Starship Summer (Starship Seasons, #1)(40)

Some call it a miracle.

I call it the gift of the Yall.



I see Matt and Maddie almost every day.

They live in Matt’s studio on the far headland, and Matt has recently started producing work which, by his own high standards, he considers worthy of him.

This morning, as the sun climbed and the heat of the day rose with it, I was thinking of retiring to the veranda of the Fighting Jackeral for lunch, when Matt and Maddie strolled into sight along the red sands of the beach.

I sometimes wonder which is the most valuable gift of the Yall—the Golden Column, or the dermal barrier that allows Maddie a blessed week of being able to touch her fellow human beings, before she visits me at the Mantis to have the miracle renewed.

I know the answer, of course. You need only look at Maddie’s expression as she and Matt walk towards me along the beach, hand in hand.