop. She set it and the loaded hover trailer down in front the loading dock of Carter’s Trade Depot. The door at one end of the loading dock opened and Mr. Carter strolled out.

Kalene pushed open the hatch. She smiled at the white haired man and stepped down from the skimmer. The hair might be white, but he definitely wasn’t old. Hell, no one on Darmain was really old. All of the colonists were relatively young.

“Hi, Mr. Carter. I have our delivery.” She strode to the hover trailer and climbed up to start the lifter.

“Right on time. Where are your brothers this morning?” Mr. Carter pushed a rolling pallet over to the edge of the dock.

Kalene grimaced. Yeah, that was the question. Tavon and Lance should be delivering this. More often than not, they disappeared when there was work to be done around the homestead. So Kalene had to bring the load today and she’d go back and feed the animals.

“They’re around I’m sure.” Kalene shrugged.

Mr Carter nodded. “Well, let’s get you unloaded. I’m sure you have some work to do at home.”

“There’s always work to be done.” She smiled and swung the lifter arm out, placing the first bale on the pallet. The ecital fibers were bound into rectangular bales.

“Ain’t that the truth.” Mr. Carter nodded. “Never seems to be enough hours in the day.”

Halfway through unloading, a treader towing a trailer pulled up behind hers. Looked like Mr. Carter would have a busy morning. Better get this done so he could move on to the next customer. She hooked the lifter to another bale and put it on the pallet. The load of ecital bales was quickly offloaded onto the pallets. Soon the big trailer was empty.

“All right, Kalene, if you’ll pull up to the side and go into the store, I’ll have Sarina settle up with you.” Mr. Carter smiled. “That was a big load of ecital. According to the notes I have from talking with your brother, there might be another.”

“Yes, the southern field still hasn’t blossomed fully. We’ll bale it as soon as it does and either Lang, his bond mates, myself, or my other brothers will bring it in.” She smiled. Her other brothers probably wouldn’t do it, but she wouldn’t say that. There were enough fights about it between Lang, his bond mates, her, and Lance and Tavon.

“Kalene Sparrow. What the hell are you doing on top of that trailer?” A tall, black-haired man walked forward from the treader.

Damn it, just what she needed. Vann Denning. One of the only men who stuck his freaking nose in her business and wouldn’t keep it out. Well, him and the others of his bond-mates.

“I unloaded the trailer. Next, I’m pulling it forward to settle the account. You know wild stuff like that.” She rolled her eyes and turned away. They acted as if they had some say over what she did.

“Don’t be flip with me, Kalene. We told you not to risk yourself or to be doing things like this. It’s men’s work.” Vann stalked forward.

She sighed. It was work and if she waited on Lance or Tavon, it would never get done. Since Lang and his bond mates were on patrol for the pirates, she had no choice. The work couldn’t wait. And there was no one else to do it.

“You don’t tell me what to do. You don’t even know me. Thank you, Mr. Carter. I’ll see you again soon, I’m sure.” She hopped down and hurried to the hover skimmer.

“Keep pushing, Kalene. Your time is coming. If you’re hurt before we can get you, I am going to spank your ass.” Vann stalked up to the side of her skimmer.

“Yeah, yeah, I haven’t agreed to anything with you four. So, back off. You have no rights over me. I’ll do what needs to be done.” She grabbed the hatch.

“Your damn brothers weren’t there, were they?” He put his hand up on the edge of the skimmer.

“You’ve got your own load to get through. Mine is done.” She glanced at the hand in the way of closing the hatch. She wasn’t talking to him about Tavon and Lance. Those two were family problems and the family would handle them.

“Don’t think anyone in the colony will let them continue to do this. You think no one notices when Lang isn’t there, they don’t do shit. Leaving you to pick up the slack. That won’t fucking continue.” Vann stepped up onto the mounting ledge and cupped the back of her neck.

“Mind your business, Vann. You’ve got some work you need to do right at this moment. There’s another treader that just pulled up behind yours.” She glanced back at the loading dock and beyond.

“You are my business, Kalene. And we’ll prove it to you very soon.” Vann tugged on her hair before stepping down.

* * * *

Vann stalked over the hard packed paving of the landing area toward the first barracks. Until they managed to get a space station up and running, the first line of defense against the pirates had to be from the ground. One good thing was that it made talking to his bond partners and her brother easier. And he really needed to speak with Lang right now, because if something didn’t change, he was going to end up beating Lance and Tavon into the ground.

“Hey, Vann, I didn’t expect to see you here. Something wrong?” Penn strolled out the door but stopped.

Yeah, his friend and bond mate was probably surprised. Vann wasn’t due back here for three weeks and Quade would come with him then and Penn and Asher would be off their duty in a week. It was the first time they were all off at the same time in months.

“I need to talk with Lang.” Vann glanced a the door. “Is he in there?”

“No, he’s coming up behind you. He had to go talk with the commander. What’s wrong? You wouldn’t come here just to see us. I know you’re busy as hell back at the homestead.” Penn folded his arms across his chest. “Hey, Lang, Vann wants to talk to you.”

“Sure, is something wrong?” Lang, a redhead like his sister, stopped beside them.

“What’s wrong is your damn brothers.” Vann clenched his fist.

“Uh oh, what did Lance or Tavon do?” Lang straightened.

“It’s more like what they’re not doing. Still. I took a load of foa grain along with the ecital we had bundled to Carter’s. Do you know who was there before me unloading a big load of ecital?” Vann raised a brow.

“Ah, hell, Kalene? Tavon promised he’d take that yesterday.” Lang ran his hand through his hair. “Those two know we’re concerned about the attacks and want to keep the women close to home where they have safe places to hide.”

“Yeah, well, he lied or decided something else was more important.” Vann turned and paced away again. “And Kalene acted like there was nothing wrong with her being there.”

“Uh, Vann, you do remember that we agreed not to panic the females.” Lang looked up at the sky for a moment.

“Yes.” He tapped his hand against this thigh. What was Lang getting at?

“We told Kalene she should stay close to the homestead, but that’s normal. We didn’t tell her that we had intel that more pirate attacks were imminent. She’d handle it fine, but she’d also talk with other females who might not handle it as well.” Lang waved his hand. “To her, that’s information everyone should know.”

“Damn it, she’s not cautious in the first place. She needs to know that there’s some danger above the normal level. And deal with your brothers.” Vann clenched his fist.

“I’ll think of something to tell her that will give her a little more reason to stay home and I’ll deal with Lance and Tavon. Though Tavon was doing better. He definitely has shown more interest in settling down than Lance.” Lang nodded. “I’ll see if I can speak with them tonight.”

“Tavon’s found a woman or a group?” Penn leaned forward.

“I don’t know about a woman, but he was talking and spending some time with two other men, Cam Frelin and Mathis Bern. Said they seemed to have a lot in common.” Lang smiled. “It’s a good thing if it works out. They can claim land and start a home of their own.”

“Good. If anything happens to her on their watch, I will hold them responsible.” Vann scowled. No danger should touch their woman.