Chapter 12
Maya
My hands shook as I read the legal notice on my comm device. The words blurred together before snapping back into horrifying clarity. I had to read it three times before my brain could fully process what LunarLink Surveys was claiming.
“Maya?” Rykar’s voice seemed to come from very far away. “What does it say?”
I looked up at him, still shirtless from our interrupted intimacy. His skin showed concerned patterns of blue and gray. How could I explain that my own employer was about to destroy everything we’d built together?
“They know,” I said, my voice barely a whisper. “The automated data reports from my scattered equipment have been transmitting this entire time. LunarLink has been monitoring everything that’s happened.”
“What do they know, exactly?”
I forced myself to read the relevant section aloud, my voice growing stronger with anger as I spoke: ‘“Dr. Chen, your geological survey equipment has undergone unprecedented integration with an unclassified alien technological matrix. Per clause 47-B of your employment contract, any unclaimed alien technology recovered during company operations becomes the exclusive property of LunarLink Surveys.’”
Rykar frowned. “Your equipment became part of the Sola. How does that make her their property?”
“That’s not the worst part.” I scrolled down to the section that had made my blood run cold.
“Listen to this: ‘Furthermore, as your bio-fusion with said alien technology has created an inseparable connection, you are now classified as a hybrid technological asset under company ownership. Any alien entities bonded to or through you are similarly classified as LunarLink property.’”
“That’s impossible,” Rykar said flatly. “They can’t own people. They can’t own a Sola.”
“According to their legal department, they can own me because I’m supposedly not fully human anymore.
And they can own you if you choose to stay bonded to the Sola, because that would make you part of their ‘technological asset portfolio.’” I laughed bitterly as I read through the more detailed parts of the letter.
“Or you can return to the other Solas and they’ll graciously allow you to break the bond. ”
I kept reading, each paragraph worse than the last. “Corporate vessels are already en route from Earth. Not diplomatic ships, Rykar. Corporate security and acquisition specialists. They’re not coming to negotiate—they’re coming to collect their property.”
Through the bond, I felt the Sola’s communication shift to something that felt like a war cry. Images flashed through my awareness—memories of the ancient wars she’d survived, techniques for defending against hostile forces that modern Destrans had forgotten.
“Then we fight,” Rykar growled, his skin shifting to the deep red and black patterns I was learning meant battle-readiness in Destrans. “I won’t let them take you. I won’t let them enslave the Sola. The other lords will stand with us. This threatens all of Destran civilization.”
I wanted to share his confidence, but the legal implications were crushing. “Rykar, I signed this contract. I agreed to these terms, even if I didn’t understand them at the time. From a strictly legal standpoint—”
“Legal standpoint be damned,” he interrupted. “The Sola is a living being, not a piece of technology. You’re a sentient person, not corporate property. No contract can supersede basic rights to freedom and self-determination.”
I forwarded the message to Cleo and Zara with a brief note: “Emergency. Read this and tell me there’s something I missed. I need time to think. Will contact you later.”
Then I set the comm device aside and buried my face in my hands. The full weight of what I’d done—what I’d potentially done to all of us—crashed over me like a tidal wave.
“This is all my fault,” I said, my voice muffled by my hands. “If I hadn’t conducted those deep-core scans, if I hadn’t awakened her, none of this would be happening. The Destrans would be safe, you’d still be free, and a Sola wouldn’t be facing enslavement by a human corporation.”
“Maya, look at me.”
I shook my head, unable to meet his eyes. “I came here to do a simple geological survey, and instead I’ve managed to endanger an entire civilization. I’ve trapped you in the impossible choice of abandoning your Sola or becoming corporate property. I’ve—”
“Maya.” Rykar’s hands gently pulled mine away from my face, forcing me to look at him. “This is not your fault.”
“How can you say that? I triggered the awakening. I signed the contract with those clauses.”
“Did you know there was an ancient Sola buried beneath those crystal formations?”
I shook my head. “No, but—”
“Did you know that your scanning equipment would fuse with her consciousness?” Rykar’s gaze didn’t leave mine.
“Of course not, but—”
“Did you have any way of predicting that a geological survey would result in first contact with a ten-thousand-year-old alien intelligence?”
I was quiet for a moment, trying to find some logical argument that would justify the guilt eating away at my chest. “I should have read my contract more carefully.”
“Maya, I’m a simple transport operator, but I doubt anyone reads those contracts expecting to find clauses about alien technology ownership, and if they do, they consider the low likelihood of anything like that happening and sign it anyway.
” Rykar moved to sit beside me on the bed, his arm coming around my shoulders.
“You’re a geologist, not a corporate lawyer. You couldn’t have foreseen this.”
“But now you’re trapped because of my choices.”
“I’m not trapped,” he said firmly. “I’m exactly where I choose to be. Bonded to a consciousness that needs me, working alongside a partner who makes me want to be better than I thought I could be. If LunarLink wants to challenge that, they’ll have to go through me first.”
“What if we can’t win?” I asked. “What if their legal claims hold up? What if they have the firepower to enforce their ownership?”
“I cannot see Earth leadership allowing that.” The scar on his brow pulsed darker than the surrounding skin. “And I refuse to live in fear of what might happen. And I absolutely refuse to let a human corporation treat living beings as property.”
I leaned against him, drawing comfort from his warmth and the steady beat of his heart. “The ambassador to Earth will help, won’t she? The Destrans have formal diplomatic relations—”
“Savair will contact the ambassador immediately,” Rykar assured me. “And the other lords won’t let this stand. LunarLink may think they’re dealing with a simple acquisition, but they’re about to discover what happens when you threaten a lord’s Sola.”
The fierce protectiveness in his voice sent a shiver through me, but not from fear.
Despite everything that was happening, despite the legal threats and corporate overreach, I felt something else building in my chest—a desperate need to be close to him, to reaffirm our connection before the outside world tried to tear us apart.
“I should probably go,” he said, but he didn’t move. “Let you rest. If you don’t want me here—”
“Stay,” I breathed. “Please.”
“Are you sure?” he asked. “Because if I stay…”
“I want you, too,” I blurted, then shook my head. “I mean, I want you. And I understand that sex is a big deal with Destrans, but I—I… I’m ready.”
He crossed the space between us slowly, giving me every opportunity to change my mind. When he reached me, his hands came up to frame my face with a gentleness that made my chest tight.
“I’ve wanted to do this properly for a while,” he said, his thumbs stroking across my cheekbones.
“What’s stopping you now?” My voice came out breathier than I’d intended.
“Nothing,” he said, and then his mouth was on mine.
This wasn’t the gentle exploration we’d shared before. This was deliberate, thorough, a claiming that went both ways. I’d kissed my share of men, but none of them had ever kissed me like I was something precious and powerful all at once.
My arms curled around his neck, pulling him closer. I could feel the warmth of his skin and the steady rhythm of his heartbeat that somehow seemed synchronized with the gentle pulsing of the Sola’s walls around us.
“Maya,” he breathed against my lips, and the reverence in his voice made something flutter deep in my stomach.
“I’m here,” I said, and realized I meant it in every possible way. I was here in this moment, in this choice, in this terrifying and wonderful leap into something that felt bigger than either of us alone.
He responded immediately, his arms tightening around me as he kissed me back with equal intensity. All the careful restraint we’d been maintaining crumbled in the face of impending crisis.
“I don’t want to lose this,” I said against his lips. “I don’t want to lose you.”
“You won’t,” he said fiercely. “Whatever happens, whatever they try to do, you won’t lose me.”
I pulled back to look at him, seeing my own desperation reflected in his silver-blue eyes. “Then show me. Right now, before the world tries to tear us apart, show me what we’re fighting for.”
This time, there was no hesitation, no discussion of timing or appropriateness.
There was just need and hunger and acceptance.
My fingers trembled as they reached his pants, hesitating for a moment before bravely venturing southward.
I could feel the hardness of his arousal straining against the fabric, a tangible sign of his desire for me.
Rykar had dispensed with the fastenings of my base layer pants. I shimmied them off and his fingers hooked the straps of my bra. I nodded before he could ask. He slid the straps down my arms, then reached behind me to undo the fastening. The next moment, I was naked. Bared to his view.