Chapter 2

A THUNDEROUS CRACK that rattled the windows and shook the foundation startled Amy upright in bed. It left her heart pounding, as did the intense flash of lightning that illuminated her room as bright as day. Amidst the adrenaline surge, she found comfort in the fact her rude awakening wasn't the result of yet another haunting nightmare.

It was a different story earlier, when she awoke screaming, beads of sweat dotting her forehead, and shaking so hard the headboard thumped against the wall. As always, when she tried to remember the details, they eluded her, vanishing like wisps of smoke. But it left her with a lingering fear, convinced it was something sinister.

It was always this way. Night after night for months with no end in sight.

Suddenly, she threw off the covers, springing out of bed determined to alert the inhabitants of the colony about the lurking danger. But as quickly as she had risen, she sank back down onto the mattress. Overwhelmed, she buried her face in her trembling hands, whispering into the stillness of her dark, empty room, "How do I warn them if I can't remember what I'm warning them about?"

She wasn't sure how long she stayed that way, rocking slowly back and forth, trying to soothe her jagged nerves as the rain pounded on the roof. The storm eventually subsided, and the muted light of dawn streaming into her bedroom broke her out of her trance.

"Izzy, what time is it?" she called in a shaky voice.

"The time is 5 a.m. Terra Nova standard time," her AI home management system answered. "Would you like me to provide you with the time and weather updates for Earth and Primaria?"

"No, thanks." Both would depress her.

As chaos reigned back at home, Primaria enjoyed a perfect climate of 72 degrees and near constant sunshine. More disheartening, her alarm wasn't scheduled to go off for two more hours. It felt like the universe was messing with her and gleefully laughing. Let's see how much Amethyst Stone can take before she snaps.

Thunder rumbled in the distance, thankfully moving away. Amy stood and shuffled over to the rain-streaked window. Sprinkles and drizzle seemed nonexistent in this land of extremes. They experienced either suffocating drought or relentless, torrential rain. She could see it was the latter as she watched a brown river streaming down the street below.

Adorned with lush vegetation but also clouds of dust whipping through town during the dry season, the planet seemed to thrive on the seismic weather shifts. Amy, who had to slog through the muddy mess to reach work or any destination much preferred a dust bowl.

Still, it was better than the volatile weather—earthquakes, tornadoes, and tsunamis, so catastrophic the scientists had to keep expanding their scales—she had left behind Earth .

"Maybe it won't be so bad once they pave the roads in a year or two—or five," she lamented with a sigh. Housing and infrastructure were priorities with the rapidly expanding population. Mud control came secondary.

With exhaustion a constant companion these days, Amy trudged sluggishly to the bathroom to shower. Once dressed in jeans and a bright yellow T-shirt that in no way matched her mood, she put her hair up in a ponytail because it was all she had the energy for and was ready to start her day early. Before heading out, she put on her rubber, ankle-high duck boots. They were new arrivals at the general store with the last supply ship, and a necessity for navigating Mud City.

Outside, the rain had picked up again with the wind driving it against her windowpanes. Making a return visit to her closet, Amy retrieved her raincoat. She also made a mental note to stop by after work and see if they had waders.

AT SEVEN THIRTY, SHE was at her desk, the lights up, the coffee made, and she'd already sent all the files of the scheduled appointments for the day to the clinical team. She was sipping on an oversized full-to-the-brim cup of joe when Drs. Juna and Adria walked through the door. They both stopped, drenched to the skin and spattered with mud, and stared at her.

"You're the early bird," Juna observed.

"I hope you don't mind if I opted for coffee instead of worms," she quipped in response.

The senior physician, clearly sharing her disdain for the foul weather, responded to her little joke with a grumpy grunt .

Amy turned to Adria. "Good morning," she said with forced enthusiasm.

Her best friend, who was as close as a sister and knew her better than anyone, wasn't fooled. "You didn't sleep last night either, did you?"

This captured Juna's attention, and she gave her a closer, more scrutinizing look. "You're still not sleeping?"

"Who could sleep with that storm raging?" Amy exclaimed.

Adria ignored her excuse and pointed out, "She's lost more weight, too."

Juna nodded. "I can see that. And she's pale."

"That's because, except for work, she never leaves her apartment unless I drag her out."

"Hey! I'm standing right here," Amy said in protest of the uninvited critique. "And in case you've forgotten, I'm an employee, not one of your patients."

"You will be if you don't start taking better care of yourself," Adria warned.

"Have you discussed your lack of sleep with Anna Walker?"

"No," Adria answered for her. "She saw Anna once and never went back."

"You two were outside just now," she said, waving her arm toward the rain-spattered windows. "There's a thunderstorm happening in case you didn't notice. It woke me up, so I came in to get an early start on a full day."

"That explains last night. What about all the others?"

Any pretense of a good mood vanished. Enough was enough. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at her friend. "What's the point of seeing a trauma counselor when you have no recollection of the trauma?"

"That's why you need to see her!"

Adria made a good point, except Amy wasn't buying it and let out a weary sigh. "I truly appreciate your concern, but counseling isn't my thing. These restless nights will pass once I've adjusted to my new home and new way of life—not to mention two suns and three moons. As for the weight loss, I could stand to shed a few more pounds from my big booty. It will all work itself out. I'm sure of it."

From the deep furrow on her brow, her friend clearly disagreed. Luckily, a patient knocking frantically on the front door offered a welcome reprieve from further unsolicited medical advice. She hurried to unlock to door. As the woman, drenched and battered by the rain and howling wind, rushed in, Amy scanned the lobby to find that Adria and Juna had vanished. A sigh escaped her lips, a mixture of relief and uncertainty lingering in the air.

Later that morning, she sat at her desk, staring blankly at the computer screen in front of her. The hum of the air-conditioning filled the small front office, but she barely noticed. The weather was keeping patients away. Many had called and rescheduled. Without something to keep her occupied, her mind wandered.

She absentmindedly twirled a strand of her auburn hair around her finger as the events of the past few months replayed in her mind like a broken record. She downplayed what was bothering her, hiding behind denials and jokes. It had always worked for her in the past, but she'd never faced such insurmountable hurdles. Not until coming to this breathtakingly beautiful alien world and losing large chunks of time.

It was maddening not to remember. Outside of her dreams, odd bits and pieces of sounds, color, or sensations made her think a memory was trying to break through, but they left as quickly as they appeared, or fragmented like shards of broken glass scattered on the ground. She couldn't piece enough together to make sense of what had happened to her. And everyone around her seemed determined to keep her in the dark, to shield her from the truth.

She sighed, pushing away from her desk. The clinic was quiet, the only sound the soft murmur of voices coming from the examination rooms. She needed to get out, to clear her head and settle the jumbled emotions swirling inside her.

The clinic door opening caught her attention. She looked up to see one of the warrior twins striding into the lobby. His presence was like a force of nature, commanding attention with his towering frame and broad shoulders.

"Good afternoon, Amy," he said with a smile, his deep voice sending a shiver down her spine. "Are you well today?"

"I'm good, thank you, um..." He stood on the other side of the counter, about a foot back to see through the cut-out window without bending, and too far away for her to see the color of his eyes clearly. She'd have to ask. "Is it Remus or Tarus? Unless you're standing side by side, I have a hard time telling you apart."

"I am Remus, the handsomer twin," he replied with a flirtatious grin. "I'm also taller by an inch, so you have a discerning eye." He leaned heavily muscled forearms on the counter, and she noted the pure lavender shade as he peered in at her. "Yours are a lovely shade of blue, I must say."

Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment when she realized she had been staring at him most rudely.

"How, um, may I help you today, Remus?" she stammered, as if she was a timid teenager with her first beau instead of a mature thirty-something woman.

"I wanted to see your beautiful face and brighten my day."

Men outnumbered women in the colony ten to one. She'd heard plenty of cheesy pickup lines since her arrival and set aside her girlish insecurities to quip, "Flattery will get you everywhere. But that's not the only reason you dropped in."

His expression turned serious. "I've been remiss in not stopping by sooner to apologize for my behavior the night of the fire. I shouldn't have left you to fend for yourself in an emergency."

"You've been talking to your brother about it."

He blinked, surprised. "Yes, I have. How did you know?"

"Tarus helped an injured man get to the clinic the other morning, and we chatted a bit. As I told him, I found my way to the shelter without any problems. I'm used to being on my own and taking care of myself. No harm done."

"You may have forgiven me, but I haven't forgotten failing you. It won't happen again."

"Please, don't stress over this anymore."

To reassure him, she rested her hand on his forearm. But, the instant they touched, electricity arced between them. Startled, she recoiled, swiftly withdrawing her hand.

Remus rose to his full height—all eighty-four inches, at least—and stared down at her, appearing as stunned as she was .

"I'm sorry. Static in summer is unusual," she whispered, rubbing her still-tingling fingers.

He didn't reply, apparently struck speechless. As Amy returned his astonished gaze, she couldn't help but notice the color had intensified, turning into a striking shade of deep purple.

"Amy, could you come to the back a moment?" Adria called over the intercom. "Kenny's tied up, and I'm scrubbed in, and I need supplies from the storeroom."

She waved her hand over a blinking light on her holo-vid screen. "Be right there."

When she disconnected, she looked up at him. "I'm afraid I have to get back to work."

He nodded then seemed to snap out of his trancelike state. Remus raised an eyebrow, a playful glint in his eyes. "How about after work? Are you busy then, too?"

"Actually, I have plans tonight." She didn't mention they were with his brother. If Tarus hadn't shared, maybe he had a reason. "It's round-robin darts night at the Watering Hole. Beck and Adria don't miss it if they can help it."

"I'm aware. They serve food now, and I've been told their burgers and fries put Milton's to shame."

"That isn't hard to do," she said, shaking her head sadly. "Poor Milt is going to have to up his game or be run out of business."

"You used to work for him, as I recall."

"I did, but I'm trying hard to forget," she said with a chuckle .

"Another time, perhaps," he replied, disappointment flashing across his face then he stepped back and bowed, looking identical to Tarus. "I'll let you get back to work."

"Oh yes," she exclaimed, popping up out of her seat. "I'd already forgotten."

At the door, she glanced back, finding him still staring, the darker purple even more mesmerizing than the lavender. A shiver of awareness swept through her, but she really had to go before Adria hollered for her again. With a reluctant wave, she left him and rushed down the hall.

Retrieving supplies wasn't usually one of her duties, but Kenny was monitoring a patient with a fractured arm in the Optimed. Sarah, the other tech on duty, assisted Meghan with an expectant mother who'd come in with preterm labor at only thirty-four weeks. While perusing the shelves, list in hand, Amy couldn't help wondering why she'd had such a visceral reaction to both twins.

Was it because they looked so much alike? While they were both charming and too handsome for words, they had distinctly unique personalities.

She was still pondering her reaction to the warrior twins as she walked home an hour later. She did so alone, since Adria had moved out of the residence hall and in with Beck. It was something she was loath to do unless she absolutely had to. Back home, or even on Primaria, she hadn't been so skittish. But here in the colony, she often looked over her shoulder, anxious, but unable to put her finger on why.

Maybe she should see Anna Walker. Even though she'd acted confident and tried to brush off her symptoms to Adria and Juna that morning, the nightmares, jitters, and being easily startled weren't going away on their own. Adria seemed convinced counseling would help. Could she go through it all again, though?

A block from the residence hall, a shiver crept up her spine. She looked at the woods on the other side of the road. The alien trees and vines in vivid, unusual colors had never disturbed her before. Today, they gave off a weird energy, even in the full light of day. The storms had passed, and while the lesser sun had set, there were two hours of daylight before the greater sun dipped below the horizon.

Amy quickened her pace, as much as she safely could on the still-wet, mud-slick road. It would take days to dry up the mess. She would have run, the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end, but running in the slimy muck would be disastrous. She kept her gaze focused on the path ahead, doing her best to ignore the creepy woods.

When she got to the doors of the residence hall, she didn't stop to pull off her mud-caked boots. She put her hand on the scanner then raced through the doors, pushing them shut despite the automatic closure. From the relative safety of the lobby, she peered through the glass, expecting to see someone or something following close on her heels. There was nothing, only weird yellow and royal-blue-leafed trees, and purple and pink vines twisting and winding through the thick underbrush.

"Excuse me."

Amy let out a piercing scream as she spun around, her heart pounding. As she locked eyes with her neighbor from the third floor, the heat of embarrassment flooded her face. More so when he made a wide circle to get around her then pushed through the doors and hurried away from the crazy lady .

Slumping against the wall, she rubbed her temples with both hands. Something had to give.

Maybe she should give counseling another try. It would be worth it to get over her newfound neuroses. If Anna Walker couldn't help, she was at a loss at what to do.