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where eyebrows would be if she had them. She pulled her gaze back to our faces. Her expression held a hint of worry in it, if geckos could worry, and I figured there was some pressing issue that needed our attention.

Stacy and I both released the grip we had on one another at the same time. I did so reluctantly and fleetingly hoped she felt the same. I shook my head a bit to clear it of these thoughts so I could focus on the issue at hand.

“Is there something we can help you with, Jezra?” Stacy asked, clearing her throat.

The alien brought her data pad over to us, turning it around so we could see an image of the mountains to our east.

“Our low-flying satellite has picked up images of a confrontation between Legion and the Rung,” Jezra said, zooming in on the scene so we could see.

I looked more closely. The event seemed to be on the east side of the mountains. The furthest we had ever traveled east was to the foot of these mountains, where we had our first run-in with the Rung. This was an interesting development, especially since I was still speculating that there might be survivors in other areas of Genesis.

The Rung were a violent rival faction of the Remboshi race. Centuries ago, they had broken off from the Remboshi culture, deciding to enhance their bodies with machines and technology.

Our first meeting with the Rung had not gone well. Ricky had been gravely wounded when we were attacked. We almost lost him, but he had since recovered, fortunately.

I remembered all of this as I studied the images in front of us. Bodies littered the mountain slopes. The two sides were easy to pick out. Gecko-like beings with robes and metal adornments fixed to their bodies lay dead. Along with them, a combination of what looked like humans and alien animals all carrying the same black veins and eyes set them apart as infected.

Legion was an insidious virus that spread from host to host. It was a single intelligent symbiotic entity that controlled a host of creatures. Many of the survivors of the Orion had been lost to Legion since we landed. Our priority was to stop this from happening anymore.

Jezra ran through the grisly images of the area. The battle had been massive with many casualties. I guessed there were at least a hundred dead infected with twice that number of Rung.

“That’s horrible,” Stacy said, shaking her head from side to side in a mix of sympathy and horror. “When did this happen?”

“Had to have been last night,” Jezra said. “That would be my guess at least. I have the low-flying satellite maintaining a strict patrol around the Orion. My guess is that Legion is making a move on the Rung. That’s why we haven’t seen him for so long.”

“Good,” I said, feeling no compunction that the hostile alien faction was getting their butts handed to them. “They shot Ricky and killed the exploration group that went that way searching for the section of the Orion that held the communications device. We still don’t even know if we can get it operational again. Doctor Wong’s been working on it ever since we brought it back.”

“So you’re just going to let the Rung and Legion wipe each other out?” Stacy asked, looking at me with a raised eyebrow. “Let the animals kill each other off, huh?”

“God willing,” I said, nodding. Maybe I should have felt a bit of remorse at the death of so many, but the simple fact was, I didn’t. “Hopefully, they’ll all kill each other. Then we can turn all our attention to rescuing any of our own still out there and getting off this planet.”

Stacy looked over to Jezra for support.

Jezra’s large yellow eyes behind her goggles winced as if she were having some kind of head pain.

“You okay?” I asked. “You look like you have a migraine or something.”

“That’s just what my face looks like when I am in intense concentration,” Jezra explained. “I have no love for the Rung. They have been the enemy of my people since I was in the egg. However, they may be able to be reasoned with. Legion exists only to spread and kill. One is bad while the other is pure evil.”

“What?” I asked, taken aback. “You want to side with the Rung now?”

“I didn’t say that,” Jezra denied. She reached a three-fingered green hand to my face and slapped me. At least I thought it was supposed to be a slap. She barely touched me, and her palm made contact with my face like she had never slapped anyone in her life, so I wasn’t sure. “Listen to me. We may be in a situation here where the enemy of our enemy is our friend.”

“Where have the Rung chosen to hide?” Stacy asked, trying not to laugh at the exchange. I rolled my eyes at her and clutched my face in an exaggerated manner when Jezra turned to her, pretending the slap had actually hurt. “Can you get a visual on their base from the satellite?”

“They seem to have gone underground,” Jezra said, taking back the data pad and pressing buttons on the smooth glass surface. “I have not been able to find the exact entrances to their underground bases, but I do believe they have multiple entry points. With the satellite patrolling this section of Genesis, I should pick up their activity and movement in the course of a few days and be able to find their location.”

“You’re not serious about this, are you?” I asked Stacy.

“What? I didn’t even say anything,” she answered defensively.

“You don’t have to,” I accused. “I know that look. You want to team up with the Rung to take out Legion.”

Stacy chewed on her lower lip, deep in thought. I wasn’t angry if that was indeed what she was thinking. Stacy carried a large responsibility as leader of our defenses and what remained of the