Page 15 of Alien on the Moon

It was coming to her. She just needed a minute to think. Potatoes. Something about potatoes. And it connected to the Milpas. No, not Milpas. Monoculture.

“Elena?” Rylan began.

“Shh!” she hissed, holding up a finger. The idea was coming together. What was it? Monocultures were risky because one blight could wipe out the entire species. It happened with bananas and with…

“The Irish Potato Famine!” she exclaimed, leaping to her feet.

Rylan looked at her like she had grown two heads. “What?”

“Come on. We need to get more samples. I have an idea.” As they geared up, she explained how a massive famine in Ireland had been caused by a blight on the potato monoculture. To be fair, it had also been caused by the behavior of the British government, but that didn’t apply in this situation.

“So, you think a microbe in the soil could be causing this?” Rylan asked as he collected a sample of topsoil near where the terraforming first began to fail.

“I wouldn’t be surprised. It could be one that’s depleting the nitrogen in the soil rather than rotting plants outright. Maybe a mutated disease or something.”

Even from behind the oxygen mask, she could see that he was smiling. “You’re brilliant.”

Her cheeks heated up at that. To avoid thinking about it or his lips on hers, she turned back to the samples she had been collecting. “I’m sure you would’ve thought of it eventually. The chips just helped me make the connection.”

“Don’t sell yourself short,” Rylan said. He was standing close to her, just inches away. With a gloved finger, he tilted her head up so that she’d look at him. “I’m fascinated by the way your brain works. You’re one of the most formidable minds I’ve ever met.”

She let out a high, girlish giggle. How embarrassing. If Sofia and Carmen were there, they’d never let her live it down. “I could say the same about you. Most people tend to get tired of my rambling after a while.”

Rather than keep facing him and putting her foot in her mouth, she headed back to the base. There, she dropped the samples into the slot to be processed and pulled off her protective gear.

“Wait,” he said, catching up to her. He caught her arm as she tried to push past him. His grip was firm but not enough to hurt. Still, years of bullying in school and dealing with sexist creeps in her labs gave her quick reflexes.

Whipping on him like a rattlesnake, she punched him in the gut before she even realized what she was doing. He doubled over more in shock than pain, but guilt immediately slammed into her. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry. I wasn’t thinking—”

He held up a hand, straightening once he’d caught his breath. “No, I should be the one apologizing. Give me a minute to take off my safety gear and then we can talk.”

She waited, guilt twisting in her gut as he put away his samples and removed his suit. Why did she do that? What was wrong with her?

He emerged in his day clothes. “I think I owe you an apology.”

She blinked. Why was he insisting on this? “But I punched you.”

Shaking his head, he let out an amused huff. “Yeah, after I came onto you, made you uncomfortable, and then grabbed you when you tried to get away. That’s on me.”

“But I—”

“I misread things between us, and I’m sorry for that. If you still want to be friends after this, I would love—”

“I like you, too!” she shouted.

It was his turn to take a step back in surprise. “You what? But you pushed me away.”

Elena felt too exposed. Here she was, out in the open, admitting her feelings and neuroses where anyone could hear. “Can we talk in private?”

His emerald eyes widened. “Yes, of course.”

When they reached her bedroom, she shut the door with a sigh. “I’m not used to feelings like this. Or attraction.”

Rylan stayed silent, listening and letting her speak before revealing his thoughts. But the way his brows furrowed told her she had upset him with her words.

Still, she barreled on. “I’m not kind in the way that my sister, Carmen, is kind, and I’m not fun in the way that my sister, Sofia, is. I understand logic, machines, and nature, not people. So, when you started flirting, I panicked because I don’t know what to do with that.”

With a sigh, she scrubbed her face with her hands. “It’s nothing you did wrong. I’m just a neurotic weirdo.”

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