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I settle on the rock, finding the surface warm from the relentless sun. Tris sits between us, happily eating her giant grape.
"Not that it wasn't sad, but I never knew my sister. I just remember how distraught my mother was, and when I saw Tris lying helpless and vulnerable, for some reason, it brought back that moment." Mordox lifts his chin at me. "What about you? Any siblings?"
"Not that I know of. I never knew my biological parents. I bounced around in foster care, so the girls, especially Darcy, feel like the sisters I always dreamed of having."
"What is this foster care where you bounced?"
The wording of his question curls my lips into a grin. "Well, I don't know the story of why my parents didn't want me, but foster care is where kids who don't have families are housed with people willing to take care of them until they're adopted. Some nice. Some not so nice."
The look he lands on me is a mixture of horror and confusion. "Why would anyone, let alone your parents, not want you?"
I drop my gaze, unable to hold Mordox's intense stare. "I was never fortunate enough to have been adopted." As has become his habit, he tilts my chin up with the pad of one finger. Overwhelmed with emotion, I pull away.
"It makes sense why you are so resilient. Never having a family is what has made you so strong."
"You're wrong about me, Mordox. I'm not strong. I'm scared all the time."
"Fear is a strength not a weakness, lula."
"How you figure that?" I pop a piece of jerky meat into my mouth and chew.
"Fear can be tapped into as a source of power, lula. It can make you work harder and smarter. It heightens your senses and fuels your body with adrenaline to make you stronger. I'm afraid of what might remain in that lab. Afraid of what might be following us from the dark side of the moon. Do I look weak to you?"
"Not hardly!" I look around. "You mean me watching your back is a thing and not you just trying to make me feel better for slowing our progress?"
"You're not slow, just not as fast as me." Mordox offers a small smile. "And yes, I need you watching my back. I lost the scents of the remaining lifers and the three lab creatures. It concerns me as to why."
My heart swells with affection. He tries so hard to spare my feelings, but at the same time, a shiver races down my spine. "I'll keep a sharp eye out. Make sure nothing sneaks up on us. How much farther?"
"We're a quarter of the way there. If we keep going without stopping to sleep, we will reach the lab in another cycle and a half."
"I vote for keeping going if you're sure you're up for it. All this talk about creatures lurking is giving me the heebs." I shiver. "I've always wanted a sister; now I have four, and I don't want anything to happen to them. When we get back to Earth, I hope to remain close with them."
Mordox doesn't say anything but shifts on the rock as if suddenly uncomfortable with the conversation.
"What?" My heart sinks. "What are you not telling me?"
"I don't want to upset you, but your home world is under Universeval Rule and guarded by Yulineon patrols. Even if you had a long-range spacecraft available to you, you'd be lucky to get anywhere near Earth without getting caught."
I shake my head, trying to absorb everything he just said. "What does all that mean? Why can't we just fly home?"
"If you're caught by a Yulineon patroller, they have orders to kill you on sight."
"But I'm a human. It's my home."
"Earth lies within the Luartick Sector, along with many other infant galaxies. The patrollers are there to safeguard the planets from more advanced species wanting to take advantage."
"Human." I raise my hand and shrug. "Not an advanced species. Just a girl with a desire to return home. Why would they want to kill me?"
"The entities making up Universeval Rule believe humans are not ready for what lies beyond their world." Mordox holds up a hand in surrender. "And I mean no offense, but humans are viewed as a primitive species in comparison to other beings of the known Universe. Laws were created to remove potential threats to infant life as well as to advanced life. If a human were to return with knowledge of life on other worlds," Mordox grimly shakes his head, "and with as volatile as your species is, they won't risk the possibility of you blowing yourselves up. Planetary destruction would have catastrophic effects on nearby solar systems."
I stare at him, feeling the weight of his words settle in my chest. Going home doesn't sound like an option anymore. Stunned into silence, my mind races with thoughts of never being able to return home. Of never seeing Earth again.
"I'm sorry, lula." Mordox gathers my hand in his, giving me an empathetic squeeze. "I know what it feels like to know you can never go home. Convicted of crimes I never committed, I can never return to Ziaria. Not without being hunted by the very warriors I once served with."
I return his squeeze and shift my watery gaze to the enormous planet looming low and heavy in the pale, verdant sky. Rainbow clouds swirl around its surface, making it look like a giant, iridescent marble. "If we can't go home, then where will we go?" I ask, my voice barely above a whisper.
I haven't felt this lost since DCS came and took me from my first foster family and placed me in a group home with a whole bunch of other kids. I was so young, I didn't understand what was happening or why. All I remember was being terrified and clinging to a raggedy, stuffed bunny as if my life depended on it as I was taken away from the only world I knew.
