Alex nearly sprinted across the room to open the door, not believing the name of the visitor until he saw it with his own eyes. Sure enough, he grinned once he saw who was standing outside the door.

“About time you showed up here!” said Rick, barreling forward to embrace his former brother-in-law. “We were beginning to think the worst!”

Alex patted Rick’s back heartily. “It was a near run thing for a while there but we managed to get here in one piece.”

Rick let go and grinned at him. “And already got yourselves in trouble from what I’ve heard. My whole Biosphere is already talking about the fact that you beat the shit out of Serrano as soon as you arrived.”

Alex shrugged. “He’s lucky they had to stun me to end the fight. Or else I would have killed him for what he did on the ship.”

“I want to hear all about it,” said Rick before he stepped aside, revealing another familiar face. “You remember Nikki, right?”

Rick’s beautiful brunette companion embraced Alex as well. “It’s good to see you again, Alex! We were hoping that when a new colonist showed up that claimed to have killed two bears, it was going to be you.”

“That’s already circulating the colony as well?” asked Alex incredulously.

“From the sounds of it, all of Vesta is likely to know by now,” added Nikki. “You’re already going to be famous here.”

“Is it true that you came in with Eleanor Vesta?” asked Rick in a low voice. “I heard about the uproar that happened with her at the same time as your fight with Serrano. Someone was saying that she was with you.”

“That’s true, we met Ellie on the trek to the city,” answered Alex. “Although I don’t envy her position right now. Especially not with the two women in charge.”

“Speaking of women, what happened to Jenna?” asked Rick, searching the room until his eyes landed on the gorgeous blonde. “Jenna! Good to see you too!”

Rick’s tone was one of surprise, and he did a quick glance at Alex as Jenna closed the distance. Knowing Rick as long as he did, Alex knew the reason for the look.

No doubt he was wondering what the situation was like with Jenna. It had been noticeably frosty on the Racine and he was questioning whether there’d been any new developments.

Jenna probably surprised him when she gave him a warm embrace. “So glad to see that you’re here too, Rick. And you as well, Nikki. We’ve been worried about you ever since we landed on the planet.”

Greetings were exchanged all around and Alex gave Rick a sly nod, as if to say that his relationship with Jenna had seen remarkable improvement.

“So how long have you two been here?” asked Alex finally, once they were all seated in the living room. “When did your pod get to Vesta?”

“Four days ago,” answered Rick. “Around the same time most of the colonists did actually. Can you believe we didn’t lose a single colonist during the escape from the ship? A lot of that has to do with you, Alex. We went at the right time, and the integration here has been relatively smooth.”

“You both are going to like it here,” added Nikki. “Vestans might be slightly weird but they are friendly for the most part. And they seem thankful that we’re here to add to their numbers.”

“Yeah, we’ve seen how they can be weird already,” said Alex, chuckling. “We saw that with our first shower today.”

Both Rick and Nikki looked at each other and started to turn red. “Yeah, it takes some getting used to. But we had a good time in our shower this morning, didn’t we, Nikki?”

Nikki turned even more red and swatted him playfully. “Rick, behave!”

Rick could only grin. “Either way, it’s been nice. I was kind of hoping that Serrano wasn’t going to make it off the ship though. He turned up the day after we did.”

“We were hoping that as well,” said Alex sourly. “Although he received the welcome he deserved today though.”

“That guy is crafty, I’ll give him that,” said Rick. “He’s managed to quickly sum up who runs the show here and he’s already been seen in the company of Belladonna and Cassara. Rumor has it, he’s already sleeping with Belladonna.”

“That would explain why she was so quick to come to his defense today,” said Jenna.

“Exactly right,” replied Nick. “But it’s strange in that regard. Despite having the deciding votes on the Vestan Council, Belladonna and Cassara aren’t well-liked here. There’s a lot of sympathy for Eleanor and what they did to her, and now that she’s back, I think she has a real shot of staying here.”

“I’ve already had my exposure to both Belladonna and Cassara,” said Alex sourly. “I wasn’t impressed with either of them. They looked like two teenaged girls with their first exposure to power.”

Nikki started to laugh. “That’s a good way of looking at it honestly. And I think the rest of the colony is starting to come around to that viewpoint as well. It needs to happen though. The bear problem here is much worse than we’ve been led to believe.”

Rick leaned forward. “So you really killed two bears? How the hell did you do that?”

“We didn’t go out looking for them, I can promise you that,” answered Alex. “The first one was trying to get into our escape pod as soon as we landed. The damn thing clawed open the door and we had no choice. Big creatures though, furry and mean. I can see why they call them bears. The second one attacked our camp completely out of the blue. I’m still not sure how we survived.”

“Yeah, that’s what everyone else is saying too,” said Rick. “From what we’ve heard, they’ve only been able to kill bears at long range, and that’s when they can spot them. Once the bear closes the distance, we’re toast. Well, everyone except for you.”

“Seriously, how did you do it?” pressed Nikki. “How did you do it twice and live to tell about it?”

“It’s because he’s so fast,” said Jenna proudly, touching Alex’s arm. “I watched him do it twice and I was scared out of my mind both times, but once the bear made contact, its speed was negated by Alex’s own speed. He was just too fast for it.”

Rick grinned. “I’ve been saying for a long time that Alex is superhuman. I guess we have more proof of it now.”

Alex only smiled politely at that comment, choosing not to say anything further. It was another reminder of what Doctor Barnes had told him on the Racine, and he was starting to think the late doctor was right.

But if he wasn’t truly human, then what was he?

“In any event, we brought you both some food,” said Nikki, pointing to a tray that Alex was just noticing for the first time. “We figured you’d be hungry and since it’s nearly dark, the main food store will be closing shortly. There’s nothing fancy under there, just a few sandwiches but it certainly beats the food on the colony ship.”

Alex’s stomach growled in anticipation. “I’m sure it beats the freeze-dried shit we’ve been eating for the last few days too. I’ll never look at pasta the same way again.”

“The food here is pretty good,” said Rick. “It’s all grown in the biospheres, particularly Biosphere One. You should check them all out tomorrow at some point. It’s definitely a marvel to be here and see what’s been accomplished so far from Earth.”

“We’ll have to check it out then,” said Alex. “The first thing we have to do in the morning is get our work assignments.”

“Try to get yours in the VDF,” said Rick. “That’s where they put me. I already had my meeting with Commander Rooney this morning.”

“It looks like I won’t have any other choice but the VDF,” said Alex. “How is this Rooney guy? Does he have a good head on his shoulders?”

Rick winced. “About that. I have a feeling you’re not going to like the guy.”

“Why’s that?”

“Rooney is just a little . . . different. You’ll see. Thankfully, we won’t have much contact with him as raw soldiers, but I’d hate to be one of his lieutenants,” said Rick, shaking his head.

“What about you, Nikki?” asked Jenna. “What were you assigned to?”

“Oxygen production,” answered the bright-eyed brunette. “And it’s been nice so far. It’s not a huge detail because you’re mostly just overseeing the machines and making sure they don’t break but it beats doing most other things.”

“From the sounds of things, most of the jobs here are like that,” added Rick. “Except for the VDF of course but keeping the machines running is the most important thing.”

“It beats anything I was doing on Earth,” said Jenna before succumbing to a yawn. The sun had now set on the Vestan planet and once again she was feeling her tiredness.

Alex was as well. Jenna’s yawn triggered one of his own.

“We really should let you both get some sleep,” said Nikki, reading between the lines. “We can always catch up more tomorrow.”

“Sleep would be really lovely right now,” agreed Jenna.

Rick and Nikki stood up and embraced both of them. It was as the last hugs ended that Rick brought up one more thing.

“Oh, right, I really should tell you both,” said Rick, trying not to look embarrassed. “Because of the way the biospheres are designed, they trap a lot of the sunlight inside and use it for warmth overnight. The cooling systems here only run when necessary and we’ve been told that because of the heat, most Vestans sleep in the nude.”

“We didn’t think much of it until the first night,” said Nikki, looking at Rick shyly. “But we eventually removed our clothes as well. It made sleeping much easier and certainly more comfortable.”

“Just something to think about,” said Rick. “That first night was miserable until we did but we’ve slept like babies ever since.”

Alex and Jenna shared a look together before they thanked them for the tip.

With that statement, Rick and Nikki said their goodbyes and made for the door. Alex promised they would stop by to see them tomorrow at some point and the couple left, leaving Alex and Jenna alone for the second time that evening.

Not long after they left, Jenna slipped into his arms.

“I wasn’t trying to be rude to them, I promise,” she said quietly before another yawn slipped out. “I just felt like I wasn’t going to last much longer. I’m so exhausted.”

“Me too,” replied Alex. “And I’m really looking forward to a night when I don’t have to waste half of it on guard detail.”

“And in a big, comfy bed,” said Jenna letting out a small moan. “I may never get out of bed again.”

After hearing that, Alex couldn’t resist the next statement. “So do you think we should test out their tip? About sleeping conditions?”

He fully expected Jenna to say no. Sleeping in the same bed with someone new was one thing but doing so completely in the nude was something else. That’s why he was surprised by her answer.

“When in Vesta, do what the Vestans do,” said Jenna cheekily. It made Alex laugh at first until he realized that he’d get to have her stunning body against him all night.

And then he was definitely more than happy.

They both moved to the bedroom and Alex played with the lights, putting them down low. Jenna pulled back the covers on the bed as she started to disrobe. He watched her do so before starting to disrobe himself, kicking off his new colony suit one item at a time.

Finally, Jenna slipped into bed wearing nothing but a smile. Alex followed her, scooting as close as he thought she’d be comfortable with, leaving a gap of a couple centimeters between them.

Being this close to Jenna, naked, and in their bedroom, had his heart beating rapidly. He could tell by one look at her that she was in a similar position. Neither of them knew what to say to the other until Jenna finally turned to look at him.

“Will you hold me?” she asked, her voice sounding like a squeak.

“Yeah, of course,” he whispered back.

Jenna was trembling once she scooted closer, resting her head against his shoulder. Alex dipped his arm under her and rested it against her bare back, while she rested her hand against his stomach.

After a few minutes, she stopped shaking as much.

“Thank you,” she whispered. “I thought I’d sleep better this way.”

Alex knew exactly what she meant. She wanted the protection of being in his arms.

“You’re safe with me, Jenna. I’m not going to hurt you.”

She craned her head to look at him. Jenna smiled. “I know, Alex. Just hold me until morning, okay? Don’t let go?”

She punctuated the statement with a kiss, one that he eagerly returned.

“I won’t let go,” he promised.

It turned out to be the best night sleep either of them had in a long time.