ExSol Book 01, Ch. 01

A light breeze cut across the rolling plains of the planet of Ishtar. It dispelled a bit of the late afternoon heat, and the young woman stretched out on the hood of her rover let out a tiny, contented exhale.

The little device in Nina's pocket buzzed, and she was almost too relaxed to look at it. The green-tinted star that Ishtar revolved around felt nice on her face and she was glad for the opportunity to ignore her job and responsibilities just for a bit. She let herself pretend she was stretched out on a sandy beach instead of on her vehicle. A nice beach, not one littered with scrap metal. A beach where none of the sand had been fused into glass by high-energy weapons.

It buzzed again, and she sighed. She hadn't even thought she'd be in range of any comm towers out here, but maybe the clear weather was giving them a little boost.

She fished her hand terminal out of her pocket. It was a rectangular screen with a few pieces of electronics attached. It was a standard, mass-produced version that almost everybody carried a copy of somewhere on their person. Hers was pretty scuffed, scratched and busted up, but she refused to get it taken in and refurbished. Hers had character.

She unlocked it to see whatever it was that was worth interrupting her little daydream. Two messages. She frowned at them, thinking they might be from one of her idiot colleagues. Her frown vanished when she saw they were from her boyfriend, Robin.

1-10:21 Butterfly: 'Hey Miss Nina! I just had brunch with my moms and they were asking about you. I know they were super awkward when I introduced you and I'm so sorry but I think they were really trying today. Would you come have dinner with them in a week or two, maybe?'

1-10:23 Butterfly: 'No pressure though!!!! Love you