Abode
First published in Aurealis. “Abode”, meaning “house” or “home”, features highly in this story. It is set in the outer reaches of the solar system, in the Oort cloud. While named after astronomer Jan Oort, the old-fashioned Dutch term “Oort” means “Abode”.
The whine of the harvester's blade breaks off in mid-grind.
There is silence in the cabin except for the hiss of the air vents.
Ruz lets go of me, and we stare at the instrument panel. Rows of lights blink angry orange.
"It's jammed," he says, his lips still moist from kissing.
Well duh. I break the contact between us to reel in my tether so I drift back to the controls. We're on the short side of the cometoid and the fast rotation rate is doing its best to fling me to the side of the cabin. I jab a gloved hand at the resets.
