The Circadia Chronicles: Omnibus: The Complete Colonization Sci-Fi Series by Heather Heckadon (portable ebook reader .txt) 📕

“Can we do that with plants?” I asked.

“Kind of,” she said. “I’m sure you’re familiar with dehydrating foods or fruits. We can do that here, they will be sun-dried so it will take a bit longer, but not as long as you’d expect with our constant daylight.” Smiling now, she said, “We got this. We can start preparations now.”

Chapter Six

After staying up all night, the moon disappeared and the sun stayed. Our twenty-four-hour daylight was a blessing and a curse. It felt like the days dragged on and on, but it was better than the darkness. Our group's plan had been talked out to every extent, and everyone was ready to come together collectively and collaborate. I was interested in what the other groups had come up with, and how our plan would help theirs.

“Everyone meet here in two hours, we’ll disclose plans, then get some rest,” I said. “I know everyone’s tired. We need to sleep on these anyway.”

Everyone broke away to eat or try and get a nap in before the meeting. I went outside to ponder. We were about to wage war, and I was scared and hungry. I was always a nervous eater back on Earth. It was a bad habit, but one that proved difficult to kick. Scavenging for an edible snack, I felt a hand on my shoulder. Air caught in my throat as I hesitated to turn around. Quickly turning after a moment, I saw Garrett’s deep eyes searching mine.

“Hey, you doin’ okay?” he asked. “Pretty heavy stuff in there...”

My shoulders relaxed and I took a long breath. “Yeah, I think so. I mean, I think I feel okay about it right now. Later though, I think I’ll feel different about everything, you know, like after,” I looked down at the ground and grabbed a sideways glance to catch his reaction.

“Yeah, I get that. It’s kinda getting to me now. Just casually talking about killing hundreds of people, it’s weird. Really weird.” His eyebrows raised as he seemed to contemplate our situation.

“Yeah, it’s not easy, that’s for sure,” I answered. A pause followed, while I assumed we were both trying to find a way to change the subject. I know I needed a break from it all.

“I’m glad you made it out,” he blurted out. Garrett and I had never really classified ourselves as a couple before, but we did have our history. During the long darkness on Circadia, he kept me warm. We had both saved each other’s sanity during a desperate time, but once it was over, we never really talked. It left a lot of things unsaid, which made for awkward conversation.

“Thanks. I’m glad I made it out, too,” I said.

“What kept you going through all that isolation and dehydration? Did you think about anything in particular that made you push through?” he asked. I could tell he was prying and I didn’t handle these kinds of situations well.

“You know,” I said, “there was... now that you mention it. At night I would dream about you and wish that I could be close to you. During the day in the sweltering heat, I would yearn for one more kiss from you. Just one more.”

“Really?” he asked.

“No,” I laughed, “did you really believe that?” I asked, shoving him. Sarcasm was always my diffuser, and even on a new planet with a man I had a lot of feelings for, it was no different.

He stood stunned and unamused. “Wow,” he said, “that was a dick move.”

A heady laugh came out once more. “...but on a more serious note, and to answer your question, not really. Just the will to survive, even though I wasn’t sure I was going to at some points. I was always raised to fight until the end no matter what, and it paid off. I did miss you though,” I said with a wink. I wanted to be honest. I had really grown to like Garrett, a lot, but like always I was guarded. I had never been one to share too much of my feelings for fear of being rejected, but I needed him to know.

He gave me a small smile and looked down at his feet with bright red cheeks. “I missed you too,” he said. “We’ve been through a lot. I enjoyed keeping you warm in the ‘winter’ and seeing you succeed with your crops. Being away from you kind of forced me to do some thinking, and I know we haven’t really talked about what we are, whether that be because we didn’t know what we were, or because of the circumstances, but I want you to know that I’m yours if you’ll have me.”

“What do you mean?” I asked. I knew what he meant, but I wanted the clarity of hearing him say it. I didn’t want any misunderstandings.

“I mean I really like you, I think I might even love you, and I like being around you. I guess I’m trying to say that you mean a lot to me, and I want us to stand together. I have your back, and you have mine, and I want to be one with you. I want to truly be yours. I don’t know how else to say it, but I wanted you to know.” He said, looking into my eyes with the way he had.

I stared back at him for a moment, then said, “This seems like terrible timing, but I want to be yours too. I want to stand together with you until we can’t stand.”

“That’s great. That’s exactly how I feel,” he said. I stepped closer to him and he embraced me. Feeling his quick heartbeat through my chest, I knew he could feel mine too. It was comforting to know someone was going to be with me through everything we were about to encounter, really be there with me.

“Thank you, for surviving,” he said into my neck as he held me, before he backed away and looked down