Page 52 of Sol Survivor

“Farg, you’re not kidding, are you?”Nikko tapped on the console, summoning past arena wins.Her face dominated the screens, confirming her words.Swearing a blue streak, he slammed his fist into his palm.“What the farg?I should’ve been told.”He glanced at her, his expression hardening.“You were right to warn me.We don’t want trouble with Carne.”He worked the keys—their colors lighting like a fireworks display.“We got your back, Vic.”He tossed a tight smile her way, though, not quite meeting her gaze.“Says here,” he tapped the console, “you found a broken light.Can’t have that.Best fix it, before Dieter shows you how to work the ice riggers.”Nikko hitched his thumb to the outside of the ship.“Once you’ve mastered the riggers, you can spend the day as you see fit.”

Relief soaked her, and she allowed her shoulders to slump.

“I’m just going to have a little chat with the captain,” he gritted out.

She grabbed her helmet.“Thanks, Sarg, for listening and saving my ass.”If he lied about hiding her and Carne boarded theMula Pesada, she’d be ready.

“Anytime,” he called, his focus once more on the console.

Striding to the storeroom, she hummed a jaunty tune that might have been Ande’s theme song at one point.She found the required light fixture and returned to the airlock.Clutching the part between her thighs, she checked the oxygen in her suit, clipped the helmet in place, and slid the visor closed.Once the computer attached the tether, she smacked the button to open the door.Out on the ship, she strolled to the light and replaced it.With the broken part in hand, she took giant steps, leaping across the back of the ship to the aft.She was eager to learn about riggers, imagining them to be like a forklift meets a crane.Red arrows marked the location of the airlock.Catching the tether in hand, she swung, using it to launch herself over the edge of the ship and into the airlock.

Except when she vaulted off, a tug across her back jarred her, and a sickening sense of dread poured ice through her veins.Glancing over her shoulder, she gaped at the retracting tether while she traveled out to space, past the ship, and the gaping maw of the airlock.

“Computer, emergency.”Her panting peppered the silence.“Farg, Nikko, Dieter, someone?”With a scream, she tried to slow her trajectory, scrambling or swimming like a frog.A frenzied laugh rose to choke her.“A week on the job, I die by accident?”

Or was it?Why would this happen after she revealed who she was to Nikko?Here she’d hoped he’d forgiven her for how they’d met, put it behind them.Farg it, she should have known better.It was too late for recriminations.Hindsight more than kicked her ass.The box-like ship in its rust metals grew smaller the farther away she traveled.Not even Carne’s ship was in sight.At least she was close to the shipping lanes, right?

She slapped her wrist, hoping to activate the smart band through the thick suit.“Drafe?”

Silence.

She swallowed a sob, then forced herself to calm.Wasting oxygen was foolish.Tiny or Dieter would notice she was missing.Farg.Farg.Farg.She should have stayed with Drafe and let theMula Pesadaleave Lunar Base.Another wave of tears leaked, forming droplets to float away then splatter against her visor.The blurring of her vision urged her to wail at the unfairness of it all.

She’d always believed she was a survivor.Never had she thought she would die by asphyxiation.

Closing her eyes, she quietened her breathing, heartbeat, and riotous emotions.Someone would find her.They had to.She refused to die this way.

Chapter Nineteen

Year: 2219

Aboard the Aroagni.

Drafeswunghislegsoff the bed, rested his elbows on his knees, and rubbed his face.Exhaustion remained, sinking through his spine until all he longed to do was sleep.Rest was elusive.Whenever he closed his eyes, he tested the bond between him and Vic, whether the symbiotes shared as they did with an Ivoyan.A few emotions trickled through, the strongest being happiness.Without the medical minds on Ivoy and the guidance of the Q.C.C., he wasn’t sure what to expect from this… Osnir help him, he didn’t know what to call it.Some would consider it an abomination.What mattered to him was the how, why, and if it would harm a human.

If he managed to get Vic to Ivoy, would they treat her like a specimen to be studied?Her life was meaningless if the anomaly she was served the greater good.He needed to find her, to seclude her on Qaldreth.The warrior in him wanted her safe.As a male, he ached to hold her, as if having her in his arms would bring him the peace he sought.

Pushing off the bed, he crossed to the shower, hoping the hot water would soothe the tension in his shoulders.Being able to use water as if it wasn’t a precious resource hadn’t changed decades of caution.Three minutes was all he allowed himself.He closed his eyes for the jet of soap, then the rinse before the timer shut off the spray.A blast of air dried him.

Clipping boots on and summoning his armor, he left his quarters and strolled to the galley, eager for tulsig or the Ivoyan version of it.None compared to Larya’s, though.

He paused at finding Ulvus enjoying an early breakfast.The male arched a brow mid-bite.Drafe crossed to the replicate and ordered a plate of tulsig.While he waited, he poured a jar of water.

With both in hand, he slid onto the bench at the same table.“Morning.”

Ulvus didn’t say a word but tapped his plate with his regrown hand.

Drafe shrugged and bit into a tulsig cake, savoring the pseudo-saltiness.

Ulvus leaned back and sipped his water.Smacking his lips, he forced a smile.“Rumor has it, you mated with a human.”

Mated?Perhaps, Drafe had.Qaldreth warriors dreamed of returning home to find someone from their tribes.No female at his village, or those the hunting parties visited, had tempted him.Mating required the successful transference of symbiotes, which meant… He grinned.As Aehort had said, Vic was his.

“Unconfirmed at this time.”He finished his cake and reached for another.

Ulvus’s face hardened as he pursed his lips.“I would ensure it’s a no.Meorri do not dilute our bloodlines.”

“Oh?’Drafe chuckled.“Who will you mate when we return home?”He could count the available females on one hand.

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