“Yes, he’s suffering from the red fog. When he tested positive, I thought he would enter a stasis pod, but he refused. He saidthere was no hope and that he wanted to end his life instead. Some afflicted choose to do so. I didn’t let him. We argued and…”
Lyri shakes her head. “If he wanted to die, he could have guided the shuttle to crash on purpose. And even if he was alive, it wouldn’t be him anymore. Why—”
“Because it’s his brother,” I answer in Rokesh’s stead, because I understand. Of course I fucking understand. “He needs to know for sure.” I know the odds of finding Jaime alive are astronomical. We’ll be lucky to find a body, or even a trace of the ship. It doesn’t stop me from searching, either. It will never stop me.
“Exactly,” Rokesh nods at me. There’s a connection between us now. A solemn companionship. “At least it puts me in a position to help you. Maybe something good can come from this hopeless quest.”
Another Wehdi approaches and squeezes Rokesh’s shoulder in a silent offer of comfort. Rokesh smiles at them before returning his attention to the screens. “Let’s look at the data from the probes. This green gas giant has several moons with atmospheres. If your brother’s ship was damaged, the pilot might have tried to land on one of them to increase their chances of survival. With the amount of interference here, the probes have trouble transmitting, but we do have some data.”
Alien squiggles appear on the screen closest to me. “I don’t suppose you can switch that to English?”
“Oh, apologies.” A few seconds later, the screen does indeed start showing English words. I still don’t understand half of them, mainly because they’re scientific jargon.
“It’s ironic, you know?” Rokesh chuckles, gesturing to the screen. “This is Rizven’s work. He was—isa linguist. He was the one who introduced human languages into the translation databases.”
“All of them? Wow. He sounds like a smart guy.”
“He is,” Rokesh agrees, his look growing distant. “He taught linguistics at university. Words were his passion. That’s why the red fog weighed so heavily on him when it stole his ability to speak. I should have—”
“It’s not your fault,” I echo Lyriana’s words. “So, what am I looking for here? And if we do find something, what happens next? Can we land there to pick my brother up?”
Lyri frowns. “The solar activity is insane here. We’d have to time the approach for when the moons are shielded by the planet and we’d only have a short window to go there and back.”
“But it’s possible?”
“Yes,” she says, but the sadness in her eyes tells me she doesn’t share my hope. My mate doesn’t believe we have a chance of finding Jaime alive.
Well, I’ll prove her wrong. Nothing can stop me from saving my brother. “I’m coming for you, Jaime,” I whisper as my eyes fly over the text on the screen. “Just hang in there. I’m coming.”
Chapter 23
Jaime
Adamhasbeenquietsince I found the hologram. Well, he’s always quiet, but this is different. He’s withdrawn, sitting at the edge of the cave, staring out into the distance and rubbing his temples. Is he remembering his previous life? Life off this planet? Because it’s clear as day now. Adam is not a primitive native from this moon. He must have crashed here and, over time, forgotten who he is. The thought makes me break out in hives. How long has he been here, all alone, with no chance of escape? How long does it take before a person starts losingthemselves, before they forget how to speak, how to think? Or is there something else at play?
He has improved so much during the time I’ve spent with him, and it makes more sense now. He hasn’t been learning new things but remembering what he already knew. That’s what’s been causing his headaches, too. He’s having one now, too, and I can’t keep watching him torture himself anymore.
We’ve been in this cave for at least half a local day, which is about twenty-four hours, and I haven’t even seen him close his eyes the whole time. He might have napped while I slept, but I doubt it, because when I woke up, keenly missing his arms around me, he was sitting in the same spot as when I fell asleep.
“Adam?” It’s not his name, of course, but I have no way of finding out his real name and he probably doesn’t remember it. Until he does, I’ll just keep calling him Adam. Chances are, he’ll always be Adam to me, even if we find out what his name is.
I crawl over to him and pull myself into a seated position. Absently, Adam helps me arrange my legs properly before falling back into his detached state. I’ve been giving him time, but now I think it might have been a mistake, because he’s not getting better.
“Adam, you have to stop. I know you’re probably trying to remember, but you need to let it happen naturally. You’re just torturing yourself at this point. You need to drink some water and go to sleep.” At one point, he ventured out to bring me some worms, but didn’t eat any himself. He’s been completely neglecting his needs and I’m done just standing by—metaphorically—waiting for him to snap out of it.
“Adam.” Grabbing his snout, I make him look at me. “Please, come back to me. We’ll figure this out together, okay?”
There’s something anguished in his eyes when they finally meet mine, as if the little he can remember is not good memories. Placing a hand on my face, he runs his fingers downmy forehead, over my eye and down my cheek, a tortured whimper escaping him.
I don’t know what he sees, what’s running through his mind right now, but I know he’s about to pull away and I’m determined not to let him do that anymore. Grabbing his wrist to stop him from retreating, I lean into his touch. “Whatever happened, it doesn’t matter, Adam. We’re here together now, and I need you. I need you, Adam.”
Whether it’s my words or the intensity of my voice, I finally get through to him. Sighing deeply, he pulls me onto his lap and wraps himself around me like a vine.
“Yes, that’s it. We both need this. Stop running away from me, Adam. We’ll figure this out together.” Curling into his chest, I trace idle circles on his skin while he takes deep lungfuls of my scent, his snout buried in my hair. “That’s right. Now, you’re going to drink some water and then we’re going to sleep. You got injured just a few days ago. You’re still healing and need rest, and I need something warm to cuddle at night because this cave is stupidly cold.” I don’t know if it’s the rocks absorbing all the heat, but sleeping here was the first time I was cold since crashing here, and I’m paying for it, with my fingers being stiffer than usual.
“Come on, big guy. Drink first.”
We move to the stream conveniently flowing through the back of the cave. The cave is really not a bad place to camp, though I can’t imagine spending the rest of my life stuck here. I’m relieved when Adam listens and gulps down his fill, drinking more than I’ve ever seen him drink before. I guess he must have been really thirsty. After that, we settle on the ground together with Adam wrapped around me as usual. Just when I think I’ve successfully coaxed him into resting, he pushes a rectangular box into my hands. The holoprojector.
