Linking back to his human body was like dying.
Kaelen had forgotten. Five years of living in a strong, healthy, alien form had erased the memory of what it felt like to be broken. When he opened his eyes in the link chamber, the pain hit him like a physical blow—the weight of paralyzed legs, the ache of unused muscles, the slow, grinding misery of a body that had given up.
He gasped. Choked. Nearly vomited.
"Easy, easy." Dr. Vance's voice was a lifeline in the darkness. "Breathe. Let your body adjust."
"God..." His voice was a croak, thin and human and wrong. "I forgot. I forgot how bad it is."
"You've been away a long time." She helped him sit up, wrapped a blanket around his shoulders. "Your human body has been in cryo-stasis for most of it. It's weak, but it's alive."
Kaelen looked down at his hands. Pale. Five-fingered. Covered in the small scars and blemishes of a lifetime. They felt like someone else's hands. Like gloves he had outgrown.
"The base," he said. "What's happening out there?"
Vance's expression darkened. "It's bad, Kaelen. Worse than we thought. The Venture Star brought more than settlers. They brought military. A lot of military. And they brought someone you know."
She gestured to a viewscreen, flicked it on.
The face that appeared made Kaelen's blood run cold.
Commander Thorne. Older now, his hair gray, his scar more pronounced. But the same cold eyes. The same cruel smile. The same absolute certainty that he was right.
"He survived," Kaelen whispered.
"He survived and he's been waiting. The RDA gave him command of the entire colonization force. He's not here to mine, Kaelen. He's here to erase." Vance paused. "He's been asking about you. About the 'traitor who went native.' He wants you found. He wants you dead."
Kaelen stared at the screen, at the face of the man who had tried to destroy everything he loved.
"Good," he said quietly. "I want him too."