A Few Weeks Later

“Okay, Cyrox, here’s another one. Just like you showed me.” I point to the screen at the image that I’ve frozen, unable to contain the excitement that I feel with finally finding a transmission that matches the same numerical code that Cyrox has had me searching for.

“Let’s see what you’ve got,” he says, scooting over so he’s sitting next to me at the computer station. I watch him as his eyes scan quickly over the screen. It took a lot of convincing for Cyrox to agree to accept my help in the first place, now I feel obligated to make sure I do a good job and make myself worthwhile. There’s no question that I love Koba, and I’m happy to be here with him, but I need to feel like I have my own thing, too. I can’t just lie naked in bed all day waiting for Koba to return, no matter how amazing the sex is.

I’m used to spending a lot of time in front of a computer screen from my job as a secretary. I was constantly inputting things into the computer, checking e-mail, organizing spreadsheets, whatever the boss needed me to do. Koba thought helping Cyrox would be a good fit, as long as he could get him to agree to it.

“Well, shit,” Cyrox says, finally. “Honestly, I didn’t think you were really going to find anything.”

I laugh. “Thanks for the vote of confidence. I wasn’t sure if I would find anything either. But I’m glad I did. So, is this something?”

“Yes, it is.” He continues scanning the screen. “It certainly is.”

“Well, that’s great, right? So what happens next? We go catch the smugglers?”

Now it’s his turn to laugh. “We aren’t going anywhere. That is more the General’s job. If we can decipher the message we’ll be able to give them a location and a time. Then we’ve caught them to the best of our abilities. We’ll pass it along to the force and they’ll intercept them at the drop.”

“So what are they smuggling?”

“That I don’t know. And it isn’t likely to tell us anywhere in this message. The best we can do is figure out where the meet will take place.”

“Do you at least know who the meet will be between?”

“This message was intercepted from the Atronox. We know they’ll be there but we can’t tell who they’re meeting. At least not yet.”

“Well, Koba will be returning today. Do you think they’ll send him away for this meet already?”

“I don’t know. I’m not in charge of that. The Admiral will decide which team to put on it.”

I really hope he doesn’t get sent away on another mission already. I’ve been lucky that he has been my side for so long. It was only a matter of time before he was sent away by the Admiral. He’s really good at his job and part of the job is going where they need you. But it doesn’t feel the same when he isn’t here with me. He’s what makes this place feel like home.

“You did a good job today,” he says, pulling me from my thoughts. The compliment means a lot coming from him. I’m sure he agreed to let me hang out in here in order to appease Koba so I’m glad I can be useful. “I’m going to put the report together and send it to the Admiral. See you again tomorrow?”

“Oh, yeah. That would be great. See you tomorrow.” I stand and wave before moving to the door, but Cyrox is already busy with his next order of business. I’m not exactly sure when Koba will be back, but I’m anxious to see him. To kill some time while I wait, I decide to head over to the guest quarters of the station where the rescued women have been relocated for the time being. This isn’t going to be a permanent home for them, but they’ve set the women up with nice rooms and access to all of the necessary facilities.

After spending time in the medical bay, they all recovered from the malnutrition and dehydration that they were suffering from. It will take them all longer to recover mentally from what they went through. I’ve spoken with all of them on and off throughout the last few weeks. Some of them are more open and willing to talk than others, and I’ve heard about some of the nightmares from being held captive on the Atronox ship. But there are other women that have been very quiet about it. They’re probably hoping they can push the memories down until they eventually disappear. I don’t blame them. We all need to do what we can to survive.

Koba has already sent some of his men after the women that were already sold, with the job of finding them and bringing them back to the Station. I just hope they’re successful. I can’t imagine what it would be like to be abducted from my home and then made to be a slave for a strange alien species. Just the thought of it sends shivers down my spine.

I’m distracted, thinking about these women and what will become of them. Wondering where the Force will decide to relocate them. Wondering if I’ll also be relocated or if I’ll be allowed to stay with Koba. I lift my head just in time to keep from running into the big blue alien in front of me. I startle and then a huge smile spreads across my face. I jump into Koba’s arms and wrap my arms around his neck.

“You surprised me,” I say, smiling and laughing with relief. “I was distracted.”

“Distracted because you were fantasizing about me?” he asks, holding me up with his muscular arms. I’ve missed being held in these arms.

“Aren’t I always fantasizing about you?” I tease. I kiss him, but not too obnoxiously; this is his place of work, after all, and there are other members of the force all over the place. The things I really want to do to him will have to wait for later. “How was your trip?” I ask, but then unable to contain myself I add, “I missed you.”

“I missed you, too. I don’t like being away from you.” He sets me back down and takes my hands in his. “The trip was good. Not completely successful but we’re making headway. We’re slowly unraveling Stosk’s operation. He still isn’t talking but we’ll figure out what we need to know eventually.”

“I’m sure you will.” I squeeze his hands, confident that it won’t take long for the force to dismantle Stosk’s smuggling operation now that he’s in their custody. “Has the Admiral sent Raydn after the missing women?”

“Yes, Raydn and a team have been dispatched to the planet Terran. The strongest lead we have will take them there. We’ll find the other women and we’ll bring them safely back here.”

“Not to bombard you with questions, but what will the Admiral do with all of the women? We can’t stay here forever.”

“I’ve been thinking about that and I have an idea.” He starts walking us toward his room, where I’m sure he’ll want to change and clean up after his long trip. “I’d like to take you to my home planet, where I grew up. I want to show you our farm and introduce you to my brothers. Why not take the other women as well? There is so much more for them to do on Gaia than there is here on the station. So many of our people were killed during the war, I’m sure there’s plenty of work they could help with. What do you think?”

“I think that’s a wonderful idea. The best way for all of us to get over the fact that we can never return home is for us to find somewhere to start a new life. Finding somewhere we belong is exactly what we need.” We get back to his room and he starts to take off his official uniform. I sit down in a chair next to his desk and admire him. “I’ll stay with you wherever you need to be, of course. You’re my home now.”

He slides his uniform jacket off and walks over to where I’m sitting. He kneels down in front of me, his tattoos on full display on his strong blue chest.

“You’re my home, too.” He points to a new marking on his body, one that I’ve never noticed before.

“What is that?” I ask.

“It’s the word for love in my language, and this is your name.” He points to the fresh tattoo and now that I’m looking so closely I can tell that the skin around the ink is raised from the new mark. It’s still healing. “You’re a permanent part of my story now, Marilyn.”

I’m at a loss for words. After so many years of searching for my forever home, it seems that I had to be abducted by aliens and travel across the universe in order to find it. I can feel the tears threatening to fall but I don’t want Koba to misread my emotions. Instead, I close the distance between us and wrap my arms around him, burying my face in his neck. He pulls me onto his lap and holds me tightly.

“You’re my permanent story, too,” I say, whispering into his ear.