The crust of the planet had only just cooled enough for the dropship to land. There were still great chasms that scarred the newly-formed surface, filled with magma from below. Eventually these would form the boundaries of continental plates, rift valleys and mountain ranges. For now, however, the world was a blank slate.

"You can do anything you want with it," the salesman said. He waved a pseudopod at the vista outside the dropship's viewport. "Install an atmosphere, put in a few biomes, get a nice carbon cycle going. It will take a while for things to settle in. But, trust me, you've got good foundations here. In fact, you might say that they're rock solid!" He waited for a reaction.

"Can we go outside - take a look for ourselves?" Mrs J said. She tugged at her husband. "It's our first planet and, well - ?"

Mr J gave the salesman a quizzical look. "Is there any regulation that says we can't?"

"No." The salesman sounded reluctant. "But it's not exactly life-ready out there."

"We'll wear suits!" Mrs J declared. "And we'll sign a waiver. Whatever. I'm just so excited!"

The salesman detached a datapad from the dropship's console. "Alright. Just give me your authentication tokens - and wonderful! Don't spend too long outside, though." Can't blame them, he thought, as he watched the couple head for the airlock. I remember what it was like when I was in love.

Mr and Mrs J stepped out onto the surface of their new home. It was eerily silent. The only noise they could hear was the sound of their air-conditioning units pumping cold air into their helmets. But the lack of atmosphere meant that they could see all the way to the horizon and to the stars above.

"It's beautiful," said Mrs J.

"It'll look even better when we get it fixed up," her husband replied. "Like the salesman said."

"I know." Mrs J took hold of Mr J's hand, squeezing it tight so she could feel him, even through the gloves of the suits. "Could we put up some mountains? I think they would look good here. Mountains. With a lake, and a river running down to the sea."

"Whatever you want." Mr J put his helmet up against his wife's. "So long as I can go fishing."

"And the kids. They'll want to go swimming."

"Kids?" Mr J's eyes widened. "Is there something you need to tell me?"

Mrs J smiled at him and swayed from side to side. "Maybe."

Mr J put his arm around her and held her close.