Page 121 of Command

It was a risk. Threxin wanted the data now… But Orion’s hesitation was not entirely misplaced. He wanted to see with his own eyes evidence of the jump drive powering up from the command center, make sure this was not a trick for Threxin to retrieve the necessary information only to kill them all.

That left a week to permit all remaining humans to Upload should they choose to do so.Colossalhad enough chips in its coffers to support two thousand Uploads and their lifetime maintenance once they reached their Heaven.

It had not been the safest choice. By informing Orion of the upcoming jump, Threxin gave him room to foil his plans.

But it was important to Alina Argoud… And if he and the remaining humans were to make a life on the same planet, it may go smoother if they did not have to dispose of half of their kind.

“Tell your female I will permit willing humans to Upload before the jump,” he had told Orion Halen. “To the holding database. They will be transferred to the network precisely before the jump takes place.”

Orion Halen showed no outward emotion, but Threxin sensed something brooding in him at the news and wondered what it was. He should be happy that his humans would be permitted free access to Heaven should they so choose…

Threxin almost asked, as inconsequential as Orion Halen’s hesitation would be, only just as he moved to speak a wash of color engulfed him, freezing him in his tracks. It was an explosion in his head, one that slowly subdued itself after the initial pang of life.

His Alina was awake.

CHAPTER 52

ALINA

She stirred beneath cool, crisp sheets. The ceiling was darker than she remembered, and her arms and legs were splayed wider than they ever could in her own bed.

She swallowed—her mouth was a little dry, but not very.

Threxin.It worked. It worked. It worked.

“Threxin?” she called, sitting up in what she knew now was his bed.

Threxin?She subvocalized, aiming it for him. She doubted he’d granted any of the others access to their NS comms, so she wasn’t worried about broadcasting too widely.

Not that it mattered… She remembered with a sinking stomach that Orion Halen and Kaia had both been witness to what had happened.

Kaia must hate her.

His presence flooded her. He was close. Then closer. She didn’t need to hear him enter or see the door to the bedroom slide open. She could have been deaf and blind and still she’d feel him hovering in the doorway for the briefest tick before coming to kneel by the bed.

His hands were working the sheet, peeling it off her, and after a brief moment of awkward clutching in which Alinawasn’t quite sure she was ready to feel so exposed, she realized resistance was futile and let him bare her skin.

His hands tapped briefly at her belly, where there were only subtle marks left of his talons. Her chest… She looked down at the healing wound. That was another story. Puckered and pink, four gashes ran diagonally across her breastbone.

“I am sorry, Alina Argoud,” Threxin muttered. His deep velvet voice sounded like home. It brought the sting of tears to her eyeline.

“It’s okay,” she croaked, her own voice cracking with disuse. She licked her lips and searched his face. “I’m fine. What… How long has it been?”

“Almost three ship days. Much has happened. The voluntary Uploads have begun. We jump to our new planet in less than two ship weeks.”

Alina tried to keep up, but her head was still groggy, but she thought she heard that right. “Wait, wait, what? We jump?

“We are almost there, Alina Argoud.” He smoothed the bangs from her forehead.

Two weeks. Two weeks and we’re on New Earth. People spend their whole lifetime searching.

“The search is over for you,” Threxin said.

“Do people know? Kaia?”

Threxin frowned. “No humans know except those Orion Halen has told. I imagine his female would be one of them.”

If Kaia knew, she must know her hopes of getting someone to “rescue” them were all but dashed. What are the chances someone would show up in two weeks, especially if they hadn’t already?

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