Talk about wiped out.

Tempest had nearly forgotten all about the battle that Dron had gone through earlier.

All of her attention was on Squab. The hitak that Dron had gotten for her. She knew it wasn’t called a squabbit, but it sounded so much better than hitak in her mind. So she settled on Squab as its name.

She nearly cried when Dron washed her feet in the bowl of life nectar. But when he presented her with the small pet, her heart broke with adoration for the man. He probably would never know, but the fact that he’d paid attention to her need for someone to stave off the loneliness really meant a lot to her.

Unfortunately, even though the animal was supposed to be housebroken, the little creature sure did have a lot of energy. Tempest felt like she’d been running after a child instead of an animal.

Tempest yawned and quietly stepped out of the bed. The small animal was curled up on the edge and was finally sleeping. She didn’t know much about what the animal required. She’d have to get more information from Dron as to how to keep Squab alive.

She wondered if she’d be able to take it back to earth with her.

She wondered what else she’d be leaving behind when she made her way back home. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

Dron for sure.

Squab.

Mexyn.

Her new life.

A life where people thought her important either in a good way or a bad one. One where she was significant.

It was more than she could ever say for her life back on earth.

Tempest shook her head and walked out of the room. It was very quiet, and for a second Tempest thought Dron had left again. She was used to him randomly disappearing from time to time. It’d gotten so bad that she no longer even needed him to make food for her. She was able to use the fabricator on her own. Unfortunately, she only knew how to make two things. And one of those things she was sure was a dessert dish. Still, it was edible.

Tempest sighed and walked out to the kitchen.

"Did you need something?" Dron’s deep voice cut through the silence.

Tempest jumped in shock. "What are you doing here?" It sounded stupid the second it was out of her mouth.

"I’m sitting. What are you doing here?" Dron questioned, narrowing his eyes on her.

"I was just going to look for something to feed to Squab. I don’t know what he eats." Tempest walked over to the cool box that somehow was always stocked with food. It seemed nearly automatic.

"Fruits and plants."

"Oh, that’s simple." Tempest smiled at him, but Dron just grunted and looked back at his holographic screen shooting up from his wrist.

She should just grab the fruit and bring it back to her room for Squab, but her curiosity got the better of her. "What are you working on?"

"Nothing." Dron answered right away.

Tempest didn’t like being lied to. In her past life she’d accept the answer and just sulk on her way out of the room, but she was trying to be better. Trying to be a stronger woman. Change was hard.

"That’s a lie. It’s obvious you are working on something. " Tempest crossed her arms over her chest and didn’t budge from the spot that she was in.

Dron looked up at her again before he sighed and gestured for her to come over.

Tempest walked over to him and was surprised to see what looked like a bunch of mug shots on the screen.

"Are these the people who attacked us earlier?" Tempest asked, her voice nothing more than a whisper.

"No. There are just a few people I think would have reason to get people to attack us. Those that were outside earlier aren’t the ones who thought that plan up. They were merely the unlucky ones who got roped into trying to pull off the plan."

Unlucky was putting it mildly.

"Did they die?" Tempest heard herself ask. She squeezed her eyes shut. She didn’t want to feel guilty, after all, Dron was just protecting them and his property, but still, something about taking a life was a lot for her to take in.

"No, they were gone when I went to check the property again. I can go hunting for them if you wish. Would that make you feel more secure?" Dron truly looked at her as if he would do just that.

Tempest waved her hands in front of her face frantically. "No! You don’t have to do that. I think they’ve learned their lesson."

Dron nodded his head and went back to looking at the small screen.

"Wait..." Tempest stopped him from scrolling through the images. She was surprised to see Gerax in the listings. "You think Gerax is one of the people that would want to hurt me?"

"Not you, per se, but he has always been a stickler for Thraqen rules and culture. What we’re doing...what we are goes against our culture. He might be a purist. One can never know."

Tempest shook her head. She just couldn’t believe that Gerax would do something like that.

Could he?

She thought she knew him better than that, but she couldn’t be certain. Honestly, she didn’t really know anyone on this foreign planet.

Tempest didn’t add any more input; instead, she just watched as Dron continued to flip through the pictures. It was starting to feel never-ending. As if there were a never ending string of people who would want to hurt either of them or both.

"So who do we have on our side?" Tempest finally asked.

Dron dropped his hand down and looked at her, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, who is pro this relationship? Surely, there has to be someone who wants this to work out."

Dron sighed as if he was really having a hard time thinking of anyone who actually wanted them to be together. That was concerning and a little sad.

"Mexyn." Tempest finally offered up. She didn’t know much, but it did seem like the woman she was growing closer to did want them to be together.

"Yes. I believe Mexyn would be someone who would want us to be together. Maznik as well." Dron nodded.

Tempest was beginning to like the old man more and more.

"Why does everyone believe I’m such a bad omen for this planet in the first place? I mean, I know you said something about being married to me going against the culture, but surely everyone can’t believe that. Is everyone a purist?" Tempest hoped that the people on Ustea were at least a little like the people on Earth. There were those who were radical and purist, but then there were those who were more liberal and would accept things that others would turn their noses up at.

"I’m sure there would be some who would accept you; the problem with that is no one knows anything about you besides the council, the royals, and a few scientists. The general population only knows that you are here to mate with someone from their planet.

"Well, that’s a problem...don’t you think?" Tempest plopped her hands on her hips. There needed to be a meet and greet of sorts. If she wanted more people to accept her she had to go out and meet some of them. Maybe if more people saw that she wasn’t some big bad person, fewer people would be willing to try to kill her.

"It is. But it’s not one that we can deal with right now." Dron tried to lift his hand again to look through the photos, but Tempest stopped him. She grabbed his hand and held it down so that he could focus on her.

"Dron, we have to try something."

"I am going to try something. I’m going to find out who is behind the attack and make sure that they get the punishment they deserve." He snarled on the last word.

"No, you can’t do that. Not everything has to be about how much chaos we cause. We have to do something different."

"Different can be dangerous." Dron opened and closed his hand. He was clearly uncomfortable with the idea.

"Yes, but I don’t have to be worried about danger, right? I have you by my side. No one would be dumb enough to try and go against me while I’m with you. I think we need to spend more time out in public. More time for the people to get to know me. Not with any festival or fanfare, just us in the community."

"After what happened today, I’m sure there will be a lot of gossip." Dron seemed to relax a little.

"Yes, but we need to make sure we give the people something more to talk about besides how terrifying you are as an opponent. Maybe we show them that I’m not so bad. That they have nothing to fear from humanity. We need to go out and see the people."

Dron groaned and let his head drop back, "This is going to be a bad idea."

"I think this might be our best idea yet." Tempest smirked at Dron.

She was trying to make him believe it. Trying to put on a brave face. But on the inside, Tempest had a sinking feeling that Dron was right.