What on earth have I signed up for?
We’re a lot slower on the way back. It’s later than I expected by the time we reenter the compound. “Kadir’s probably freaking out,” Alice says. “He hates the idea of me running outside the compound without him.” She grins. “Poor guy. I better go soothe his ruffled feathers. You don’t leave for another few days, right?”
“Correct. Not until Friday. Alien-Friday. You know what I mean.”
Alice grins. “I do,” she agrees. “Okay, let’s run again the day after tomorrow, if you’re not too busy? We can go to the beach and run on sand, if you’re in the mood for a challenge.”
“That sounds great,” I tell her sincerely. Alice is so good to me. “Thank you so much for taking me along on your runs.”
“Of course.” She squeezes my hand. “Us Earth girls have to stick together.”
I head to my apartment. I strip off my sticky clothes and hop into the shower. I pushed myself on the run, and my muscles are registering their protest. I linger under the water for longer than I usually do, then I towel dry and dress in another grey jumpsuit.
Now what?
Dariux left me a thick stack of reading material about Noturn, about the House of Cindifin, and about what I would encounter when I arrived on the mining planet. I’d read some of it this morning, but I still have plenty to go through. I should do that.
But my small apartment suddenly feels stifling. The walls are closing in. Outside my window, the park is lit in anticipation of the encroaching twilight. People are outside, enjoying the afternoon. I can hear conversation. Laughter. Notes of music.
You should join them.
Before I can talk myself out of the impulse, I shove my feet into sandals and head outside. There’s some kind of celebration going on. The park is shaped like a rectangle. There’s a band playing in the far end. I don’t recognize any of the instruments, but the music makes my feet itch. Once upon a time, I used to love to dance. Food stalls line the perimeter. Drones hover around, offering samples to passing customers. The evening air is redolent with spices. My stomach rumbles, reminding me it’s been a long time since my last meal.
Still, I hesitate. It’s not that I don’t have money—I do—and it’s not like I’m afraid of trying strange foods—I’m not—it’s just that everyone here looks like they belong. They’re sitting on blankets, picnicking, and chatting with each other. Pets run around on stubby legs and fly around on brightly colored wings. There are even a few children, chasing each other in a wild game of tag.
I’ve never felt like more of an outsider.
It’s my fault. Alice has invited me to her apartment for dinner. Olivia has asked me more than once to join her and Dor at their weekly happy hour. The healers who took care of me—Vinasa, Rivie, and Mala—have offered to take me shopping and show me where and when to get the best fresh produce. Rivie is a passionate amateur mycologist who researches mushrooms as a food source, and she’ll talk my ear off about them at the slightest chance.
I’ve pushed them all away. I’ve chosen isolation, and now it’s biting my ass.
“Naomi!” A familiar voice calls. It’s Cassie, sitting with a small group of people. The only one I recognize, apart from her, is Taman. I flinch involuntarily when I see him, which isn’t fair. Taman, one of the handful of scientists who have allied with the Rebellion, had come up to Cassie and me a month after we arrived. “I want to apologize for what those butchers did to you,” he’d said, his expression distressed. “We are not all terrible people. Many of us—most of us—don’t care about politics and power. We just want to be left alone to discover the secrets of the universe.”
I’d kept silent. Cassie had not. “So, you turn a blind eye to the torture,” she’d shot back. “You might call it single-mindedness. I call it apathy.”
I’d expected him to be angry, but he’d nodded gravely. “You’re right,” he’d said. “We have been blind, intentionally or otherwise, but things are changing. Many of us are waking up to the truth.”
After what we went through, I would have thought the last person Cassie would have befriended was the scientist, but they’re undoubtedly sitting together. Are they friends now?
Cassie waves me over. I hesitate, and then start to walk to her. I’m distracted by the drones with the tempting samples, and I’m not really watching where I’m walking, which is why I run smack dab into a broad chest.
Danek.
I take an automatic step back and tilt my head up. No more half-naked Danek—alas!—he’s clothed again. My eyes fly to his lips. The lips I kissed yesterday. I feel myself start to blush. “Sorry,” I murmur. “I wasn’t watching where I was going.”
“No harm done.”
No kidding. Running into him is like running into a brick wall. “Relaxing in the park?”
“Actually,” he replies. “I was looking for you.”
“You were? Why?” I give him a suspicious stare. “Are you going to try to talk me out of going to Noturn again?”
“Trust me, if I were trying to talk you out of it, it would have worked.”
“If you say so.” I give him a skeptical look. “So what now, you’ve had a change of heart, and you’re perfectly okay with me coming along?”
“Don’t push me, Naomi,” he growls.
God, that growl is sexy. He’s wearing a dark blue t-shirt and grey pants. He looks good. Really good. The shirt has short sleeves, and the fabric clings to his biceps. If I were looking, Danek would be extremely easy on the eyes.
What do you mean, if you were looking? You did more than look yesterday. You kissed him.
“I wanted to talk to you about something else.” He runs his hands through his short hair, and
