2

I crush the thought of him, trying to push away the image of his cut throat and all the blood pooling around him. 

I can’t. 

I just can’t process that right now. 

So I think about this ship. I think about its mechanisms. I think about the blueprints for every ship I’ve ever seen. I think about how I would design a ship like this if I were going to create my own. 

This is what you know, I tell myself. This is what you’re good at. Focus on what you know. 

With pipes and bolts and combustors flashing through my mind, I drift off to sleep. 

 

 

 

“Nova,” a soft voice says into my ear. 

Slowly, I blink, seeing the same eyes I was seeing just a moment ago. A little smile pulls on my lips. 

Valen smiles too, and my heart flutters. 

There isn’t another smile in the galaxy like Valen’s. 

“Come eat,” he says, extending a hand to help me up. 

I blink, slightly confused as my brain wakes and realizes Valen is actually here and isn’t going to fade away with the wind. I look around, re-orienting myself. 

Right. We’ve crash-landed. 

I take his hand and follow him from the sleeping quarters to the Command Deck. The hatch is still open, letting in cool air. Down the ramp, in a circle of rocks, is a crackling fire. On a roughly-carved spear, extending over the fire, is some kind of skinned animal. 

“You know how to hunt,” I say, slightly surprised as I follow him down the ramp. 

“It’s the only way to survive on Starvis,” he answers as he takes a seat on one of the large rocks and I realize there are two, set up side by side, just the right height to sit on. “No government meals there.” 

“Starvis is a desert planet,” I say, settling next to him, watching as he removes the spit and begins carving up the animal with a knife, dividing the slivers of meat onto plates. “What is there to hunt there?” 

“Sand snakes, mostly,” he says as he breaks a leg off the beast and peels the meat off, “but there were also rabbits and vultures if you could get your hands on a bow and arrow.” 

I sit in wonder, silenced as he hands me a plate filled with protein. I’m not sure what to say. Our beginnings were so vastly different. So I don’t say anything. I take a bite of the meat. 

“Wow,” I say with an awed laugh. “This… Valen, this is actually really good.” 

He huffs a laugh. “Don’t ask me to make anything in an actual kitchen, but an animal over an open fire? That, I know how to prepare.” 

I shake my head, taking another bite. “Well, it’s a good thing you have that skill set, at least. If it were up to me to feed us, we’d be slagged. I’ve never had to do more than warm up a pre-prepared government meal in my life.” 

Valen chews a bite of the creature he killed and smiles. “Now that you mention it, it has always been me cooking the meals.” 

I smile, realizing he’s talking about the future. We’ve both seen visions of them, over and over. The two of us, happy and together. A family. With two children. 

I shake my head. “What a weird life this has turned into,” I say. “You and me, we don’t really even know each other, but…we’ve seen so much. Felt so much.” 

Valen nods. “None of my life has been normal, according to any standards in the galaxy, but it’s certainly grown a lot more complicated since the day you showed up in my head.” 

I look over at Valen, meeting his eyes. It’s getting dark, but sitting before the fire, his eyes are so bright I could swear they glow in the dark. 

“It all feels backwards,” I say. “It almost feels like we’ve already lived those lives, had our children. And now we’re only just discovering the beginning.” 

Valen nods. “I don’t know what’s going to happen to us Nova—if we’re ever going to find a way off this planet. But I’m grateful for the time the crash is giving us.” And it makes me smile when he extends a hand. 

He smiles, too, when I take his hand and he shakes it. 

“It’s nice to meet you, Nova Ainsley,” he says softly with a hint of a smile. “I can’t wait to actually get to know you.” 

A little laugh bubbles up out of my chest and I shake my head. I lick my lips, letting my head tilt to one side. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, too, Valen Nero.”