“Now that you mention it,” Marhtimid said, “I’ve always wondered about it, but I thought it would be rude to ask.”

He raised an upper limb above his head to reach the overhead light, adjusting it for the third time that hour.

Nadine glanced up at the overhead light and then down to her mission partner, her brows and cheeks rising. “I think I know where there is going.”

“Am I proceeding, or…?”

Nadine did a quick check of their telemetry on the tiny screen running at her left. “Go for it, Marty. Attack this delicate little human ego of mine.”

Read More Cosmic Cheesecake Dust