Page 12

TEN

AEON

I led Olivia through the central plaza toward the council chamber the next day, hyper-aware of her presence beside me.

The afternoon light filtered through the jungle canopy surrounding our colony and cast dappled patterns across the stone pathways.

Our settlement, nestled within the clearing yet embraced by Planet Alpha’s lush forest, buzzed with the day’s activities.

“Where are we going now?” Olivia asked, her eyes scanning the structures around us with unconcealed curiosity.

“Colony council meeting,” I replied, stealing a glance at her profile. “Our weekly gathering where we discuss concerns, make plans, things of that nature. You might find it... familiar.”

“Like city council meetings on Earth?” Her eyebrow arched.

“Similar concept. Less bureaucracy.” I fought the urge to smile at her obvious interest. The way she absorbed everything around her—calculating and observing—fascinated me in ways I couldn’t properly articulate.

The chamber doors opened to reveal the semicircular room where colony leadership had already gathered. Commander Helix nodded as we entered, her stern face softening marginally when she spotted Olivia. The rest of the council members turned, their conversations faltering momentarily.

An unfamiliar warmth spread through me watching Olivia take in the scene—the maps on the walls, the holographic projections of our expanding settlement, and the faces of those who’d worked alongside me for our freedom. Pride, I realized. That’s what this feeling was.

When Helix called the meeting to order, I guided Olivia to the front. My hand hovered near her back, close enough to feel the heat radiating from her.

“Before we begin standard reports,” I said, my voice carrying through the chamber, “I want to acknowledge Dr. Parker’s contributions.

” My words came easier than expected as I turned toward the assembly.

“In just days, she’s demonstrated exceptional medical skill.

Her intervention with Serena’s uterine irritability prevented complications that could have been severe. ”

Murmurs of approval rippled through the room. Serena herself, seated near the front with her hand resting protectively over her growing belly, offered Olivia a grateful nod.

“And Mira’s successful childbirth—” I continued.

“Our first healthy birth on Planet Alpha,” someone called out.

I locked eyes with Olivia, finding her cheeks flushed. “Dr. Parker isn’t just technically proficient. She cares for our people as individuals—not test subjects, not machines. This quality makes her invaluable to our future.”

The unexpected intensity of my own words surprised me. I’d intended a simple acknowledgment, but something deeper had emerged—something raw and honest that made my pulse quicken.

Commander Helix stepped forward. “Dr. Parker, on behalf of the colony, we acknowledge your assistance and care. You give us hope for the future.”

Olivia shifted beside me, and I sensed her internal struggle—the continuing conflict between her captivity and her healer’s instinct to help. When she finally spoke, her voice floated through the chamber.

“I took an oath to preserve life. That doesn’t change, even here on Planet Alpha.”

For the rest of the meeting, I sat beside Olivia in the front row, hyper-aware of the slight brushing of our arms whenever she shifted.

My breathing pattern changed—became shallower—each time her shoulder grazed mine.

The council droned on about infrastructure improvements and perimeter security, but my attention kept drifting to the woman beside me.

That peculiar warmth flooded through my body again as I recalled the way she’d handled Mira’s childbirth.

The steadiness of her hands, and the quiet confidence in her voice as she’d issued directives that I followed without question.

Pride swelled within me again—not just satisfaction in having secured a vital resource for the colony but something more personal, more. .. possessive.

Damn it. That wasn’t right. Wasn’t professional.

Yet I couldn’t stop myself from stealing another glance at her profile—the gentle slope of her nose and the fullness of her lips as she pursed them in concentration.

The late afternoon light streaming through the skylights caught in her brown waves, revealing threads of gold I hadn’t noticed before.

My heart rate increased by approximately twenty percent. A malfunction? No, something else entirely.

When she absently tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, her hand accidentally brushed against my forearm.

The contact sent an electric pulse through me that settled uncomfortably low in my abdomen.

Heat pooled there, and I shifted in my seat, thankful for the dim lighting and the datapad resting on my lap.

This physiological response was... problematic.

Inconvenient. Nothing in my core programming had prepared me for the way my body responded to Olivia’s proximity—with a hunger that had nothing to do with sustenance and everything to do with the curve of her neck, and the occasional glimpse of skin where her collar opened.

“Aeon?” Commander Helix’s voice cut through my inappropriate reverie. “Your assessment?”

I straightened, fighting the heat creeping up my neck. “The western defense grid is functioning at ninety-three percent capacity. We should?—”

“Not about security,” Helix interrupted, confusion spreading across her face. “About Dr. Parker’s integration. I believe she should begin a comprehensive training program immediately. Not just for emergency intervention but for the colony’s long-term obstetric care.”

I turned toward Olivia, catching the flicker of uncertainty in her eyes.

“Given the five pregnancies now in their final trimester,” Helix continued, “and four more in early stages, Dr. Parker needs to train others—starting with you, Aeon. Your medical background makes you the logical first candidate.”

The thought of spending more time with Olivia—close, intimate time—sent another wave of heat south. I quickly cleared my throat. “That sounds... logical.”

“I haven’t agreed to any of this,” Olivia spoke up, her voice low but firm. “Training your people implies I’m staying.”

I noticed her fingers curling tightly around the edge of her seat. The tension in her jaw. The slight tremor in her voice that others might have missed but that registered clearly to me.

“Dr. Parker needs some more time to adjust,” I found myself saying. “But I agree with the principle. I’ll work with her directly to establish a training schedule that makes sense.”

Helix nodded with satisfaction and moved on to the next agenda item.

Beside me, Olivia’s shoulders had gone rigid. I leaned closer, my lips nearly brushing her ear. “We’ll figure this out together,” I whispered. “I promise.”

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.