Alex was a little conflicted as he left Annette’s home just a short while later.

On one hand, he was grateful they had a plan to stave off Ellie’s execution, especially since the more he saw of Ellie, the more he liked her.

But that also seemed to be one of his biggest problems. He liked Ellie a little too much, and she’d made no secret about liking him back. Alex knew that all he had to do was say the word, and Ellie’s legs would open with an immediate demand that he place himself between them.

The problem was that there was another woman who he also had strong feelings for. And Jenna wouldn’t be happy to find out that he’d kissed Ellie.

In all actuality, it would probably devastate her.

And for someone like Jenna, with her difficult past, he wasn’t trying to risk that just to get laid, no matter how much he liked Ellie.

But then again, wasn’t Vesta the kind of place where sharing was allowed? He kept seeing men with multiple women walking about the biospheres, hand in hand like it was the most natural relationship in the world.

But how could he get there?

The question was still on his mind as he realized he had no idea where he was going. He’d been planning to walk to see Vitale, who had provided him with the P-com that morning. Vitale was the resident technical genius on Vesta but the only other thing that Alex knew about him was that he lived in Biosphere Four.

And since Alex’s P-com hadn’t been activated yet, he didn’t have much in the way of directions.

Finally, he had to stop someone to ask.

That person turned out to be a woman around the same age as Alex. She had hair the color of snow but also a deep, dark tan that was just as unnatural. She seemed startled when he stopped her but she at least appeared helpful.

“Excuse me, I’m trying to find my way to see Vitale,” said Alex as he tapped his P-com. “My P-com isn’t activated yet and I know he’s—”

“You’re Alex Hawthorne, aren’t you?” she interrupted, giving him a smile.

Alex gave her an odd look. “How did you know my name?”

“Because you’ve made quite the stir since you’ve been here,” she said with a laugh. “I saw the video of you beating the crap out of that guy yesterday. It was on the Vestan news channel. Is it true he slept with your wife?”

Alex shook his head. “No, no, no, that’s not what happened at all—”

She shrugged her shoulders. “It looked like he had it coming to him anyway. I also heard you’re the one that killed five bears with only your hands.”

“I see the news here as a tendency to make exaggerations,” said Alex dryly.

She didn’t seem to get the joke. “So you didn’t kill them?”

“Well, I did, but there were only two of them. And I had my pulse pistol—”

“So the rumors are true,” she said, taking a step closer. “Tell me, have you taken a wife yet?”

“Uh, no.”

“So you don’t have a woman then?”

“I do, but we’re not married. It’s a little complicated actually.”

She didn’t act like that was much of a deterrent. “Complicated is fine. Technically, I’m married too but I’d leave him if you’re looking for a wife. A big strong fellow like you would be excellent in bed. Is it okay if I get a feel for your cock?”

She didn’t even want to wait before reaching forward and trying to grab him. Alex sidestepped out of the way.

“You know, I’m kind of in a hurry,” he said. “I need to go see Vitale in Biosphere Four. He’s the tech guy from what I’ve heard.”

“Oh, you mean the mad scientist?” she asked with a laugh. “We all know who Vitale is. He’s our resident nerd. He’s good with a screwdriver but unfortunately, that’s the only thing he’s good at if you catch my drift.”

“Uh, sure,” said Alex. “So will I reach him if I keep going this way?”

“Not unless you want to go the long way,” she said. “Backtrack a little until you see a path off to your left. Keep your eyes open for the sign that says Biosphere Four. Once you find the pathway, follow it to housing unit fourteen. It’ll be on your right.”

“Perfect, thank you,” said Alex as he tried to walk away.

“Wait a second,” she said. “My name is Michelle Baird. I live in Biosphere Nine. Stop over and see me sometime! My husband usually works the day shift.”

She ended that last statement with a wink, leaving no doubt to her intentions. Alex just gave her a wave and continued on his way, shaking his head and chuckling at the people of this colony.

At least her instructions proved to be good. Alex found unit fourteen and opened the door, finding a small entryway where a woman was sitting behind a desk. Just next to the woman was a pair of double doors, leading into what Alex suspected was a lab area.

The woman had a very attractive face but her most noticeable attribute was her hair. Every strand was a different color, giving it a rainbow effect that was incredibly unique.

“Good morning, how can I help you?” she asked as Alex stopped at the desk. Before Alex could even open his mouth, she stuck her finger in the air. “Let me guess, you’re here to see Vitale, right?”

“How did you know?” he asked, smiling at her.

She leaned forward and gave him a wink. “You just have that kind of look about you. Like a man on a mission.”

“Funnily enough, I am. I need to activate my new P-com.”

“Ah, so you must be Alex Hawthorne then. Vitale told me you might be stopping by.”

“That’s me,” said Alex. “I take it you work for Vitale?”

The woman giggled. “Work for Vitale is one way to put it. He’s everything to me. My boss, my friend, and my lover.”

Alex wasn’t sure what to make of that, especially since Michelle had told him earlier that Vitale wasn’t much with the women. Perhaps she’d been mistaken?

“Anyway, just go through those double doors and you’ll find him tinkering around in there,” she continued. “And if you need or want anything, just let me know. My name is Tabby.”

“Thanks, Tabby, but there is one thing I need to know,” said Alex. “How did you get your hair like that?”

Tabby grabbed a handful of her strands and leaned in forward. “I could tell you but I don’t think I will. I can’t give away all my secrets now,” she whispered before hitting him with another wink.

Alex only chuckled and headed to the double doors. He could hear Tabby giggling behind him, and he suspected she was watching him leave. He wondered if everyone in this colony was as oversexed as Tabby and Michelle (and Ellie to a certain degree).

Once he was inside, his suspicions were proven to be correct. This was the laboratory of the mad scientist. Alex had never seen so many computers in one place. There was a large workstation just off to his left containing at least ten screens and three keyboards around one singular chair. Rows and rows of tools, everything that could possibly be imagined that could be used at the time, were next to the workstation, as well as several unfinished products. Alex saw one project that looked like it had been an I-Mate at one point, although it was missing the cranial covering where the computer was housed. The woman’s face was relaxed though, as if she didn’t seem to mind.

On the other side of the laboratory was a large server farm, spanning many rows and separated by a glass partition, no doubt for security. As large as the farm was, Alex suspected it wasn’t the main operations center for the entire colony, and it was probably more of the playground for Vitale.

“You’re exactly right!”

Alex heard the words and looked around for the owner. He found the man a short distance away, clutching a small handheld device that had a giant microphone that looked to be pointed in his direction. The man was of average height with messy dark hair that looked more like a mop that was draped over his head. He had large, round glasses and his face had several days of stumble on it.

“Excuse me?” asked Alex. “What was that?”

The man grinned and pointed to the server farm. “You’re wondering if those servers were for the colony or whether they belonged to me personally. Your thoughts used the word playground for them. You are correct. They belong to me for personal use.”

Alex’s mouth dropped. “How did you know that?”

The man shook the device in his hand. “Mind-reading technology. This device bounces electromagnetic waves through your brain until it identifies the speech patterns being transmitted into your head, forcing them out for the receiver to read. In literal terms, it shakes out the thoughts so I can read them.”

“I bet that comes in handy,” said Alex, chuckling.

“Wait, let me guess,” said the man, holding up his hand. “You want to think of something and make me guess what it is, right? No one’s a believer until it happens twice. Okay, I’ll play. Think of something really quick.”

“What, like a number or something?”

“Yes! Wait, no! Think of your favorite hobby. Or your favorite girl. Or your favorite thing to do with your favorite girl. Yes, think of that!”

Alex couldn’t help but grin as his mind tried to conjure up the right image. He put his mind to the task, and the image that came up was showering with Jenna, watching her soap up her flawless, nude body.

Surprisingly, the man wasn’t able to pick it up. He started to pound on the side of the device.

“Damnit, I’m not picking up anything. I don’t get it. It was fine just a moment ago. Why isn’t it working?”

“Maybe we jinxed ourselves,” suggested Alex.

“Not likely but it is new technology.”

The man shrugged and set it down before walking closer to Alex. “If you haven’t figured it out yet, my name is Vitale Grieco.”

“Ah, yes, the mad scientist,” joked Alex. “You seem to have quite the reputation here.”

Vitale raised an eyebrow. “You’re one to talk mister I-kill-bears-with-my-own-hands. As you can see, I’m not the only one with a reputation here. Which, that reminds me of something.”

Vitale snapped his fingers and marched to the other side of the room, where his main workstation was. He opened up one of the screens and started to click away.

“Blasted bears!” he cursed before gesturing to Alex to join him. “Do you see this screen here?”

Alex moved over and looked at what seemed like a video feed. Except it only seemed to be focused on a small patch of dirt.

“I don’t get it,” said Alex. “What am I looking at?”

“You’re looking at the bears’ handiwork,” muttered Vitale. “I set up the camera feeds for extra security around the mining biosphere but those blasted creatures keep knocking them down in the night. Security around the mining biosphere is already as bad as it gets but not having eyes on the surrounding terrain means the miners up there get no warning system.”

“So you’re saying the bears have been knocking them down every night? Why do you think that’s happening?”

Vitale shrugged. “Some Vestans say they think the cameras look like food to creatures like the bears. I’m not of that opinion myself. I think the bears are doing it because they are intelligent and they know the cameras protect us. Without the protection, it’s easier for them to kill us. But that’s just my theory. In any event, it means that I now have to send another detail to fix the cameras yet again. Not exactly something I’m looking forward to.”

At that moment, the double doors opened and Tabby came into the room, her rainbow-colored hair blowing behind her. She took one look at them and crossed her arms.

“I’m glad to see you two are getting along so well. Vitale could certainly use a good friend.”

“Tabby, please,” said Vitale, clearly embarrassed. “I don’t need any more friends. I have you.”

She used her finger to wag in front of him. “You and I both know that’s BS, my love. Besides, it’s nice to see some other people in here. By the way, Alex, can I get you a drink?”

“Sure, just a water is—”

Before Alex had the chance to complete the sentence, Tabby promptly collapsed. She hit the tiled floor like a sack of bricks, making a loud commotion and shocking the hell out of Alex.

He moved quickly to her position to see what was wrong. This didn’t appear to be something ordinary, like a fainting spell.

This looked more deadly.

“Vitale, what the hell happened to her?” he asked, putting his hand against her neck to feel for a pulse.

His heart started to race when he felt nothing.

To his utter shock, Vitale didn’t seem alarmed by her fall. In fact, he started to pull a cable out that had been tucked behind his workstation.

“Vitale, what’s going on?” demanded Alex.

Vitale waved his hand. “It’s all good, Alex. I just forgot to charge her. She must have lost power.”

Alex gave one look at Tabby before turning back to Vitale. “Do you mean . . .”

“Yes, she’s not a real person. She’s an android.”