More amazing, Tal and Dek seemed to know them all. Answered them by name.

The worst part was that they all stared at her. Seemed to pick her out, wondering, peering, like she was some freak. Curiosity and judgment in those probing gazes.

It wasn’t the first time Kylee wished that, like her quetzals, she could make herself invisible. Nothing had ever made her this vulnerable and insecure. More than anything, she wanted to turn around, run full bore back to Chaco Briggs and her little house, and away from these prying eyes.

At the same time, everywhere she looked, she saw something amazing. Equipment she couldn’t name. Buildings of all sizes and shapes. Some of them imposing things of three stories. Who knew what might be inside? Incomprehensibly dressed people carrying tools whose purpose she couldn’t fathom. Children. Exotic vehicles.

And the sounds and smells! Her quetzal nose was quivering with the odors of chemicals, cooking food, composting excrement and urine, dust, and sweaty humans, while the high-pitched moan of electric motors, voices from behind walls, clattering and banging, and the rattle of machinery seemed endless.

If they’d just stop staring at me!

By the time they rounded a corner and took an even bigger street south, Dek was giving her a knowing smile, reading her expression of terror and excitement.

“More than you figured it would be, huh?” he asked.

“There’s what? A thousand people that live here? I mean, damn, Dek. It’s one thing to see the pictures. It’s a whole different thing to walk the streets and realize it’s all real.” She shook her head. “And places like Transluna? Okay, so I know it’s huge compared to Port Authority. And complex, but how do I get my mind around that?” She made a face, adding, “And the way people are staring at me? I feel like I’m naked.”

“You’re new,” Dek reminded. “Don’t let it get under your skin.”

“Yeah? Well, it is.”

Talina told her, “You’re out of your element. You’ve always been on your home turf where you knew the environment. What the rules were, the things to watch out for. Now it’s your turn to be the newbie. Like when Dek first came to the Briggs’ claim. Keep that in that knot-thick head of yours and remember that you’re the one who needs to learn now. Do that and maybe you’ll survive this with a little less drama.”

“How do you know what I will and won’t do?”

“’Cause I got too much of you in here.” Talina tapped the side of her head, eyes hardening. “I know what PA means to you. What you think of the people. But that angry and hurting little girl should have matured into a smarter and more balanced woman. That, or you never learned a damn thing from my memories.”