The next morning, Aria awoke cradled within her sheets. It felt absolutely wonderful. The tenseness in her lower back was gone. She rolled out of bed and breathed freely without a weight on her chest. Standing in front of the bathroom mirror, she watched the water drip from her face and splash into the sink below. She looked somehow different. Perhaps it was the resting expression of contentment upon her face.

She dressed herself and rendezvoused with Hansel outside the hangar.

“Hey,” Aria said.

He stood leaning against the entryway, blocking her path. “Good morning. Sleep all right?”

Normally she would have told him to shove it, but she no longer cared as much. Her outlook on many things seemed different. Since she woke up, the decision that she alone controlled her destiny was clear in her mind. Nothing Hansel could say or do would dampen her spirit.

“Yeah, I did. Actually, I went and saw a shrink for the first time in my life. I slept like a rock for the first time in years.” She glanced back at him following behind her.

He was watching her with uncharacteristically soft eyes. He smiled when he noticed her.

“I’m a bit embarrassed to admit this,” she continued, “but I should have dealt with my problems years ago.”

Hansel nodded. “I’m really glad to hear that. No matter how much we got at each other, I never wished you any harm. I’m glad you’re feeling great.”

What a respectful, non-Hansel thing for him to say. Aria was impressed and pleased with the new Hansel.

He moved out of the way and followed her inside. They repeated their subterfuge with the crew and commandeered the shuttle back down to the surface this time with a full cache of supplies, checked and double checked. Sitting with her datapad, completing her morning reports, Aria was determined to devote her entire attention to the mission at hand. Nothing else was weighing her down anymore.

The shuttle landed safely in the fields away from the settlement. They equipped themselves in the armored expedition suits and marched directly for the treeline.

Aria consulted her properly calibrated compass as she led the way. “Okay. We stick to the plan. Navigate through the jungle, monitor the craft and that ghastly machine it landed near, and high tail it back to the Century before anyone even thinks about where we’ve gone to.”

“Hmm,” Hansel said. “Are we confident nobody is going to wonder why both you and I suddenly appear together two mornings in a row at around the same time? Surely there are those out there who know us both, like your friend Tinsdale, who will notice such a thing.”

“And? Why do you care?”

“Well...it’s just that canoodling among the crew isn’t uncommon, so…”

Aria spun around. “What are you saying? Th-th-that you a-a-and I…” Her face was flush.

Hansel took a step back from her. “I didn’t mean to offend! I just mean that it’s all rather suspicious and we can’t exactly prove that we were doing anything otherwise, for obvious reasons. We should come up with a plan, a story we can both recite.”

“Okay…” she mumbled. “Did you have anything in mind?” They had arrived at the edge of the jungle.

“Well, and I suggest this as purely my first thought that I did not premeditate, how about you and I were doing research alone in your office? You can point to what I showed you on my datapad at lunch yesterday. Tinsdale could then verify we were up to something.”

Aria took a pistol and her datapad out of the pack. She led the way through the trees and vines. The razorweed lashed out and recoiled whenever their arms or legs brushed against them. Superficial cuts spanned their protected limbs.

“That’s not a bad idea,” she said. “What exactly were we researching, in this completely unprepared hypothetical?”

“Something important to you. You pick.”

The immense denseness of the canopy forced Aria to redirect her attention to navigating. She consulted her datapad navigation instruments and corrected their course. Ahead, a source of rushing water hinted at the right direction. She proceeded forward with caution and waved for Hansel to stay put. She poked her head into the clearing. To her delight, the mercury waterfall and diamond rock base pool of the river splashed before her. It was gorgeous.

“Hansel, you’re not going to believe this! Come on over and look at…”

She fell silent when she spotted the unmistakably Quillian ship among the trees on the opposite bank. Its green hull initially camouflaged it but now she saw it clearly and also the small campfire along the coastline. The ship’s design was sleeker than the models during the war, but the writing on the sides and the angle of the curves were as Quillian as ever. The Federation’s worst fear had returned.

Her eyes swept the bank. No Quillian soldier was seen.

“What do you want me to look at...oh god.” Hansel grabbed her by the jacket and pulled her back into the brush. “That’s a Quillian ship!” He peeked again. “At least I think it is.”

“I have no doubt.” They cautiously approached the treeline again. “At least I don’t see the pilot anywhere.”

“How do you even know what they look like? Have you ever seen one in real life? I’ve only seen them in pictures and they’re always wearing those atmospheric helmets.”

“I...I saw several in the brig back on the Discovery.” She sat in the grass. “I saw terrible things.”

“I'm sorry to hear that.” He moved a hesitant hand toward her. She did not pull away as he gently rested it on her back.

She stared at her hands. They began to quiver. “We had prisoners of war on board. I was one of the few crew members that had linguistic expertise. My superior officer ordered me to interrogate them. It became my only job.” She turned toward Hansel. “That wasn’t what I enlisted for.”

“That sounds terrible.”

“I had to watch while we tortured them.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. I never knew we did such horrible things during the war.” Hansel took a towel out of the pack and handed it to her.

She wiped away some tears. “It was war. But I never want to think about that time again. I hate talking about it. Sometimes something completely unrelated, like a sound or a flash of a light, will take me back there in my mind and I’ll be in that cell again.” She squinted into the canopy above. “I can hear their screams right now. Can you hear it too? It’s earsplitting. It’s…”

A howl much like she described echoed from across the river. Aria curled into a ball.

Hansel grabbed the pistol from the pack. “Aria! Aria! Get a hold of yourself! Something’s out there and I think it’s the pilot. You need to snap out of it and take this pistol. I’m not a soldier! Please!”

She rocked back and forth. Her body withdrew whenever he touched her. She was like this until a second howl, followed by a thunderous roar, broke her spell and she popped to her feet and snagged the pistol from his grasp.

“Oh no! They’ve escaped the brig!” Aria ran out into the clearing with Hansel frantically in tow. “We got to go down the corridor. Follow me and we’ll subdue them.” She splashed through the shallow mercury and climbed out on the opposite bank. “We’ll lead them back to the cell before they can do anymore damage.”

Just beyond the treeline, Aria spotted another panther-like creature, swiping its claws at a smaller figure. She aimed the pistol and fired three shots at the beast. It bellowed. Its glowing eyes fixated on her. The creature leapt out of the jungle shadows and into the sunlight. Massive, thumping paws sent river rocks skittering about. Rearing onto its hind legs, it towered twice the size of the last one they encountered.

“Oh god!” Hansel cried from behind Aria.

The beast raised its paws, claws tearing the sky, to strike Aria down.

“No!” Hansel leapt in front of her and threw his arms out. “Stop! Please!”

The animal screeched. It’s eyes went white. The massive body crashed onto the beach, kicking river rocks into the air. Several stones hit Aria in the face. They knocked her back into the present.

Hansel helped her up. He pointed to the brush as a figure emerged.

“Drop your weapon and kick it over to me! Put your hands up!” the figure said.

Aria complied and began stepping back toward the shoreline. The sun revealed the armed figure as they stepped into the light. It was the Quillian pilot and she was as green as Aria remembered. “We’re not soldiers!” Aria pleaded. “We’re scientists...a-and we were interacting peacefully with the tribe just a kilometer east from here.”

The Quillian pushed her weapon forward menacingly. “Don’t flippin lie to me. I know your Federation protocols. You don’t make contact with your proto-kind.”

“It’s true!” Hansel stepped hesitantly forward. “Please don’t shoot! I’m a distinguished scientist of the Federation, Hansel Heinrich of the Exploratory Science Council, and I’m here to monitor the progress of this planet, 748-B. The mission ID is charlie, alpha, one dash nine. It’s the designation we use for non-public missions.”

Aria did her best not to look surprised. He was lying through his teeth, but she hoped the Quillian would be none the wiser.

“What do you mean by non-public?”

Hansel edged sheepishly forward. “It means we’re either conducting a covert operation or we are knowingly acting against Federation protocols. And seeing as how we just interacted with a whole settlement of proto-humans and then sauntered out of the woods right into you, I’d be willing to argue that this isn’t very covert at all. See? Non-threatening scientists.”

The Quillian kept her pistol pointed but knelt slowly down next to the beast lying unconscious at their feet. She took her eyes off of them for a moment to scan the creature with a pocket analyzer. “It’s okay, my child. You’ll come around soon enough.”

Hansel scooted forward just a little bit more. Aria was making eyes at him to stop, but then he asked, “What is that machine for?”

The Quillian glared back. “Did you move?”

“No. Absolutely not. I’m too afraid to move.”

Her eyes narrowed, but she seemed to believe him. “It’s a preservation scout. It analyzes a small area of a planet to determine if it is a specimen worthy of preservation before your ravaging people get your hands on it.”

“Oh. So that thing alone won’t, say, destroy the whole planet by itself, will it?”

“No, you idiot. Quillians don’t destroy planets! We relocate their essence. You Terrans think everyone else is just like you. You make me sick.” She pointed her weapon at Aria.

Aria stiffened, raising her arms higher.

“Take your ship and go,” the Quillian said. “Leave this system and don’t come back.”

“I don’t exactly have the authority to…” Aria started.

“I thought you two were important. Should I just shoot you two grunts now?”

“Oh no! You don’t want to kill two very high ranking officials!” Hansel said, backing away quickly. He grabbed Aria’s arm and began pulling her back toward the riverbank. “It’s just that we run things up there through a committee and there are a lot of people involved. So, you see, we can’t just make that decision alone. We need to get back to the ship and talk it over with our people. We’re headed back right now, thanks to your generous restraint, and getting that taken care of for you post haste.”

The Quillian lowered her weapon. “You’ll all be dead soon. You Terrans think you own the galaxy. These rocks, the water, the creatures. They were all here long before you began walking on two legs. I don’t know why your people keep evolving all over the spiral arms, but someone needs to cull your numbers before you dim our beautiful stars forever.” She gazed up toward the few stars visible in the daylight. “Get out of here and warn your ship. Or not. It doesn’t matter. I’ve already submitted my report and my people are homing in on my beacon as we speak.”

Aria grabbed Hansel’s hand and yanked him into the river and out onto the opposite bank. They ran through the jungle and into the open field toward their shuttle. As she neared the shuttle, she heard a boom from behind and saw the smoke trails of the Quillian ship escaping through the atmosphere back into space.

They climbed in and Aria took her place at the controls. “Get everything back online! I’m plotting the course!” They lifted off and broke the planet's gravitational pull as the sky turned into stars. She tried hailing the Century, but the signal was weak. “Shoot! Something’s emitting active radio interference!”

“Not something. Someone!” Now within view, the Century was on fire and swarmed by hundreds of green fighter craft. Hansel zoomed the monitor feed on the mammoth alien fortress encircling the Century. “Seems the cloaking maneuver has already failed.”

The Quillian’s oblong, organic ship design was familiar to Aria, but also was not exactly as she remembered them from the war. “That’s surely a next-generation Quillian assault-class battlecruiser. Ah!” A squadron of enemy fighters streaked across the screen. Impacts upon their hull launched her onto the floor.

“They’re shooting at us!” Hansel screamed. “I don’t want to die! I’m too smart to die!”

“Stay with me!” She climbed back into her seat and deactivated the autopilot. A metal flight stick extended from her console and she grasped it with both hands. She desperately tried to remember what little Academy flight training she received and managed to maneuver the craft around and back toward the planet’s surface.

Hansel gripped his co-pilot console with white knuckles. “The ship’s the other way! You know, the one with all the firepower?”

“We’ll never make it with these jackasses on our tail! I’m going to try something I read about once.”

“You mean to tell me you’ve never done it in real life? Oh god, save us!”

She plunged the stick forward and plunged the shuttle down through the atmosphere. No fewer than three warning lights and two alarm bells set the stage for a dance party of death as the overwhelming reentry friction etched scorch marks onto the length of the hull. She switched the external monitor to their rear view. The fighters had no trouble keeping up with her and were accelerating quickly in an attempt to get ahead. They had fallen into her trap.

“Hold on!” She flipped the switch for the emergency boosters and rocketed the ship toward what Hansel believed to be their certain doom. The craft’s interior was bathed in red light and the viewer monitor cracked and devolved into static. Still able to see outside their forward window, Aria watched as the fighters blazed past them. Each one burst into flames and exploded into meteoric shrapnel.

“You did it? You did it!” Hansel exploded with glee.

“It’s not over yet! I need to decelerate pronto and whip us back around before…” The cabin lights blacked out and the console before her powered down. “Oh no. Oh no!”

They plummeted to the surface. The shuttle used the last bit of reserve energy to deploy the inflated impact spheres. Instead of being smashed, they were blended as they bounced and tumbled across the plains just outside the native settlement. The last thing Aria remembered was Hansel grabbing her hand.