Alex’s head was still full of questions as they resumed their trek toward Vesta that morning. Like the previous mornings, Jenna had taken the lead while Alex watched the rear, moving quickly across the arid landscape of the planet while keeping the river to their right. Ellie moved between them, not so much as their prisoner but as an extra pair of eyes, also scanning for any potential threats.

Alex couldn’t help but wonder about each woman as they walked. Jenna seemed to be the easiest to understand, and he was honestly pleased about where their relationship was going. She was very pleasant this morning when she woke up, sitting down next to him to eat her breakfast while making small talk. She kept finding reasons to touch him casually—a behavior that was definitely noticed the more she did it.

What was even better was the shy glances that she kept giving him every time their eyes met. There was an entire conversation in those glances, even without any words being exchanged.

“I really liked that kiss we had last night, Alex.”

“Me too, Jenna.”

“Do it again really soon?”

“Of course, I’d love to.”

Figuring out Jenna seemed to be the easy part now that he knew about her backstory. Ellie on the other hand, still confused the hell out of him. She was also one to shoot the occasional look back at him, but whereas Jenna’s looks comprised an almost virginal innocence, Ellie’s were nothing short of pure, arousing fire.

Everything about Ellie just screamed sex. From her stunning body to the way her hands were so quick to grab his cock, Ellie was built for fucking, and she seemed to have no hesitation in reminding him of what was possible.

Ellie would most definitely be called an Oxy by his comrades back in the Bastards Battalion. Alex remembered how that particular nickname came about. Oxy was shorthand for an oxygen pump, the kind that supplied breathable air to the Orbital Ring around Earth. It operated by using salt water (pumped up from the ocean) and removing the oxygen from the compound. The pump that made it all possible was nothing short of an engineering marvel.

It worked in the dirtiest of conditions, and even if one of the valves got clogged, the other valves would pick up the slack, still pumping through the same amount of pure oxygen.

Some even said that it performed better when one or two of the valves were clogged.

Of course, it was only a matter of time until comparisons were made between the pump and some of the women that made their rounds on the Orbital Ring.

“Get yourself a woman like an Oxy,” said some of the guys. “The dirtier she gets, the harder she works. Even when one or two holes are plugged, she still works just as hard, showing the same enthusiasm. You find a woman like an Oxy and you marry that girl ASAP.”

It was a crude comparison but one that was apt when describing Ellie. Alex’s comrades from the battalion would definitely call her an Oxy.

In a way, they seemed right about that. Ellie was making no illusions that if Alex invited her into his bed, he would have a great time.

The only problem with that was how Jenna would take it. A frosty atmosphere seemed to take root between them, and Alex suspected he already knew why. They were cordial with each other but there didn’t seem to be any of the warmth that Alex had developed with Ellie.

It wasn’t hard to understand why with one look at Jenna when Ellie was talking to Alex. The long and short of it was that Jenna and Ellie now looked at each other as sexual competitors, both trying to ensnare Alex in their own way. And that tension was starting to bubble to the surface between them.

A perfect example of this was a small spat that developed when they stopped for lunch. Alex had found a decent-sized rock to use as a seat while they prepared their freeze-dried meals for consumption. The rock was big enough to allow two to sit comfortably, and Jenna wasted no time in taking her spot next to him.

Alex wasn’t sure if what Ellie did next was intentional or by accident. Either way, she called out for assistance to Jenna about locating one of the water bottles, and Jenna got up to help her. Once Ellie had parched her thirst, she promptly moved herself toward the rock, stealing Jenna’s seat and causing a row between the two women.

“I was sitting next to Alex,” said Jenna, glaring down at Ellie. “Get up.”

“You moved,” insisted Ellie, looking up at her innocently. “So I figured I would sit next to Alex.”

The childish display kept going on for several minutes before Alex vacated his seat, letting both of them have a chance to sit on the rock. Of course, that solved nothing seeing as they both wanted to sit next to him.

The incident blew over by the time they resumed their trek but it was one more thing that Alex was keeping an eye on, and he knew this slow-boiling issue would one day explode into something much larger.

At least today they would receive the best news since being on the Racine.

Today was the day they would bump into a Vestan Defense Force patrol.

It all started when Jenna noticed a cloud of dust on the northern horizon barely a kilometer from their position. She gave the signal to halt and they all hit the dirt, waiting to see the object that was getting steadily closer. Judging by its size, it was quite large, and as it neared their position, Alex could see big wheels that propelled what looked like an armored personnel carrier back on Earth.

Alex and Jenna were both content to stay on the ground observing the vehicle but it was Ellie who saw what was coming and immediately pushed to her feet, waving her arms in the air from side to side.

“Ellie, what are you doing,” hissed Alex.

“It’s okay, it’s only the VDF,” explained Ellie, like that acronym should mean something to him. When the confusion didn’t leave his face, Ellie explained what it stood for.

“That stands for Vestan Defense Force, Alex. It’s the group that watches over the colony, and them finding us right now is a very good thing. They can give us a ride to the city.”

That seemed to settle the issue for now, but Alex was still cautious as Ellie flagged down the APC (a vehicle that Alex would later learn was called a crawler due to its all-terrain capability).

“Alex, what should we do?” asked Jenna a short distance away as the crawler moved ever closer.

“Not much we can do right now,” replied Alex. “Hopefully Ellie is right about this and they won’t treat us as hostiles.”

The answer wasn’t that reassuring to Jenna but she kept her position and waited for the crawler to stop a short distance away while Ellie closed the distance between them.

Finally, Alex received a signal that gave him some relief. Two Vestans that were operating the crawler came out from the inside upon seeing Ellie, and both of them embraced her with a warm hug.

It was that gesture that made Alex push up from the ground and approach them cautiously, with Jenna following just behind him. They found Ellie already engaged in familiar conversation with the two Vestans—a man and a woman.

The man was not very tall. He was about the same height as Jenna. He had friendly brown eyes and a red-tinged goatee that was in need of a trim. He was dressed in the latest military fashion, wearing black-colored boots and a gray uniform that was covered by a piece of black body armor over the torso. Another black helmet covered his head. He was carrying a pulse rifle in one hand, and he seemed to be evaluating just how much of a threat Alex was by the way he was pointing it in Alex’s direction.

The woman was similarly dressed as the man. The only distinction in her uniform was that her armor had extra space so it wasn’t so tight across her chest, due to her breasts. She was moderately attractive as well, with warm hazel eyes and just a hint of light brown hair that peaked out from under her helmet.

Of course, Ellie wasted no time in offering introductions.

“Dave and Carla, these are two of the recently-arrived colonists from Earth,” said Ellie, pointing at Alex. “This is Alex Hawthorne and the woman behind him is Jenna Whitaker.”

Ellie looked to look directly at Alex. “Dave and Carla are some of my oldest friends in Vesta. It’s very good for us that they found us and not anyone else.”

“Extremely lucky indeed,” said Carla as she gave Ellie a wary expression. “We weren’t sure if we’d ever see you again, Ellie. How’ve you been out here? We were all worried about you but none of us were allowed to look for you, as you might guess.”

Ellie nodded. “No doubt thanks to the Vestan council,” she said, spitting out the last words like it was some foul-tasting water. “I’ve been all right, mostly thanks to Alex and Jenna. I ran out of food not long ago and they’ve been kind enough to share their supply with me. By the way, how has the city been since I’ve been gone?”

“Terrible,” said Dave, rolling his eyes. “Belladonna is in rare form right now. Even since you were exiled, she’s been on a power trip, backed by Cassara of course. We still have two open slots on the council, yours and Bradley’s. Belladonna is in no hurry to fill them because she and Cassara can outvote Annette all day long. They’ve been ramming through provisions they’ve been talking about for years due to the lack of opposition. It’s madness, Ellie. This can’t be allowed to continue.”

Ellie started to shake her head. “What else can you do though? Those two will be the death of the colony.”

“To say the least,” muttered Dave as he turned his attention to Alex. “So you’ve come from Earth then? We’ve been picking up other new arrivals for the past three days. We heard all about your ship exploding.”

“Have there been many survivors?” asked Alex. “A rogue group tried to take over the Racine and we were forced to intervene. A fight broke out, which was the direct cause of the ship’s destruction, but we managed to get all the colonists into escape pods. How many of them have you received?”

“Nearly all of them from what I’ve heard,” replied Dave. “A good portion of the pods have already landed near the city, and we’ve been welcoming the newcomers. There’s still a good portion scattered around the planet that we’re trying to rescue. We only noticed your group this morning and that’s what prompted us to come out to meet you.”

“You’ll take us to the city then?” asked Jenna.

Dave grinned and nodded. “Of course! Can’t leave you out here in the middle of nowhere. There are bears out here. Deadly creatures if you ever see them—”

“Trust me, we’ve had our fair share of experience with them already,” replied Ellie before pointing at Alex. “Alex killed one last night that attacked our camp. From what they’ve told me, he also killed another one shortly after their pod landed on the planet.”

Dave balked like Ellie just told him Alex had walked on water.

“A bear? No fucking way. Are you sure it wasn’t something else?”

“I saw it, Dave,” replied Ellie. “And Alex took it down. I’ve never seen anything like it before but if he can survive it, I figured it was imperative that we get him to Vesta as soon as possible. He’s the only person who’s ever killed one in close combat before. He could definitely be useful to the VDF.”

“That’s very impressive,” said Carla, looking Alex up and down like he was some kind of steak. “I’m already starting to like these new colonists.”

“How soon can you get us back to Vesta?” asked Ellie.

Dave gave her a pained look. “We can be back in less than an hour at the crawler’s pace. But what about you, Ellie? Are you sure it’s wise to go back to the city? You know the consequences of what might happen. You could be killed for coming back.”

Ellie crossed her arms in front of her chest. “It’s incredibly important that I make sure Alex gets there. At the end of the day, this is still my family’s colony. I care about the well-being of Vesta, and now that we have someone who can kill the bears, I think that’s worth the risk of ensuring he gets back to Vesta, don’t you?”

Both Dave and Carla gave each other a look. It was one that spoke of uncertainty, and Alex found that even Ellie was holding her breath awaiting their decision.

Finally, they relented and looked back at the trio.

“Fine, we’ll take all three of you to Vesta,” said Dave. “At least for Ellie’s sake, I hope your luck continues to hold. You’re going to need it.”