I wake up groggy. As soon as my head clears I know that I’m alone in bed before I open my eyes. The contentment that swells inside of me from having Marilyn close is replaced with a restlessness that I’ve noticed more and more when she’s not with me. I welcome the feeling, though. It makes me realize how I’ve been numb with emotion ever since I lost my parents in the war with the Atronox.

I still remember the day it all began as if it happened yesterday. Sometimes I wish I would forget it all, but I know it’s a memory that will always be with me. We were on our home planet of Gaia, my brothers and I all home at our parents’ house. My father, brothers and I were working the fields, doing the grueling work of getting the soil tilled and ready for planting. My brothers and I were leaving to return to the academy soon so we were working tirelessly to make sure our father and mother didn’t have to finish the planting on their own.

My brother Dazi shouted my name. I turned as he tossed the water canteen my way. I reached my hand up to catch it and that’s when I saw the first ship in the sky above. Only seconds passed before the sirens began to sound. We dropped what we were doing and ran for cover. We hid our parents until our war ships took to the skies and then my brothers and I made our move. We moved as quickly as we could through town, trying to get to a ship so we could be useful. It was only later that we discovered there were Atronox troops on the ground too. We chased their ships away but their troops devastated the towns and our people. Our parents were not spared.

I still hold onto the guilt, tightly inside of me. I trained tirelessly to become a member of the Force so I could fight the Atronox until we completely wipe out the threat they pose. Somehow, Marilyn has helped to soothe some of that guilt. She has given me another purpose in life besides revenge.

Now I’m fully awake with Marilyn on my mind. My body stirs to life, wanting her. I pull myself out of bed and get dressed. At first I thought she might be in the bathroom but a quick check tells me it’s empty. Next, I move through the quiet hallways until I reach the command center.

“Has Marilyn passed through here?” I ask one of the commanders.

“Sorry, General, I didn’t notice. If she did, she was just passing through.”

“Thank you,” I say and walk toward the medical bay. It’s possible she couldn’t sleep and wanted to check on the other women. I know she’s anxious to make sure they’re all going to be okay and will acclimate to their new environment. I can tell she’s also excited about having more women of her kind at Lunis Station.

“Hello, Doc,” I say to Doctor Trevvula once I enter the medical rooms. He’s sitting at a work station with images flashing across the screen. The women are all quietly sleeping throughout the room. “The women are doing well?”

“As well as can be expected, General.” He stands and we greet each other. “Physically they will be okay. Their emotional scars will take longer to heal.”

“That is understandable. Have any of them spoken much about what happened or how they were taken?”

“No. They’ve all been very quiet so far. For now we’re letting them rest and recover. They’ve been given a mild sedative to help them sleep.”

“Thank you, Doc. Let us know if there is anything you need for the women and we will make sure you have it.”

“Thank you, General.”

“And Doctor, have you seen Marilyn recently? Has she been by to visit the women?”

“No, General. She left a while ago and hasn’t been back.”

“Okay, thank you doctor. I’ll check in with you again at a later time.”

I leave the medical bay, unsure of where to check next. There’s no reason to be worried, but I don’t like not knowing where she is. I mean, it’s still nighttime. She should be sleeping, not wandering around the station. And that’s what makes me wonder if something’s wrong.

I decide to seek out Cyrox to check the security cameras so I can figure out where she has gone. It isn’t exactly the proper use of station resources but I just don’t care at this point. I’m making my way toward the command center when Raydn pops out of one of our research labs looking way too serious for this time of the morning.

“Raydn,” I say, surprised. “What the hell are you doing? Doesn’t anybody sleep around here?”

“General. I have news, something our scientists have been working on.” He falls into step with me as we walk down the hallway.

“Okay. What’s going on?” I ask.

“You know the tracking device you removed from Marilyn but couldn’t destroy?”

“Yes,” I say, stopping in the hallway. Raydn has all of my focus now.

“I passed it along to our research division and they’ve made a huge discovery. It turns out, it wasn’t a tracking device at all.”

My heart starts to pound with the significance of what Raydn is saying. My instincts are kicking in and as soon as I make the connection between his excitement and Marilyn’s absence, I start to become more and more worried.

“What is it?” I ask anxiously. I’m putting two and two together before Raydn continues. I know whatever it is, Stosk wants it.

“It’s a weapon. I mean, not a weapon on its own,” he continues, “but a newly discovered material that will be a more powerful weapon than anything we’ve ever seen. As soon as whoever wants this gets their hands on all of the necessary components, they’ll be able to make a weapon that could completely decimate us.”

“Shit.” There are so many thoughts running through my mind, it’s all I can think to say.

“Shit is right, General. We need to figure out who Stosk’s buyer was. Whoever was set to buy Marilyn was most likely in the market for the weapon. The women were decoys.”

“What about the other women? Did the scans detect any more capsules?”

“No. But like you said, there were more women that we haven’t recovered. It’s possible some of them have already been delivered to their buyers. If this material is what they’re really trying to smuggle, it’s possible some of it has been delivered.”

“This is very bad, Raydn. Very bad indeed.” I rub my hand in frustration over my face. I’m on high alert and with this new found knowledge, I need to find Marilyn. “Come with me, I need to find Cyrox so he can help me locate Marilyn.”

“She’s missing?” he asks, alarm sounding in his voice.

“I don’t know,” I say impatiently. “She wasn’t there when I woke up. I thought she was just clearing her head or checking on the women but I can’t find her. Now with this new information, I’m worried.”

“Cyrox will find her. And she’s safe as long as she’s inside the station. No one would hurt her here.”

“I know you’re right, but I can’t shake this feeling. And it isn’t like her to disappear for so long.”

We hurry into the command center and straight into Cyrox’s room. He’s busy like always, looking stressed out, as if he hasn’t slept in days.

“Cyrox,” I say.

He jumps and spins around. “Shit, you scared me, General. Give me some warning next time.”

“Sorry,” I say dismissively. “We need you to check the security cameras around the station. We’re looking for Marilyn. She’s missing.”

“Missing?” he asks. “How is that possible?”

“We don’t know,” Raydn says. “We just need to locate her as quickly as possible. You can do that for us, can’t you?”

“Of course I can. It’s why you came to me.” He switches the screens in front of us. The images that were there when we came in disappear and multiple images from around the station take their place.

I scan through the images quickly, searching for any sign of Marilyn. Raydn and Cyrox are looking, too.

“There’s no damn sign of her,” I say, frustrated. Panic is growing inside of me. I have a bad feeling that something is going on but I don’t know what it is. I hate being in the dark.

“You’re right,” Raydn says, “She’s not here.”

“She’s nowhere that the cameras are picking her up, you mean,” Cyrox says. “It’s possible she’s somewhere in the station that isn’t picked up by the cameras.”

We continue to search through the images as Cyrox flicks through all of the possible places she could be.

“Well this isn’t good,” he says a moment later.

“What?” Raydn and I say simultaneously.

“Here, in the docks. It isn’t Marilyn, but someone has turned on the engines of the Atronox ship you flew in here. Looks like someone’s trying to take it for a ride.”