“And personally speaking?” Helix had always been uncomfortably perceptive.
I shifted my weight. “Nothing to report.”
Helix’s knowing smile indicated she didn’t believe me. “Dismissed, Aeon. Keep me updated on her progress.”
As I left the council chamber, my mind returned to Olivia’s face—the flash of fear I’d seen beneath her anger, and the moments of vulnerability she tried to hide. The urge to comfort her, to somehow make this transition easier, tugged at me with surprising intensity.
I needed to show her that we—that I—wasn’t what she feared. I wasn’t just the soldier who had taken her from Earth but someone capable of understanding her. Someone worthy of her trust.
But how?
The question followed me like a shadow as I walked through our sleeping colony, the night sounds of Planet Alpha echoing my restlessness.
SEVEN
OLIVIA
Aeon appeared at my door the next morning with his usual stoic expression that was becoming frustratingly familiar. I noticed his jaw twitched slightly when our eyes met—a tiny human quirk I had been cataloging in my mental file labeled “Evidence That My Captor Isn’t Just a Machine.”
“Ready for training?” He filled the doorway with his broad shoulders, leaving just enough space that I didn’t feel completely trapped.
“Do I have a choice?” I brushed past him, my shoulder accidentally grazing his chest. The brief contact sent an unwelcome jolt through me. “Still planning to lock me up tonight like a dangerous animal?”
His eyes narrowed slightly. “Your situation is... complicated.”
“My situation is called kidnapping, Aeon.”
He fell into step beside me, close enough that I could feel his body heat. “The colony needs you.”
“So you keep saying.”
We walked in tense silence as we entered the medical bay and winded through the curved corridors. The lighting adjusted to our presence, warm and responsive rather than harsh and clinical like the hospitals on Earth.
I spent the morning familiarizing myself more with their equipment. Their fetal monitoring system was advanced but configured all wrong for human-cyborg hybrid physiology. I recalibrated it, feeling Aeon’s eyes on me the entire time.
“This ultrasound needs adjustment,” I muttered, my hands flying over the holographic interface. “Your sonic frequencies are set for full cyborg anatomy. The developing fetuses have human cellular structures that could be damaged at these levels.”
A flicker of alarm crossed Aeon’s face. “Can you fix the problem?”
“Already am.” I stepped back to show him the new parameters. “And your nutrient delivery system is pumping too much synthetic protein. The hybrid babies need more calcium and iron. They will have slightly different physiological requirements.”
Something akin to admiration flashed in his eyes. “How do you know all this?”
“It’s my job to know. I’d be a terrible doctor if I couldn’t adapt to new conditions.” I raised an eyebrow. “Even when forced to work under duress.”
His communicator on his wrist chimed, and he frowned at the message. “I have to go. Commander Helix needs me.”
“Go ahead,” I said lightly. “Your senior medical technician and I will manage just fine.”
Laine, who’d been quietly observing from the corner, straightened. “I’ll watch over her.”
Aeon’s gaze lingered on me a beat too long. “All right, thank you.”
After he left, I treated a pregnant cyborg with elevated blood pressure, surprised by my own growing concern for her well-being. When we finished and she was stable, Laine began organizing supplies in the corner of the room.
“I should really find Aeon,” I said casually. “He wanted me to check out the surgical room next.”
Laine hesitated. “I should accompany you.”
