Some people were so insensitive and unthoughtful of other people’s feelings that they dropped a bomb and then acted like they didn’t know what was wrong. Jay was one of them. Back downstairs, at the armory, outside the Cannon rooms, I thought he actually praised me for a moment and that he passed from referring to me as just human to calling me by my first name.

Well, he did it now and then, but there were times I couldn’t stand him at all. If it wasn’t for the Nusae Artifact, I would have left him back on Earth. Or one of the other inhabited planets. He would certainly not be on my spaceship.

Now he acted like something was missing, looking around him, probably searching for another reason to criticize me. Well, I couldn’t stay put. I had important work to take care of, and I didn’t want him to realize that I was actually upset about what he had said back there.

So, I moved to the front part of the bridge, returning just before the analysis of the recent battle, trying to finish my report for the Human Chroniclers’ Order, when I heard the rattling of teeth behind me. I turned and saw Zan, our teenage passenger from Primordial Earth, standing on the co-pilot’s seat.

“Oh my God! Zan, are you okay? Silver, something is wrong with him,” I said, reaching for his skin to sense his temperature.

Suddenly, Jay stopped me from touching him by grabbing my hand with his huge fist. His grip was strong and ached me somehow, but his skin was warm and comforting. Still, I didn’t understand what had gotten into him all of the sudden.

Silver moved forward on her thruster form, a mid-sized box with thrusters on the back, and ran a quick scan.

“His cortisol and adrenaline levels are elevated. His brain activity is also increased, especially his hypothalamus. If I could take a guess, then I think Zan is frightened.”

After hearing Silver say the word afraid, he quickly turned his head to look at her and nodded.

“Yes, yes. Afraid,” he responded quickly.

His voice was somehow childish while cracking at times. He was still too young.

“The kid’s just upset about the attack. It’s perfectly reasonable for someone who has spent his whole life on the ground of a prehistoric planet to be afraid traveling with a spaceship,” Jay said out loud, his hand still holding mine.

Not that I did mind, but I was still upset with him. For someone picking up on that, he acted like a thick rock when my feelings were in the way. It was like I didn’t matter to him...at all.

“Eladia, I think that Jasih is right. It took some time for Zan to get used to flying in space during our six-month trip, but he was never in the middle of a pirate assault before,” Silver said, adding to Jay’s hypothesis.

And what’s with everyone being able to pronounce his name except me? Jay sounds better and fits his rough, inaccessible personality.

“Nevertheless, Silver escort Zan back to his room and make sure he’s okay. We have to land on Mosa in an hour, and I would feel better if he was okay before riding the shuttle. I don’t feel comfortable leaving him behind in space station Alpha.”

Silver turned back to her android form, the one with the holographic face and limbs, and slowly calmed Zan down. Then, the young man followed her to the elevator. They vanished from our sight.

Right about then, Jay moved to the observatory in the back. He didn’t even take a glance at me.

Damn him, I want to punch him so bad.

But still, I looked at my arm and saw the marks left from his strong grip. The faded pink color of his fingers still felt warm.

I stroked the splashes of pink on my skin twice and followed him. I had no idea what was in his mind, only that he didn’t want to be in the same room with me. But I was not willing to let him have his way.

“Human, you have to stop following me everywhere,” he said as soon as I walked inside.

He had taken his seating at the head of the long, conference table. It was the best place in the whole spaceship if you wanted to gaze out in the space unbothered. The bridge was usually too crowded and way too frantic a place to stargaze, certainly not fit for sightseeing.

Jay spent countless hours watching the stars, the passing asteroids, and planets, everything he thought he hadn’t seen before, looking for something that could make him remember, something that he could grasp from.

Missing one hundred years surely seemed hard, but still, it was not a good reason to justify his bad behavior.

“I don’t follow you around!” I sounded a bit guilty. I actually didn’t follow him around the ship. It was just that we ended up at the same places. “I just want to ask you a question.”

“And what if I don’t want to answer?” he said.

His back was still turned to me. His hands were stretched above and behind his head, and he had dropped the chair’s back all the way down. He could easily take a nap if he wanted to, or cuddle with someone.

More illicit thoughts followed, but I stopped myself before blushing once again.

“Why did you stop me back there? I just wanted to check if he was okay.”

I asked away, without hesitation. Jay could be a real prick if he wanted, but after six months on the same, limited space with us, he had become more open and accessible.

“You shouldn’t let your ego get the best of you. Let me enlighten you since you don’t seem able to crack this yourself. What if Zan was indeed sick? What if his common cold or a certain bacterium fatal to you was transmitted by touch? What would you do then?”

I felt the shackles of regret strain me. I didn’t want to admit it, but he was right. After so much time inside the spaceship with Zan and Jay, it didn’t even go through my head that Zan could actually hurt me by just being here.

I lowered my head and mumbled. “I...I...I’m sorry. You’re right,” I finally said to him, but instead of seeing him gloat at his success, he didn’t even turn to face me.

I wanted to tell him that Silver would have traced if something like that existed, but I was kinda at a loss for words for him. Jay was as cryptic as always, but he was certainly better from his dark self, the overly violent, parasitic half of him, Dark Jay.

Something was on his mind. To be honest, I would have had many things in my mind if a bunch of strangers told me that my last chance of finding more information about my identity lied in the hands of a Mad Professor.

The ringing of the communication link coming from Yaerus Alpha Station, one of the six huge constructs around Yaerus, interrupted this awkward situation. Alpha was the one closer to Mosa right now. Being built next to the moon Badra, it was one of the first stations of the Station Program. I had to take that call, but I had to confess that I felt quite a bit relieved getting out of that room.

I ran to the control console and pushed the flashing button. A rather polite lady gave me the password to insert to the autopilot system. Everything on Yaerus were automated to a significant degree. Yaerus, the Earth-like planet and humanity’s new home, was one of the most populated places of the whole known galaxy.

To say the least, one-tenth of the combined human population resided on Yaerus, which amounted to quite a lot. And that was without counting the many guests that visited the planet on a daily basis. The Institute was only one of the main attractions of planet Yaerus, and with the great use of the K.G.As — Known Galaxy Archives — from Chroniclers and researchers alike, Yaerus had to find a new solution to keep all the spaceships out of the planet.

Like cars in the past, ships exhumed a certain cocktail of harmful to the planet’s atmosphere gasses that needed to be avoided. Only one spaceship had the same environmental impact with a thousand cars of the past. So, to reduce the pollution to the bare minimum, the government came up with six central space stations fit to house a significant number of spaceships. The visitors could refuel their vehicles, trade, and even have fun if they wanted to, never having to enter into the planet’s atmosphere.

In the end, it was mandatory for class two and over spaceships to reserve a seat in one of the stations and use shuttles for their business on Yaerus. Well, unfortunately, my dad insisted on getting me a class three vehicle, which was way too big for a Chronicler.

Nevertheless, the home planet looked beautiful from up here, orbiting around the star Ecli. Unlike back on Primordial Earth, Yaerus was the fourth planet in distance away from the system’s sun, so every day was around thirty hours. We arrived in what would be midnight back on Earth.

I pushed the small, black button that opened the intercom of the spaceship and announced: “Everyone get ready. In half an hour we leave for Mosa. Get only things essential to you, and remember that we’re not here on a pleasure cruise. We’re going to meet with the Professor and by tomorrow evening, we’re going to meet back here to discuss our new plan. That’s all.”

I took a deep breath and let the air out slowly. The Institute was a big and crowded place. I had to focus and not let my insecurities get the best of me, not in front of Jay. I didn’t want him to see me like that, not when he was used to having a certain picture of me.

After all, who would remember what happened last time? I was sure no one would even recognize me now that my hair had gotten longer.

Silver got inside the bridge and headed straight to my side: “Are you okay? Do you want me to come with you?”

I turned and smiled at her, shaking my head. I wished I could nod, but pride was a characteristic which I had inherited by my mom.

I had to do this alone.