Chapter Twenty-Six: Interrupted

Io rolled over and snuggled up to Omari. He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her in tight. His warmth was comforting. Maybe it was the isolation of moving through the Asteroid Belt; maybe it was the distance, just being so far from the Alexanders.

Something about her relationship with Omari was safe. She had never felt so safe in all her life.
The first kiss happened just after they crossed into the belt. The two had been discretely flirtatious all along, but no one crossed the boundaries until then. At first, she tried to pull away. She couldn’t even sleep that first night, thinking about the family.

What would they think? How would Kate react? Could they ever really be together? Was he just using her for something?

But by the following wake up call, she had pushed all those questions from her mind. It would take weeks to get through the belt. It was the most dangerous part of the journey to Jupiter Station. And, it was difficult to send and receive messages while traveling through it. Most captains kept the communications to emergencies only.

Io realized it might be her only chance to just enjoy being in love, if only for a few weeks. She decided to worry about the rest of it once they made it out the other side, if they made it out the other side.

So at this moment, she was only thinking of his warmth. She was enjoying the feeling of being in love and being loved.

She smiled and snuggled in closer, closing her eyes but hoping not to fall asleep again. Suddenly, the console across the room beeped. At first, Io thought it was the wake-up call letting them know the day cycle had begun.

“Message alert for Io Alexander,” the voice called out.

Omari quickly sat up and looked around. Io slowly sat up beside him.

“Message alert?” she said, reluctantly crawling out of bed. She sat down at the console, clicked a couple of buttons, and then dropped her chin.

Omari walked over, “What is it?”

“I need to see this alone,” she told him.

“Understood,” he said.

Io hadn’t heard him speak like that in weeks. The way he said it, “Understood,” was like a soldier obeying commands. It gave her the chills.

Omari quickly got dressed, and headed for the door. He tried to turn back to her and smile, “I’ll be in my quarters.”

The message was from Kate and sent from Mars. It was for Io’s eyes only and had two additional messages embedded within it. Io hit a couple more buttons and Kate’s face appeared on the screen.

“Hello, dear cousin,” it began. “I know you’re making your way through the belt, so I’ve sent this message, but I do want you to contact me as soon as you get to the other side. I wish I could tell you all this in a direct connection, but we just can’t wait.” Kate paused and took a deep breath. “Where do I begin?”

“Why are you on Mars?” Io whispered to herself.

“Maybe I should start by telling you why this message comes from Mars,” Kate said.

Io smiled. She and Kate always had a connection, which was another reason she knew that everything was about to change.