It wasn’t much later after Serrano left that Dave was trying to lead them inside one of the biospheres.

“Come on, now that the action is over out here, let me show you where you two will be staying,” said Dave, waving his hand.

Alex looked over to Ellie and Annette, who were still in the midst of the throng of supporters.

“Do you think we should wait for Ellie?” he asked, thinking out loud. “With all that’s going on, it doesn’t feel right to ditch her.”

Dave shook his head. “Ellie will be all right. She dodged a bullet just now. Annette is her cousin and she’ll be safe at her house. Besides, Annette was the one that asked me to get you assigned to a home.”

Alex nodded and after one last look over at Ellie, he and Jenna followed Dave as they made their way inside the nearest biosphere, which was marked as unit seven.

“It used to be that housing was at a premium here in Vesta,” explained Dave as he led them through the biosphere. “That was before the bears came. A good number of units from the first biospheres were quite outdated in comparison to the new ones, so there was fierce competition to get assigned to the higher level biospheres. Once our population started to dip, we found that no one had to stay in the older units anymore, especially if they didn’t want to. Some still remain there but for the most part, we have modern and fully functioning housing units for everyone now, including the newer colonists.”

Dave led them along a pathway that was short and narrow. By far, the most frequent color that Alex saw was white. Just about everything was coated in it, from the tiles on the floor to the color of the walls and ceiling.

Of course, one thing Alex noticed just about as soon as they were inside was the noticeable increase in breathable air. Alex took several deep breaths until he experimented with the removal of his breather, finding that it was unnecessary inside the unit.

“One of the first things to go once you step inside the biosphere,” said Dave, gesturing to the breather. “Someday you’ll be able to go outside without one, but it’ll take some time for your body to get used to it first. At least you’ll always have pure oxygen pumping into each biosphere. Our production facility is over in Biosphere Six, where they pull water from the river and remove the oxygen in order to pump it to every biosphere.”

“They do the same thing in the orbital ring surrounding Earth,” said Alex. “But they pump it all the way up from the ocean.”

“Man, that sounds pretty cool!” said Dave. “Our production isn’t nearly as fancy but the river suits our purposes just fine. There’s enough water to take care of Vesta.”

Dave led them past the white halls into the interior of the biosphere, where both Alex and Jenna let out gasps right from the start. It was like a miniature park inside, complete with green grass in heavy abundance, trees, bushes, and running water.

“Nature is a pretty heavy theme here in Vesta,” explained Dave. “The founders wanted the interior of the biospheres to look like the Canadian wilderness. I guess it made them feel like home. You’ll find the interiors of all of them look just like this one, although the most impressive is in Biosphere One. I think it’s a nice touch as well as an interesting contrast with the Vestan habitat.”

Dave led them through the wilderness interior to the other side where rows and rows of doors could be seen, creating apartment-style housing that was entirely connected and that occupied the outer edge of the biosphere's ring.

“I’m sorry to say that we have to put you in Biosphere Seven,” said Dave. “Most of the new colonists were situated in Biosphere Eight but we ran out of housing there. You’ll find that Biosphere Seven isn’t as modern but it shouldn’t be too bad. Just not as luxurious as the higher units.”

Dave stopped at one door in particular and he pressed a button on the wall, which made a hand scanner pop out. Stepping away, he gestured for Alex to put his hand on the scanner.

“Give it a shot,” said Dave.

Alex placed his hand on the cool surface only to find the door in front of them springing open a moment later.

Dave grinned. “Pretty bitchin’, right? These living quarters now belong to you two now that you’ve registered your prints in the system. I’ll have Jenna do the same, and now the door will only open for you both and no one else.”

Jenna repeated the process, registering her prints before they followed Dave inside the room. Alex was thankful that the white color died as soon as they were inside, finding a mix of more modern grays and browns. The first room was clearly a living room. There was a giant L-shaped couch that took up most of it, and material looked incredibly comfortable from where Alex was standing. There was a large screen directly in front of the couch but a few feet away. On the other side of the living room was a full-sized kitchen, complete with many different appliances that looked more advanced than what Alex was used to.

“Now, seeing as there’s just the two of you, we put you into the honeymoon suites,” explained Dave as he led them back to the main hallway. “Basically, it just means there’s one bedroom.”

Alex pursed his lips as they entered the bedroom, finding one large, king-sized mattress dominating the center of the room. There was plenty of closet space as well as a window that was part of the outer dome, another reminder that their room lined the exterior of the biosphere.

Dave raised an eyebrow when neither of them spoke. “One bed going to be fine? I don’t mean to assume but . . .”

His voice trailed off as Alex looked at Jenna. If the decision was going to be made, he was going to leave it to her.

There wasn’t much in the way of confusion on her face. To Alex’s surprise, she looked at Dave and nodded quickly.

“This will be just fine,” she said before shooting a shy glance at Alex.

“Perfect!” said Dave as he took a few steps back. “Well, I’ll let you two get acclimated to your new living space. I need to get back to the barracks to write up the report about today’s patrol. A few things to mention before I leave—food supplies are kept in Biosphere Two. For the most part, everything works on Alliance Credits for money, or AC. Not to worry if you don’t have much. All the new colonists start off with a basic loan to help them get their feet off the ground. Once you start working, you’ll earn them naturally.”

“Also, as you saw with the showers, water is closely monitored here. We all wash up in the communal showers, of which there’s one in every biosphere. They work on timers if you go too long but as long as you don’t get too preoccupied with each other in there, you should have nothing to worry about.”

Alex couldn’t help but chuckle at that. Based upon what he’d witnessed earlier in the showers, he knew exactly why some Vestans would get preoccupied.

“If you need any other non-food supplies—clothing, toiletries, electronics or anything like that, check out Biosphere Four, which serves as our main marketplace. It’s also where our resident tech genius, Vitale, lives. I’m sure you’ll be introduced to him in time.”

Dave tapped his chin as if to remember anything further.

“Oh, yes, one last thing. Annette told me to tell you both to visit her house tomorrow morning so we can get you both jobs.” Dave leaned closer to Alex. “You’re basically earmarked for the VDF. I hope that doesn’t trouble you too much.”

“It’s what I’m used to so that’s where I was going to volunteer anyway,” replied Alex.

“Perfect,” said Dave before looking at Jenna. “You might want to give it some thought tonight as well. I can’t recommend mining for obvious reasons but food storage is a pretty nice gig. If you like kids, the babysitting detail is really cushy, although it can be hard to get into it. Long wait list, you see. If neither of those tickle your fancy, Annette can always give you a list of what’s open tomorrow.”

“What about the VDF?” asked Jenna, looking at Alex first. “I’ve seen what the bears can do and I know they’re the main threat to the colony. Can I volunteer for that as well?”

Dave gave her a strange look. “That’s a pretty loaded question. You’ll have to take that one up with Annette and most likely Commander Rooney as well. The long story short is they don’t like women in the VDF. Carla gets a pass because she’s been there forever but Belladonna is very clear that women should not be fighting in the VDF. She says that’s only a man’s job.”

Alex started to laugh. “A woman can fire a pulse rifle just as easily as a man can. It’s not like we’re fighting with swords where there’s a strength component to it.”

Dave raised his hands. “I know but that’s not my decision here. You’ll find that a lot of what comes from Belladonna doesn’t make a lot of sense. Worst thing we ever did was concentrate power into her hands if you ask me. I just hope that Annette and Ellie can find a way out of their current situation. For the sake of all of us. Vesta needs all the help it can get, part of which is why I think you belong with the VDF,” said Dave, elbowing Alex in the side.

Dave gave one last look at them. “Anything else before I leave?”

Both Alex and Jenna shook their heads. It had been a long day and seeing as the sun was starting to set, they were both tired and looking forward to bed.

“Awesome,” said Dave as he headed toward the door. “If you have any questions, just look me up on your P-coms.”

It was at that point that Dave noticed that both of their wrists were bare, not having been adorned with the technology.

“Wait a second, where are your P-coms?”

“They didn’t survive the crash landing on Vesta,” replied Alex. “We’re going to need new ones.”

“Ah, no worries about that. I’ll send a message to Vitale and ask him to have them dropped off here. It shouldn’t take too long but I hope you don’t mind a night without any distractions.” Dave gave them a knowing look. “Although, I’m sure you two could probably use one! Anyway, have a good night and I’ll talk to you tomorrow!”

With those last words, Dave opened the door and left, leaving the two of them alone for the first time since meeting Ellie.

As soon as he was gone, Alex felt the urge to yawn. His body was still aching from the stun gun and the thought of getting some rest was a deeply enjoyable one. Alex sat down on the couch for just a moment but the invitation of an actual bed to sleep on was certainly inviting.

Alex felt Jenna sit down right next to him. When he looked over at her, she was looking back at him.

“It’s just a little . . . overwhelming, isn’t it?” she said finally.

“All of this?” he asked, gesturing to their new home. “Yeah, a little. It’s hard to believe that just this morning, we were waking up in our camp after sleeping on the ground. Now we get an actual bed to sleep in.”

“Yeah, we get one bed to sleep in,” said Jenna, leaning against his shoulder. “I hope you don’t hog the covers too much.”

Alex raised an eyebrow. “Me? You’ve got cover-stealer written all over your face.”

Jenna grinned. “I guess you’ll just have to find out for yourself.”

“I guess so.”

There was a moment of silence before Alex changed topics to something a little more serious.

“Have any regrets yet?” he asked quietly. “About coming here?”

Her answer surprised him.

“No, I don’t,” she said, laughing when he gave her a look. “I guess it helps when you come into the program with low expectations. I just wanted to get off Earth. And yeah, I certainly didn’t expect what’s happened—from the destruction of the Racine to our last few days of wilderness retreat—but can I be honest with you, Alex?”

“Of course.”

Jenna gave him a genuine, heart-stopping smile. “I can’t remember a time when I enjoyed spending time with someone as much as I have with you. Despite all the danger, the bears, Serrano, all of it. We may live in a messed up colony right now but my experience so far has been kind of nice.”

“You’re talking about all the times we almost died as being kind of nice?” he joked.

Jenna swatted his arm. “You know what I meant!”

“I do, I just like teasing you.”

“Why is that?” she asked, pushing a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear.

Alex locked eyes with her. “I think you know why.”

“Because you like me?” she asked in a breathy whisper.

“Yeah, I do like you, Jenna. I like you a lot.”

Her smile grew bigger, if that was possible. Her eyes flickered to his lips for a brief moment before landing on his eyes again.

“If you like me so much, why aren’t you kissing me?” she whispered.

Alex felt a surge of activity below the waist. “I can fix that right now,” he growled at her, feeling every bit of his arousal.

Jenna wrapped her arms around his neck. “Please do.”

Their lips had just barely connected when they heard the doorbell go off. Suddenly, there was an announcement of the names of the visitors.

And it made Alex’s jaw drop when he heard it.