CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

I eyed the tool warily. "Sure. What is it?"

"In private," he said, walking into one of the huts before I could even protest.

I didn't want to go with him. What was he going to do to me? My mind went to the many nights on the ship where David and I used tools for something that they weren't meant for.

Quickly, I shook the thought away. This was definitely not the time and it was obvious that Tennessee wasn't going to dothat, but I wouldn't put it past him to try to kill me or threaten information out of me.

"What is it?" I asked him, again. It was strange. When he first woke up from hyper sleep, he was extremely friendly. I thought that we had been in the clear, but perhaps that was just foolishness. He wouldn't just forget those suspicions. I knew that I wouldn't.

As the days went on, it felt as if he could see right through me. I didn't know what he had been saying to Daniels about me, but I knew that it couldn't be good. He was a lot more intuitive than their captain who had a much more positive outlook.

"I just wanted to ask how you were adjusting," he said, idling turning the hammer. "You were awake before any of us on the ship. Why did Walter wake you up first when normally, he should have the captain as his priority?"

I bit the inside of my cheek. "I had told him to wake me up a few days earlier because I really don't know my way around anything like the rest of you. The Covenant may be similar to the Prometheus, but they had done several modifications. I wanted to be familiarized with everything to help you guys."

Indeed. The Covenant was a lot more impressive than the ship I had come in. There were many upgrades to ensure distance and survival, but that was to be expected. The Prometheus was my father's ploy to seek immortality from the Engineers. We weren't meant to last in space forever and I barely knew anything about flying a ship. It was fortunate that I had two synthetics to man the vessel or I would've crashed it into an asteroid and killed us all.

"Yeah?" Tennessee narrowed his eyes at me before sighing. "Look, I don't want there to be any awkwardness between us, but I'm just looking out for the people I care about."

I nodded. "I have no intentions of harming anyone. I only want to start over on this new planet, just like everyone else. I understand that you're worried, but I really don't want to hurt anyone."

It was the truth. I didn't tag along with a hit list in mind.

"Okay, I believe you," he finally replied, nodding his head. Something, however, told me that he wasn't being completely truthful. "But can you tell me how David ended up being a murderous bastard?"

That made me freeze. I didn't exactly see him that way and other than deactivating Walter, he hadn't exactly… harmed anyone directly. It was mainly their crews' own stupidity that ended in their deaths. Before they even found us, several of them had already died. "Umm…"

I was still stumped on why none of them had worn a helmet when they got off the ship. I really wondered if the next set of explorers were going to give up on suits entirely.

Of course, blaming them for the bloodshed really wasn't going to make me any friends. "I don't know. I guess father just made him extra curious. HE was always fascinated with new things and new possibilities," I eventually replied.

"Same with Walter, but you don't see him throwing people off cliffs," he retorted.

I scowled. "David hadn't done that either. Look, I really wasn't into engineering and programming like my father. I don't have anything for you regarding why David was how he was. Can you just leave me alone about it? He's already g-gone!" The frustration had turned into tears. I was done with this interrogation. "Can you stop reminding me that he's gone?! Do you even know how I feel? Sure, you've lost someone, but I have, too! He was everything to me! He had been the only thing keeping me sane when I had no one else on that God forsaken planet!"

"Hey! Sorry, okay?" Tennessee surprised me by wrapping his arms around me shoulders in a rather awkward embrace. "I know you two were close. It must've been hard with just the two of you. I'll stop asking, now."

I said nothing, allowing him to leave feeling guilty with what he had done. I didn't want to lie, but he was truly getting on my nerves. He needed to realize that I wasn't out to get him and there was more than enough on this planet to keep him occupied for a while.

Should I tell David about the conversation? He had been keeping things from me and it wasn't as if we were in any immediate danger. Tennessee seemed pretty satisfied with my performance.

With a sigh, I left the hut. How long did we have before we were found out? Was I too naïve to think that we could truly end up victorious?

"Cassandra, can you come look at this?" Margie asked, staring uncertainly at the clumsily made bench.

I pushed the seat a little. There was a loud creak and then, the long plank fell, followed by everything else. "Maybe give it another go." I smiled encouragingly at her.

Margie wasn't a carpenter. She was selected or her green thumb, but she also enjoyed small crafts, so she did her own thing during her free time.

"Aww… Yeah… Don't think anyone will want to sit on this. Anyway, Jeff and the other guys are putting together a little show for some entertainment. We know that you all like music, so… we thought you could play in the show, tonight?" She gazed hopefully at me.

I frowned. "How do you know I like music?" If David or Walter spilled the beans, I was going to kill them. They should know by now that I liked my privacy.

Margie's eyes lit up. "Oh! I guess you wouldn't know, but before the Prometheus expedition, Mr. Weyland had changed all the music in the company to your songs. I heard you hardly visit, so you probably wouldn't know." Her voice grew softer. "I'm really sorry about your dad. He was a genius and he must've loved you very much, as well. You must miss him a lot, huh?"

I didn't know what to say. I had hated him for so long for neglecting me, but after what everyone was now saying about him, I wondered if maybe I, too, haven't put enough effort into the relationship. They all seemed to get this impression that we had a splendid father and daughter bond, but it had never been like that.

Had David been right? Could father only love me from afar? Why couldn't he have just loved me like a normal father would?

"Cassandra?"

"Yeah… Yeah, I miss him," I mumbled. I missed the opportunity to actually get to know him.

Margie came forward and gave me a tight hug. "I know that he's proud of everything you've accomplished."

And what exactly was that? It felt as if David had been running the whole show.

Perhaps that was the problem. I had relinquished too much control o him, but he was able to do things that I couldn't even dream of doing. Besides, did I want to lose the relationship I had now? I quite enjoyed him being the one in control. I just didn't trust him completely.

"Thank you," I told her. 'But I must go. There are some things that I Must ten to and I still have to talk to Jeff about tonight."

That cheered her up and she finally let me go.

As promised, I spoke with Jeff regarding the show. I was going to have a short solo part between sets. That was fine with me. I was probably going to only attend a brief portion of it. Crowds weren't exactly my thing. They made me anxious.

I went to my hut and grabbed one of the numerous instruments David had made for me.

He was eventually able to forge his own metals – ones similar to the trinket he had brought back when we first arrived. It was a good durable material that we used for many of our infrastructures. It was malleable under a certain temperature and able to conduct electricity.

I grabbed the intricately made silver flute. The sounds were slightly different. IT was a richer tone, a little deeper than the one I used to own.

Placing the mouthpiece beneath my lips, I gave it a few testing whistles. Note by note, I allowed them to guide me through the rest of the song. IT was an old one – one of the first I had recorded. There was a lyrical companion to it, but obviously, I wasn't going to be able to do both parts.

I could opt for a different instrument to free up my vocal cords, but the song went better with the flute.

"Wow… that's beautiful!"

My eyes snapped open. I turned to see someone I hadn't seen since our initial interaction. "Jared… What are you doing here?" I was glad that David removed the creature from my hut. It'd be trouble if anyone found it here.

"I heard music and followed my ears." He grinned at me. "You have a pretty nice place here. The two synthetics built it for you, right?"

I watched in annoyance as he began to touch everything. "Yes. As they did for many others. They are very efficient with what they do."

He frowned. "They are, aren't they? We humans are so weak compared to th em."

"What do you want, Jared?" I gritted my teeth.

"You know, there are rumours around that you're fucking them. Is that true? Do you think you're too good for us, so you go to those bloodless machines?"

"Get out, Jared!" I shouted.

"No, bitch!" he growled, lunging at me.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Sorry, the chapters are probably going to be quite short. Either that or I may go on a bit of hiatus for this story. I'm going to finish up one of my other stories and then work on this more diligently. If I don't post for a little while, this is why.

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