Her scent—something clean and faintly floral—filled my nostrils, and my entire body responded in ways that felt both alarming and exhilarating. I pulled back before I did something truly irrational, like bury my face in her hair.
I soon escorted Olivia back to her quarters, my hand hovering again by her back as we walked through the darkening pathways of the colony. The night sounds of the jungle had begun their symphony—chirping insects and the occasional call of nocturnal creatures creating a backdrop to our silence.
“Sleep well,” I said as I opened her door. My voice came out rough, betraying something I wasn’t ready to acknowledge.
She paused in the doorway, her eyes searching my face. “You know I’m still going to try and find a way home, right?”
The corner of my mouth twitched slightly. “I’d be surprised if you didn’t.”
After securing her quarters, I headed straight to Sage’s workstation in the security center. The lights of her monitors cast a blue glow across her sharp features as she manipulated the settlement’s defensive grid.
“Twice in one day? I’m flattered,” she said without looking up from her work.
I folded my arms across my chest. “I need a favor.”
“When don’t you?” Sage spun in her chair, her knowing smile making me immediately regret coming. “Let me guess. This is about your human doctor.”
“Dr. Parker,” I corrected, inexplicably irritated by her phrasing. “I need heightened security on her quarters. Personal guard. Primarily at night.”
“Worried she’ll make a break for it again?” Sage’s eyebrow arched. “Or worried someone else might pay her a visit?”
My jaw clenched tight. “Both.”
“Tegan’s been vocal again?”
“He’s not the only one with... reservations.” I paced the narrow space between monitoring stations. “But, yes. He’s been particularly outspoken since her arrival.”
Sage’s fingers swept across her keyboard, pulling up the security grid. “Tegan’s all talk. He wouldn’t actually?—”
“I don’t want to find out.” The words came out sharper than I expected, driven by an instinct I couldn’t name.
“Wow.” Sage leaned back, a slow smile spreading across her face. “You’re really worked up about this.”
“I’m just being practical. She’s a valuable resource.”
“A resource.” Sage’s laugh filled the small room. “Is that why you’ve been staring at her like she’s the last drop of water on this planet?”
Heat flooded my face. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Of course not.” Sage returned to her monitors. “Don’t worry. Your doctor will be safe. I’ll personally monitor her quarters when you can’t be there yourself.”
“I don’t—” I started to protest.
“Save it for someone who can’t read biometric signatures, Aeon.” She tapped my communicator on my wrist showing my elevated heart rate. “You’ve got it bad.”
I left without another word, her laughter following me into the night.
The walk to my quarters took me past the medical bay, now dark except for the emergency lights. I paused, remembering again how Olivia had commanded the space during Mira’s labor—confident, focused, and impossibly gentle. The way her eyes had lit up when she held the newborn.
I shook my head and continued walking.
My quarters felt empty when I entered. Sparse by design, they suddenly seemed lacking in a way I couldn’t articulate. I stripped off my shirt, catching my reflection in the metal surface of my storage unit. Faint scars crisscrossed my chest and arms—reminders of the days working for people who saw me as property.
As I collapsed onto my bed, guilt gnawed at my insides. However I justified it—colony survival, medical necessity—I had taken Olivia against her will. Had become the very thing I’d fought against, someone who denied another their freedom.
The irony wasn’t lost on me. We had come to Planet Alpha to be free, yet one of my acts as a leader was to imprison someone else.
I stared at the ceiling, sleep eluding me as I wrestled with contradictory impulses. The need to protect our colony’s future. The urge to protect Olivia. And beneath it all, a desire to see her look at me with something other than resentment in those green eyes.
