“LOX!”
Relief and horror fill me in equal measure. “No!” I shout to Calix, who is barreling across the alcove, his face filled with rage. He doesn’t seem to hear me.
“You mad old mort. If you cease your foolish actions now, I will show you mercy. Mercy you did not show my father,” he says to Lox, who kicks dirt at Calix’s feet.
“I’ll do no such thing.”
Before either of us can react, Lox throws his door shut, then reaches across and shuts mine. He revs the engine and spits rocks on his exit from the cave.
There’s a split second where Calix could chase after him. With his exceptional speed, he could have leapt onto the back of the terrainster and fought Lox for control. It was our only hope at returning to the facility. His only hope of being reunited with his faction, but he stands his ground.
Without hesitating, he turns to me and scoops me into his arms. His face nuzzles into my throat. It takes me a moment to realize the shaking I’m feeling isn’t coming from the thunderous booms from the storm, but from Calix himself, who can’t seem to stop quivering in relief. He falls to his knees.
“I thought I lost you,” he says, his voice barely above a whisper.
“I’m okay. I’m right here.”
“He attacked me, then disappeared. I tracked him to the caves and searched, but he knew them too well. I failed you, my lilapetal.”
If I’m Calix’s lilapetal, then he’s my sun. On this strange planet, I only feel safe when bathed in his warmth.
I lift his chin with my finger. “You didn’t fail me. He was crazy, Calix. If you’d found him, there’s no telling what he would have done to you. Hurt you or worse. I don’t know what I would have done if he’d hurt you.”
He shakes his head, refusing to look into my eyes. “Emery, do you not see? I healed you, only to strand you here. Without the terrainster, there is no way back to the facility. We are stranded here. Potentially forever.”
“I’d rather be stranded with you, than anywhere else without you.”
He finally looks up at me. “I promise you I will figure out a way to get us back to safety.”
“No,” I say firmly. “We’ll do it together. I’ve been a drain on you long enough. I’m strong now, I can do my part. We’re a team. We’ll work together or not at all.”
Finally, the tension eases from his face. He grins. “I was wrong. You are not a fragile lilapetal, you’re a dizmonyx. Rare and strong.”
14
Calix
Several Months Later
I watch my mate as she tears another bright purple leaf from the cabbus ball into a bowl. I am amused because she insists we eat what she calls “cabbage” at least one meal each solar. Even though I am not particularly fond of the flavor, I eat it because she prepares it. I eat it because it is what she craves. Lox had his Haxinth addiction. Breccan had the sun. My mate loves cabbus leaves. I’m grateful that unlike their unhealthy needs, the cabbus ball leaves are packed with nutrients that mimic that of meat, something she does not get much of at all.
As she continues to peel all the good leaves from the cabbus ball, turning her fingernails the same purple color, I admire her work. She has taken one of the old rooms and converted it into her work space. Many different plants grow in bins lining the walls. I love how she has taken to learn the different plant species of our planet. Plants that grow in the depths of the caves and others that came from seedlings she discovered on one of our many journeys through Sector 1779 searching for useful items.
This is our home.
For now.
And we make the best of it.
Emery keeps us fed while I keep us safe and healthy. While she “gardens” as she calls it, I ensure Sector 1779 is secure. Most recently, upon worries of Lox deciding to show back up, I installed an alarm. We even have a safe space Emery is to hide in if the alarm goes off.
I admire her for a moment longer. She is no longer frail and weak. My mate no longer wears her zuta-metal bracelet that marks her as a sick, weak being. No, since her surgery, she removed the bracelet and has embraced her new, healthy life. Her hips have widened, her thighs have thickened, and her breasts have swelled. My cock jolts at the thought. Slipping from the room, undetected, I head back to my lab. Now is not the time for making love. We both have jobs to do. The mating can wait until tonight when we are too exhausted to do anything aside from losing ourselves in each other.
Back in my lab that has been set up much like my old one at the facility, I head over to my micro-viewer. I have been testing the toxica properties against what I now call the opasites—the gray parasites I removed from Emery’s lungs. I have studied the biological code of both, pulling out what makes them different and using the toxica against the opasites. Toxica has a biogene within it that the opasites react negatively to. I’ve isolated this biogene and strengthened it with newer microbot technology to create a super biogene. This super biogene kills the opasite immediately. Even Emery has been helpful in this effort to protect us from future opasite infections. She explained what she called immunizations from her planet in great detail. The science makes sense and it is my hope to create a lasting agent that can be injected into both morts and our aliens that will protect from future opasite infections.