“Yes.” Carbon didn’t hesitate, didn’t appear to think about it. She knew what she wanted. A moment later came a sigh and she shook her head. “But that is not realistic. No. My people need me, I cannot just disappear. Not with this discovery. Not even with just the few planets we had found.”

“You sure?” Alex slipped his gloved hand into hers again, fingers tightly intertwined.

“I am. I would like to stay with you, but I have many commitments that are more important than my happiness.” She shifted over and rolled onto her side, resting her head on his shoulder.

He mulled that over. “More important than us?”

She grimaced in the dim light and draped an arm across his chest. “I did not mean- I like the idea of being with you but this place unsettles me, I do not know if that will ever change.”

There was no small amount of relief in his voice. He wouldn’t admit that he had not spent a lot of time thinking that through, at least not with the sphere as part of the plan. “I get your meaning. Really, I’m kind of glad you said no. There are lots of things that I’d still like to do that aren’t here.”

The corners of her mouth turned up and she stretched out, planting a kiss on his cheek. “I have noticed that you are sometimes impulsive.”

“I’ve always been like that. My mom still wonders how I didn’t get injured more as a child.” Alex laughed and reached up to massage the base of her antennae. “Don’t think it’ll change, given how long I’ve been like this.”

“You wear it well.” Carbon nestled awkwardly against him in her armor, eyes closing as she laughed with him. “This is not as satisfying as I had hoped.”

“Take it off. Not like there’s anything here.”

Her eyes stayed closed as she shook her head. “It is still here and this armor requires an external frame for ingress and egress. Trying to wriggle out of this without it would be troublesome as well.”

Alex grinned. “Oh? I’d be happy to watch.”

She slapped his arm and laughed softly. “I am sure you would. Despite that, I will not be getting out at this time.”

He waved a hand dismissively. “Sounds like a lot of trouble anyway. We’ve only got, what, 10 hours till the portal opens?”

“Mmm.” Carbon squeezed him gently, face pressed into his shoulder.

Alex looked down and watched her breathe - slow, steady and very asleep. He got smug about that. Despite being somewhere that made her uncomfortable, she still trusted him enough to fall asleep. It felt good.

He checked his wrist monitor, a little under 10 hours left, actually. He dialed in an alarm for two hours ahead of the timer running down. No sense in being late, particularly if the portal actually took them back to the Kshlav’o and let them leave the parking garage. They still had eight days before the Search and Rescue ship could even arrive. It was still better to be safe when it came to getting a pickup with no FTL drives.

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Which was problematic in that they no longer had any FTL communications, with the exception of the emergency beacon. Which might be jammed in its tube, given its proximity to the hole in the dorsal side of the ship. Sublight communications still took time and the globule was not optimal for those, though since the Eohm had not pursued them they could leave it and just remain nearby. Not like there was anything he could do about it here, no point in getting worked up.

His eyes turned skyward again, to the artificial stars and moon. Earth didn’t have nights like this in many places anymore. He’d never seen stars so densely packed and vibrant, even against the half moon. It was nice here. Peaceful despite the weirdness, silent save for the wind in the grass.

Alex blinked for a very long time, suddenly waking to his forearm being twisted about, a quiet beeping alarm coming from the speaker on his wrist monitor. In the dim morning light he could see Carbon curled around it, bleary eyed and poking at the screen. The alarm cut out and she let go, stretching out beside him again.

Then she remembered where they were. She pushed herself back up, surprise cutting through the haze of slumber. “Sch- Why did let sleep?”

“It had been a long day, I didn’t see any harm in it. Not like there’s anything else to do around here.” He pushed himself up to sitting and stretched in turn, yawning as he checked his suit’s functions, still green across the board.

She shook her head, eyes clearing up as she stood and brushed grass off her armor. “That is not a good reason. Things could have happened. Have we missed the portal?”

“No, we’ve got two hours yet.”

Carbon relaxed visibly at that. “Good. We should head back, I do not want to take chances on how long it will remain open.”

“Soon enough.” Alex had the scanner out again, drawing the sensors over the fruit she had gathered the previous day. “Clean enough to be safe. Have some breakfast.”

“I am not hungry right now.”

“More for me, then.” He snapped the scanner closed and gave her a dubious look as he bit into one. The texture and flavor were both familiar, pear-like with a hint of cinnamon. It tasted kind of like what Carbon smelled like. “S’good. Real, too. When was the last time you had food that didn’t come out of a printer?”

Carbon avoided his eyes for a moment, then sat down across from him and picked one up. She stared into it, turning it over in her hand before she spoke softly. “Two years, fourteen weeks...” She trailed off like she knew how many days it had been as well.

He almost choked on his fruit. “Why so long?”

She didn’t reply, instead sinking her teeth into the ruddy skin and tearing away the white flesh beneath. She savored the hell out of it, closing her eyes while she chewed. It took her a minute to finish, finally swallowing with a smile. “I was Lan on the Kshanevo when the disaster hit Schoen. It became clear that our fresh food resupplies would be drastically reduced as that is where most of them came from. I stopped eating them so the crew could have more. Most of the command staff lowered their intake, only myself and the captain abstained fully.”

“Wow.” He didn’t have anything to say to that, now eating to keep his mouth busy so he wouldn’t have to talk. Dispenser food was perfectly reasonable, but you could tell it wasn’t real. It seemed to get more pronounced the longer you ate it, as well. “That’s... That really seems like something you would do.”

“It is a time of sacrifice, it was not a difficult choice.”

“I suppose not.” He nodded, not sure if he would have gone off fully or just reduced his intake, had he been in that situation. They continued to eat in silence till they had turned the little pile of fruit into a stack of cores. Alex pushed himself off the ground and offered Carbon a hand. She likely did not need it, but this did not stop her from taking it. “Hour and a half left. Better get a move on.”

She smiled, her gloved hand staying in his. “We should. It may take us several minutes to walk back.”

Alex chuckled, then grew quiet. “Hey, when we get back to the ship...”

“Yes?” Her head tilted, inquisitive.

“I call first dibs on the bathroom.”