Another day passed, and still she heard nothing about either Tausson's or her own fate. The thought of humanity rallying around the cause of her incarceration was heartening, but having to just sit around and wait, with no idea about what was happening, was a maddening punishment in itself.

Nelle must be going crazy.

She had doubtless demanded to see Tierney the moment the transmission had ended, but Tierney was also willing to bet money that Chief Raleth had refused. Tierney had become a citizen of Relica as soon as she accepted Tausson as her mate. The President of the United States of America had no jurisdiction here.

Tierney spent most of the day pacing her small cell, driving herself crazy second-guessing her decision to be exiled. But no matter how many ways she sliced it, the thought of becoming Rasmus's Asteroid Mate was too revolting to consider seriously. Hopefully life on Melea wouldn't make her regret her choice.

"Miss Dawson."

Tierney was lying on her bed, drifting in and out of sleep, and hadn't seen or heard anything to alert her to the presence of a visitor. But at the sound of that familiar voice, her eyes snapped open.

"Caleb?" she said, sitting up.

His head of silver hair scarcely reached the shoulders of Chief Raleth and Rasmus, but he didn't look the least intimidated by the giants who flanked him. His tailored suit hung a little more loosely on him than Tierney remembered, but he still wore that same condescending, fake smile that made her blood boil.

"I'm sure glad to see you're looking well," said the Vice President, "although I didn't expect anything less from your Relican hosts. My respect for their judgment and sense of justice has truly increased exponentially during this whole affair. I know it's hard to see from where you're sitting, but I assure you, they've been working themselves weary trying to come up with a solution to this predicament you've gotten us into that works for all parties concerned."

"What do you want, Caleb?" she asked, unwilling to sit through his posturing.

At least I'll never have to see this snake of a man again once I'm exiled.

The Vice President was almost as good as Nelle at hiding his true feelings, but after working with him for so long, Tierney had discovered his tell: the bigger his smile, the more annoyed he was. At her question, his lips stretched further into his cheeks.

"Now I know this is hard on you, but believe me when I say it's been even harder on all of us. The whole cart's in an uproar over you being jailed on account of falling in love with a Relican -- no matter that you knowingly broke one of their cardinal rules. Everyone's got too much time on their hands, and this melodrama of yours is just too exciting to pass up. Nearly all of the Asteroid Mate volunteers have requested that their names be removed."

He put his hands in his pockets and took a few steps towards her. Rasmus followed, watching him with narrowed, impatient eyes. Chief Raleth stayed near the open door, staring flatly at the scene before him.

"We've got to put a stop to all this before things get out of hand," Caleb continued. "Good Commander Rasmus here said he told you about the solution the Relican Squad came up with, about you staying on this fine vessel and continuing in your role as Asteroid Mate, albeit with a different partner."

"Is Tausson alive?" Tierney interjected, standing and pressing her hand to the glass that was light.

"That is no concern of yours," Rasmus answered.

The Vice President gave her an infuriatingly paternal frown and shook his head. "It's best you forget about that one and move on with your life. You won't be seeing him again."

Tierney let out a shriek and slammed her palm against the wall. "Tell me! Just tell me if he's alive or not. I don't have to see him, I just need to know!"

"What you need is to think about your future," said Caleb, his smile shrinking but not disappearing. "The commander says you chose permanent exile over staying here for a couple years and then rejoining your kinfolk. Nellie and more than a few others found that hard to swallow. She wanted to come on up here and talk to you herself, but the Relicans are now understandably even more cautious about human-Relican interaction. Luckily I've been communicating with good Chief Raleth here for some time, and he deemed me a safe bet for coming on board."

"Well it's the truth," Tierney spat. "Now get me out of here. I can't stand being on this ship another minute."

"As usual, you're letting your feelings get in the way of reason," he said. "You've got to look at the big picture here. And from what I've been told, this Melea is not particularly pleasant."

"It was good enough for Jonas," she said. "If I run into him, maybe I'll be able to get the truth about that last night on Earth."

Caleb didn't take the bait. "To keep humans and Relicans on good terms," he continued, "we've got to settle this tricky business in a way that makes everyone think they won. The Relicans need to take their pound of flesh for your blatant disregard of their number one rule, but John Q. Public has to feel like he's not putting his life in the hands of a race that doesn't understand compassion. If you insist on being sent off to an early death, you'll be giving the anti-Relican minority a martyr to rally around. I think we can both agree that's not something you want."

A martyr?

As much as she wanted to tell Caleb to go screw himself, Tierney couldn't deny that what he was saying made sense. If people were protesting her imprisonment, they were also protesting her jailers. Even though Earth's population had accepted the fact of the planet's demise and taken refuge on the Relicans' moon-sized ship, there was still a sizable group who questioned the Relicans' true motives. Tierney's situation would be a gold mine for them -- the evidence they needed to prove that the Relicans were nothing but heartless aliens who would send humans to certain death for something as innocuous as falling in love.

"Let me make a statement," she said. "I'll record a video explaining the situation, stating that I accept my guilt in the eyes of Relican law, and that I am choosing exile. You can broadcast it across the cart."

Shaking his head, Caleb said, "Too easy for conspiracy theorists to say you were coerced."

"What are you saying, Mr. Vice President?" Tierney sneered as she said his title. "Are you saying that the only way to maintain peace between humans and Relicans is for me to have sex with him," she pointed at Rasmus, not bothering to hide her disgust, "every day for the next four years? Is that what you're suggesting? I can't believe that's the only solution to this problem."

"Believe what you want," said Caleb, spreading his hands in fake surrender, "but tensions are growing every day, and it's only a matter of time before things get violent. You know how shortsighted mob mentality is. All it takes is one disturbed fellow to set off a homemade bomb, and then the cart is damaged, possibly taking all of us with it."

Tierney paced her tiny room. This couldn't be the only answer, could it? Was Caleb even telling her the truth? Were things so close to getting out of control on the cart? She couldn't rule it out as a possibility, knowing how irrational people could be, especially when they're afraid, bored, and uninformed.

But even if she did stay on the Irral -- not that she was really considering it -- would it even make a difference at this point? It might, she had to admit. Her choosing to stay and help the same people who had jailed her would go a long way towards fostering understanding and reconciliation between the two species, especially if she recorded a statement explaining that even though the Relicans weren't perfect, she'd spent enough time with them to be confident in their altruistic intentions. But couldn't the conspiracy theorists just as easily say she was being coerced into saying all that?

None of it seemed like a perfect solution. The damage was done, and it would take more than her to smooth it over, but she couldn't deny the important role she could play.

"If I stay as Asteroid Mate," she said, addressing Chief Raleth, "I would need a guarantee that Rasmus won't be allowed to select me."

"Not possible," he said, his tone brusque and business-like. "The Irral crew would consider it a great insult to the commander of first contact."

"But he wasn't commander during first contact, Tausson was," she said.

"He's commander now, and that is all that matters."

Rasmus's eyes were bright with triumph, and Tierney's stomach twisted, a sickening dread tightening and churning her insides as she fought the growing certainty that this was the best way for her to help her people.

She sat down on the bed, hiding her face. "Before I give you my answer," she said into her hands, "you have to tell me, definitively, if Tausson is alive or dead."

"I'm alive."

For a moment, she thought she'd dreamed it. But when Tierney uncovered her face, there he was, standing in the doorway in Medic Lab copper scrubs, as healthy and strong as when she'd first met him.

She wanted to call out to him, to hear his voice again, but she couldn't speak. All of the fear and sorrow and guilt that had been trapped inside of her came rushing out in one great flood of emotion. With tears streaming down her cheeks, she ran to the wall and pressed her hands against it.

"What are you doing here?" Rasmus demanded. "You're not cleared for the pit."

Tausson's eyes were on Tierney. Swiftly stepping around the Chief, he moved to stand in front of her, his hand matching hers on the other side.

"I've come to surrender myself," he said, not looking away from her. Even though he wasn't wearing his mechasuit, a watch-like device was translating for him. It was slower though, not even beginning to speak until he was completely done with his sentence.

"Miss Dawson is imprisoned because she admitted to loving me. She is not the only one guilty of this crime. I am knowingly, and hopelessly, in love with her."

He still loves me!

The certainty of it made her broken heart whole again. She felt as if she were floating, as if she could fly right over this wall into Tausson's arms. She pushed harder on the glass between them, aching to feel his skin on hers.

"This changes nothing," said Chief Raleth. If he was surprised at Tausson's unabashed show of affection, he didn't look it. "You are already scheduled for transport to Relica. We were waiting only for the Senior Medic's confirmation that you were recovered enough for travel."

"No," Tierney said, seeing the pain in Tausson's eyes. He loved the Squad -- he'd loved it since he was a child. It was such an integral part of who he was. Being ripped from it would break him, and she couldn't stand by and let that happen. Even if she couldn't have her freedom, maybe he could.

"I'll stay. I'll be..." She took a strengthening breath. Would Tausson be able to understand her without his uniform? "I'll be Rasmus's Asteroid Mate, but only if Tausson can remain in the Squad."

The shock and horror in Tausson's face made her lip tremble. He could definitely understand her.

"No," he whispered.

"Out of the question," said the Chief.

"Then I won't be an Asteroid Mate. I'll go to Melea and you can all deal with the blowback." She glared at the Chief. "No one will want to be an Asteroid Mate after this. Most of those women probably signed up hoping that they would end up with a hot alien husband. Now that they know that's a criminal offense, you'll be lucky to get ten applications, let alone a hundred. I can mitigate their expectations. I can try to convince them that helping you is still a worthy cause, and not without its benefits. But I'm not doing anything for you if Tausson gets kicked out of the Squad."

"No, Tierney," growled Tausson. "It's not worth it."

"It's only for four years," she said. "And is Melea any better of a choice? At least this way some good will come out of it."

She watched as the impossibility of the situation settled over him. He turned venomous eyes on Rasmus, but it was the Vice President who backed away, now caught in the middle of a Relican face off.

"Tausson lost the blood walk," said the Chief. "Everyone knows the outcome of that."

"I don't care," said Tierney. "You figure it out. Make something up. Say there was a technicality that negates the results."

"How about illegal enhancement?" said Tausson, taking slow, threatening steps towards Rasmus.

"What are you saying?" the commander of the Irral growled.

"You were too strong. Too fast. Too bloodthirsty." Tausson got right up in Rasmus's face, making the most of the extra inch he had over the bronze Relican. "You partook of Jovi's oil."

"You are the criminal!" Rasmus said, not backing down. "You will stop at nothing to slake your unnatural urges for this human."

"Aspri said you refused treatment after the blood walk," said Tausson, keeping his voice low and menacing. "You didn't want him to detect the enhancement in your system."

"I am the superior warrior. I defeated you. My scars remind me of that." He gave Tausson a shove. "I will defeat you again if you wish."

"What does it look like?"

Both men looked at Tierney, her question bringing a pause to their imminent altercation.

"Is it red?" she continued. "Kept in small beads that look like gel? They smell bad?"

Rasmus searched her face, an emotion that was either fear or fury -- maybe both? -- raging in his eyes.

"Yes," answered Tausson.

"How do you know of it?" asked Chief Raleth, stepping farther into the room for the first time.

Tierney pointed at Rasmus. "I saw it in his room."

Rasmus let out a roar and punched Tausson in the face. Because his guard had been down, Tausson lost his balance and fell back.

"They are conspiring against me!" Rasmus cried, spit frothing on his lips as he pointed at Tierney and Tausson. "They will do anything to stay together!"

The Chief was -- as usual -- unmoved by what he'd seen. He eyed Rasmus up and down, and said simply, "Submit yourself to Aspri's evaluation."

"I will not!" Rasmus's eyes were as wild as they had been that night in the assembly. "I am the victor!" he cried, charging at Tausson, who was already standing again. "I defeated you!"

Suddenly a white light flashed, and Rasmus's body fell limp and crumpled to the floor. Tierney searched for the source of the stunner, and saw Chief Raleth bringing his outstretched arm up to his mouth.

"Aspri, nakal," he said.

"Firka, iyas," a voice replied.

After giving a command in Relican, presumably to retrieve Rasmus's body, the Chief ended the transmission and looked at Tierney.

"Where did you see the oil?" he asked.

"In the top drawer by his bed," she said, wracking her brain to come up with an excuse before someone asked her --

"Why were you sneaking around in his drawers?" asked Caleb. He'd hidden in the back of the room once violence seemed inevitable, but now he moved back to stand beside the Chief.

But before Tierney could decide whether to tell the truth or lie, Chief Raleth answered for her. "It is inconsequential."

Was he sticking up for her?

The Chief had seemed almost happy when she passed by him in the assembly on her way to this cell. The only rationale she had been able to come up with was that Caleb had turned him against her. But seeing Caleb's displeasure at the Chief's words told her she had been wrong. What had been the reason for his satisfaction then?

Tausson moved back to stand in front of her, blocking her view of the Chief, who was once again speaking into his transmitter.

"Are you okay?" she asked. "No one would tell me anything. I thought you were dead."

He gave her a comforting smile, though his eyes were solemn. "Yes," he said, "but I can't let you do this. You can't be someone else's mate."

"I told you. It's either this or Melea."

"But --"

"Tausson," said the Chief, interrupting their conversation. "You are reinstated as a Relican Squad First Tin. You will begin your service on the Glint."

"What?"

The Chief ignored Tausson's incredulity and turned to Tierney. "We have a deal?"

She eyed Rasmus's body on the floor. "Is he still commander?"

"Emotional instability and heightened aggression are side effects of Jovi's oil. If your testimony proves accurate -- they're searching his room now -- he'll be dismissed from the Squad."

Even though she still didn't relish the idea of having sex with a stranger for the next four years, at least it wouldn't be Rasmus.

She was about to agree when Tausson said, "No. I don't accept. I choose exile."