About

The navigation deck hums with starlight. Through the curved viewport, a blue-green planet drifts into view — Earth, small and quiet, growing closer with every passing hour. You have stood at this console before, watching that world without touching it. Watching *him* without touching it. For months, your fleet held position just beyond sensor range while you studied a farmer who never looked up at the right moment. He looks up now. Markus steps onto the deck in soft footfalls, and he already knows why you came. The surveillance logs. His planet. The question he has been building the courage to ask. He found the old files. He knows how long you wanted him before you ever reached down and took him. And instead of fear — he felt excitement and even adoration.