The sight of so much of Stacy’s skin on display at once was strangely … stimulating. It caused something to stir within me, but I am not yet sure if it was a positive feeling. It’sshockingly difficult to tell. I’m a good decade, at this point, into my adult life stage, but I have never before experienced an attraction to an alien. Technically speaking, I’ve barely been attracted to anyone before, what with the intense shortage of Velorian women that occurred following the heinous, underhanded actions of the Xzerg during our war. That was long ago, but the ramifications promise to linger for generations more.

The feeling was pleasant, if unexpected, which means that it was likely attraction. Still, knowing what to call it does not make it any easier to deal with. It is entirely inappropriate given our current situation.

I decide then and there to suppress the rising feelings before they have a chance to grow, to bloom into something even harder to ignore. I will stay attached to this mission and these people, but only for as long as it takes me to save Stacy’s life. According to the code, it only takes one instance for me to be released from my vow of protection. When it is done, I’ll go back to finding purpose, but perhaps not on X24. I’ve stuck to that section of the stars for far too long, waiting for the tug in my chest to lead me somewhere worthwhile. It is time I found my own path.

I am to sleep in an empty room that one of the soldiers directs me to. There is no spare bed, and it’s little more than a storage area, but I made a quick run by my ship after dropping the soldiers in the medbay earlier, when I had already decided that my vow would take me with Stacy. I cover half the floor in a bedroll, lie down, and ultimately do far more thinking than sleeping. It’s a good thing Velorians don’t need quite as much as some other species.

The meeting is every bit as contentious as I thought it would be in my imaginings last night. It begins with the scientists standing together near the monitor at the front of the room, glaring at myself and Stacy both, their animosity toward her having extended seamlessly to me. The soldiers speak together in a corner, their voices doing a little to break the tension in the room. They speak of old fights and scars won, and I am almost tempted to join in. Velorians aren’t known for their skill as weavers of great tales, but soldiers usually don’t have a problem with brevity, and I have several scars with interesting backstories.

Paulson is nowhere to be seen. The ship was on auto-pilot all night, but now that we were drawing close to my planet, he was back at the controls, ready to take over should any anomalies appear in our path.

Stacy stands closest to me, though there are a few careful feet of space between us after the occurrence yesterday in her cabin. Still, she does not seem overly uncomfortable, and other than a slight coloring of her face the first time I glanced her way this morning, there are no signs that point to any feelings out of the ordinary.

Darwin is here, standing in the center of the room, but he cannot seem to get started on his own. It is Stacy who speaks.

“So,” she says, addressing the room at large. “What’s our next step?”

“He,” Darwin begins, staring in my direction, “needs to take us to find the plant Velor as soon as we make the landing on Veloria. According to Paulson, it shouldn’t be long now.”

It is more of a command than any sort of request, and I feel a slight sense of amusement at the fact. Darwin didn’t seem, from my previous observations, to be bold enough to say such a thing. Granted, the words seem to be just as much for Stacy as they are for me. Perhaps that’s how he thinks of me, as a dog whose leash is in her hand.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say, before Stacy has a chance to come up with a retort or a way to spin the command into something less grating. “If you know the word in my native tongue or have a description of it, I may be able to assist in its location.” I purposefully keep my speech as calm and respectful as possible, thereby making Darwin look worse. The effect this has on him is immediately noticeable. He scowls and begins to fiddle with a device worn around his wrist, ignoring the slight chuckles now coming from the two soldiers and the almost proud smile on Stacy’s face.

Another flick of his finger against his wrist, and the human pulls up a holographic image that situates itself just above his arm. It is large enough to be easily seen and rendered in 3D, so to be as detailed as possible. The scientists look bored at the sight, and I wonder how many times they’ve been shown the same image in the past weeks of preparing for their mission. Stacy is likely familiar with the sight as well, but she examines it with fervor regardless. I don’t know much about the woman still, but if I were told to guess her motivations, I would imagine them to be selfless for the most part. She likely expects to be paid for her work, as would anyone, but I cannot imagine her signing onto this expedition simply because her bank account would increase and her name would be published in articles. The soldiers stare at the flower as though taking it in for the first time, and I notice them lifting their wrists, turning them toward the hologram to save it to their own devices.

“I recognize it,” I say. The plant in question is more of a weed than a flower really, but it is familiar to me. It’s been a long time since I’ve been to the regions of Veloria that house it, and I find myself growing strangely homesick the longer I look at the hologram. “It is a mountain flower that grows in higher altitudes on Veloria.”

It feels strange to shape my mouth around the human word for my home planet.

Silence follows my words. The soldiers grinning with relief is the only sign that anyone but Stacy heard me speak.

“Take us there,” Darwin says at last, the words as hard as he can make them, another try at a command. His attempts to salvage his place as leader of this mission are seemingly fruitless so far, as even the other scientists seem more incredulous than impressed or respectful. The action must look as over-the-top and desperate to the other humans as it does to me.

I have run out of patience, and can no longer pretend not to be irritated at being spoken to in such a way. I take one half step forward, the slightest threat that I can give. “I don’t take orders from tiny, fleshy little aliens,” I say, baring my teeth in warning. I forget sometimes, that not all species have such sharp canines, until I am faced with their discomfort at the sight of my own.

Darwin winces and takes a step back, before remembering the act he’s putting on and shifting his expression into an indignant glare.

Stacy clears her throat with near theatrical loudness. “Vohx,” she says. It’s the first time she’s said my name within earshot of me, and the sound of it falling from her lips, the shape of them around the word, seems right. “Can you take us there?”

I nod.

She gives me a small, barely-there smile and lifts one brow. “Will you?”

“Yes,” I say, without hesitation. A little bit of respect goes a long way, is what I would like to chalk it up to, but in reality, I may very well have allowed this human woman to order me to take her there, so long as she kept looking at me in such a manner. This sort of thinking is not conducive to the mission. I will need to do better at controlling it, at reigning myself in.

The men look annoyed at the ease with which she gained my agreement, or perhaps with my presence in general. Vince is the exception. He merely looks distantly amused. I do not like the way Richards in particular glares so viciously at Stacy, as though her offense toward him is personal in some manner.

“Why would you—“ Richards begins, turning his narrow, suspicious gaze in my direction.

“She saved my life,” I interrupt, eyes narrowing in turn, tail twitching. “What have any of you done?”

My explanation is met with still more silence. I look to Stacy. “We’re nearing Veloria’s atmosphere. I will help your pilot chart a course.”

As I leave the room, Stacy catches my eyes, and mouths what my translator implant picks up as “thank you.”