Hotter on the Edge by Erin Kellison Page A

which they will not do. Sol is too valuable. Occupation is part of the sector claim laws."
    "Is there no solution, then?" Lana implored gravely. "Will the violence continue?"
    Mica tried to lean back, but her wound wouldn't allow it. She broke into a cold sweat, too. "I would offer the plains people an alternative solution. If they are fixed upon inheriting Sol, then I would be willing to apply my expertise and put together a team of the best minds to bioform the human genome to be consistent with Sol ecology. It simply didn't work the other way around. But this way, they would become heirs to Sol as much or more than I am."
    Lana all but scoffed. "That seems like a faraway and troubled solution."
    Mica would've huffed back at her if it wouldn't have hurt, but Lana had been selected to conduct the interview because of her reputation for giving everyone, without regard to wealth or rank, a hard time. The Sol family was after credibility.
    "It's the only new solution I have at this time," Mica said. "If anyone else has alternatives that don't include slicing me or my family, I'd be happy to hear them. This one isn't so far-fetched as you might think."
    "Not far-fetched for someone who felt high enough to play god."
    Mica leaned into a protest. Pain had her snarling. "That's not fair. I know Sol inside and out." Slept in wombat dung just the other day. "And there are case studies in which ..."
    But Lana held up a hand. "Obviously there are no viable solutions to be had at this time."
    "If you'll just consider ..." But Mica could see it was no use. She made a mental note that if she ever did inherit Sol not to offer a controversial solution to a controversy, and she wondered if she was doing anything to appease the miners, who didn't care a scrap about the scavengers. She doubted it.
     
    ***
     
    Simon opened his eyes when Pilar burst into his serene room, in a flurry of color and light. She tossed a small metal disc onto the wall, and that half of the room altered into an intimate space with two seated women talking to each other. Media bobs darted around their heads like bloated razor bugs. It took a second for him to recognize the woman on the right.
    "Mica!" he called, burning sound through his chest. But of course it was an in-progress comm. She looked like she'd just spent a day on the run in the King's Valley jungle—pale, sweaty, panting. "She needs to get back in bed."
    "Yeah, she's drooping badly. And she's terrible," Pilar said. "She's been talking about frankensteining the scavengers. Looks more and more like a mad scientist too."
    Mica looked beautiful to him. Alive. Well. And talking shop to an unwilling audience. He could listen to her forever. "Not to worry. It's obvious that that media person is about as smart as one of those bobs."
    Pilar gave him an exasperated look. "Mica's supposed to be calming the masses."
    Simon smiled again at his brainy girl. She'd just claimed to know Sol. Simon would've liked to correct her: she was Sol. Contrary and wonderful and dangerous. This world needed her.
    But the Starcaster bitch had to go.
    Pilar's expression altered to mischief. A glint in her eye.
    "I'm listening," Simon said, though he was filling with dread. Still, anything for Mica.
    "She'll kill me."
    Simon was sure Mica would. "Just say it."
    "You fought so hard for her." Pilar's voice clogged. "Do you have the strength to give the comms a better end to the story than Mica's science?"
    "She knows what's best for this world," he said. Eventually others would consider her solution and see how smart it was.
    "Well, duh," Pilar answered. "She's clearly the brains. Your job right now is to look pretty for the bobs. Cut a heroic, man-of-the-people line and save all our collective Sol asses."
    Simon grinned, remembering the set-up to Pilar's and Hakan's engagement. "If you can get Mica naked in this bed, I'm happy to get naked with her." Maybe Pilar's scheme had been more fun than calculation. Yes, get Mica in his bed;