6. Astrid

6

ASTRID

Pippa tried to argue when I said I needed to do this alone. Maybe it was foolish, but I hadn't had time alone, really alone, since I'd gotten here. I knew everyone was trying to help me. And being with Zyrus in my quarters wasn't nearly as grating as I might have expected.

But I'd spent ten years with easy access to privacy. Too much privacy sometimes, but solitude had a way of growing on a person.

I wasn't going anywhere dangerous or out of the way. If someone tried to attack me, I'd be in screaming distance of a crowd. It was both a refreshing and terrifying thought.

I couldn't stop trying to puzzle out what Commander Henner meant about the quarantine down on Nebula. And it had occurred to me that the best people to give me answers worked in the medical wing.

The place was bustling with activity as I approached.

What I was about to do wasn't exactly the most ethical, but I couldn't think of another way to talk to someone that day.

I went to the check-in desk and signed in, requesting to talk to the doctor who'd treated me weeks ago with a complaint about pain where I'd been shot. There was only a robot sitting at reception, so I couldn't appeal to anyone's sympathy. Instead, I had to sit and wait.

But my name must have been flagged in the system, or it was a slow day. Dr. Morel called me back after only a few moments, and I was seated on an exam table with my shirt hiked up before I could say I was fine.

"There's a bit of redness, but that's to be expected," she told me, her hands firm and cool. "I don't see anything externally that worries me, but we should do a scan to see if something has gone wrong inside." She stood.

I reached out and touched her arm. "Please, Doctor. I actually had a couple questions."

"I should put the order in first, then I'll be right back." She looked down at my hand like it offended her.

I didn't let go. "I'm not actually experiencing any pain. I needed to talk to you about the quarantine down on Nebula."

Her face went blank. She looked over her shoulder as if to confirm the door was closed, that we weren't being listened to. "What are you talking about? I'm a busy woman."

"I asked Commander Henner why no one from Nebula has come up to the station yet. He said there was some kind of quarantine. But we haven't been exposed to anything. Believe me, I'd know if sickness ran through my encampment. Anything serious could have wiped us out. I thought you could give me an idea of what they think the problem is and when the quarantine might be lifted." I dropped my hand. Tears threatened to prick at my eyes, but I wouldn't let them. I felt desperate and angry and small, and I hated it.

Dr. Morel's face softened. "I'm not involved in any quarantine down on Nebula, nor are any of my staff. I inquired about those down on Nebula shortly after you were released from my care, and I was told it was handled and to not speak of it again. If they're being quarantined, it isn't for medical reasons."

Damn it.

I believed the doctor far more than I believed Commander Henner. And it confirmed my suspicions. Something was wrong on the planet, and my people were in danger.

But what could I do about it?

I left the medical wing and started walking back to my quarters. Only a few moments later, I passed by two station security members who each gave me a friendly nod. I didn't return it. I wasn't feeling too friendly.

I needed to find out what was going on down on Nebula. Or at least I needed to find a way to communicate, or to get them supplies. Our comms had been jammed for years by the people running an illegal mining operation out of the defunct mine. There shouldn't be jammers anymore. All they needed was the equipment.

Were they down there alone? Or was station security down there guarding them like they'd done something wrong?

We were victims of a disaster; we didn't deserve this.

The skin on the back of my neck prickled in awareness as I realized I was being followed. I spun around, ready for … something. Or not. But there stood Zyrus, an almost angry look on his normally blank face.

"You were supposed to stay with Pippa," he said. The words came out harsher than I'd ever heard him speak.

"I had to run an errand." He was guarding me, but I wasn't going to let him become my jailer. "I needed some time alone."

"Then you can ask me to leave the room." He turned his head slightly, pausing to listen to something, then charged forward and crowded me close. We were in a small alcove, almost hidden from the rest of the hallway. "There are people after you, Astrid. You can't be walking alone."

"I am a grown woman. And I was in public the whole time. Do you really think someone is going to murder me in a crowd?"

"They could. Sometimes it's easier that way. One person gets close, hits you with a modified blaster shot or some kind of poison. Then you're down before anyone knows what happened." His eyes flashed red, lips pulled back in a scowl. "I am here to protect you."

We were close. Too close for this fight. I could smell the masculine scent of him, something strangely woodsy even though we were on this station miles above the trees. My heart raced in my chest, and I realized he wasn't angry. He was scared.

For me.

I swallowed. "Okay."

"Okay what?"

"You can protect me. I fucked up. I shouldn't have gone alone."

His shoulders relaxed a fraction, but he didn't back down.

The tension morphed from anger and fear to something hotter, something full of possibility. I was still staring at him, memorizing the planes of his face. But that face wasn't new. It felt like there was a space missing in my mind, a Zyrus shaped hole that had somehow been covered up for all these years and was only now found again.

How could it feel like I'd missed him when we didn't know one another? How could it feel like he'd been holding a piece of me I hadn't known I'd lost?

I reached up and traced my fingers over his cheek. The heat of his skin seared me, and for a moment, I thought I could feel something, a spark.

Zyrus's eyes were still red, and he was breathing deep. He leaned in, and I thought he'd kiss me, but instead he buried his face in the crook of my neck, nuzzling me.

I clutched his shoulder. We couldn't do this here. Anyone could see us.

But he didn't seem to notice, didn't seem to care.

He inhaled deeply, like he was trying to memorize my scent. His lips brushed my neck, and I shivered.

Then he yanked himself back with a pained sound in the back of his throat. He turned away from me and back towards the hallway. Then his entire body stiffened.

Then he took off running, chasing something I couldn't see.