The Terraformers

by Annalee Newitz

The drones took off again, ignoring Destry. Whistle had a social life that he didn’t tell her about, and she didn’t ask. It was one of many nonverbal agreements they had that made their working relationship deeply amicable and pleasing.

Ha

The Great Bargain, they called it. A way to open communication with other life forms in order to manage the land more democratically.

reveled in the luxury of eating food made by someone else.

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Nil nodded and they walked to the hallway together, mounting the worn ceramic stairs to the sleeping quarters. On the first landing, they paused. Destry was on the third floor, and Nil was on the second. He embraced her goodnight and whispered in her ear. “Shall I join you?” She felt the familiar pull toward him low in her belly. It had been awhile. Part of her craved what he offered, but a bigger part was bone-tired. Destry kissed Nil’s warm lips and hugged him harder. “Another time, my friend.” She ran her hands up his arms and stepped back to appreciate the sweetness of his familiar face. “It’s good to see you, though.” He grinned easily. “Good to see you too, my friend.”

I like this friendship

“Unrated?” Nil asked. “No intelligence rating. We don’t buy into that cesspit logic down here. You’re either alive or not. That’s all that matters.” Whistle lowered his head to enter the tunnel, sending a quick text: I like the sound of that, Destry. She ran her hand over his neck. “So do I.”

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dry-land amphibians, moving easily between one gas mixture and another.

You cannot measure a person’s intentions, but you can measure their contributions.

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Maybe there were frustrations, but the only solution was to keep going. Keep contributing.

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One may celebrate the ancestors without approving of everything they’ve done.

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One of the reasons Sulfur didn’t date very much was that they couldn’t help falling a little bit in love with anyone who gave them an orgasm. It was exhausting and practically never led anywhere good.

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I don’t consider any of the sex I have to be casual. It’s very serious and well considered.

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Still aloft in the air were flurries of toys, foam figurines, fancy costumes—all the priceless baubles people accumulate over a lifetime of tiny celebratory moments to counteract their days of drudgery.

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It creates a swollen, stinky wormball of regulatory compliance issues, and forces you to have endless meetings with people who are only there because they won some popularity contest for idiots that they call an election.”

Ha