Free Fortified by J. F. Jenkins Page A

view space. Unlike most on the ship, he found it comforting. His love for the universe was part of what inspired him to enlist in the first place. That and the desire to find his fiancée at the time—Alona. She was placed in charge of a group of Earth teens as well. The group that Sprout belonged to. Alona was from a rival tribe, one that had, up until a few nights ago, been aligned with the green one. The green tribe was trying to commit genocide on the yellow. No one seemed to truly get along. A trend Alan found in the Earth nations as well.
    They handle their fights differently here, he observed. There is war and death, pain. But they fight it on their lands. Why did the Gelandrosimbol think it a good idea to take this conflict off of Altura? There’s so much I don’t understand. He’d joined the army for one reason, and soon lost sight of it. Because while Alona might have been forced into doing the horrible crimes she’d committed against the people of Earth, she’d still chosen to do them. She didn’t fight back. She showed no remorse. The woman he’d been in love with on Altura no longer existed.
    Altura felt like a fictional place to him. He’d been away for so long. Earth was so much like home, even with the culture shock. At the core, where it mattered most, Earthlings and Alturans were exactly the same. They processed the same emotions and had the same motivations. Alan couldn’t fathom hurting these people. It disgusted him that there were some from his planet who saw the people of Earth as lesser beings. Alona is one of them and she is poisoning the minds of her charges into thinking the same way.
    His stomach churned at the thought, and yet he understood completely the spectrum of feelings Orlando went through in regards to his feelings with Sprout, because he often found himself going through them as well. Because just as quickly as he latched onto the anger he held toward Alona, in a second it would fade into sadness over the hollow feeling that’d been left in his heart.
    He could still remember the good moments they shared. Moments where they shared similar dreams and goals with one another, where he saw the goodness inside of her and not the evil. Each day they faded a bit more as his heart healed from the trauma of realizing she wasn’t the woman he’d once thought her to be.
    I’ve changed too, though. Maybe part of the reason we didn’t survive this circumstance is because I’m just as different. What happened to the guy who used to play pranks on his teachers? The guy who broke curfew when he couldn’t sleep? I can’t think of the last time I had any fun. Alan used to be all about fun. It might have been good for him to gain some direction in his life, some sense of responsibility, but he wasn’t so sure he liked the cost. The closest he felt to being his former self was when he was with…
    â€œCadence,” he whispered her name, his eyes closing. With her, he was a normal person. No pressure, no responsibility. He was just a guy. And there is no way I can fall for her. She doesn’t need another potential suitor to stress her out. I’m lonely, nothing more. It’s been so long since I’ve experienced any kind of companionship, and with Alona out of the picture everything feels worse, amplified.
    He kept his gaze on the blue, green, and brown planet in front of him. Besides, it’d never work out anyway. JD and her are best friends and have a lot of history. Once they work out their differences, everything will fall back into place. And if not, Jaes has far more appealing attributes to him than I do. Jaes… What was he going to do? I can’t avoid him forever. After we give back the Ilotus, I’ll tell him everything.
    It gave Alan the perfect excuse to delay the conversation. They were too busy working and finalizing plans. It was the kind of conversation that needed real time dedicated to