We got into the hover-convey vehicle and slowly started flowing down the main road, escorted by a couple more, smaller military vehicles. The hover vehicles around us were all rather strange, looking like spheres that had been cut in half and were floating around on the flat end. They also had a ring around the bottom edge that reminded me of those round fenders from old 1950s cars back on earth. There were tons of different styles to all the hover-cars too, so many colors to make them all unique; some were just normal domes, others elongated, others still swooped to the front or back. There were some that had glass bubbles at the front of the dome where the driver sat, and I even saw a couple that had two bubbles for the driver and passengers to be separated while driving.

  While the vyrane soldiers drove us down the road, we got a good look into how the citizens were handling the conflict; at least outside the warzone, it didn’t seem like their daily lives had been greatly impacted, not on the surface from what I could see. People were still free to drive or walk through the street, I saw work uniforms so clearly people’s jobs hadn’t been interrupted yet. Down one street I even saw what looked like college kids, so maybe even some classes were still ongoing.

  Eve was sitting beside me on the bench, leaning against me, but she was clearly on high-alert again, looking all around us for any sign of a threat.

  “Still nothing, sweet-thing?” I asked

  Eve looked up at me and smiled, but then it fell away and she shook her head, “No, nothing—nothing at all. All these people around us—all this life, and yet still I can’t feel anything. Not being able to touch you directly is obviously the worst of it, but these constrained senses are more disorienting than I anticipated; I know it would only fall on deaf ears if I complained, but I don’t think the Lord Generals had any idea how much they handicapped me when they sealed my powers within myself.”

  I quirked up an eyebrow, “Are you sure they didn’t do that on purpose?”

  Eve shrugged, “Considering I’m their main weapon in the Predazoan containment mission, it seems like it would be a fool move to limit my powers so drastically. I honestly don’t think they even knew how effective it would be.”

  I looked around to see everyone else in the company was busy looking at our surroundings, but still, I didn’t think I should voice my concerns aloud now.

  ~And you’re sure you can still defeat Beta-09?~ I asked through humming vibrations.

  Eve paused for a few moments before she responded, and the delay itself was worrying.

  ~Honestly, I’m not worried about Beta-09 overpowering me at all; there should be no way she could close the gap between our power. And yet I do wonder how I’ll ever be able to kill and consume her instead. Will I just slash away at her for hours, digging out her core? I can’t use the extra-sense to anticipate her movements, so I’ll be fighting blind with what I can plainly see. Can’t get tricky with anything, just have to brute force it~ She confirmed, then looked at me, concern in her new blue eyes, ~And what worries me now is if I have to grind away at her biomass, it could very well take a long time, so then I wonder how long you would be safe around a Beta Predazoan. If I’m so focused on fighting and eating Beta-09, and with my senses constrained, how will I ever be able to protect you?~

  Eve’s new celicapoz eyes were different, but still wildly expressive, so I could easily read the worry and fear in them—fear for my safety, as always. I pulled Eve against me, and she melded into my touch easily.

  ~Don’t worry about that, focus on the now. If it’s bad, I’ll stay away~ I said haltingly, wanting to say more, but it would have to wait until I could properly voice it.

  Eve’s worry was replaced by a hopeful smile.

  ~Really? You promise?~

  Obviously Eve was doubtful, she knew how much I wanted to help her—suffered through unbelievable torture to gain the strength and power to do something to help. But if I knew I would only hinder Eve, I’d have to make the smart call and stay out of it completely.

  I gave her a kiss on the forehead, “I promise, sweet-thing.”

  I wouldn’t rule anything out just yet but considering how our fates were totally tied together with bombs and failsafes, I knew I’d have to take it all completely seriously.

  People were really dying around us now, so the time for fucking around was well-past over.

  ***

  We arrived at the Ember Meadow Hotel in the heart of Wesseran, and big surprise, it was another dome. This one was a little wavy though, a cool dome design, silver and blue in color, three stories tall, but incredibly long.

  Our vyrane escort dropped us off, and once they confirmed we were all good, they exchanged contact information with our leaders, then headed off back towards their checkpoint.

  We went inside as one big group, and when the hotel staff saw us, they seemed a little apprehensive. The rest of the soldiers parked off to the side while Seash, Bryx, and Kotlokk handled the logistics.

  I turned as I was about to make some smart remark to Eve, but I saw her quickly stroll off towards the leaders of our convoy, getting right into the center of their negotiations.

  Whatever they all decided together, Eve came back skipping, a victorious smile on her face.

  “I go us a private room.” She confirmed, wrapping her arms around my neck.

  My eyebrows shot up, “Oh shit, really?”

  Eve nodded happily, “Yup. Originally, they wanted to double us up with the researchers, and while indulging in our exhibition kink is fun and all, I’d much rather have some private time with you instead, and considering we don’t know how often we’ll get opportunities like this while on the mission, I wasn’t going to let the chance slip by.”

  I grinned at my mischievous little alien, “And how did you manage that, my diabolical sweet-thing?”

  Eve fluttered her eyelashes at me, “Oh, a girl has her ways, darling.”

  I laughed at that, very much doubting Eve used her feminine wiles, and instead was sure serious, sadistic threats were employed instead.

  “So, want to head up right now and tear into each other? Break in this new body?” Eve asked, her expression turning sultry.

  I held up a hand to stop her, “Now hang on, once we head to the room and take off the armor, you know we won’t leave until we’re called out again.” I gestured to the area around us, “Why don’t we check out the city first instead? Have ourselves a Vyrane date.” I offered.

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  Eve’s lustful expression turned bright and eager, “Really, you mean it?”

  I quirked up an eyebrow, “What do you mean ‘really’? I figured you’d protest, saying you’d be more interested in just fucking around.”

  Eve waved my words off, “Adam, as much as I love having sex with you, I told you before I simply want to be with you and experience life together; life is more than just sex, you know?”

  I crossed my arms then as I narrowed my gaze, looking doubtful, “And who’s this new Eve who replaced the old nymphomaniac? Is this because you’re a celicapoz now?”

  Eve trilled a little giggle and shook her head, “No, my sex-drive is fully intact still, I assure you.” Eve sighed contently and leaned into me, “I just want to be with you Adam, always.” Her smile grew playful, “And honestly, sometimes it feels like you only want me for my body; a girl enjoys a little romance now and again.”

  I scoffed at that, “Okay, now I know you’re fucking with me; half the time I have to crawl away from bed as you drag me back in, draining me dry like some crazy succubus.”

  Eve laughed again, flashing me a wide grin, “I know, I’m teasing. Still, a date with you sounds wonderful.” She cocked her head to the side, “Any idea where you’d like to go?”

  I gestured to our battle armor, “Think we need to change first?”

  Eve shrugged, “We’re active duty, I think we’re supposed to be kitted up even during downtime.” She looked around at the other soldiers, “I’m more concerned they’ll stick us with a babysitter.”

  As though speaking it into existence, Lobae and Vinnago made their way over towards us.

  “Hey guys, we’ll be your escort around town in case you wanted to get out for a few hours.” Lobae said, trying to sound friendly.

  Eve and I exchanged a look, knowing there was no way we would get out of this.

  “That’s fine I guess, we were just about to head out.” I said.

  Vinnago smiled, trying to use his pretty-boy charms on us, “That’s great, anywhere you had in mind?”

  Eve grabbed my arm and leaned into me, “The two of us really wanted some alone time, so we planned on heading out for a date. You can escort us all you want, but I expect you to act as shadows so you don’t intrude in on our private time.” She insisted.

  Lobae and Vinnago exchanged a look, and Vinnago nodded once, so Lobae just sighed, “That’s fine guys, go wherever you want, we’ll follow along from a distance.”

  From there the rest of the soldiers started splitting up into small groups, getting ready to head out on their own as well. Captain Seash came together one final time to tell everyone his expectations, how we needed to act accordingly and be prepared to return to the hotel quickly in case anything happened, so there wasn’t to be any wild, heavy drinking.

  A few of the soldiers groaned in response, but Bryx jumped in to say how privileged we all were to get this break at all, considering the team leaders would be working on trying to get in contact with the resistance leaders our Imperial escort was supposed to connect us with.

  Yeah, didn’t get any sympathy from me on that front; they were the ones who killed those escort soldiers after all.

  As everyone was splitting apart, Eve and I made a hasty exit before anyone else would try to engage with us, and our shadows followed us out the door without another word.

  It was still the middle of the afternoon, a few hours of daylight left, plenty for us to do.

  Eve leaned into me, her new silvery celicapoz tentacles coiling around my arm, clinging to me in a much more squid-like fashion compared to her Predazoan tentacles that could magically grow longer to wrap around me completely.

  “So really, what do you want to do?”

  “Honestly? I could eat.” I confirmed, patting my stomach.

  Eve trilled a happy giggle, “Alright, so let’s get you fed. Anything else, darling?”

  I stroked my beard as I thought over what all we could do in one evening on a new alien planet. Obviously, we could do any number of things, but if we were limited to just the one date—that small timeframe, I figured we should choose something good.

  “Anything you have in mind?” I asked.

  Eve shrugged, “I wouldn’t mind a little tour, maybe walk through their downtown area, enjoy the scenery—see what all Vyrane has to offer.”

  I nodded once, “Sounds good to me; we can find some cute diner or something downtown, then explore the rest before heading back here.”

  I looked around outside the hotel; we were under the weird dome awning that led to the parking lot with several hover-cars around, the main road a little bit away from us.

  “You think they have public transportation?” I asked.

  “I ordered us a car service, should be here soon.” Lobae offered mildly, holding her tablet out to show off some kind of taxi program.

  Eve smiled, “Very nice.” Then her happy expression melted away completely to show annoyance as she made a shooing gesture, “Now if you don’t mind, be good little shadows and stay clear of us.”

  Vinnago clenched his jaw but said nothing as he took a few steps back. Lobae meanwhile, planted her fists on her hips.

  “You know what, this is bullshit!” Lobae snapped.

  I crossed my arms and glared at the blue alien woman as Eve leaned against me, a very quiet growl rising in her throat, “What’s that now?” I asked.

  Lobae gestured to herself, “I’ve tried guys, really, but you aren’t the only ones required to do things you don’t want to do. You think I enjoyed executing those soldiers? No, it really fucking sucked, and it’s going to haunt me for years. I already scheduled counseling sessions back on The Radiance for when the Vyrane mission’s over. But the way you look at us now, you have no idea what we have to do for our jobs, the kind of nasty shit we’re forced to do for the Empire.” She said heatedly.

  I looked over at Eve and could see her anger drained away too, as it was just so ridiculous it was straight-up comical—I could almost laugh!

  “Are you fucking retarded? You think you’re dealing with anything even remotely similar to what we are?” I said darkly, and I could see Lobae was instantly deflated.

  Vinnago stepped forward, trying to get between us, “Look, Adam, we all want the same thing, we just—”

  “You have no fucking idea what we want!” Eve snapped.

  “This isn’t some job for us, you dumb fucking idiots; the Empire has us enslaved now, and if we don’t do what they want, they’ll kill us—same as you killed those innocent soldiers.” I told them.

  I could see Lobae and Vinnago had no idea what they were talking about—what we were dealing with. Were they seriously so blind they thought we were actively supporting the Empire? Were these clandestine agents not aware of all the bombs inside us, all the contingency measures the Lord Generals created for us?

  Lobae shook her head slowly, “Adam, please, it can’t be that bad; I know you’re compensated incredibly well for—”

  “Compensated?” I did laugh then, a harsh bark without humor. I craned my neck to the side, showing off the silver disk, “You know what this is? It’s a fucking bomb, guys, and Eve’s got one inside her core too. They can blow us up whenever they want; if we’re not compliant enough, if their threat analysis deems we’re more trouble than we’re worth—boom, dead. Forget money, forget a job, we’re completely at the Empire’s mercy, with no way out.”

  Vinnago was at a loss for words, looking down at Lobae who suddenly appeared rather vulnerable now.

  “Please, Adam, Eve, we’re friends, aren’t we? Remember what all we shared in the Holistia Nebula? That intimacy? That changed me—it meant something to me. And I’m sorry for what the Empire’s done, really I am. But you must understand it’s for the safety of our citizens—” Lobae tried to explain.

  “No.” I cut her off curtly, “No, we aren’t friends; Eve and I would never be friends with dogs of the Empire, supporting those who would bind us in chains, stealing away our freedom. The fact the two of you ever thought there could be something between us now after all we’ve suffered really shows how disconnected you really are.” I said coldly.

  Both Lobae and Vinnago looked down at their feet, no response at the ready—nothing they could do to defend themselves or their Empire.

  Just then, the hover-car pulled up for us, and Eve tugged on my arm, “Come on Adam, let’s go and enjoy the evening.” She turned to the agents, “And I expect you two to keep your distance; wouldn’t want you to spoil our date.”

  Eve and I got into the automated vehicle that was already keyed up to take us downtown, and I was surprised to see Lobae and Vinnago just let us go, still looking down, talking quietly amongst themselves.

  I wondered what they could’ve said to each other then, probably defending themselves, telling each other how we were clearly unhinged and needed to be controlled to protect their precious Empire.

  But then I wondered why the confrontation at all? Was it a ploy to humanize them, make us get into a fight we would mend later so they could spy on us from the inside once more? Could they have really been so ignorant about my new failsafe? Were things so compartmentalized with The Judicator now, even the clandestine agents didn’t know how we were bound? Well, that just made them look incompetent rather than sympathetic.

  I wasn’t sure what the game was now, and while I had at one point considered Lobae and Vinnago friends, even got invested in their relationship early on—tried to support it when I could back in the Holisita Nebula—our relationship had been completely severed.

  I leaned into Eve as she leaned into me, and I could tell we were both trying to put it all out of our minds, because exactly as Eve said, we didn’t want it to spoil our date.