Deathworlders Should Not Be Allowed To Date! Extra 2

Luna VI query: Set the source to Zara's personal logs.

As you wish!

Luna VI query: Narrate Zara's return to Irisa.

***

Zara and Robert walked side by side through the narrow corridor of Irisa decommissioned joint space station, their shoulders nearly brushing against its crude walls. Her father walked with perfect straight posture, his sharp-trimmed beard and tailored jumpsuit lending him an elegance fitting of his years. Beside him, Zara's long blonde hair floated slightly in the station's partially reduced artificial gravity, the gentle movement making her appear a different person from the bald woman who once visited Irisa.

She walked half a step behind her father, her shorter frame nearly brushing against the worn inner walls as they navigated the narrow passage.

Zara stopped abruptly, her hand resting against the scratched metal wall. She looked up at her father, her brow furrowed in confusion. "I don't understand. Why did you buy this place? Even the Irisians dont want it anymore because of the maintenance."

Robert stopped too, turning to face his daughter. "The conglomerate was once like this too," he said. "Just a single O'Neill cylinder that nobody thought was worth its maintenance costs."

Zara's gaze shifted between her father's face and the corridor ahead, her mind racing through possibilities. Could he be planning to construct new habitats around Irisa, expanding this aging station into something grander? Or was this purchase born of wounded pride, a response to Mars and Earth's strengthening ties with the Irisians? She wondered if perhaps he saw this as an opportunity to mend fences, using the station's maintenance as an excuse to have their people return to Irisa after their diplomatic team's long absence. The more she considered each possibility, the more uncertain she became of her father's true intentions.

Zara shook her head, her voice growing firm. "If you think Amara will forgive us for giving Zaenvalor asylum after what he did, you're going to lose money," she said. "The Irisians aren’t desperate for help anymore. After all our wasted effort, Amara still managed to end the civil war without us—and she found someone else to save her planet."

Robert stepped closer to his daughter and flicked his finger against her forehead—that familiar gesture he'd used since she was a little girl whenever she said something he considered stupid. It caused a bit of pain, and she touched the spot with her fingers, her face showing the same dissatisfaction it always did when he did that.

Robert smiled at her frustration. "You're considering just the past and the present," he said. "The needs of the Irisians are not so different from those of humans—we share so many of our habits. That alone opens countless possibilities for the future. And we haven't even considered the growing generation of hybrids or the chance that this planet might one day become a crucial hub for a deathworlder coalition."

Zara frowned, still rubbing her forehead. "I can see that, but I don't understand how this space station helps us with any of it," she said. "Wouldn't building everything new be better than keeping this weird station? We built this thing back when the Irisians wouldn't even let our ships land on their planet without sterilization and quarantine."

Robert gestured for her to keep walking, and as they moved forward, he explained, "They are still recovering from their plight. They're stuck in a mindset where practical things that can protect them now matter more than preserving historical buildings or artifacts that changed their history." He smiled at her again. "Can't you imagine a world where the hybrids would want to visit the place where their parent species first met?"

The more Robert spoke, the more confusion spread across Zara's face. "What? You're buying this to turn it into a museum for visitors?" she asked. "That's just pocket change for us, and such a long-term investment..." She shook her head slightly. "There's still something I'm not seeing."

Robert laughed, enjoying his daughter's annoyance. "Pocket change to me," he said. After making it clear that Zara's inheritance was still very far away, he added, "What you're not seeing is that getting Amara's permission to build anything new in Irisa's orbit would be nearly impossible with our current diplomatic situation. And that's fine—I'm sure years down the line, the Irisians will want to buy this station back, even at a premium. Until then, I'll put it to good use."

"Good use?" Zara asked, just as a door opened and they stepped into the vast space that had once been the station's cafeteria. Her jaw dropped at the sight before her. Scientists moved back and forth across the chamber, carrying equipment and setting up what was clearly becoming some kind of laboratory. "What is this?" she managed to say.

"You see, " he said, "I didn't fail to notice the growing human population on Irisa—many with full pockets and not many opportunities to spend their money here."

Zara's eyes widened. "You want to sell them-"

Robert cut her off. "Health insurance for hybrids will soon be in high demand." He smiled. "New medicine will have to be developed, and soon I expect we'll see a huge number of couples—human women with Irisian males—looking for science to help them do what nature can't. And they'll be willing to pay for it."

Zara's eyes widened as understanding washed over her. She still had a long way to go before becoming the visionary her father was. He had always seen further than her, venturing into enterprises far more lucrative than exporting exotic fruits and building infrastructure. Still, she didn't fail to see a flaw in his plan.

Zara's eyes settled on a huge machine being installed at the far end of the room. "This might not work. Earth and Mars could do the same thing, and they'd have an easier time convincing Amara to allow this business." She sighed. "If only we could go back to the past and change how we treated her when she was just a princess."

Robert smiled at her. "More hybrids isn't something that goes against Amara's agenda. Perhaps she can be convinced if someone goes there and talks to her." He placed a hand on Zara's shoulder. "Someone who helped the wounded Yelara, who's now become quite important, could help."

Zara's face lit up with recognition—he was talking about her. She remembered that day, tending to Yelara's wounds after Elysira had hurt her. She almost threw herself into a happy hug with her father at the chance to return and make things right, when suddenly memories of the war with the rebels flashed through her mind. "Just I..." she trailed off.

Robert's face softened, his expression gentle as his hand remained steady on her shoulder. He gave her all the time she needed to respond, even as the scientists around them began casting concerned glances her way, noticing her distress.

Zara looked around at their pitying glances, the feeling of weakness making her sick to her stomach. She clenched her fists and stared into her father's eyes. "I will go back to Irisa," she said firmly. Then, her voice growing weaker, she added, "But I fear Amara might still see me as a rival. She might think I want to steal Nathan from her, just like she did the last time I saw her."

Her mind drifted to that cruel prank—how terrified she'd felt when Nathan disappeared, leaving her alone in the middle of that forest. Robert pulled her from the memory, saying, "I've received many reports that Amara isn't the jealous type. And perhaps after two years together and two children, she won't even remember she once saw you as a rival."

Zara's reply was a smile, though disgust lurked beneath—not from any lingering romantic interest in Nathan, but because the idea that she, the Conglomerate's representative, could be forgotten was a blow to her ego. As if her time on Irisa had meant nothing, accomplishing little more than earning herself multiple sessions with her therapist.

Noticing her father's surprised expression, Zara quickly clarified, "I doubt any of them have forgotten me," she said. "But I'll go there anyway and fix things with Amara."

Robert gave her a thumbs up, his gaze full of approval. "It'll be good for you to go back there and finally move past that chapter of your life."

Zara crossed her arms, pretending her father's energetic and unrestrained support didn't mean much to her, but internally she was smiling like a little girl who had just been given a new toy.

"So," Zara said, trying to sound casual, "when can I return to Irisa?" She gave him a knowing look. "And knowing you, everything's already arranged."

Robert walked to a viewing port, gazing down at the blue planet below. "You could leave now," he said. "No need for quarantine or Irisian ships anymore. They trust our nanotech to keep harmful bacteria away from their planet now. The whole process to be allowed on the planet is trivial, at least for Caladris."

Zara smiled as she recalled their first landing on Irisa—all those days in isolation, the endless blood tests, and countless interviews they had to endure. The change was remarkable. Nathan and Ryo must have accomplished quite a lot in these past years to earn such trust from the naturally suspicious Irisians.

"What about my ship?" Zara asked.

"Your ship is ready in hatch number three," Robert said. He turned to face her. "You have nothing to worry about this time. I'll be staying here for a few days to oversee the research station setup. Besides, with Earth's fleet protecting Irisa and the Martians lurking around, the chances of the Alliance attacking the planet now are negligible."

Zara just smiled at him and waved goodbye before running toward her ship. The station's layout was familiar to her as she moved through its narrow corridors. As she advanced, memories surfaced of that awful time when Amara's child was kidnapped, and how her father had forbidden her from returning to Irisa, even though she'd spent months arranging her return.

Zara quickly found her ship docked at hatch number three. She pressed her palm against the security panel, waited for the airlock's soft hiss, and stepped inside. The familiar interior of her personal vessel welcomed her as she made her way to the cockpit.

A virtual window materialized in front of her, and the integrated system captured her intention, establishing communication with the ship's AI that would take her back to Irisa after two long years away.

Zara couldn't help but notice the contrast—here she was in her luxurious personal vessel, so different from that empty Irisian cargo ship that had taken them to the surface that first time. The memory brought a smile to her face—she and Ryo had argued the whole way down about who would be first to step on Irisian soil, only for Nathan to accidentally earn that honor because of his mishap with that poisonous plant.

A new window materialized, prompted by her memories, displaying information about Nathan and Ryo over the past two years.

Zara felt a peculiar nostalgia for something she'd never really been part of as she looked at their lives—both married now, with families of their own. How things had changed for them. They'd arrived as explorers, perhaps spies, yet ended up building lives here instead of returning to their planets when the mission ended.

She felt a twinge of inadequacy comparing herself to them. It wasn't just their evident happiness in the pictures—it was that they'd never needed rescuing. They'd seen things through to the end, enduring everything—the civil war, an impossible pregnancy, a royal succession, and even that kidnapping that had exposed the Alliance's true nature to the galaxy.

"Pathetic," she muttered to herself, but quickly straightened in her seat. "It will be different this time."

Right then and there, she decided to convince her father to give the Irisians a fair deal on whatever services he chose to offer. Not from some sudden change of heart or abandonment of profit—but because she sensed Irisa would become an important place in the future. And there was something else, something she couldn't quite grasp–a blurred memory of Irisians dying to save her from danger, events she'd never been able to fully remember.

"Here we go," she said as her ship smoothly undocked. As the blue planet grew larger before her, and the hourglass-shaped space station shrank behind her, she smiled. "It can't go worse than last time, right?"

***

This was an account based on Zara's return to Irisa. The previous narrative is based on the events after Irisa's exploratory mission. According to your current settings, no queries will be suggested.