“He’s certainly growing up fast,” Erotan said as he stood beside me at the waterfall.

“I know.” I glanced over at the mob of kids as they chased each other around, playing some game I still didn’t exactly understand. Kids these days. “It seems like just the other day he was learning how to walk.”

I smiled as I watched little Tovac — named after a true Subcotan hero — dart through the crowd of children and grab the squirming frog-like creature off of the pole. He was growing so fast. Like, unbelievably fast. Erotan explained in his own words that Subcotan children flew through toddlerhood, but then their growth slowed down to that of a human once they entered the juvenile stage. What took human children five years to develop, the Subcotan did in two. There had been many strange and wonderful differences that I was still learning on a daily basis. One of the biggest was that the pregnancies lasted a whopping seventeen months. I still shudder every time I remember it.

“Flower bud has it! Flower bud has it!” I heard the other children cry out as Tovac proudly lifted the terrified frog creature into the air.

He was a perfect mix of us both. His light gray skin and brown hair made him striking and unique amongst the people of the village and the girls in his class all fought for his attention. He had the strength and build of his father with the soft facial features of his human mother. He was absolutely gorgeous and I adored him to death.

“Just the sound of that awful nickname makes my skin crawl,” Ertoan groaned as the kids kept chanting.

I placed a hand on his shoulder. “At least they’re not using it to tease him.”

“They shouldn’t be using it at all.”

“Why? Because that name solely belongs to you?” I stood on my toes and placed a peck on his cheek.

“You think you’re funny, but you’re not.” He crossed his arms against his chest, putting his full brawn on display.

“Erotan, we need you,” Hotah called out to him as he approached us. “Get your sword.”

“What? Why?” I asked.

“What’s happened?” Erotan’s voice switched from playful to serious.

“There have been creatures spotted on the surface, walking around in white suits,” Hotah explained.

The weight of that news hit me hard. I had been so consumed by my life with the Subcotan that I had stopped counting down the days until the expected rescue party would arrive. My heart stopped. There were humans prancing around the surface at this very moment. My former coworkers were there searching for me.

“Are their suits like the one I used to wear?”

Hotah nodded. “I saw them with my own eyes.”

“You don’t need to use your swords. I’ll go talk to them. Let me handle it. These are my people.” It was best if I talked to them alone. It would definitely get complicated if I showed up with an entourage of gray Martian warriors.

Erotan wrapped his hand around my arm. “I’m going with you.”

I looked up and smiled at him. That’s definitely what I did not need: Erotan barking threats at them as he waved his black sword around. Although, I would have liked to have seen their faces if that happened.

“I better handle this one myself,” I said softly, hoping he’d understand.

“Why?” he grunted.

I quickly looked him up and down. “If they see you, there will be trouble.”

He puffed out his massive chest. “I am not afraid.”

“I know,” I said with a grin. But you should be.

If humans caught a whiff of this place, they would be all over it and anyone with even a basic knowledge of earth’s history knew that things got very bad for the locals whenever humans came to colonize.

“You have to trust me, Erotan,” I said softly. “It’s best if I handle it. Plus, you have to stay and watch over Tovac.”

He grunted, not liking what I had just said. “They won’t try to harm you, will they?” He cocked an eyebrow.

“No,” I said, making my voice sound as certain as possible.

His arms flexed. “If they do, I will cut the heads off every last one of them.”

“Deal,” I said, cringing. I knew he wasn’t exaggerating. He was still every bit my protective Martian warrior that he had been when we first met.

Tovac caught wind of what was happening and raced over. He held his fists up and punched the imaginary bad guys in the air. “Let me come too,” he said. “I want to be a fierce warrior like Papa.”

Erotan smirked as he looked down at him. “You need to grow your Juju berries first.”

“Awww,” Tovac complained.

I knelt down in front of my adorable little gray warrior and smiled. “You’ll be a fierce warrior one day, but the best warriors use more than just swords.”

He tilted his head looking confused. “They use axes?”

“No,” I said with a chuckle. I tapped his forehead. “They use their brains. Not everything has to be solved with violence.”

He nodded as he watched me with perceptive eyes. He was a smart one. Much more intelligent than his peers and he was only two. I grinned, knowing he got it from me.

I gave my little half human, half Martian a hug and then headed straight for our cave. I still had my old neo-neoprene suit tucked away somewhere and the helmet I had retrieved years ago. I hadn’t worn any of it in ages, though. Once Erotan and I made things official, I hung up my space gear and donned a Martian bikini. But I had kept it in a safe place along with the oxygen tank and helmet. The AI remained damaged, but maybe the rescue crew would be able to help me out with that.

As I slid my body into the form-fitting suit, I couldn’t help but notice how tight my chest felt. I was holding in a mixture of excitement and anxiety, and for some reason, it made my body react in a way it hadn’t in a long time. The emotional concoction swirling inside me was unsettling to say the least.

I strapped the oxygen onto my back and walked out with my helmet in my hands. People stopped and stared as I marched out of the village. Putting the suit back on felt like I was erasing all the hard work I had done in order to fit in with and be accepted by the Subcotan. I was once again an outsider and the bright white material made that very apparent.

I had to shield my eyes when the sun’s glow and the bright red Martian surface came into view. I had been underground for so long, I had forgotten how bright life was on the surface. Instead of gorgeous bright pinks, reds, grays, and blues, I was surrounded by a smoggy yellow sky and copper-colored land. When I had first arrived on this planet, I was swept away by the view. I thought it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen — barren and vast. Now, it was hideous and bland.

I walked until I found the space shuttle parked outside the space station. It had been a beautiful landing. I could tell by how little the ground around it was disturbed.

I approached the shuttle and tried to punch in the code by the door, but since I didn’t know it, I had decided to enter a bunch of random numbers instead. After a series of failed attempts, the system would alert whoever was sitting at the controls that someone was trying to get in.

Six. Two. Four. Eight.

A bright red DENIED flashed in my face.

Six. Nine. Six. Nine.

A blue screen appeared with GRANTED glittering before me.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” I rolled my eyes as I entered the airlock.

The small room looked standard issue design. Hooks on one wall, and a second door on my right. I didn’t know whether to be relieved or frightened to see three spacesuits sitting in here, pristine and waiting for their owners.

The agents of PENUS were here.

When the pressure and gases neutralized, I unlocked my helmet and placed it on the ground along with my oxygen tank. The air was stale in here — just as I had remembered. It had a weird bitter taste to it that seemed so much stronger after having lived in an oxygen-rich environment.

I typed in the code at the door once again and entered the spacecraft. My breath grew shallow as I glanced around. It looked exactly like the ship that had taken me, Andrew, and Captain Clark to Mars. But it was different too. Certain parts looked upgraded or new. There were several new blinking lights and small systems.

“What the flying fuck?” I heard a voice to my right.

I turned to face a man of average height and build. He looked so small compared to Erotan and the Subcotan. His brown hair was pulled back into a small bun, and his mouth hung half open in disbelief.

“I am Mia Morgan, a LOVR of PENUS,” I said. “Are you the rescue team?”

He shook his head, eyes wide with disbelief.

“Jackson, am I losing my mind or did I hear— ” Another agent came around the corner. She was short with closely cropped black hair. “Who? What? Sadie! Get the fuck in here right now!”

A third agent piled in behind them. She looked older than me, probably in her mid-forties. Her long brown hair was thick with gray streaks and pulled into a ponytail. She was dressed in black from toe to neck. “What is it, Bella? It looks human?”

“It’s a shapeshifter,” Bella whispered with a shudder. “I say we kill it!”

“Scott!” the older woman named Sadie shouted. “Commander, you better get in here!”

“Are you going to kill us?” Bella asked, looking horrified.

I shook my head. “I’m not a Martian creature. I am a human. I was just telling your coworker, Jackson that my name is Mia Morgan, and I worked at PENUS.”

“Mia Morgan?” Commander Scott said as he walked into the room. “She was a part of a retrieval expedition. She, Andrew Lark, and Captain John Clark all died.”

The two women, Sadie and Bella, exchanged a glance.

“A ghost,” Bella whispered with a shudder.

“I didn’t die,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Jeez. Aren’t you here to rescue me or something?”

“We aren’t a rescue team. We’re a trained Martian expedition team,” Sadie corrected.

“PENUS never sent a rescue team for me?” The idea hit me hard. “Was it because my AI stopped sending my vitals?” The other side of the coin was nasty though. They thought we were dead and were going to just leave our rotting corpses here.

Commander Scott shook his head. “I’m not sure, Mia. But we’re here to collect samples and data, not rescue anyone.”

“How the hell have you even been able to stay alive?” Jackson asked. “How are you not dead?”

I had to be careful how I answered this. If I told them about the oxygen and water underground, PENUS would have a fully backed mission for colonization within the month. I didn’t want that, and I wouldn’t do that to the Subcotan.

“It doesn’t matter,” I answered.

Sadie crossed her arms. “I think it does.”

“It doesn’t.” We stared at each other for a few uncomfortable seconds. I forgot how frustrating humans could be.

“Sadie, I want you to have these.” I stuck my hand in my pocket and pulled out two PENUS badges. “Those are the agent badges for Andrew Lark and Captain John Clark. They bravely died in the line of duty and I need you to make sure their families receive their badges.”

“Why are you giving them to me?” Sadie asked, not taking the badges. “Why don’t you just give them to their families yourself when we get back to Earth?” She glanced at Commander Scott. “Are we going to take her back to Earth?”

“I want you to do it, because I’m not going back,” I answered.

“Why not?” Sadie asked as she plucked the badges from my palm.

“This is ludicrous,” Jackson added. “How are you able to stay alive up here?” He wasn’t going to let it go.

“I’m a scientist. I’ve developed my methods for survival,” I answered.

This caught Bella’s attention. “What do you mean? What methods?”

“Just what I said.” I couldn’t overshare. I didn’t want them to kidnap me for knowledge or ruin Mars for the family and people who embraced me.

“If you won’t tell us, would you be willing to talk to one of the directors?” Sadie asked.

“No.”

She sighed. “I know you’ve been up here alone for a very long time, Mia. I can’t imagine how isolating that must be, and it’s probably done a number on your psyche. But you need to talk to someone, and you can’t stay here by yourself. It’s not good for you. We can take you back to Earth.”

They weren’t going to let it go, and the fear of them kidnapping me grew inside. “Why don’t you give me a day or two to think about?”

Commander Scott shook his head. “We leave the surface in an hour. When you entered, we were preparing all systems.”

I sucked down a deep breath. This was getting awkward. “Please, just deliver the badges.” I turned to leave. I didn’t want to stay here any longer. I wasn’t going back to Earth no matter what they said. I had a husband and a son here — a family. I couldn’t abandon them even if I wanted to.

“Wait!” Bella called after me. “Where are you going?”

I punched in the airlock code. Just as the door opened, I answered her, “Home. Back to my baby and my man.” I crossed the threshold and smiled as the airlock closed behind me.

The moment for Mia to give birth has finally come. It’s not pretty, in fact, it’s horrific. But it sure is funny.