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“I don’t want to control you.”

“Really? You constantly check my health, abort missions at the first sign of danger, and you always monitor how often I eat and if I’m hydrated. You even know when I’m getting my period. You’ll be telling me what to wear next. Back off. It’s fucking annoying.” Daisy turned and walked along the corridor.

Rexx’s mouth was open as he stared at her. He was used to her being exasperated with the way he checked in with her, but she was never mean. He loved the way Daisy was so tolerant with everyone. She was always willing to give people a chance and believe they were trying to do the right thing.

He returned to the exit ramp and waited there alone. Was he being a controlling jerk? No, he was doing his job. Daisy would have to suck it up. This was for her benefit.

The ship shuddered as it landed on docking clamps, and the red warning light by the exit ramp turned to green. The ramp descended with a soft hiss, revealing the moss green and brown landscape of Asiram.

“Great. Let’s get the hell out of here.” Daisy grabbed her pack and marched past Rexx.

“We’re leaving the ship now,” he said through the comm link, making sure to stick close to Daisy.

“Confirmed. We have you on the tracker. Have a successful mission,” Cleo said.

Rexx grunted a reply.

As they walked through the chill, early morning light, anger radiated off Daisy. It was so intense it felt like it was pinging against him, leaving pinpricks of pain.

“I didn’t mean to—”

“Let’s not talk. You don’t like talking, anyway. Focus on the mission. Start with a scan of the area,” Daisy said. “Let’s see what we’re working with.”

Rexx had no clue how to handle this bitter version of Daisy. He did a quick visual check to make sure there were no immediate dangers then activated the scanner and took a reading of the surrounding area within a five-mile radius.

“What have you got?” she asked.

“There’s nothing showing.” He turned as the Apocalypse flew away. The ship rarely stayed on a planet for long. A large ship landing away from the authorized docking stations always drew attention.

“Let’s head to those trees,” Daisy said. “It’s a good place for emets to nest.”

They walked for half an hour, and other than a few ground rodents, the place was empty.

Daisy was still giving off that uneasy, nervous energy. Rexx inhaled deeply and frowned. She smelt strange, too. He loved her smell. She used some kind of floral soap, so he always knew when she was around. He got a faint whiff of that soap, but there was something else. Something that smelt almost rancid.

They reached the trees and spent the next hour exploring, checking for signs of old nesting sites.

Daisy’s sighs and grumbles grew increasingly curse-filled as they didn’t find anything useful.

“Let’s take a break.” Rexx handed Daisy a container of water.

She pushed it away. “I don’t want that. I want to find the emet.”

The scanner in Rexx’s hand beeped.

Daisy yanked it away from him. “At last, movement. We’ve got the emet.” She turned and raced away.

“Wait! We don’t know what the scanner is showing. It could be anything.” Rexx hurried along behind her.

“It’s the emet. I know it.” She slung her pack at him.

“Slow down.” He grabbed her pack and jogged after her.

But Daisy was off and running. She sprinted away. Damn, when did she get so quick? And what the hell was she doing? She was always careful and methodical when it came to capturing creatures.

Rexx’s instincts kicked in. He only cared about two things. Protecting Daisy and destroying anything that tried to hurt her. And there were plenty of big, fanged bastards out there that would be interested in taking her down if he didn’t watch her back.

“Daisy, stop!”