Page 49 of Obsessed

The scanner trembles in my hand. I set it down before I drop it, steadying myself against the crate.

"One delivery." My voice sounds hollow in the cargo hold. "Just moving boxes from point A to point B. That's all it takes to earn more than I make in five years of research."

Davrik shifts his weight but stays silent, those green eyes watching me process everything.

"I get it now." The words taste bitter. "Why you'd do this. It's so... easy. Just don't think about where it goes after. Don't think about the bodies that'll pile up in the morgues. The families torn apart. The kids who'll never see their parents sober again."

My fingers brush against one of the bags. The powder inside shifts, catching the light like crushed stars. Beautiful, deadly, destructive. My stomach churns.

"How many doses are in here? A hundred thousand? More? And that's just one crate." I wrap my arms around myself, suddenly cold. "How many people were you going to help kill?"

"Alice-"

"No." I step back from the crate. "I don't want to hear justifications. I've seen what this stuff does. Third year of university, I volunteered at a recovery center. Thought it would look good on my resume." A harsh laugh escapes me. "They were so young, some of them. Just kids really. And their eyes... god, their eyes were empty. Like they weren't even there anymore."

The memory hits fresh - hollow faces, trembling hands, bodies wracked with withdrawal. All because someone somewhere decided profit mattered more than lives.

Davrik runs a hand through his dark hair, his jaw set. "Then tell me how to destroy it."

My fingers trace the edge of the scanner, mind racing through chemical compositions and molecular structures. "It's not that simple."

"Everything can be destroyed."

"Not safely." I pull up the molecular diagram on the scanner's display. "See this bond structure? If we try to burn it, the compound breaks down into something caustic. The fumes would poison the air for kilometers. Anyone or anything breathing it would..." I shake my head. "Their lungs would basically dissolve."

His green eyes narrow. "Bury it then."

"The chemical makeup is highly soluble. It would leech into the groundwater, contaminate the soil." My hands wave at the surrounding jungle beyond the hold. "Everything I've been studying, all the unique life here - it would die. The ecosystem would collapse."

"The river-"

"Same problem, but worse. The current would spread it downstream. Any animal that drinks would die. The fish, the plants..." I bite my lip. "And that's assuming it doesn't make it to the ocean. If it does, we're looking at dead zones that could span hundreds of square kilometers."

Davrik paces the hold, his boots echoing against the metal floor. "There has to be a way."

"The only safe disposal would be in a specialized facility with containment fields and molecular scrubbers." I gesture at our surroundings. "Which we definitely don't have out here in the middle of nowhere."

He stops pacing, staring at the open crate. The powder inside continues its mocking sparkle.

"So we're stuck with it," he says quietly.

"Unless you want to be responsible for destroying an entire planet's ecosystem? Yeah, we're stuck with it."

"I'll take care of it once we get off-world." Davrik closes the crate, his movements precise and careful. "There has to be a facility somewhere that can handle this."

I cross my arms. "And you won't be tempted to just... complete the delivery?"

"No." He meets my eyes, and there's something fierce there. "I meant what I said. I'm done with that life."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that." He steps closer, his hand brushing my cheek. "I choose you. Everything else... I'll figure it out."

My scientist brain kicks in, unable to let go of the practical concerns. "We need to seal these crates properly. Even a small leak could be catastrophic."

"Already on it." He walks back to his ship, and I follow, still not fully sure I know what he's really thinking. He moves to a panel in his ship's wall, pulling out what looks like industrial-grade sealant. "This stuff could hold through a solar flare."

Back at the station, I watch him work, methodically checking every seam and corner. "We should move them away from any ventilation systems. And definitely away from the water recycling units."

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