Although
it was originally an insult, the Epiphytes had embraced the
term. They were each part of a hundred different ecosystems
spread throughout the asteroid belt. Resources were running
low and the many rocks had been claimed by miners and colonies,
but it was their home.
Dara was
only sixteen, but she'd wanted to escape Garonic as long as
she could remember. People both Above and Below were merely
counting time, and she didn't want to scrape in the dirt like
a miner, grow fresh like a farmer, or watch the distant stars
like her astronomer mother.
Clinging
like a limpet onto one of the asteroids, the dome colony was
claustrophobic. Her mother hovered over her until she could
barely breathe, and now she'd picked up some creep who claimed
to be her father. Her friend Jurri--if she could be torn from
the boy who'd captured her gaze--would join her. She was going
to be a pioneer, like those ones on the vids about old Earth.
As soon
as she heard about the new planet, Dara knew she had to get
there first. She was going to lay claim to untold wealth,
garner prestige throughout the belt, but most importantly,
she would find a place she could dig into the rock and call
her own.