C3-G12 (Book 1, Terraform)

XXIV

            Day after day had gone by with nothing out of the ordinary. We all went through the motions of day-to-day life, adjusting to the occasional hick-up, but overall, everything was fairly peaceful. It almost seemed wrong. Soon, days turned to weeks. The only thing that had been different was that Telenoch had temporarily left the colony with his guards to speak to one of his contacts about the Loyalists.

Three days ago, only hours after the official one-month and halfway mark of his stay, Telenoch had called for a meeting with all of us elders. At first, we were hesitant to let him go, worried that letting him go could strain relations with the royals if they found out he left; or worse, he got hurt after leaving. In the end, I was outvoted five-to-three in favor of letting him leave. Now, it was just a matter of waiting.

I'm now sitting in the den of my cabin, overlooking virtual records of the infirmary inventory. When I woke up with a massive headache, Rose refused to let me come into work and told me to rest. I then hid in my room with a blanket over my head to avoid light irritation until I fell asleep. After that, the headache was gone but Rose had been clear in her demand. Luckily, I was able to compromise with her and get the inventory records sent to my Link so I could feel like I was helping.

I've now been looking at the records for two hours and everything is starting to bleed into the information next to it. I rub at my eyes, hoping to refocus, but nothing makes sense when I look back at the holographic screen. With a sigh, I wave the display away and set my Link aside; it's time to work on something else.

As I stand up to move to my room, there's a soft knock on the door, so soft that I almost missed it. Glad for the distraction, I open the door to see Rylan. He stands with a hand rubbing at the back of his neck, looking away, as if he was contemplating making a run for it.

"Rylan?" I speak softly, careful not to spook him. When he looks back to me, he turns pale. "Can I do something for you?"

"I..." He takes a deep breath and looks behind me, unable to meet my eyes. "I was hoping I could speak to you."

"Sure," I open the door wider and motion for him to come in. "Come in."

He steps inside and looks around the place, having never been to my cabin before. I watch his eyes move about the place, pretending to take in every detail despite every cabin being identical. When I've seen enough of his nervous gazing, I walk to the couch and move all of the work documents. "Here, have a seat."

We now sit on opposite sides of the couch, staring awkwardly at the other with a lone seat cushion keeping us apart. Neither of us speak, he seems too on edge, and I simply wait for him to explain why he came.

Far too much time has passed with silence between us, so eventually, I sigh and voice a question. "Rylan, what is this about?"

His shoulders sag even farther and his expression crumbles into a frown. "I'm transferring."

After the initial shock of him finally admitting his transfer, I chuckle and sit back, folding my feet under me. "Is that all that this," I wave my hands between us. "Is about?"

His brow furrows and he opens his mouth repeatedly, unable to think of what he wants to say. "But—"

"Rylan," I set a hand on his knee to stop his blubbering. "I've known for weeks now."

"Wh—at do you mean?" He hick-ups slightly over the word 'what', turning a slight shade of green.

"Rylan, Jaxon and I have been working on coming up with a regimen for people who want to enlist in the guard during the next recruitment period, that way they are more likely to pass the physical. When Jaxon first brought up the idea, he showed me a list of people who had reached out to him to transfer; your name was on that list." I move to sit closer to him, his pale color worrying me that he'll pass out any second.