“What else could they be looking for? A ‘geological anomaly’ that emerged three days ago?” She turned to face him, and he could see the fear in her eyes, not for herself but for him. “Adjar, you don’t understand what these people are capable of. I’ve seen what they do to things they want to study. I’ve seen?—”
Her voice broke.
“What have you seen?”
“They’ve always wanted the technology Earth Government uses to transform men into cyborgs. Their experiments created monsters. A friend of mine worked in a GenCon lab during that time, and she just… disappeared.” She wrapped her arms around herself. “We never found out what happened to her. Or any of the people they used in those experiments.”
“You believe they would do the same to me.”
“I know they would.” She grabbed his arm, her grip fierce through the thick cloak. “You’re not just some piece of experimental technology, Adjar. You’re a living being. A sentient creature from a civilization that predates human existence on this planet. Do you have any idea what that’s worth to them? They would cage you. Study you. Take you apart to figure out how you work.”
The thought should have frightened him. Instead, he felt something cold and hard settle in his chest.
“I will not allow anyone to harm you,” he said.
“Me?” She stared at him. “I’m not the one in danger here. They want you.”
“They may want me. But to reach me, they must go through you and through this place you have built. They will threaten you and use you against me.” He cupped her face in his hands, forcing her to meet his eyes. “I have lost much, too much to remember, yet enough to know the shape of absence. I will not lose you as well.”
“You barely know me.”
“I know you fed me when you had barely enough for yourself. I know you healed me when it would have been easier to let me die. I know you look at me and see a person, not an alien or a prize.” He pressed his forehead to hers. “In my world, such things create bonds that cannot be broken. You are my mate, whether you accept the word or not. And I will burn anyone who threatens you.”
“That’s…” She swallowed hard. “That’s really sweet, but also terrifying.”
“Good. I wish to be terrifying to those who would harm you.”
She laughed—a broken, desperate sound that might have been a sob. “They have weapons. Technology. Dozens of personnel. You can’t just fight your way through a corporate security team.”
“Can I not?”
“No! I mean, yes, maybe, I don’t know how powerful you are, but that’s not the point.” She pulled back, pacing in the snow, her boots leaving dark prints in the white. “The point is that even if you could defeat everyone they send, they’d just send more. GenCon has resources you can’t imagine. They control half the mining operations on Mars, and they have connections in every level of colonial government. You can’t fight an entire corporation.”
“I have fought worse.”
“You don’t remember what you’ve fought!”
“No.” He caught her arm, stopping her agitated movement. “But I remember fighting. I remember being prepared to die to protect what mattered. And I remember—” The words caught in his throat, fragments of sensation that wouldn’t coalesce into proper memories. “I remember loss. The kind that breaks worlds. GenCon is new. Human. Temporary.”
“Temporary?”
“In the span of my existence, all human things are temporary.” He softened his grip, sliding his hand down to lace his fingers with hers. “But you are not temporary to me. You are now. You are real. And I will not allow your fear of these people to become reality.”
She stared at their joined hands for a long moment. When she looked up, her eyes were wet but her jaw was set.
“We need to send a response to their offer.” She turned back towards the communication array. “If I refuse to sell, it puts them on notice that I’m not going to roll over. It also creates a paper trail—if anything happens to me or my claim, there’s documented evidence that GenCon was pressuring me.”
“Will paper protect you?”
“Probably not. But it’s something.” She was already typing, her fingers flying over the small interface. “I’m also going to send a copy to the Independent Miners’ Coalition and the local ranger station. They both keep records of GenCon’s intimidation tactics. It won’t stop anything, but?—”
“But it might make them cautious.”
“Exactly. And if they are caught actually doing something illegal, the rangers will act.” She finished typing and hit send. “There. My official refusal of the purchase offer, a citation of my legal rights to the claim, and notice that any attempt to seize or interfere with my operations will be considered corporate overreach.”
“And the investigation they threatened?”
Her expression hardened. “I told them there’s nothing to investigate. The seismic activity was a natural ice shelf collapse which happens all the time in this region. My equipment was damaged but I’m fine. No anomalies here. Just ice and rock and a very annoyed independent miner.”
