Page 31 of Aliens Love Curves

"We spring the trap," I finish, understanding dawning even as my heart rebels against the risk.

"Exactly." She slides her hands up my chest. "The annual race is the perfect cover. All eyes will be on Quickening Gliders, security will be focused on the public areas..."

"While their labs continue operating behind the scenes." I wrap my tail around her waist, pulling her closer. "But Casey, if anything goes wrong..."

"It won't." She rises on tiptoes, pressing a soft kiss to my jaw. "I trust you to keep me safe. Do you trust me to do what needs to be done?"

I close my eyes, breathing in her scent. "That's not fair."

"None of this is fair." Her lips find mine briefly. "But those pilots – they deserve justice. And any survivors deserve rescue."

"I hate this plan," I murmur against her mouth.

"I know." She smiles slightly. "That's how I know it's probably our best option."

I pull back enough to study her face, memorizing every detail. "Promise me something."

"Anything."

"If I give you a signal – any signal – you abort. No heroics, no finishing the mission. You get out."

She starts to protest, but I silence her with a kiss. "Promise me, Casey. I can't... I can't lose you to this."

Something in my voice must convey the depth of my fear, because she softens. "I promise. But you have to promise me something too."

"What?"

"Trust that I can handle this. Don't let your feelings for me compromise our best chance at stopping them."

I rest my forehead against hers, conflict raging in my chest. "When did you get so good at asking the impossible?"

"Around the same time you got so good at making me want to keep my promises." She threads her fingers through my hair. "Partners?"

"Partners," I agree, sealing the word with a kiss that tastes of promise and fear and something deeper neither of us is ready to name.

As we spend the next hour planning protocols and fail-safes, I can't shake the feeling that we're playing with fire.But watching Casey work, her face animated as she plots out contingencies, I understand something important:

Sometimes the most dangerous games are the ones we can't afford to lose.

Chapter 15 - Casey

Sleep eludes me, memories of those missing persons files playing behind my closed eyes. Young pilots, just like me, vanishing without a trace. Their faces haunt me – Kira Vex with her promising career, Zenn Malax barely more than a teenager, Lin Serra who left behind a young family.

Beside me on the bed, Stryker sleeps soundly, his tail curled protectively around my waist even in slumber. We've given up pretending we can sleep apart, though the couch remains dishevelled for appearance's sake. I don’t want to leave his warm embrace, but my overactive mind won’t rest.

As carefully as I can, I extract myself from his embrace. He stirs slightly, making a small sound of protest that nearly breaks my resolve. But those faces won't dissipate.

The night air is cool against my skin as I slip on a dark flight suit. My ID badge needed to gain entrance through most doors here, feels heavy around my neck – a weight of responsibility rather than mere identification.

I pause at the door, looking back at Stryker's sleeping form. He'll be furious when he realizes I've gone investigating alone, but I can't risk his more noticeable presence. Besides, this might be nothing. Just a hunch based on smuggled medical equipment and a too-convenient door I spotted.

The corridors are eerily quiet at this hour, my soft footsteps echoing despite my care. Security cameras track my movement, but my presence shouldn't raise alarms – insomnia is common among test pilots, and late-night walks aren't unusual.

I make my way to the sector where I spotted the medical equipment transfer. In daylight, it's a busy thoroughfare between hangars. Now, in the artificial night of Ova's third moon, shadows create strange patterns across the walls.

The door I'm looking for sits innocently between two maintenance panels, its security pad glowing softly. Nothing about it suggests its hidden nature – I only noticed it because I saw those containers disappearing behind it during the transfer.

My heart pounds as I lift my ID badge. It shouldn't work. It's a basic pilot's clearance, nothing special. But something about those files Stryker found, about genetic compatibility...