I loosened the cap to the water tank in preparation for the second last water deposit from the drone.

Before the ship would leave this planet for good…

We’d gone through dozens of strategies, and still the only feasible plan was to get everyone to Crestonia—without Macca.

There were still other options rolling around the back of my mind we hadn’t discussed. Sensitive options . But we were running out of time for sensitivity.

“Macca.” I set the cap on the bench in the cargo hold, and stepped cautiously back. “The measures you took before you were taken, are they reversible?”

My inner ear snapped with sound. “I would rather be reclassified.”

“I’m sorry, I had to ask,” I whispered. “The possibility might’ve bought you some time.”

“You need not bother raising unacceptable options.”

I licked my lips. No surprise there. It was almost impossible to introduce Macca to an idea that she was uncomfortable with.

And there were other ideas churning in my mind I knew Macca would find equally unacceptable.

Ideas she would put a stop to if I couldn’t keep them secret from her…

“It’s not a possibility in any case.” Macca’s voice dulled. “I’d need access to a Crestonian Medipod.”

“You need a Medipod just for contraception?” Geez, it was easier to manage ovaries on Earth.

“Of course not. The pod is only required to reverse a permanent dosage of contraception found in every common Crestonian ship First Aid kit.”

I glanced around. Hold up . I’d used a First Aid kit just the day before when one of the younger girls cut herself.

I crossed to the shelf, and took the kit down, snapping open the lid. “You have them in here?”

“The green tube.”

I fished through contents until I came to a green tube.

“It’s a marvelous thing really.”

I rotated the glowing tube.

“One press against the skin and you are protected for six cycles. Two presses to cover for twelve.”

My fist closed around the tube. Almost like an EpiPen…

“Three and you will never be anyone’s breeder.”

My head went quiet. Almost as though Macca’s voice moved from my ear to someplace deeper inside.

“It is easy. A simple press against the skin ensures you are protected.”

Soft ringing sounded.

Protected …

I glanced at the exposed top of my other hand, and pressed the pen to the skin. A ripple of sensation moved up my arm.

Macca was right. This was so easy…

“Another, keeps you safe for longer.”

I blinked, almost missing the second jolt to my skin. My eyes widened. Wait . Had I meant to do that?

“A third and you will never be anyone’s breeder…”

My fingers twitched. I jerked, and opened my hand before the tip touched me again. The pen fell to the floor, rolling under the bench.

“What the hell did you just do to me?” I clutched my stung hand.

“I did nothing to you.”

A queasy feeling overtook me. “You told me you couldn’t make me do things.”

“And I cannot.”

“You did do something. Did you hypnotize me?” I slammed the lid closed on the kit. “That’s not what friends do.” My heart pounded in an odd tempo. I shoved the kit into its place. “That’s not what allies do.”

“Allies protect each other. They strengthen each other, and that is all I have done.”

I touched above my ear where the hearing implant was. “By taking control, making me do things before I could decide?”

“You understand the fundamentals of hypnotism. You cannot be made to act against your own will.”

I shuddered. This was so wrong.

“You wanted to protect yourself. You chose it. All I gave you was a nudge.”

Macca in my head. A chip in my brain. Coercion so subtle I’d barely noticed it occur.

Had this happened before without my knowing?

I rubbed the lump under my hair. “Why would you even care if I made that choice or not?”

“We are looking out for each other aren’t we, Leila?” There was Macca’s voice going all silky again. “I am trying to help you.”

Oh, god, had Macca been influencing me this entire time?

“It’s been three nights and you still pine for your Baratican.”

My fingers froze in my scalp.

“You cry for him when you should be sleeping.”

No . My chest clamped. There was nothing I could keep secret from Macca. She was inside me. She could hear my breathing. Could monitor my pulse. There wasn’t a private sacred space left in me.

“Your weakness has always been your emotions. I’m helping you overcome them.”

I sunk my teeth into my lower lip.

Macca knew .

She knew that I didn’t abandon friends. Did not give up on allies. She knew that I wouldn’t skip out on Thor this way.

That I’d do something .

No matter how I’d tried not to let on.

“Now you can put any indecision and conflict to rest.”

“What do you mean?” My skin prickled.

My thoughts whirled around a single memory.

He would desire you if you were green, swollen, bloated, and covered in pustules…

“Macca,” I moaned and leaned on the bench. “Why?”

So long as you could be bred.

Pain drove picks into my lungs.

“This is why,” Macca cooed softly. “He has sabotaged your emotions with his Baratican mating tricks. I have given you the strength to move on by eliminating unacceptable options. I have freed you.”

My chin curled into my neck, and all my muscles pulled tight.

No . Macca was wrong. The Crestonian couldn’t understand because there was only one kind of love she knew how to process.

My eyes squeezed closed.

A thunk sounded. The air-lock activated on the door to the passenger bay.

“The drone approaches. Collect yourself. Put on your space suit.”

I exhaled, and moved on legs without feeling to put the space suit on over my clothes, then fastened the helmet in place.

The hatch opened, and the drone flew into the Cargo bay.

I attached the hose to the drone and inserted the other end into the water tank. The sound of the water pump pulsed. I leaned my forehead against the water tank.

Heat radiated into the cargo bay from outside.

“Trust that this was done in friendship.”

Now— now Macca used that word. Friends .

“I forgive you,” I whispered. And I did. Macca was in a breeding camp. Facing the unimaginable.

A click sounded and I removed the hose, first from the tank, and then from the drone. The drone lifted into a hover, moving to the hatch for its final load.

But forgiveness did not equate to acceptance…

I moved in one swift motion, lunging for the hatch, and slid down it—shooting myself outside.

Into the merciless heat.