Something warm was covering her up. She heard hushed voices, smelled the sharp scent of metal, felt the faint vibration in the floor beneath her.

"Tausson?" she whispered.

"I'm here," he said, and she felt a gloved hand close around hers. She opened her eyes and saw his anxious face above her.

"Are you harmed?" he asked. "I couldn't convey down, but Carterra --" Someone nearby cleared their throat, and the corner of Tausson's lips twitched in a smile as he corrected himself. "Commander Arrat agreed to try and convey you directly to the vessel. She saved you."

Tierney turned to see the commander in the conveyance chamber with them, along with a man with bronze skin, wearing a white uniform.

"This is Senior Medic Aspri," said Tausson. "He will assist if you are harmed."

"I'm not hurt. Where's Nelle?"

Commander Arrat stepped forward. "President Freeland is in the Medic Lab being treated for her injuries. Vice President Grant has already been informed of her return."

"Caleb," Tierney spat. "He's the one who had us locked up!"

The commander glanced at Tausson expectantly, as if there was something he was supposed to say. He stared back at her with a darkening look.

"What?" she asked, holding the blanket against her and sitting up. "What happened?"

He gently secured the blanket around her back as he said, "Mr. Spade confessed to the kidnapping."

"Jonas? He confessed?"

Tausson nodded, glowering. "He said that he acted alone, other than paying off two Secret Service agents to ensure you and President Freeland did not make it to the conveyance zone in time. He's already been exiled to Melea."

Tierney didn't know what that meant, but even if Jonas was gone for good, he wasn't the only one they had to worry about. "There's no way it was just him," she said. "He and Caleb were always plotting against the President. Caleb has the most to gain with Nelle out of the way -- he's the one behind this. Jonas is just taking the fall for some reason, to protect Caleb."

"Did you see the men who took you?" asked Tausson. "Did you hear them say anything about working for the Vice President?"

"No, they surprised me from behind and didn't talk at all."

His face went grim.

"With a full confession from Mr. Spade, and without proof of the Vice President's involvement," said Commander Arrat, "we cannot hold him in custody."

Tierney felt the tight hand of fear close around her throat. Even with his favorite conspirator in prison, Caleb would certainly find a way to continue trying to undermine Nelle and steal her power. She may be without a country, but there were millions of people on the cart who still identified as Americans, and would listen to and follow their leader, especially in a time as hectic as this. Caleb wanted that following, that loyalty, and he would do anything to get it.

"Tausson," asked the commander, "Can you escort Miss Dawson to her lodge?"

"Aren't I going to the cart?" she asked.

"The President has requested that you remain on the Irral during her convalescence," said Aspri.

"How long will that be?" asked Tierney.

"Her heels and hands are fractured. It should take about a week or so to heal the bones."

Tausson helped Tierney to her feet, and though she wanted to kiss him, to wrap herself around him, she was keenly aware of the other Relican eyes on them. She still wasn't sure what plan -- if any -- Tausson had in mind for them being together, but if part of it involved them keeping their relationship hidden, she didn't want to blow their cover already.

As Tausson led her out of the conveyance chamber, Commander Arrat called after them. "Miss Dawson, garments have been provided for you. Be sure Tausson takes the time to show you how everything in your lodge works -- things are a bit different on a Relican ship than what you're used to."

The two of them walked down the hall in the opposite direction than Tierney had gone when she first came onto this vessel with the human delegation. That felt like ages ago, and it hadn't even been a full month.

"Did you tell the commander about us?" whispered Tierney, her arm tucked into Tausson's.

"No," he said, keeping his eyes alert for other Relicans. Whenever someone appeared he straightened up and put a few extra inches of space between them.

"But she suspects?"

"She wouldn't say anything to me even if she did. No need for us both to be culpable."

He spoke as if they were criminals, instead of two people in love. But in this world of assigned mates and strictly monitored sex, love probably would be considered a crime.

Her lodge was simple: a slim bed, toilet, and nutrient dispenser, along with a few drawers built into the wall for clothes. The garments that the commander had referred to were a pair of loose pants and a shirt. The material was copper colored and of a strange springy texture. When Tierney inspected them closer, she realized the material actually consisted of super fine copper thread, woven together to form a fabric. The blanket wrapped around her was made of the same material.

"Those are the clothes Medic Lab patients wear," Tausson explained when he noticed her interest.

She dropped the clothes on the bed and went to the porthole window. Earth was becoming smaller as they flew to a safer distance, and she felt like a piece of her would always be there, tethering her to a planet that she'd never really cared much about until she had to leave it.

"We'll likely still be in visual range when the asteroid strikes," he said quietly, coming up beside her. He'd taken his gloves off and put his arm around her, his bare hand cool on her shoulder. "You might be able to see it if we don't change course."

"Will you be here with me?" she asked, leaning into him. "I don't think I could bear seeing that alone."

He tilted his head until it rested gently on top of hers. "I'll be with you every moment I can," he said, "for the rest of our lives."

He moved in front of her, locking his solemn, stunning, silver eyes on hers and added, "Until death do us part."

The sentiment was touching, but Tierney couldn't help but feel cynical. The way he'd behaved in front of the other Relicans was just the first sign of how difficult a path lay ahead of them.

But she couldn't think about that now. Right now her eyelids were weighing heavily on her, and her sore, aching body craved rest.

Her fatigue must have been obvious, because Tausson said, "You're weary. You should sleep."

"But I don't want to miss it. I don't want to see it, but I have to."

She let Tausson guide her to the bed. The pillow was surprisingly soft, and she could feel her consciousness slipping away already. "I have to see it, Tausson," she said, forcing herself to stay awake long enough to hear his reply.

She felt him climb into the narrow bed beside her, wrapping his arm around her and hugging her against him.

"I'll wake you, my love," he whispered.

"Promise?" she asked, the numbness of sleep taking hold.

"I swear it."

* * *

His cool lips on her ear slowly drew her from her sleep.

"It's time, my love."

She was still wrapped in the blanket he'd put on her in the conveyance chamber. She stood by the window and he hugged her from behind, but he felt too far away with the blanket between them.

Turning to face him, she asked, "Can you take off your suit?" At his uncertainty, she said, "I don't want to make love, I just need to feel your skin on mine. I need you closer."

He kissed her, and even though she'd said she didn't want to get physical, her other lips began to tingle in anticipation of his body being pressed against hers.

His uniform fell to the floor, and she opened the blanket so he could join her in it. She turned back around to face her planet, now the size of a softball. A thick flicker of light was moving towards it, and her breath caught, unsure if she could endure what she was about to witness.

"You don't have to watch," Tausson whispered, his breath on her neck.

"I do," she said.

His cool skin against hers reminded her that she was alive, that she wasn't on that planet, but she still felt the icy grip of death tighten around her as the shooting star fell closer and closer to Earth.

When the moment came, when the asteroid struck her world, she gasped, tears trickling down her cheeks. The planet looked the same, but she knew what was happening, she knew what would happen. And that she couldn't watch.

Spinning around, she sobbed against Tausson's naked shoulder, and he held her silently, stroking her hair, running his hands along her back, until she had worn herself out yet again. He lay her back down on the bed, encircling his body around hers.

Even though part of her told her she already knew the answer -- the true answer -- she clutched his silver arm tight against her and asked, "Will we make it, Tausson? Will we be able to make this work?"

His voice was as hard and steely as his skin when he replied, "We will. We must."

And in that moment, she believed him.

* * *