Gravity (Dark Anomaly #1) - Marina Simcoe Page 0,36

had a boyfriend when I was at the Academy, and a couple of other intimate encounters with men after I had graduated. None of them serious.

On the space station, I stayed away from men entirely. Random connections happened between the staff during missions. My parents had me like that, during the one and only project on which they’d both worked together. Shortly after my birth, they each went their separate ways. My grandparents raised me.

Consciously or not, I had been preparing myself for the same life as my parents. My passion had always been exploring the unknown parts of space. I knew from their experience that it would be a life unsuitable for long-term relationships or for having a family.

Now, was definitely the wrong time even to think about any form of connection.

But I wasn’t thinking about anything at all. I simply allowed myself to enjoy being held in his powerful arms, to let the feeling of comfort and safety take over me, even as neither was guaranteed around here.

“Vrateus,” I said softly, prompted by our closeness to try again. “Please, help me leave here. I promise to organize a rescue mission.”

If ever there was a person for me to talk sense into them here, it had to be him.

He jerked to attention, looking startled by my request.

“Leave?”

“I’ve done some detailed calculations,” I hurried to explain. “I’m confident, it’s possible—”

“No,” he cut me off.

Instead of releasing me from his hug, he held tighter.

“Please. If you just let me, I could try—”

“No!”

I attempted to free myself from his arms, but he flexed them, forming a vise around me.

“Svetlana.” He peered deep into my eyes. “Trying always leads to death. Do you understand? Every single attempt resulted in people and ships smashing against the edge of the disk of the Dark Anomaly.” He gave me a firm shake, as if trying to get his words to sink into my head. “Everyone has died.”

“None of them had the most advanced technology, Vrateus,” I argued. “Humans can now generate incredible amounts of energy from relatively small power sources. I’m confident it’d be enough to combat even the enormous gravitational field of the Anomaly.”

His mouth pressed into a hard line, he combed the claws of one hand through the thick curl of fur hanging over his forehead.

“And what if not?”

I used the moment, to twist myself out of his one-armed hug.

“Well, there is always a slight chance of failure in any test, I guess.”

“No.” He retreated to the exit.

“But the chance of success is so much greater...” I moved after him.

“No,” he repeated over and over, shaking his head, then resolutely slammed his hand on the panel, opening the doors.

“I want you alive,” he said firmly before leaving.

The doors closed, shutting me in my room once again.

How about what I wanted?

The thought burned through me with rising anger. His stubbornness was beyond exasperating. His curt manner of brushing me off—as if I were a child nagging at him with some trivial request, instead of a trained specialist offering him a chance at a better life out there in the world—was infuriating.

Maybe my earlier guess was right. Vrateus didn’t want to be rescued—either out of fear of the unknown or unwillingness to relinquish the absolute control he had on the Anomaly. He might not want to leave behind everything he had accomplished here.

Why would he care how I felt about losing the life I had chosen? About having to play the role of a sex toy for the rest of my existence?

In the eight days I had spent here, over six years had already passed on Earth and my station. My mission contract had ended. Everyone I knew had grown that much older. And every day, every hour I spent here, the life out there kept moving at a much faster pace.

Obviously, Vrateus didn’t feel my sense of urgency.

That had been my last attempt at trying to convince him to let me go. Now, I was certain I had to do it on my own.

Chapter 12

IT HAD BEEN ANOTHER week and another public “performance” in the mess hall before Vrateus finally allowed me another tour of the Anomaly.

This time, he was taking me to see the gardens. They were located past the library, along the same long and winding corridor that stretched through the entire habitable area of the Anomaly.

“Damirian technology allowed us to grow a variety of plants,” Vrateus told me on the way there. “When Malahki arrived about five years ago, it helped me