“He actually mentioned earlier this morning that it was fine for me to move around the medical bay freely now. Something about my exceptional progress.” I smiled reassuringly, not bothered by the lie.
Her hesitation was palpable, but she nodded. I walked out of the room with deliberate calm and then took my first left instead of right, slipping down a corridor I’d noticed during our daily walks. Within minutes, I was outside, the fresh jungle air hitting my face.
My heart pounded as I navigated the unfamiliar paths, ducking into shadows whenever I heard voices. The colony was larger than I had realized, with sections that felt more like a small city.
Following directional markers, I found myself in a massive hangar bay. My breath caught at the sight of a sleek spacecraft docked at the far end—my potential ticket home. The observation deck overlooking the bay was empty, monitors displaying atmospheric conditions and flight paths.
I crept toward the ship, scanning for guards but finding only automated security. The access panel required a biometric scan, but I spotted a maintenance hatch beneath the ship’s belly. My heart thundered in my chest as I dropped to my knees and shimmied underneath the sleek metal hull.
“Just like the emergency evacuation drills,” I muttered to myself, my fingers locating the maintenance panel. The metal was cool against my skin as I pried it open, revealing a gleaming array of circuits and wires that glowed faintly in the dim light.
My hands trembled as I reached for the bypass connections. Back on Earth, we had practiced emergency overrides during crisis simulations. If I could just cross the auxiliary power with the manual release...
“Come on, come on,” I whispered, sweat beading along my hairline as I carefully separated two fiber-optic cables. “Universal protocols. These ships all have them.”
Just as my fingers touched the main circuit board, a shrill alarm pierced the air. Red lights began flashing throughout the bay, bathing everything in crimson pulses that matched the frantic beating of my heart.
“Damn it!” I scrambled deeper under the ship, abandoning caution for speed. There had to be an alarm override somewhere. During med-evac training, they had taught us that every spacecraft had a manual release in case of system failure. My fingers flew over the components, searching frantically for the right configuration.
“Dr. Parker!” Aeon’s voice boomed through the hangar, reverberating off the metal walls. “Olivia!”
The fury in his voice sent a chill down my spine, but I kept working. Just a few more seconds and?—
“What the hell are you doing?” His voice was closer now, his footsteps echoing across the hangar floor.
“Leaving!” I shouted back, trying to keep my voice steady. “What does it look like?”
I managed to disconnect one more cable before the panel above me suddenly slid open. Aeon’s face appeared, his blue eyes blazing with an intensity that wasn’t entirely anger. Something else was there. Hurt?
“Get out of there. Now.” His voice was low and dangerous.
“Make me.” I reconnected two bypass circuits, causing a small spark that had me pulling back my hand with a hiss.
“You’re going to damage yourself and the ship.” I noticed an edge to his voice I hadn’t heard before. “These aren’t like your Earth vessels.”
“I don’t care.” I reached deeper into the panel. “I’m going home.”
“You can’t fly this ship.”
“Watch me try.”
His expression darkened. “I didn’t want to do this.”
I saw his arm reach toward me, and I twisted away, rolling deeper under the ship. “Don’t you dare touch me!”
“You’re being irrational.” His fingers brushed my ankle, and I kicked out instinctively, hearing his grunt as my foot connected with something solid.
“I’ve been kidnapped!” I yelled, my voice cracking with emotion. “How exactly should I behave?”
He disappeared from view for a second, and I redoubled my efforts on the panel. Then suddenly, the entire ship shifted slightly as he apparently overrode something from an external control.
“Olivia!” His voice held a warning as the maintenance hatch began to slide closed automatically.
I scrambled to squeeze through the narrowing opening, feeling the edge catch on my sleeve. A sharp tug tore the fabric as I tumbled out onto the hangar floor, right at Aeon’s feet. Looking up, I found myself staring into the most conflicted expression I had seen on his face. His jaw was tight with anger, but his eyes held something that looked suspiciously like disappointment.
“You could have been killed under there,” he growled, reaching down to grab my arm.
I jerked away. “Don’t pretend you care!”
