“The perimeter sensors detected unusual movements in the eastern section of the jungle. Probably nothing, but Commander Helix wanted you informed.”
“I’ll check it shortly.” I turned back to the datapad, dismissing him.
When he left, I found myself staring at Olivia again through the glass. She smiled at something one of the medical staff said—a genuine, unguarded moment. The smile faded quickly, like she’d remembered her situation. The glimpse of it drove a spike of residual guilt through me.
I’d forcefully taken her. Ripped her from her world. And now I wanted her to... what? Care for me? Want me?
The realization struck hard. I didn’t just want her medical expertise. I wanted her. Not as a resource or an asset but as a woman. As Olivia.
My fist clenched, nearly cracking the tablet’s edge. These feelings complicated everything. Threatened the mission. Threatened the colony.
I stood abruptly, needing to move, and needing to think away from this setting. The jungle beyond our settlement called to me. Open air might clear my head. But as I reached the door, I caught one last glimpse of Olivia through the glass, her brow furrowed in concentration as she corrected a technique.
Beautiful. Strong. Captive.
This wasn’t supposed to happen. I wasn’t programmed for this kind of conflict. Yet here it was—raw and demanding and completely beyond my control.
For the first time in my cyborg existence, I had no protocol or explicit orders to follow to handle my relationship with Olivia or these human feelings and emotions taking over my body and mind.
I soon slashed through the dense undergrowth of the jungle with my combat blade, each stroke more forceful than necessary. The jungle’s oppressive heat pressed against my skin, beads of sweat rolling down my neck. Each step deeper into the eastern section took me further from the settlement—and from Olivia.
Her face haunted me still. The way her green eyes had widened when I touched her, and the soft gasp that escaped her lips when I?—
I drove the blade into a thick vine with an aggressive thrust.
“Damn it,” I muttered, yanking it back out. This wasn’t helping clear my head. If anything, the isolation intensified her presence in my thoughts.
The security alert coordinates flashed on my communicator on my wrist. I was close now. Scanning the area, I detected nothing unusual—just the normal cacophony of alien wildlife and the distant sound of rushing water from the eastern falls.
“Figured I’d find you out here, brooding in the foliage.”
I whirled around, my hand instinctively reaching for my sidearm before registering Sage’s voice. She emerged from between two massive fern-like plants, her slight frame belying her combat capabilities.
“I’m not brooding,” I growled. “I’m investigating the perimeter alert.”
Sage’s mouth quirked up at one corner. “Multitasking, then. Investigating and brooding simultaneously.”
I turned away, resuming my patrol path. “The alert?”
“Probably just a herd of those six-legged herbivores moving through. Scanners picked up nothing threatening.” She came up beside me, matching my strides. “You, on the other hand, look like you’re about to snap that blade in half.”
“I’m fine.”
“Sure.” She leapt gracefully over a fallen log. “That’s why you nearly took my head off when I approached. Pure relaxation.”
We walked in silence for several minutes, the jungle’s humidity clinging to us like a second skin. I felt her studying me, analyzing my movements and expressions with the precision that made her our colony’s best intelligence officer.
“So,” she finally said, “you and Dr. Parker.”
I clenched my jaw tight. “There is no me and Dr. Parker.”
“Your heart rate just spiked.” Sage smirked, looking at the communicator on my wrist. “And you’re crushing that innocent sampling device in your left hand.”
I looked down, surprised to find I’d indeed been gripping the environmental analyzer with excessive force. I relaxed my fingers and scowled at her.
“You’re falling for her,” Sage stated, not a question but a simple observation.
“She’s a valuable medical asset. Nothing more.”
