"In the year since the human race had taken control if its destiny, most of the population had been moved from Mars to colonies on the Earth's moon. T...eir alien 'hosts' had no idea that this had been done; the room monitors were thoroughly subverted by Prime's electronic minions, and their hosts' access to the monitor's data was severely limited anyway. Even the alien ship's external sensors showed only what Prime wanted them to show, so they'd been able to build and fly a small fleet of. “Mama was worried that I had taken to my mattress for some spending money. I had to explain you’re my guest as thanks for helping me.”“She does look after you like a mother.”Mae unlocked a door. “This is my room.”I looked around -- it was a medium-sized bedroom with a daybed against one wall, a small desk with a laptop computer, a dorm-sized refrigerator and a table with a hotplate and a rice cooker.“If you’ll excuse me,” Mae said, “I’d like to slip into something more comfortable.”“No. His tongue sticking out between his teeth and his jaw thrust forward stubbornly, he wrestled with the saddle until he got the buckles and straps all hooked together just like Corporal Kaykyssa showed him. When he was satisfied it was right, he turned around and looked for the approving face that usually was right over his left shoulder any time he was learning something new only to find a man with skin so light green it was almost white, hair so dark it was almost black, and eyes that looked. ’ Stepping in as he sensed Misha’s still raw emotions when it came to Suzanne bubbling up, John told them both ‘Drop it. Let’s go over and join the women.’ Walking over Misha looked at Robin, his close friend for the whole of his life. He had guessed that he and his wife had not really taken to Suzanne, but hadn’t realised just how much they didn’t really like her. Looking back over the past year he now could see how much he had drifted away from his best friends, keeping away from situations.