Nadi stared at the engraving on the smooth wall in front of her from afar, wondering what y beyond. The alien symbol beckoned her, but she resisted the temptation to get closer. Nothing good would come of it should she get caught by either Cyrix or Irric.
Her entire time at the facility thus far had been shrouded in secrecy, despite her being one of the soldiers in charge of the ground operation. She yearned to know what was happening behind the scenes and learn the real reasons for her mission. Something big was happening right under her nose, but the subterfuge made it impossible for her to get any answers.
Irric had proven to be annoyingly tight-lipped. As one of the people in charge, she couldn’t press him too hard for answers. Cyrix was no better, shutting down any questions she had. She was being kept in the dark and could only guess at what was happening. It irked her, but she kept her dissatisfaction quiet.
She hoped that whatever information she stole from Irric’s data ste would help shed some light on the situation. After Cyrix’s threat of locking them up in a cell for disobedience, Nadi was growing increasingly uncomfortable with Kaius’ orders. Still, she had her mission and knew that she couldn’t abandon it partway through.
Unfortunately for her, she still hadn’t had the time to see what was on the data chip. Her snap decision to take advantage of Irric’s carelessness was a risky one. There had been a high chance that he returned to retrieve his forgotten data ste right away, but he’d been so focused on his work that he only noticed once they’d arrived at the ship.
Nadi sighed and turned around. With a brisk pace, she strode down the corridor to where her team members were standing guard. After giving them their new orders and pcing her second in charge, she used her comms to inform the rest of her squad guarding the other end of the hall about the changes in command.
She then waved her squad goodbye and set off to complete her task. Nadi felt a headache coming on thinking about the hassle of organizing the entirety of the soldiers at the facility satisfy Cyrix’s orders. Using her comms, she contacted the team leaders and ordered them to meet her in one of the rooms they’d commandeered as a meeting room.
Orders reyed, Nadi set towards her rendezvous after checking her map when a thought struck her. With her test orders, she wouldn’t be expected anywhere for a while, presumed to be organizing the new operation. She’d been given a free pass to wander the facility as she saw fit to carry out her duties.
That included dropping by her room.
Nobody would know she’d taken a quick break before resuming her work. She’d be able to drop off her chip without being suspect. It would also give her the opportunity to see what was on the chip and nobody would know.
Smiling internally, she made her way over to the meeting room. All the team leaders present when she walked in. Standing at the front of the room, she expined the new situation to her fellow soldiers without dey. They had questions, naturally, that she was unable to answer.
“Does this have anything to do with the new arrival?” one of the soldiers asked. The others all turned to face him. “I saw her walking together with Commander Cyrix. Who is she? She doesn’t look military.”
“I honestly have no idea who she is,” Nadi said. She omitted that her first interaction with the mysterious woman as delivering clothes because she’d been naked. Without any confirmation about her identity from Cyrix or Irric, she could only guess. “What I do know, however, is that she isn’t to be trusted. For reasons not expined to me, my team is to keep a close eye on her as she works. We have orders to kill her should she deviate from any permitted action.”
Her response raised more than a few brows. “What actions are those?” the same soldier asked. “If she’s dangerous, we need to know. Is she armed?”
“No, she’s not permitted to carry a weapon,” Nadi said with a shake of her head. “I’m not permitted to divulge any other information pertaining to my team’s orders.”
The soldier frowned. “You’re just after telling us about her. How is this not the same?”
“You’ve already seen her. Warning you all about her isn’t the same as actually telling you what my orders are. Cyrix made it quite clear what would happen should we disobey,” Nadi said spitefully. “He’s going to be very heavy-handed with his punishments.”
“And what punishments are those?”
Nadi only gave him a cold smile. “Are there any other questions?” she asked, moving on. The soldier that spoke looked like he was about to protest but he was nudged hard by the woman next to him. She silenced the man with a sharp gre before asking her own questions.
“Why are we looking for green stains on the ground?” she asked, changing the topic. “Why do they matter? They’re just stains.”
“We suspect that something happened to the gru’ul that were in this part of the facility. The bloodstains will help us piece together what happened.”
“Why bother? Knowing what happened doesn’t help us with our work now.”
“I don’t know. Commander Cyrix deems it important enough for all of us to drop what we’re doing and search the entire restricted section, so take from that what you will,” Nadi replied. “I agree that it’s probably a waste of time, but most of us are wasting our time idle anyway. This way, we’ll actually have work to do.”
The woman frowned. “I suppose,” she said, not entirely convinced. “How long will this take?”
Nadi shrugged. “I honestly have no idea. It depends on how quickly we can search the rooms.”
“This pce is massive!” another soldier said. “It could take ages.”
“That’s why there will be so many of you working on it at the same time.” Nadi proceeded to assign each team leader a section of the facility to search. After ensuring all of the leaders understood their new orders, she then brought them to the control room to show them an example of what they were looking for.
The soldiers crowded around the bloodstains as Nadi pointed out the discolouration to watch out for. “The Commander is particurly interested in this discolouration. Why? I don’t know. If you see anything simir, send me a message right away so that I can inform the Commander.” The soldiers nodded and Nadi dismissed them.
Alone at st, Nadi checked in with her squad. Irric, Cyrix and Ava were still in the same room that she’d st seen them. She smiled. There was plenty of time for her to swing by her room and drop off the chip.
Mind made up, Nadi left the control room and made her way out of the restricted section to where her designated, smiling internally as she passed the checkpoint. There was an abundance of rooms in the facility that soldiers like her occupied, rather than return to their ships and risk injuring themselves on the trip back when they were tired.
Navigating her way through the corridors, Nadi arrived in front of a door that looked like all the others. Had she not marked it on her map, she would never be able to find her way to the right room. Approaching the wall, she paid no mind to the unnerving sound of it melting away as she stepped through the threshold and entered.
Being a team leader granted her the privilege of not needing to bunk with the other soldiers. While there was an abundance of rooms in the facility for them to use, most of the others found it unnerving to be sleeping in rooms full of preserved organs and mutated animals. The result was a fierce competition for the most normal looking ones, with more than one soldier opting to share in order to avoid being near the experiments.
Navigating around the b equipment, Nadi made her way to her bedroll in the far corner of the room. The wall reformed when she got far enough away, sealing her inside. Next to her bed was her pack full of equipment. Fresh clothes, equipment and more importantly, her data ste, could be found within. She sat down and pulled her pack up next to her.
Pulling out her data ste, she fished the chip from her pocket and inspected it. Her instructions were to leave it under her pillow, yet Nadi couldn’t help but wonder what was on it. Torn, her gaze shifted between the chip and her device.
She inserted the chip into one of the ports.
Waiting patiently for the content to finish downloading, she eagerly opened the file once it was ready. Nadi took one look and swore. To her dismay, it was encrypted. It would be impossible for her to read the information on the file. Still, Nadi completed her mission and sent off the information. She then withdrew the chip and pced it under her pillow.
Returning her data ste to her pack, Nadi sat in quiet contemption, cursing Kaius for his foresight. Now that she couldn’t view the secret files the Elder wanted, there was nothing keeping her in her room. With a groan, Nadi stood up and left her room.
Alone in the corridor, she jumped when she was contacted by her second. Cyrix had left the mysterious room and was heading back to base. Irric and Ava were still inside and would be staying for the foreseeable future.
Nadi sighed and began making her way towards the hangar to see Cyrix off and get her new orders.
***
The afternoon wore on as Adrian and Reya remained where they were, loving every second of the peace and tranquility nature provided. The sun had begun to dip over the distant mountain peak several minutes ago and the pair watched its final rays paint their world in beautiful colours. The perfectly still water in the ke reflected the sky and surrounding mountains, making it feel as though they were enveloped by the light.
“Sunset is my favourite time of day. Just for a minute, if the colours are right, it feels like I’m back on Earth,” Adrian said wistfully, breaking the silence. “Like right now.”
“Do you regret it, being brought here against your will and trapped on this pnet?” Reya asked, afraid to know the answer. This pnet was where they’d met. She wanted to think that was special to him, but the longer she waited for his reply, the less she was certain.
“No.” Adrian shook his head, shifting his gaze away from the ephemeral moment to gaze upon something even more beautiful. “What’s difficult to accept at times is knowing that I’ll never be able to go back. Sometimes, I find myself thinking about the pnts back home and their vibrant shades of green. Or the blue sky. When I have those thoughts, it’s hard not to miss my home world, for all of it’s beauty. I have a new home now,” Adrian said, staring into her eyes, “and that’s next to you. Wherever you are is home to me. Whether it be a pnet to nowhere or this one right here, I will remain by your side. Forever and always.” His expression was warm as he drank in the sight of his other half.
Reya shook at the powerful words for deep in her bones she knew them to be true. Of this, she had no doubt. Warmth blossomed in her chest, threatening to overwhelm her. Something inside her broke at the love she was being offered and she began to cry. Reya wanted – craved – what was in front of her with every fiber of her being. Her tears continued to run down her cheeks as she fought to get her words out.
Adrian startled and looked at her with worry, afraid he’d said something that had hurt her. “Reya, what’s wrong?” he asked, his tone full of concern. “Was it something I said?”
“These are happy tears.” Reya sniffed and dabbed her eyes with her sleeve, finally finding her voice. They remained damp. “You have no idea how happy your words make me. I know we haven’t known each other that long but I know, deep in my soul, that it’s the same for me. Every moment I get with you is a blessing that I don’t know what I did to deserve.” She reached up and cupped his cheek. “You are my soulmate and I’m never letting go.”
Adrian’s eyes glistened. “I love you,” Adrian said with all his heart.
“I love you, too,” Reya said back, her gaze locked with his.
The pair shared a long, tender kiss knowing that for the first time, they both truly meant those words. The bond between them deepened ever the more as the sun continued to set, dying the world in hues of pink, orange and red against the sky’s purple backdrop.
