Page 17 of Searching the Skies

As hard as she tried, Geneva couldn’t ignore the morning’s announcement. When she returned to her quarters, she was greeted by a demanding screech coming from her closet. She unearthed her civilian communicator from underneath assorted piles of laundry and silenced the alarm alerting her to missed messages. Everything from either her mother or her father was deleted without being opened, but one lone message displayed a different name. Hesitating for a full minute, she pushed the button and the holographic display flashed to life.

I didn’t have anything to do with this, I swear. - M.

She wouldn’t have accused him of conspiring with her parents, but the thought of Marcus being dragged into her family drama rekindled her anger. Giving one last glare to the small electronic device, she hurled it across the room, where it hit the wall with a resounding thud before crashing to the floor. She knew there wouldn’t be a scratch on it, as they were built to be nearly indestructible, but she’d released some of her rage.

***

Days passed, and her uneasiness about the situation lingered. Although Ash lived up to his promise, pretending everything was the same on the ship and keeping both her mind and body occupied in their free time, she couldn’t shake the feeling of being manipulated. She knew her best approach was the original plan of ignoring any problem existed. Unfortunately, after a week’s worth of sleepless nights, the plan hadn’t succeeded.

One person would understand. One person, who was tantalizingly nearby. One person who would listen to her, encourage her, tell her she wasn’t doing anything wrong…but she had thought she’d left that person behind. As she lay in bed with her eyes wide open, listening to Ash’s rhythmic snoring beside her, she questioned her decision.

The military ship hovered close enough to Pasurea to make direct teleportation a possibility. Knowing she would change her mind if she thought about it for too long, she raced to one of the transportation rooms after dinner, planning to leave the ship empty-handed as she needed to return within several hours. Pressing her thumb to the panel on the door, the mechanism scanned and logged her print in the database, and she stepped onto the round pad in the center of the floor. She tapped the adjacent screen to set her coordinates and waited for darkness to overtake her.

The twin suns had set on Pasurea, and various shining orbs flanking each building illuminated the residential area where she appeared. Marcus’s house stood several quick yards away, and as she approached his door, Geneva felt foolish about her impulsive trip. She didn’t know if he was busy, or if he was even home. However, she couldn’t turn back now that she’d come down to the planet she despised so much.

Marcus didn’t look as surprised to see her as she would have expected, and he waved her inside. She progressed a few steps beyond the door and stopped, facing away from him, too flustered to look him in the eye. “I didn’t know where else to go,” she said.

He shut the door behind her. “I meant it when I said you were always welcome here. What can I do to help?”

The touch of his hand on her shoulder startled her, and she jerked away. Part of her wanted to rush to the comfort and safety of his arms. She knew it wouldn’t be fair to either one of them, not to mention the man waiting for her on the ship. Even so, she caught a glimpse of his face out of the corner of her eye and saw how her recoil had hurt him. “I don’t even know what I’m doing here. I don’t know what I’m doing anywhere. I thought I had my whole life figured out, but for the past month or so, everything’s been turned upside down and I can’t seem to find my footing.”

“I thought you were just going to go back to your spaceship as if nothing had changed. What happened?”

Geneva contemplated the question before answering. “I’ll never be free of this place. It’s part of me, regardless of how hard I try to fight it. This whole mess with my parents is reminding me of what I already knew.” She finally turned around to look at him. “I feel like I’m caught in the middle, one foot here and one foot there. And no matter what happens, I’ll never make everyone happy.”

Marcus kept his distance from her as his eyes narrowed. “What do you want?”

“I don’t know anymore.”

He shook his head. “What do youwant, Geneva?” he repeated.

She lifted her chin and met his deliberate stare. “I’m afraid I’ll always want what I can’t have. No matter what I choose, I’ll be losing something. I either come back here and lose my independence and everything I’ve worked for, or I cut off all ties once and for all and lose a piece of me nothing can replace.”

“Are you sure it has to be that way?”

Her brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”

“I know you’ve had the same conversations with them so many times, and you’re tired of repeating yourself to no avail.” His expression softened. “But maybe you should try talking to your parents one more time. Don’t get angry. Don’t get upset. Don’t let your mother push your buttons. State your case calmly and rationally, and maybe they’ll back off and you don’t have to dread coming back here in the future, if you agree to keep some promises.”

His plan seemed logical enough, but its execution would be difficult. “They’ve never listened to me before. What makes you think they’ll start now?”

Marcus’s dark eyes never left her. “Do you want me to come with you?” he offered.

The suggestion sounded enticing, and Geneva longed to say yes, but she had to fight her own battles. “Thanks, but I need to do this myself.” She sighed and rubbed her face. “I’m really sorry for bursting in here like this. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“I knew you would understand.” She frowned. “You’re too good to me.”

He shrugged. “You know I care about you.”

“I know.” Still feeling sheepish about her impulsive visit, she moved toward the door. “I need to get back to the ship.”

His hand covered hers as she grabbed the doorknob, and she closed her eyes as warmth prickled over her body in response to his touch. “Marcus, I…I can’t do this.”

“Do what?”

She withdrew her hand, both from the door and from his grasp. “This. Anything. I don’t know.” She forced herself to look at him. “I can’t be with you.”

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