No scarf tonight?" the captain asked, pointing at Solara's neck.
"I guess you finally beat that cold virus."
"I don't believe she had a cold," Renny said thoughtfully.
"I'll bet it was the Hoover flu. You know, named after the old vacuum cleaners on Earth?"
"Oh, I've heard of that disease," Cassia chimed in. "Doesn't it cause a rash that looks like suction marks? Highly contagious when mixed with cute guys and Crystalline?

It's common knowledge that shiny rocks are preferred among human females.

Let me rephrase,” he added, sharper than barbed steel. “I’m coming with you.”
“Excuse me?” Solara came to a sudden stop, forcing him to do the same. “You’ll go wherever I send you.”
“I’m not—”
“Don’t interrupt.”
He sealed his lips shut.
“Our relationship is simple,” she told him. “I say ‘Jump,’ and you say ‘Through which window, Miss Brooks?’ You don’t make demands of me. Are we clear?

She had no idea what the future would hold for any of them, beyond possibilities as infinite as the stars.

And really, that was enough.

Bill walked slowly to Cara's dressed and leaned on the edge, folding his arms as the pine creaked under his weight. Even the furniture feared this man.

You would sell your own people?" the captain asked, not sounding surprised.
"Better a life of servitude than death by starvation.