Three days have passed since we landed—three days of nothing. The search drones covered most of the ground outside the buildings in the first two days. We even used them to go through a lot of the buildings.

We only have a few rooms that need double-checking.

"Another day of nothing. Looks like tomorrow we hit the dirt, Zea."

Ufrik is eager to get out of the ship and roam this dusty shit hole. I don't feel the same. He already went out for a bit today while I used the drone remotely and said he scoped out all the possible entries to the underground tunnels. He eventually picked one he could easily break into. We will see.

Myself, I feel I have already had my fair share of outside time on this planet. I am not exactly thrilled at the idea of leaving this luxurious ship just yet.

Yet, at least we can most likely return each night, enjoy a good meal, have a wash in the sanitizer and sleep on a real bed. That is something.

"Oh, joy. Not sure I can contain myself." I roll my eyes dramatically.

Snorting at my apparent lack of excitement, Ufrik scolds my negative attitude.

"Just think, the faster we find the Human, the faster you get to leave this planet."

He gives me a deadpan look. However, his eyes sparkle with a boyish mischief. This has me dreading the verbal diarrhea that is about to spill from his lips next as he continues, "We have already covered over a third of the area with the search drones. You should be grateful Zea. Without my amazing planning, you would have been out there, all hot, sweaty, and covered in dirt already, for three days."

I feel like smacking his smirk right off his disgustingly charming face.

"I mean, if I were the kind of guy who counted favours, I would say you owe me three days' worth. But luckily, your overwhelming gratitude is payment enough."

He is barely holding in his cackle. Deadpan expression long gone.

Ugghh. I groan out loud, turning away before I do smack him.

However, I will admit he is extremely efficient and thorough in his planning. I can't confidently say I would have covered this much ground in three days without him. Unfortunately, his boasting isn't unfounded.

Ugghhh. Realizing this, I groan louder.

Rubbing my hands over my face, I prop my elbows on the table in the lounge, leaving my face squished upwards in my hands as I hunch forward.

"You're an ass, Ufrik."

"And one fine ass, at that."

I crack an eye open through my fingers. Yup, he is grinning his, I know you want me, grin. His gold eyes glitter knowingly as he waggles his eyebrows at me. He thoroughly enjoys provoking me.

I am desperately trying not to find him amusing. I feel the corners of my mouth twitch despite my annoyance.

I think I finally have him figured out. His extreme arrogance, or cockiness, is more or less his defence when he feels insecure or nervous. His bullshit is a cover for severe low self-esteem. I think. He could just be an asshole.

It took me until the end of day two before I caught on, though. He kept jumping from being sincere to being overly cocky and annoying. It had made my head hurt.

Letting out a heavy sigh, I stand up, purposely ignoring him. Just like the problem kid in the classroom, best not to encourage him.

I put my supper tray in the recycler. Right before I enter my room, I turn back to him, making sure to catch his eye. He may like to play things off with jokes and jibes, but I know he wants this job done as much as I do. Armada has something on him, something big, and he won't be free until this is over.

"Thank you, Ufrik. I mean it. You have done a great job. It's only been three days, and the entire surface area of the two thousand square metres is fully mapped, including detailed videos and scans. We only have a few blackout areas we need to investigate and the underground tunnels. You are good at what you do."  I make sure to emphasize the words. I want him to know I am being sincere.

I hold his gaze, making sure he can see I mean what I say. I see him visibly suck in a breath, holding it. His deep gold eyes are swirls of confusion.

He remains silent, holding his breath. I have finally rendered him speechless. Didn't know that was possible. I suspect he isn't used to sincere praise. Yet, I simply spoke the truth. I believe in giving credit when credit is due.

"See you at first light Ufrik. I will make sure to wear my walking boots."

I decide to end things light, for his sake. Bring him back to familiar ground. His face doesn't change though. He keeps staring at me blankly, eyes a storm of emotions, not breathing.

I do my best not to smile. I feel for him, but I have to admit seeing him this uneasy is so odd it's amusing. A smile finally breaks out on my face against my will. I turn quickly to enter my room, trying to hide my amusement from him. I am not heartless all the time.

The door slides closed behind me as I enter my room. I peel off my clothes and head for the sanitizer. In less than three minutes, I am clean and dry.

I throw on a new pair of underwear and an undershirt. I am looking forward to sleeping. Usually, sleep evades me, but with the excellent medication Syndicate provided, I sleep like a baby.

It is significantly more restful than a drunken stupor too. However, how easily I can be woken in case of an emergency is still untested.

I have learned how to work through a fuzzy half-drunk state. With regular alcohol, I can quickly increase my heart rate and body temperature, sweating out the booze and pushing it through my system quickly. As long as it isn't something like Nightshade that weirdly messes with my brain, I don't need to worry. I am guessing these meds do something with my brain.

I haven't even tried to wake up unexpectedly on them yet. I should check what's in them, I guess. If we were in a hostile environment, they might not be the safest.

Ufrik is a big guy, but I have yet to see him fight. I have no idea if he knows how to handle himself or not. But I don't want to think about that right now. I just want sleep.

Climbing into my bed, I swallow my sleeping pill with these conflicting thoughts bouncing around my head. One more good night's sleep couldn't be bad. Right?

Syndicate will sound the alarm if anyone approaches the ship or our immediate area. She also keeps an eye on the sky for us. Just in case, we get other visitors.

I still haven't seen or heard any sign of our supposed competitors. I have a strong feeling in my gut that it won't be long before that changes, though. My intuition is rarely wrong.

My eyelids grow heavy, and I feel my breathing slow. The grey sheets feel smooth and cool on my hot skin. I let out a deep sigh, stretching my sore muscles. Sitting all day isn't my thing. I wiggle and stretch a bit more until I find my comfy spot in the bed.

My eyes close, and the last thing I see in my mind is Ufrik's face. It's frozen in the stunned, conflicted look he'd worn right before I left him.

I shouldn't feel for the guy, but I do. With this lingering thought of Ufrik, I let the darkness take me.

***

I wake to something shaking the shit out of me. Seriously, someone has a death wish. I grab my gun under my pillow and aim in the direction of the hands on my shoulders.

"Shake me again, and you'll be buying a new hand... Or two." I crack open an eye and see Ufrik taking a step back, then another, hands up. He looks surprised, but under that, he wears a look of panic.

I guess three days of peace is my quota. Whatever he woke me for can't be good.

"What? I am awake, so you better tell me your damn good reason for doing it!" I growl at him feeling my eyes burn into his.

I notice there is something not quite right then. I feel weird. No, not weird. Wrong. Yes, something is wrong.

I feel energy pulsing through my limbs. My skin tingles with it, making all of my hair stand up on end.

Suddenly I know.

My eyes don't just feel like they are burning. They are burning. They are glowing hot with energy.

Holy mother of stars!

The sleeping drugs help me relax and sleep, but they don't dull my K'ai's abilities. Apparently. At least not like alcohol does.

Somehow while sleeping, I have connected to my K'ai, letting out my energy, and it's filling me. From my toes to the top of my head, I am vibrating with it.

An overwhelming feeling of power is pulsing through me.

It feels wonderful.

I can see and feel all the energy signatures around me. Energies I can bend, use to my will. It has been sooooo long since I have let myself feel my energy that my K'ai feels starved. Ravenous actually.

It's also excited to be free, to be able to connect with the fabrics of the Universe once again. It wants me to absorb some of the energy around me, use it, let it fill me even more.

It is a hard feeling to fight. It feels so good to let the power roll through me. My whole body is itching with excitement and anticipation to use it.

I cock my head to the side and examine the still silent Ufrik, staring in horror at me.

He is a huge source of energy. It emanates out of him in slow, thick ripples. I blink, looking back at his physical appearance. He stands stalk still, not blinking or daring to twitch a muscle.

I feel like I am in a haze, almost seeing myself from the outside, as I continue to let my K'ai have control.

Blinking back to his energy signature, I notice his aura is a mixture of transparent red, a deep red and dark blue. But his most dominant colour is gold, just like his striking eyes.

It tells me what I have already suspected, he is a very sexually passionate person, who is well-grounded, has an unyielding will and a fear of honest self-expression. It's an aura thing. I can't explain how I know how to read them. I just do.

The gold catches me off guard, though. It indicates wisdom, enlightenment and strong intuition. The gold is strong. He is strong, which I had also suspected. But wise? Really?

I feel my head mechanically tilt to the other side as I regard him. He could open his Eye and "see" me too. It is obvious to me, but he doesn't know how or he doesn't want to.

With my energy pulsing through me, all my senses, physical and metaphysical, on high alert, I sense his Seeing Eye. Part of me wants to reach out with my energy and encourage him to open it, to make that connection with him.

I hunger for it like a starving person or a drug addict needing a fix. My whole body hums with the need to connect with him. I have to wonder if my skin is visibly shaking or if it's just a feeling inside me.

However, as soon as my energy touches his, I will learn more about him than he probably wants me to. It would be rude to try and connect if he doesn't want to.

Nadia's stricken face flashes in my head. Yes, it would freak him out. I see, more than feel, myself watching him like a cat eyeing its prey. Curious and calculating.

Right before I give in and let my energy send out a tentative probe towards him, regardless of how rude and wrong it is, something catches my eye.

A small blueish black lightning ball is crackling over to my left. A dark matter energy ball. A random anomaly in the orderly Universe.

It hovers about three feet in the air, close to the wall, but if I just reach out and touch it...

My energy just barely caresses the blueish lightning, with a small wispy tendril, when the memory of my mother and Ariatha slams into me like a physical force.

It knocks the breath right out of me.

After a half a second I suck in an audible breath trying to refill my empty lungs. I instantly close my eyes and turn away from the crackling energy ball, quickly pulling my small tendril of energy back in.

I try to shake the fog out of my head, clear my mind in a desperate attempt to regain control.

What am I doing? The horror of what could have happened forces me out of my power-hungry stupor.

I have been acting more on instinct than conscious thought. That is stupid and dangerous on my part.

I reach out through my body, collect my energy and draw it back into my core. I slam a lid on it tightly. I have to force myself to break the connection with my K'ai and close my Seeing Eye.

The loss of contact brings a wave of grief so strong I almost burst out sobbing. My chest aches with the intensity of it, and I can barely catch my breath. My heart mourns for my K'ai and the connection to the Universe.

I feel myself lower back down to the bed. I hadn't realized I had levitated with the force of my energy. No wonder Ufrik looks so freaked out.

I am having a hard time breathing, my chest is heaving hard, and sweat is breaking out all over my body.

I feel myself begin to shake uncontrollably with the aftershock of the loss of power. My teeth chatter as a coldness creeps through me right to the marrow of my bones. Part of it is the loss of energy. The other is the shock from what I almost did.

I peek a glance through my lashes at Ufrik. He stands there frozen, hands still up, and I realize I am still holding the gun in a now shaky hand, and it's still pointing at him.

I drop it with a clank on the hard floor as if it burns me. A tear finally escapes one of my eyes, and I duck my head down lower, so he won't see.

"Get out!" I barely whisper the command, but he doesn't need to be told twice.

He is gone in a heartbeat. Leaving me alone to wallow in my self-deprivations. As soon as the door slides shut, I curl into the fetal position and let the tears come. That had been too close. I swore I would never lose control again.

Fuck!

It had felt like an eternity, but it had only been a minute or two. I know from experience it only takes a second though.

I force myself to stop crying. It is over now. Luckily I found enough control to stop it this time. The years of solitude and training with the Orikai had been worth it.

I let out a heavy sigh, drying my tear-soaked face with my sheets. I feel gross from the sweat and cold. I need to use the sanitizer again.

I rise, stripping the sticky sweat-soaked shirt from my body, and step out of my underwear. I enter the sanitizer room and waste no time stepping onto the circular pad of the body sanitizing station. The transparent walls slide down, locking in place.

Hot steam quickly fills my small tube-like chamber. I usually would have soaped up by now with the abrasive soap sponge, welcoming the cold rinse water that was about to rain down on me. But I need to feel the heat a little longer.

"Syndicate, pause the rinse until I say so."

"Yes, Marshal Zea."

I stand for a minute and let the heat soak into my soar muscles. This is a major screw-up. Ufrik now knows more about me than anyone else alive. Well, except the Orikai. They don't count, mind you.

I brace my hands on the chamber walls, letting my head hang low. Tiny drops of steam start to pool on my skin, slowly dripping down my body. It tickles and makes my skin itch as I watch it collect on my elbows and nose, slowly dripping onto the floor.

It is too late now. What is done is done. I will have to deal with it. Better to get it over with. We still have a Human to find. Well, unless Ufrik has run away already like a frightened rabbit.

After spending the last three days with him and seeing his aura, I know he isn't that kind of male.

I roll my shoulders a few times, standing upright. I know what I need to do. The itch finally gets to me, and I quickly soap up.

"OK, Syndicate. Rinse me."

Cold water washes over me, shocking my body and encouraging an increase in blood flow. It is refreshing and shocking all at the same time. I almost feel like myself again.

Stepping out of the body sanitizing station, I head for the door to my room to get dressed. However, as I pass the full-length mirror by my sink, something grabs my attention. I step back one step and freeze.

My reflection stares back at me, but not as I remember it. My tall, toned body is the same, but I stand amazed by my pure white hair and glowing gold eyes. My eyes had not been gold before, and my hair should be black.

As I stand staring in confusion at my reflection, my recently suppressed emotions come boiling back up. Fear and uncertainty are at the forefront. My hair starts to change colour.

What the fuck?

This makes no sense. I would have to be a Zukrog or a Krog for this phenomenon to be possible. I know I am not a Zukrog. They tested me as a kid for purity. The DNA results had been inconclusive. But not positive for Zukrog.

Fuck. Krog? No way! Not possible.

My chest tightens in panic. I can not be a Krog. I just can't. I do not need this shit. Aren't they extinct? Just stories now. Doesn't matter. I have to fix this.

I concentrate hard, trying to turn my hair back to black. If Zukrog's could do it, so could I. Well, I am hoping.

After a few minutes and a lot of cursing, I give up. I am most definitely not Zukrog. They can change their hair like they can change facial expressions.

No matter how hard I focus, I can only keep my hair black for a few seconds.

I shake my head in disgust with myself as my gold eyes glow back at me. They had been so dark before. They had almost looked black. It is so strange to see them glowing at me now. Like they aren't mine. But forget my eyes. What the hell am I going to do about my hair?

An idea strikes me then. It is extreme, but it will work.

"Syndicate."

"Yes, Marshal Zea. How may I help you?"

"I need shaving cream." I am debating if I should do my eyebrows, too, but that could have the opposite effect compared to the one I want. People may start to wonder why I have zero hair on my entire head. I don't want to attract attention. I want to avoid it.

"May I ask Marshal Zea, are you looking to remove the hair permanently or just temporarily?"

Good question.

Will I ever want to grow my hair again? Can I learn to control this? What if I am captured, and they notice my physical features then connect them with my changing hair? They could have the same suspicion I did that I am a Krog.

Shit.

"I am undecided. How about keeping it off for an extended period but not forever?"

"Understood. Can I have a temporary hair removal serum created for you in the Med Bay? Should be ready in 15 minutes."

"How long will effects last?"

"It will be untested, but my estimation is four lunar cycles of this planet." That was a reasonable amount of time—almost five and a half universal cycles.

"Ok, let's do it." Now what to do for 15 minutes.

Should I go see Ufrik? He has already seen me levitating for star's sake, eyes glowing and the whole bit. And if it were me in his place, I would want honest answers.

If I appear suddenly bald, he may have more questions than he already has. And if I plan to answer honestly, what was the point in waiting?

I hate liars, yet I owe him nothing. I don't need to explain anything. But then there is the question of what he will do if he suspects I am Krog.

Shitttt. I rub my hands over my face again while inwardly cringing at all the thing's that can only get worse now.

In all of this, there is one thing missing. Why had he come to wake me in the first place?