Leto gently strokes my cheek. Every few minutes he plants a soft kiss on my forehead, as he brushes the hair out of my face.

Is this heaven? Because it certainly feels like it. I’ve never felt more cared for in my life. Yep, this has got to be heaven.

“Wake up, baby girl.”

Is that…

I slowly open my eyes, waking from a deep, comfortable slumber, only to see Leto’s sea green eyes looking right back at mine. My heart rises and rises as he comes clearer into focus.

“Leto!”

I only just now begin to notice he’s covered in scrapes, bruises and bandages, which makes my heart leap right into my throat.

“Ohmygodareyouokaywhatsgoingong,” I blurt out in one long word as I sit up straight.

Leto instantly springs into action. He gently pushes me back down and shushes me.

“You’ve got to relax, baby,” he says. “Look at you.”

I glance down, and only now I do notice that I’m bandaged up even more than he is. And now that I think about it, I’m in a tremendous amount of pain!

“What?” I stammer, trying to make sense of it all. “I don't get it.”

He kisses my forehead. “That’s the medicine helping you out a bit, it can give you a bit of a brain fog. It’ll get better, I promise. But right now, you need to rest.”

I look around, but I don’t recognize the room we are in.

“We’re still on the Wellington Mothership,” Leto explains.

At the mention of that name, my eyes grow wide with fear. “Wellington!”

“Calm down,” Leto says, now more sternly. “I’m serious. Your heart rate is all over the place. Just because you almost died doesn’t give you permission to start ignoring my commands all of a sudden.”

Is that a small smirk I detect on his chiseled, purple face?

“Aye aye, captain,” I chuckle. “Tell me now, though, I can’t bear this confusion, this fog.”

“Alright, alright,” Leto says. “But don’t tell Kariza — she’ll kill me. What is the last thing you remember?”

I sit up straight with the help of my mate and a generous amount of pillows. “Uhm, climbing in the vents… that’s the last thing I remember.”

“I think you stumbled onto a SINTRA conference call. You tried to tell me about it earlier. Do you remember that?”

I close my eyes, and slowly it comes back to me. I saw three mysterious figures, and one giant, holographic face... in fact, just thinking about that creepy face makes my skin crawl. I tell my mate all that I remember, and he listens attentively.

“This strange woman, she was talking about opening the Rift and taking over the entire universe. About AI, and gene-splicing, and cloning, and… it wasn’t just about money, or power, or influence… the things they were saying… they wanted to subjugate all life in the galaxy. And… exterminate all Zorans.”

Leto nods thoughtfully. “As I suspected.”

“What do we do now?”

He gently strokes my hair. “We’ll take SINTRA down, no matter what. I promise you that. Do you remember what happened after the meeting?”

I swallow the lump in my throat as I try to remember. I was falling, and then there was a knife, glittering in the light and then… blood… so much blood…

I close my eyes and turn away as I fight back the tears, and Leto squeezes my hand gently.

“It’s okay, you don’t need to tell me. It’s okay.”

“What happened?” I ask. “Is Luan okay? I saw him get cut, and…”

“Luan is fine,” my mate says. “I promise. That cut, it pierced my soul, but I’m still alive and kicking, and so is Luan.”

He tells me everything that transpired from his perspective: Racing up the stairs with his heart beating in his throat, the desperate fight with Wellington, the moment when he thought it was all over… and the moment when Luan ripped Wellington’s throat out.

I’m not happy he’s dead, but the knowledge that a man as evil as him is no longer around is a relief.

“Then what happened?” I ask.

“With their leader out of the picture, the synths all shut down instantly. Their programming was based on fulfilling all of his desires, and with him gone, they got caught in a loop. Kariza was able to wrestle control of the ship, and we’ve changed the course to New Exon.”

“Kariza!” I say. “She’s okay?”

Leto chuckles. “Okay? She’s happier than I’ve ever seen her, running this gargantuan ship all by herself.”

“Well, she did always like telling people what to do,” I chuckle.

“In that case she’s living the dream.”

“What about all the prisoners? Did you release them?”

Leto eyes dart to the side. “I’ve stuck by your side,” he says. “And if I’m honest I’m afraid to go look... what if Rinor is among those killed? I’d... never forgive myself.”

Now it is my turn to comfort him.

“You’ll never know unless you check. And whatever happened, none of this is your fault. You saved everyone’s life, for stars sake!”

“I know,” he sighs, taking a deep breath. “I know. I just needed to know you were alive and well first.”

“Well, I think I’m doing okay,” I chuckle. “Go look, baby. I’ll be right here.”

He stand up, a look of determination in his sea green eyes. “You’re absolutely right. The only way out is through. Wish me luck.”