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I keep my head down and step onto the deck. The water shakes the gravity away. I trip, skidding my kneecaps against the wood. My heart rests in choppier waters, this much I know.
The figure points to the other end of the boat. "Start the engine and drive."
I was set up.
But I can’t be scared anymore. I need to be strong. I close my eyes and swallow my fear. I’m going to be okay. My baby is going to be okay. I’m going to find Ax, and we’ll finally get off of this planet.
“Okay. I’ll do it. Just don’t shoot,” I say.
I start the engine and drift down the wide Kalyx river, watching as the town drifts out of view. Soon, it is just us and the surrounding rainforest. The sun amplifies the colors of the world as it prepares to rest.
The figure sits on the other end of the boat. He keeps his pistol raised. The barrel is a perfect angle to my left eye. "Are you with the Syndicate?" I ask.
The man presses a button on the side of his mask. A green light reflects outward as an electronic, muffled voice issues. "I am a bounty hunter."
"Why are you searching for me? Money?"
He shakes his head. "I have been following you, but there’s more than money at stake."
I lower my head and nod. "Why am I not surprised?"
"You are easy to track," he says. "You didn't see me once in the dunes of the Red Sands."
I look away. My eyes follow the black river. "I would do anything for Ax," I say. "If you're going to turn me into Earth Federation, you should know I'd rather die."
The man laughs, but he keeps that gun steady. "You are pregnant. You will not kill yourself. It’s against your nature."
I feel my anger rise. "My nature? Take off your mask. Face me as I face you. Show me your true nature."
"Tell me something. How is it possible an Earth Federation soldier fell in love with an alien from the Syndicate? It seems so... impossible." The bounty hunter doesn't take off his mask. He doesn't move at all.
That's exactly what our love is. Impossible like a miracle. But the harder they try to stop our love from happening, the more we feel it.
I watch the reflections of the leaves drift along the water. Ax is the furthest he's been away from me since our two paths connected. And now, he has been sentenced to fight and die. I've done pretty well with managing my emotions, but the bounty hunter's question catches me off guard.
I bite the inside of my lip to distract from the loneliness I feel from his absence. "He is not what you think," I whisper.
"A monster?"
"Everyone has a monster inside of them. All that matters is if you can tame it," I say.
“Perhaps.”
My face turns red. The air feels hot. "He is kind to me. He has shown me what it's like to love. And maybe it's not what everyone else understands – maybe it's not the normal path, but he didn't get a chance at normal. He's doing his best, and I wish the planet and it’s power hungry factions would leave us alone.”
"You feel that strongly for him, despite his past?" he asks.
"He would die for me," I say. "And now that I'm pregnant, he works to find us safety on a new planet. How many men do you know that move an inch for their women?"
“Not too many,” he admits. “But maybe none of that matters to me. Maybe I just want to catch the hunt of the week. You’re a very popular girl, Anna.”
The river path constricts. The sun sets behind the trees, and the animals come out to the edge to watch as we sail by their home. I got so used to the silence of Ax's home that I forgot what the sounds of the jungle were like.
All of this will end if this man gives me up. The dream will be over. I’ll be forced awake, to live as another once more.
I am frightened, but not of the animals. I am frightened of returning to Base Elysa. There's no way in hell I would get through the re-integration process. There is only a twenty-five percent success rate.
I'm going to be put away forever. I'm never going to see Ax again.
