Eight days since the infection. Eight days since Luca had fought Zoe in zero gravity while his intestines floated around them in grotesque spirals.

  The ship felt different now.

  Luca walked the corridor from his quarters toward the infirmary, boots hitting deck plates with a satisfying thud that meant gravity was working properly. Warm white lighting had replaced the red emergency glow that had painted everything in apocalyptic shadows. The air felt clean, recycled through fully operational life support.

  But he couldn't shake the chemical smell. Faint, clinging to the back of his throat like a phantom. Probably PTSD, he thought. His brain remembered the stale, chemical-tainted atmosphere, and no amount of logic could convince his senses otherwise.

  His hand traced along the bulkhead as he walked. The Triumph had survived, and so had they.

  The infirmary doors slid open to soft beeping and the hum of medical equipment. Joey stood beside Ryan near the far wall, stethoscope pressed to his back.

  "Deep breath."

  Ryan inhaled, ribs expanding under Joey's hand.

  "Again. Good." Joey moved the stethoscope lower. "Lung capacity's back to normal. You're healing well."

  "Told you I was fine."

  "You're fine because I put you in a pod for a week. Don't get cocky."

  Danny sat in the medical pod across the room, upper body visible above the blue gel. His lower half was still submerged, cellular reconstruction continuing, but his color was better. Healthier. The datapad resting on the pod's edge showed research notes, and Zoe sat in the chair beside him, her hand on his arm. Pixel was curled up in her lap, purring softly, her markings pulsing a contented blue-green.

  She looked up when Luca entered, careful not to disturb the kitten. "Captain."

  "How's he doing?" Luca asked.

  "Better every day," Danny said. His voice was stronger than yesterday. "Three more days and I'll be on crutches."

  "Off duty for at least a month though," Joey called from across the room. "Your body needs time to fully recover, even with accelerated healing."

  "A month seems excessive."

  "Be grateful it's not six. The anti-invasive cytobiotic accelerated your tissue regeneration beyond anything I've seen." Joey finished with Ryan and made a note on his datapad. "Everyone else was cleared days ago."

  Zoe squeezed Danny's hand. "I'm not complaining. Means you can't run off and do something stupid."

  "I never do anything stupid."

  "You jumped in front of an alien weapon," Ryan said, pulling his shirt back on. "That's pretty damn stupid."

  "It was tactically sound."

  "It was insane." But Zoe's voice was soft, affectionate. She hadn't left Danny's side much since waking from her own infection. Sleeping in the chair, bringing him food, reading research papers when he got bored.

  "Everyone was worried about you," Luca said.

  Danny looked around the infirmary, at Zoe beside him, at Joey and Ryan, at the care they'd all taken. "I know. Thank you."

  He took the stairs up from the deck below, and as he stepped into the main corridor, the echo of his boots was replaced by voices drifting from the crew lounge and the clatter of something metallic hitting the deck.

  Luca rounded the corner and stopped.

  Emily stood on a ladder in the middle of the crew lounge, blonde ponytail swinging as she stretched to hook something on the overhead lighting panel. She wore her white bodysuit, the fitted material accentuating her figure in ways Luca definitely appreciated. In her hands was a strand of honest-to-goodness Christmas lights, the colorful bulbs catching the ambient lighting.

  Chris held the ladder steady. "Little higher. No, your other left."

  "There's only one left, you idiot." But Emily was laughing as she shifted her grip and clipped the lights into place. They flickered on, washing the lounge in a chaotic pattern of colors alien to the ship's standard illumination.

  Luca leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed. "Should I ask what you're doing to my lounge?"

  "Your lounge?" Emily looked down at him, grinning.

  "It's my ship."

  "Oh, is it?" Her green eyes sparkled in the Christmas lights, that giant smile breaking across her face with the slight dimples he loved. "We're decorating. It's Christmas Eve tomorrow, in case you forgot."

  "In space."

  "Still counts." She climbed down from the ladder, Chris steadying her until her feet hit the deck. "We're not on Earth, but that doesn't mean we can't celebrate. Besides, after the past two weeks, we could use something normal."

  The lounge already looked different. More lights were strung along the walls, garland wound around the furniture. Someone had drawn snowflakes on his viewport.

  Pixel darted across the room, pouncing on a dangling strand of garland like it was an enemy combatant. Chris tried to shoo her off, but she only chirped, wrapped herself in the garland, and rolled.

  "We didn't bring Christmas decorations," Luca said, watching the kitten's antics. "That wasn't in the manifest."

  "Chris and Ryan helped me print everything."

  Chris held up a box of ornaments. "Took two days, but we made it work."

  "Wait until you see what Joey's planning for dinner." Emily crossed to Luca, her expression shifting from playful to soft as she looked up at him. Her arms wrapped around his neck, pulling him close. "Hey."

  Chris cleared his throat. "Awkwaaaaaard..."

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  "Hey yourself." Luca ignored Chris completely, his hands finding Emily's waist. Eight days ago she'd been infected, dying, and now she stood here warm and alive and planning Christmas decorations in deep space. "You feeling okay?"

  "Perfect." She tilted her head, studying him. "What about you? Planning on keeping your intestines in your belly next time?"

  "Not funny, Emily."

  "Little bit funny." But her smile softened, hands gentle on the back of his neck. "No lasting effects from the infection. Same for Ryan and Chris."

  "And Zoe?"

  Emily's expression flickered, something complicated passing across her face. "Physically, she's fine. The cure worked completely. But she's been quiet since she woke up. Spending time with Danny in the infirmary mostly. Bridge or her cabin when she's not there."

  "She remembers what happened?"

  "Bits and pieces. Enough to know she almost killed you." Emily's grip tightened slightly. "She's processing. Give her time."

  "Those enhanced skills she had," Chris said from behind them. "You think they'll come back?"

  Luca glanced at him. "What do you mean?"

  "The phasing, the invisibility that lasted for hours." Chris set down the ornament box. "She was doing things way beyond her normal abilities. Danny wants to research it more, but right now she doesn't have access to any of those skills anymore. It's like the infection unlocked something and then took it away when we cured her."

  "Maybe that's a good thing," Emily said quietly.

  "Maybe."

  Luca thought about fighting Zoe in zero gravity, about the impossible things she'd done. "Let's save the heavy discussions for later."

  Emily squeezed his hand, grateful.

  Luca's quarters were small but comfortable. Emily sat on his bunk, legs pulled up, blonde hair loose around her shoulders. The dim evening lighting cast everything in soft shadows, and she looked beautiful in a way that made his chest tight.

  He settled beside her, and she immediately shifted closer, her hand finding his chest. Her warmth pressed against him, solid and real and alive.

  "I've been watching the video feeds from the underground facility," she said quietly. Her fingers traced idle patterns on his bodysuit. "That place was massive. Docking bays, power systems, what looked like research labs. You think it was military?"

  "Had to be." His arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer. The simple contact made his heart kick up, warmth spreading through his chest. He'd come too close to losing her. "The layout, the defensive position, all those hangars. Someone went to a lot of effort to hide it." He paused. "We need to decide what we're doing about those stasis pods in New Dawn. I want to put it to a vote."

  Emily shifted to look at him. "You don't trust the UER."

  "Do you?" Luca's voice was quiet. "It's only a matter of time before they start a colony there. Once they do, they'll take control of everything. The vault, the pods, all of it. What do you think they'll do? Study them? Dissect them?"

  "The System locked them away for a reason."

  "Yeah, but whose reason?" He caught her hand, threading their fingers together. His thumb traced across her knuckles, a nervous habit he couldn't shake. "They're way more advanced than however the System's been representing them in the portals."

  Her fingers tightened on his. "What do you think we should do?"

  "I think we need to understand what we're dealing with first." Luca's voice became more intense. "Starting with where the infection came from. It came from that chitinous shrapnel embedded in Danny's leg. You and Joey removed it during the operation, remember?"

  "God, how could I forget?" Emily's hand moved up to his collar, fingers playing with the zipper. "That thing was alive. Pulsing."

  His breath caught as she tugged the zipper down an inch.

  "Which means something put them there. Deliberately." He gestured at the viewport with his free hand, the other tightening on her waist.

  "Here's what keeps me up at night. Why were the Varnathi moved to Alpha Centauri? There are only two facilities in this entire star system and no other traces of them. The vault on New Dawn, and that buried facility in Midnight Veil. Danny's checked everything."

  "They're not from here," Emily said, her voice soft with dawning understanding. "You think the System moved them."

  "Had to. Someone or something, brought the remnants of an entire species here and sealed them away." Her fingers slid the zipper lower, exposing his throat, his collarbone. "Why move them? What was the System—"

  "What was it protecting?"

  "Maybe it was protecting them." She pulled the zipper down to his waist.

  Christ. "Or maybe it was the other way around."

  Emily's fingers traced across new scar tissue, a surgical line running across his abdomen where Joey had put him back together after Zoe's blade had opened him up. Her touch was gentle, and it made his chest ache.

  "Does it hurt?" she whispered.

  "Not anymore." He pressed her hand flat against the scar, his own covering hers. "Joey says I'll barely notice it in a few months."

  "I watched you almost die." Her voice broke slightly. "Your intestines were floating in zero gravity, and I couldn't do anything to help."

  Luca pulled her closer, both hands framing her face, thumbs brushing her cheekbones. "Hey. I'm right here. We both are." He kissed her forehead. "We made it."

  She leaned up and kissed him properly, slow and deep, her hand sliding across his bare chest. When she pulled back, her eyes were bright. "I've been thinking about going home. What we're going to do when we get back to Earth."

  "Yeah?" His hands slid down to her waist, fingers finding the curve of her bodysuit. The thin material did absolutely nothing to stop the heat of her skin from burning through to his palms.

  "Your dad and brothers. I know you miss them." Emily's smile was soft, her breath warm against his neck. "And I want real food. Remember that burger place in Sandworth? The one with the bread?"

  "God, yes." The memory hit him, grounding him for half a second. "Warm. Fresh. With actual butter that came from a real cow."

  "First thing I'm doing is eating that burger." Her fingers traced down his chest, exploring the new scar, the old ones beneath it. Each touch sent sparks across his skin. "Second thing is eating vegetables that weren't frozen six months ago."

  "What's the third thing?" His voice had dropped lower.

  Emily shifted, reclining back on the bunk and pulling him with her. "This." She kissed him again, deeper, more urgent. "But without worrying about Joey barging in."

  Luca's brain caught up a second too late. "Wait a minute."

  "Luca," she murmured against his mouth. "Did you lock the door?"

  He froze. "Shit."

  "He's tracking our vitals right now." Emily glanced at the biomonitor on her bodysuit, the display blinking orange, showing her elevated heart rate. "Bastard probably knows exactly what we're doing."

  "That's it." Luca climbed off the bunk, crossed to the door, and hit the lock mechanism hard enough to make it beep in protest. It clicked shut with a satisfying thunk. "Privacy."

  When he turned back, Emily was watching him, a look on her face that made his pulse spike all over again. "Come here," she said softly.

  He crossed back to the bunk in three strides and kissed her before she could move. Her surprised breath against his mouth was worth it.

  "When I was infected," she whispered, her hands sliding up his chest, pushing the bodysuit off his shoulders, "when everything was fever and confusion, I kept thinking about this."

  "You scared the hell out of me." His hands slid down her sides, feeling the heat of her through the thin material. He found the zipper at her collar, traced it with one finger. "I thought—"

  He stopped. He couldn't form the words.

  "What?" Emily's voice was soft.

  "I thought I lost you." The words came out rough, unfiltered. "When the infection was spreading, when you were burning up in that pod, I thought—" He pressed his forehead against hers, breathing her in. "Don't do that again."

  "I won't." She kissed him again, deeper this time, her body pressing against his. "But we made it. We're here. And we're going home eventually. Back to Earth, back to Sandworth, back to everything we left behind."

  Her voice was soft, hopeful, and something in Luca's chest cracked open. He pulled her closer, one hand sliding into her hair, the other tracing the line of her spine. The viewport full of stars blurred at the edges of his vision.

  "Come here," he murmured, and rolled her beneath him, hands braced on either side of her head. Her eyes were bright, her breathing quick, and when she smiled up at him, it felt like something vital clicking into place.

  His hand found the zipper at her collar, tracing it down slowly. An inch, then two. His fingers brushed bare skin. Her breath hitched, and the sound of it sent heat flooding through him.

  Emily's hands found his face, pulling him down into a kiss that scattered every coherent thought he'd had left. Outside the locked door, the ship hummed around them. The stars drifted past the viewport.

  If the universe wanted to throw another monster at them right now, it could wait its damn turn.

  Ryan held the air filter up to the light. Green particles scattered through the mesh.

  "Third one this week," he said.

  Chris crouched beside him in the life support room. "We just replaced that one."

  "The ship's infected." Ryan tossed the filter aside. "Air recyclers, water systems, environmental controls. We can't clean it faster than it grows back."

  "Point-zero-three percent contamination. Holding steady."

  "I checked our EVA suits and armor. The spores are everywhere." Ryan sealed the filter housing and pulled off his mask. "Anywhere we dock, we'll spread it."

  "So we can't go back."