It was always a day off at school when the orbital train arrived, so a good chunk of Port’s youth would gather on the hill at the southern edge of the town and look North-East at the massive shape of the cargo cart resting on the landing station. It would take the station’s workers a week to unload the train from supplies, and another week to load it back with valuable minerals and rare metals mined from the crust of Sutten III, better known as Mesa amongst locals. Then, the orbital train would turn on its oversized hovers and, once about a hundred metres above ground, fire the massive engines on its sides to return to, well, orbit, following the orbital cable, while covering the town of Port in a thick layer of red dust from the surrounding desert. 

Robert could name at least 15 of those minerals, and he hated each and every one of them because he had to study them at school instead of doing fun stuff, like building robots or hanging out with girls. (Not girls from his class, they were boring and annoying; those from the graduation class, three years older than him, actually had brains and also some nice curves on their bodies which he recently started to really want to explore.)

Currently, on the hill overlooking Port, there were a good half a hundred kids between 10 and 21, divided into small factions. Some were attending the same classes, some were going to the same clubs (Robert especially hated the girls from the Athletics, and not just because they kept calling him fat), some lived close to each other. Robert’s gang (they called themselves a gang, but nobody else did) was a mishmash of all of those. Ace and Pep were from his class, Gatien went to the engineering workshop at the evening college with him, and Ehud and Tzafir lived on the same street as him and their parents attended the same Assembly as his mom.

Today, they managed to take up a sweet spot near the base of the ruin of the old broadcasting tower, which was the prime point to climb the metal scaffold. Ehud stayed at the bottom, as he was missing an arm; Pep climbed to the first platform and was now sitting there, feet dangling (he said it was to keep Ehud company, but everyone knew he was just stupidly scared of heights); Ace and Tzafir stayed on the third landing and started a co-op game on their interfaces (it was a stupid shooter game, it turned your brain into putty, and no, Robert wasn’t salty just because his interface was too old and crappy to run it). Gatien pulled Robert up to the fourth landing, which was just a wide plank of simulated wood squeezed in between two topmost metal bars of the tower’s remains; they opened a capsule of fizz (which they got from older guys in exchange for fixing their steam bulb) and unwrapped their sandwiches and shared it all between the two of them while admiring the view.

“Have you seen Teeth and that curly girl snogging over there? Yuck.” Gatien took a swing from the capsule and grimaced at the bitter taste.

“I know, right? Couldn’t find anyone less ugly.” Robert snorted while collecting the last crumbs of his sandwich from the wrapper with his tongue.

“Dude, I am surprised anyone agreed to kiss Teeth. Ugly or not.” Gatien passed him the capsule. “But also, you don’t snog in public unless you want the attention and approval of others. When I find a girlfriend, I’ll never kiss her where anyone else can see.”

Robert took a sip too and tried hard not to grimace. He could feel his cheeks start burning from effort. “What if she is super hot, though?”

“I’ll be hugging her around the waist and that’s all I’m giving them.”

They snickered over this shared wisdom of how to properly flaunt a girlfriend. Everyone else was stupid, and when it would finally be their turn on the dating scene, they’d be so much better. Yeah, many other 14-year-olds already hooked up with girls, but many didn’t, so Robert didn’t feel too bad about it. Girls his age were too stupid and not sexy yet, he had to wait a little bit more for them to mature.

A fight broke out in the group to their right, and Gatien got to his feet to look over Robert’s shoulder at what was going on. Ehud couldn’t help but run over to watch the older guys wailing on each other; he circled behind the backs of the others watching and occasionally yelled expletives about the participants and their moms. Pep jumped down to the ground, looking unsure about the whole situation. He looked up at his friends with a pouty frown, as if trying to look less concerned. 

“Should I drag him back?”

“Eh, whatever, let him have some fun.” Robert shrugged. The fight was already ending, with the ganglier boy now bleeding from his nose.

“Last time, he got his ass whooped.” Pep grumbled and started walking towards the group, hands deep in pockets.

That’s when Ehud got his ass whooped. Not realising the fight was over, he yelled about the poor sexual choices of one’s mother, at which the winner, still full of adrenaline, turned around and screamed: “Who said that?!” The crowd stepped apart, revealing the short and bony culprit, who got immediately grabbed by the back of his t-shirt.

Pep turned around on the spot and started walking away, eyes wide. Ace and Tzarif looked up from their interfaces, winced, and returned to the game; Ace muttered: “Here we go again.” 

Ugh, why was it always Robert’s responsibility?

“You think I’m not gonna tear off your second arm, insect?! I’ll feed it back to you and watch your teeth fall out!”

Robert got up to his feet, leaning on Gatien for balance, checked that the capsule was empty, and hurled it down. It hit the guy on the back of his head so hard he stumbled. 

“Let go of him, Pulp. You’re gonna embarrass yourself by fighting someone half your size.”

Ehud used the distraction to book it off the hill. He overtook Pep who started running too, and the two of them disappeared in the shrub. Pulp straightened and fixed his bloodshot eyes on Robert. 

“Get down here, Solder, and I’ll show you a fair fight!”

“What, you can’t climb up to where a fat guy managed to climb to?” Robert smirked and looked around at the older kids surrounding Pulp. Some of them seemed to enjoy seeing him be ridiculed, including older girls.

“Oh, I will, and I’ll push you off so you break your fucking neck!” Pulp walked to the tower and grabbed the first handhold.

Ace got to his feet, still trying to play at the same time. “Uhhh, you may not have thought it through, because he’s gonna kick our asses first.”

Well, to be completely honest, Robert didn’t expect Pulp to actually start climbing. He looked back at Gatien, trying not to panic. His friend looked scared. There wasn’t anywhere else to go from the plank, which was already bending under their combined weights. Robert patted his pockets and pulled out a soldering pen, to which he owed his nickname. It didn’t hold a charge and only worked when plugged into the battery, but it was sharp enough. Maybe, if Pulp tried to get to the fourth landing, Robert could stab at his hand.

And then someone yelled from the north-western side of the hill: “Adults! Scatter!”

Not everyone did. There was nothing forbidden about this hill, and it was too well-enough seen from many parts of the town to really be a secret spot. The warning was meant for those indulging in activities not allowed for underaged. Kids grabbed their steam bulbs, capsules with fizz and stronger stuff, puffers, tabs, and ran into the shrub, breaking branches loudly. Girls ran away from boys, zipping up their jackets, and boys ran away from girls, pulling their pants up. Pulp, who was so obviously high, froze mid-climb, cursed, and fell down on his back, turned around and started making his way downhill on all fours.

“Hey, look at him, he’s not Pulp he is Pup now!” Robert yelled after him, cackling. It was lucky he threw their capsule earlier so there was nothing incriminating on him now.

His smugness wore off immediately when he saw the adult approaching. Natan Hoffman, his oldest brother. He was over 10 years older, but still living in their mother’s house with his wife and their newborn daughter. He used to spend time on this hill too, until he grew up and got a job, and he knew all too well what kids were up to here.

Robert could’ve tried to hide. Unfortunately, he was standing on top of the tallest structure on the hill – the most visible you could be. 

“Robert, you are needed at home.” His brother stopped at the base of the tower and glared up.

“Hello, uncle Nate.” Tzarif peeked over from his spot on the third landing. 

Natan nodded in acknowledgement. “You should probably head home too, cousin. Your mother would want to see you.”

“Oh, did something happen?” Tzarif turned off his interface to Ace’s disappointed groan. 

“Nothing bad.”

Robert started making his way down while everyone remaining on the hilltop stared at him. He hated this attention now, because the climb down made him sweat, and he probably didn’t look as cool as how he felt while being on the top. Tomorrow, he would be called ‘Sweaty Solder’ for all he knew.

The walk back to their district took another 15 minutes. Robert stayed silent because he didn’t want Natan to catch a whiff of what he’s been drinking. He had to be especially careful around mom, as she would scream his head off, the way she did when she found Moishe’s puffers. Tzarif didn’t need to worry about any of that. He kept pestering Natan with questions, but never received any revelatory answers.

Robert’s heart sank when they turned into their alley and he saw a crowd of people in front of their house. There were neighbours, including Tzarif’s mom, but also acquaintances from other parts of Port. On the porch, a pile of hand-me-downs was growing as people kept bringing bags of old and patched clothing and small-sized boots.

“What the f-?” Robert muttered as he stepped inside after Natan, stopping just in time not to get in trouble.

It was quieter here. Hershel, second oldest, was talking on personal comm in the kitchen and gave Robert a heavy stare when he spotted him through the door. Moishe, the third brother who turned 18 just a month ago, sat on the top step of the stairs. He smirked down at Robert. “You gonna love the news, Robby-boy.”

“Shut up.” Robert grumbled and stepped into the living room.

His mother was sitting at the dining table with an older man, who wore an official suit and had an administrative seal etched into the backside of his interface. She was signing documents. When she looked up, Robert finally saw there was another person behind her, occupying the third chair. A kid.

The boy was impossibly pale, too pink for someone who lived in Port. He had fluffy light hair, staying upright from static on one side, pale blue eyes and an upturned nose. He was wearing one of Rob’s old t-shirts, which was way too big for him. He was so small, his feet were dangling in the air, not reaching the floor.

“Robert.” His mother’s voice was firm with a hint of stress. “Come sit down, we are almost finished.”

He did, taking the last chair opposite the unknown boy. Natan sat on the sofa near the media screen. The old man smiled at Robert, waiting for his mother to complete reading the document and transfer her ID signature.

“Are you sure this is sufficient, Bernard?” She asked, finally pushing the interface away from her.

“You know me, Golda. If the need for something else arises, I’ll contact you.” Bernard collected the interface and put it inside his case. “Once again, I admire what you are doing. All the legal services are free of charge.”

His mother smiled thinly. “Thank you. Come over for lunch this Fifthday, will you?”

“Of course! I would want to check up on the little traveller, wouldn’t I?” Bernard directed this at the pale boy, who smiled without looking up. Then he got up and left the room.

Golda straightened, pursed her lips, closed her eyes for a moment. “Robert? This is Nikolai. He will be living with us for a time being. We’ll put a bed for him in your room.”

Robert’s mouth fell open. He completely forgot about trying not to let anyone smell fizz in his breath. “What?!”

“We don’t have extra rooms, do we?” His mother raised her eyebrows in a ‘stop this right now, young man, or you are in trouble’. But he didn’t care. This was out of nowhere and unfair. 

“Put him in with Moishe!”

“Your older brothers need their rooms for their future families.”

“And I don’t?!”

“You are way too young. We’ll figure something out when it comes to that.” Something crashed loudly near the front door. His mother stood up sharply. “Ah, this must be Ofra’s brother bringing the bed. Natan, come and help. Moishe, you too.”

Moishe groaned from the corridor. “Ask Hershel!”

“Your brother is busy.”

“With what? Saying fancy words and turning his nose on lowly us?”

“He is talking to the school, don’t bother him!” She looked down at Robert. “Wait here, get to know little Nick while we bring the bed upstairs.” She hesitated, stepping around the table, then leaned to his ear and murmured. “He doesn’t talk. Be nice.” 

The rest of his family vacated the room, leaving Robert alone with Nikolai.

Baffled and unhappy, he turned back to stare at the pale boy. What the fuck was this all about? Couldn’t this kid be put somewhere else, not in their house? Where was his family, were they also moving in with them?

The boy wasn’t looking at him. Instead, he focused on a spot on Robert’s shoulder and suddenly whispered: “This is not how you shorten my name.”

Robert stared at him. Didn’t his mom say he didn’t talk?

Finding nothing smarter to say, he blurted out: “How do you shorten it then?”

The boy met Robert’s eyes for just a fraction of a second before looking back at his shoulder. His smile grew a bit wider.

“It’s Kolya.”