I stepped closer, drawn to her like a gravitational pull I couldn’t fight. “You saved Helix again tonight.” I paused for a moment. “You’re saving all of us.”
“We’re saving each other,” she corrected, turning toward me. “That’s what I never understood before. Your knowledge of the native plants?—”
“Your understanding of physiology?—”
“Together,” she finished, echoing my earlier words.
Something broke inside me—a dam of restraint I’d built over years of war and survival. I curved my hand along her jawline, tilting her face toward mine.
“Olivia,” her name tumbled from my lips like a prayer, “I need to tell you something.”
I led her farther from the medical bay to a small clearing where night-blooming flowers released their scent into the air. The jungle sounds created an intimate backdrop—distant calls of night creatures and the soft rustle of leaves.
“What you’ve done for Helix, for this colony...” I struggled to find words adequate enough. “For me. You’ve changed everything.”
Her bright green eyes searched mine, no longer guarded.
“I love you,” I confessed, the words no longer feeling foreign on my tongue. “I’ve said it once before, but I need you to know how deeply I mean it this time.”
My heart pounded as I closed the distance between us, capturing her lips with mine. The kiss was different from our previous encounters—not born from momentary passion but something more deliberate and more certain. My arms encircled her, lifting her slightly as I poured everything I couldn’t articulate into that connection.
When we parted, breathless, her hands framed my face. “I love you, too, Aeon.”
Joy surged through me like a current, powerful and undeniable. I’d never expected those words, and never dared hope she would return feelings that I was still navigating myself.
“Say it again,” I whispered against her lips.
“I love you,” she repeated, her smile radiating in the moonlight.
The following afternoon, I called an emergency colony council meeting again. The council chamber buzzed with tension as everyone filed in. My heart swelled with pride when Olivia entered beside me. She wore her usual practical clothes, but something was different about her today. A quiet confidence had replaced her earlier wariness. Her hand brushed against mine as we walked to the front, and that simple contact sent electricity through me.
“Attention,” I called, and the room fell silent. Sunlight slanted through high windows, illuminating the gathered faces of our colony council members and people. Helix sat at the front, still pale but recovering rapidly—her presence alone making a statement. “Last night, we nearly lost Commander Helix.”
Murmurs rippled through the crowd. I placed my hands on the wooden podium on the elevated platform, leaning forward.
“But we didn’t lose her. And there’s a reason for that.” My eyes found Olivia’s. “Dr. Parker identified the crisis immediately. Between her medical expertise and my knowledge of Planet Alpha’s native flora, we created a treatment that saved Helix’s life.”
I straightened, squaring my shoulders as I faced the skeptics in the crowd. “This is what I’ve been trying to tell you. We are stronger together—humans and cyborgs.”
Tegan, one of the most vocal critics of bringing humans to our colony, shifted uncomfortably in his seat. His eyes narrowed as they moved between Olivia and me.
“If we hadn’t worked together,” I continued, “if Olivia hadn’t applied her understanding of human and cyborg physiology alongside my knowledge of our environment, Helix would probably be dead.” I let that sink in. “Our colony would have lost one of its founders, and our unborn children would have lost their fiercest advocate.”
Helix rose shakily to her feet. “Aeon speaks the truth. I owe my life to Dr. Parker and to our ability to combine our different strengths.”
I watched as attitudes shifted around the room—faces softening and postures relaxing.
After the meeting adjourned, Tegan approached, his expression unreadable. “A word,” he said, gesturing toward a side alcove.
“I’ll find you later,” I told Olivia, squeezing her hand before following Tegan.
As soon as we were alone, he turned to me. “You’ve convinced me about working together with humans,” he admitted, surprising me. “But there’s something you need to know.” Tegan’s face tightened. “I reached out to Dr. Naomi West on Earth.”
My blood turned to ice, my fists balling up at my sides. “I knew it.”
“It was a peace offering,” he explained, raising his hands defensively. “I thought if we returned Olivia in exchange for West’s promise to keep our location secret, we’d be safer.”
Rage surged through me, hot and overwhelming. I grabbed the front of his shirt, slamming him against the wall. “You risked our entire colony’s safety without authorization.”
