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TWENTY

AEON

I looked up from the sterilization unit, where I’d been preparing instruments for the morning’s first exam.

The early sunlight through the medical bay windows shone in Olivia’s hair as she organized patient files on her tablet, turning her brown waves to copper.

Every movement of her small hands was precise and efficient.

These past few days, I had been watching her more than doing my own work.

Suddenly, Sage burst in, her chest heaving. “Someone on Earth discovered Planet Alpha.” Her words landed like jabs to my abdomen. “They’re coming for her.”

Olivia froze, the tablet in her hands slipping to the counter with a clatter.

“How certain are you?” I stepped forward, my body instinctively positioning between Sage and Olivia.

“Our monitoring systems picked up encrypted communications. They’re planning a covert recovery mission.” Sage’s eyes flickered to Olivia. “With lethal force authorized against any resistance.”

My gut clenched with something primal—fear, but not for myself. For her. For us.

“That’s impossible,” I said. “Planet Alpha’s location is classified at the highest level. The encryption protocols?—”

“Someone leaked it.” Sage’s jaw tightened. “Had to be internal.”

Olivia stepped beside me. “Who would do that? And why now?”

I caught her eye and then looked away. Her presence here was complicated enough without adding betrayal from within.

“We need to find Tegan,” I said. “He oversees external communications.”

Olivia touched my arm—a brief, warm pressure that sent electricity through my veins. “What are we going to do to ensure the colonists’ safety?

The question pulled me back to purpose. “We secure vital points first. Medical bay, security center, council chamber, and the residential sector.”

“I’m coming with you,” Olivia said.

We soon found Tegan at his workstation in the security center, surrounded by holographic displays. His fingers danced over controls, too casual for the crisis at hand.

“Implement full security protocol theta,” I ordered. “Station guards at all critical infrastructure and double the perimeter.”

Tegan nodded, avoiding my eyes. “Already underway.”

“How did they find us?” I stepped closer, looming over him. Something in his body language made my instincts flare. “Earth doesn’t have the technology to track us here without help.”

“No idea.” He shrugged, the motion too rehearsed. “Signal interception, maybe? Or they followed the initial transport?”

“Bullshit. You know something.”

Sage stepped between us. “Save it for later. Security first.”

Tegan turned away, barking orders into his communicator, but not before I glimpsed something in his expression—guilt, maybe. Or calculation.

I leaned closer to Olivia, my voice low. “Stay close to me.”

She nodded, her green eyes wide but steady. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Her words sent a welcome wave of relief through me. For now.

I soon entered Commander Helix’s office with Olivia close behind me, her warmth radiating against my back as we stepped into the cool space.

Helix sat behind her desk, her face hard as granite.

The windows behind her framed a view of our colony—a cluster of metal and composite buildings rising from the jungle’s edge like a defiant statement against the wilderness.

“This rescue mission is nothing but a pretext,” Helix said, not bothering with pleasantries. Her fingers tapped a staccato rhythm on her desk. “Earth says they’ll only use lethal force if provoked, but we’d be fools to believe that.”

“You think they’ll attack regardless?” I asked, feeling my chest squeezing at the thought.

Helix’s eyes narrowed. “CyberEvolution and many Earth officials would love nothing more than to wipe us off the map. We’re living proof their control isn’t absolute.” She locked eyes with Olivia. “And you, Doctor, are their perfect excuse.”

Olivia stepped forward. “I could communicate with them. Let them know I’m?—”

“What? Safe? Working willingly? They probably won’t care.” Helix cut her off. “They’ll see a human doctor captured by ‘rogue machines’ and use it to justify whatever they’ve already planned.”

My fists clenched at my sides. The older programming in me calculated defensive strategies, but the newer, more human part of me felt a swell of protectiveness that went beyond tactical considerations.

“We need to evacuate the pregnant women and children to the caverns,” I said. “I’ll organize our defenses and arm anyone willing to fight.”

Helix nodded. “Do it. And, Doctor Parker...” She scrutinized Olivia. “Whatever happens, remember that your presence here might have started as coercion, but it’s saved lives. You’ve become part of this community, whether you intended to or not.”

Olivia’s face flushed. “I understand.”

We left Helix’s office and walked through the council chamber and out the front entrance. Outside, the air smelled of rain and soil and the sweet tang of the flowering vines that had begun to climb our outermost buildings.

“She’s wrong about them not listening,” Olivia said suddenly, her voice tight. “If I could just talk to whoever’s leading the rescue?—”

I touched her arm, feeling her pulse jump beneath my fingertips. “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea. What if they don’t listen? What if they’ve already decided we’re nothing but malfunctioning hardware?”

Her eyes met mine. “Then I’ll stand with you.”

Something broke loose in my chest—an ache both painful and exhilarating. I wanted to pull her to me right there, but colonists hurried past us, already mobilizing.

“We should check the medical supplies,” she continued, practical even now. “If there’s fighting, we’ll need everything ready.”

I nodded, marveling at her strength. This woman I’d taken unwillingly from her home was now preparing to face down her own people to protect mine. The complexity of emotions that stirred in me had no programming origin. They were entirely, chaotically human.

“Let’s gather the supplies now,” I said. “Then I need to organize our defenses.”

I didn’t say what weighed most heavily on my mind, though. I would die before I let harm come to her.

I watched Olivia’s hands move with practiced efficiency as we loaded the last of the surgical kits into the sterilized containers.

Her face was set in concentration, a small furrow between her brows that I’d come to recognize as her focused expression.

We had been at this for hours—cataloging supplies, preparing emergency kits, and setting up triage protocols.

The medical bay had transformed into a fortress of readiness under her direction.

“That’s the last of the plasma substitutes,” she said, sliding a box onto the shelf. “We should have enough for at least thirty major traumas.”

My chest tightened at the casual way she quantified potential casualties. “Let’s hope we need none of it.”

She looked up at me, her eyes tired but determined. “Better to have it and not need it.”

Outside the windows, the colony buzzed with purposeful activity.

Sage had mobilized security teams at every entrance point while others rushed to reinforce our most vulnerable structures.

The evacuation of pregnant women and small children had begun at midday—a somber procession heading toward the cavern network that honeycombed the mountains to our east.

“Dr. Parker!” A young cyborg trainee burst through the doors. “Group C is refusing evacuation. They’re saying they won’t leave without you there.”

Olivia sighed. “Tell them I’m on my way.”

I caught her arm as she started to leave. “I’m coming with you.”

She didn’t argue. That alone told me how tired she was.

The day stretched endlessly, the jungle sun beating down as we moved from crisis to crisis. By nightfall, my muscles ached with fatigue, but my mind remained sharp, hyper-aware of every potential threat. The adrenaline coursing through my veins wouldn’t let me rest.

“Come on,” I said to Olivia as she finished instructing the last medical team. “You need rest.”

“Where are we going?” she asked, swaying slightly on her feet.

“My quarters. I’m going to guard you personally from now on.”

She didn’t protest as I led her through the darkened pathways of the colony. Stars pierced the canopy overhead, and the night creatures of the jungle sang their discordant symphony. When we finally reached my quarters, I secured the door behind us with my three separate locks.

“You should sleep,” I told her, gesturing toward the bed.

“And you?”

“I’ll keep watch.”

She stood near the door, suddenly looking very small and very human. “Aeon, are you not telling me something?”

I turned away, unable to meet her gaze. “When the Earth forces come for you, I’ll... ensure your safe return.”

“What?”

“I’ll surrender you to them.” The words tasted bitter. “It might prevent bloodshed. They want you back unharmed. That’s their mission. If I give them what they want?—”

“No.” Her voice cut like a blade.

“Olivia, I won’t let you be caught in a war?—”

“You don’t get to make that choice anymore.” She moved into my space, forcing me to look at her. “I told you before—if they won’t listen to me, I’ll stand with you. I’m not leaving.”

“But—”

“No buts. No more decisions about my life without my input. That was the old you. The one who thought kidnapping me was an acceptable solution.” Her eyes flashed. “I’m choosing now. And I choose to stay with you.”

Something broke loose in my chest—a flood of emotions I couldn’t name. I stared down at her, this fierce, tiny woman who’d somehow become the center of my world.

“They could kill you,” I said hoarsely.

“They could kill us all. That’s war.” She stepped closer. “But I’ve seen enough death to know when something’s worth fighting for.”

I steeled myself, understanding at last that what lay between us had grown far beyond practicality or necessity. This was personal now, messy and complicated and terrifyingly real.

“Then we fight,” I said, my resolve hardening. “Together.”