I felt the temperature rising. My muscles felt inflamed, and I started feeling the effects of a long sleepless night. The human female was as energetic as ever, bouncing from one side of the gorge to the other, trying to examine every last species she could find.

I didn’t understand the hopefulness of it. There could be a hundred, even a thousand of species in this gorge alone, and she wanted to find every last one of them? She would spend her whole life in this patch of land, searching, finally ending up not even close to completing her work. However, seeing her get amazed by even the tiniest bit of progress, somehow warmed my inside.

I wasn’t sure I had felt like that for a long time, but then, even if I had, I wouldn’t remember it. The sunrays fell down from a slight opening on the upper side of the building. The half-broken pane, filtered the light in a gruesome green, and I battled with the urge to squirm my eyes.

Me, the powerful Prime Officer, not standing the sight of light. I sighed.

I walked to her side, and I heard her loud exclamations while examining one of those flying animals she called fire-birds. They were not actually on fire, and I didn’t really understand where that name came from, but it had stuck to me as well.

“So, its skin and wings evolved to help it survive in places even with as little water as here. Also, the light it emits from its belly helps it guide its way through narrow and dark spaces like the destroyed buildings. Amazing!”

Unnecessary.

Why should I care about the firebird? Is it that important to our task? Will this information help us survive? No. It’s just garbage.

I noticed that I grunted and sighed more often when I was around that female. She was turning up to be a hindrance.

“We should go. Where is your spaceship?”

She half-turned her head, trying not to stop her examination of the friendly animal. “It’s not too far from here, but I’m not going anywhere until I find the Nusae relic.”

Again with the Nusae. Why were humans so obsessed with those puny, three-eyed monkeys? It was like they had never seen Nusae around the galaxy. Those colorful creatures were everywhere. They were really hard to miss. “You’re mad. You almost died three times in just one day and yet you want to keep going?”

There they were, those eyes made of fire. “If I leave now, I give up my life’s work. Would you run away from your dream?”

“Esuh don’t dream. We take up missions, and we just accomplish them. Dreams are for lesser species.”

For the first time, she didn’t reply. She just stood on her feet and passed by me with a disregarding expression on her face. I couldn’t understand her at all. But I followed her. I wasn’t sure that she would survive the way back home all alone.

We took the road back to the place we got separated with the rest of the crew. The robot and the half-human had survived, I was certain. The first seemed too stubborn to die, and the other was raised in this place. However, how were we gonna find them now? The female would definitely not leave this Earth without them.

“Silver!”

“Eladia!”

That was fast.

As I ventured out of the narrow pathway, I saw the sparkling Android with the young half-human outside, waiting for us. Frankly, I was surprised. I never expected they’d find us that fast.

“Are you okay? Are all your systems working?”

“Yes, yes, I’m fine. How about you? One second you were here and the next one, our alien friend carries you up that enormous tree. We thought you were dead.”

As if I had to kill her. She could die all by herself. She wouldn’t need my help.

“No, not at all. On the contrary, Jay was the one who saved me. If it weren't for him, I would be dead now.”

That’s true, but still, don’t mess duty with sentiments. Yes, I’m talking to you, Jay...I mean Jasih. Gods, this girl, has wormed her way into my mind!

“That’s...surprising. I morphed to my thruster form and Zan climbed one of the near buildings to get away. We spent the night in one of those ancient apartments. It was horrible until I found something you wouldn’t believe.”

Abruptly, Eladia’s expression changed. Her jovial, energetic faucet changed into an all-serious, all professional face.

“What? What did you find?”

“Earlier this morning, you initiated the scanning protocol. Since you never actually asked me to stop, I took the liberty of violating some sub-principles, and I scanned the area around the place me and Zan stayed.

“The energy reading I found before, has moved. It’s now really close, although it stopped moving suddenly when the sun rose.”

Eladia combed her hand through her loose hair and grabbed a generous tuft of hair. With her free hand, she reached into her back pocket and took out one of those rubber thingies. That tail that didn’t do her justice at all, returned.

“Let’s go. We have to check it out. It is the only lead we have towards the relic.”

Honestly, this woman is restless.

That was the only way I could describe her. I saw them depart, and I found myself facing a dilemma. I saved her and reunited her with her colleagues. My job here was done. The day had come, and I promised myself that I would spend only one night with them. Nothing more.

I could turn and leave. No questions asked, no queries. But, how would I leave this place without their help? Even if I remembered who I was before the crash, how could I repair my spaceship in this primal planet?

And it was not only that. When I would take my first step forward, I would not only be lost on a strange planet, but I would also be curious about that woman, Eladia.

What about her?

Something in those dark, shining eyes fascinated me. I wanted to see through them, all the way into her mind, and understand why she was so passionate about that...dream.

I raised my pace, and I was suddenly standing close to her; for some unexplained reason, it felt like the right thing to do.