Aboard the ship Star Hunter on a route to planet Life under the command of Z8, Merko fought against the restlessness that assaulted his mind. Silion's memories, like ghosts of the past, prevented him from resting. An adventure in particular, which occurred five years ago, echoed more strongly in his memory.

At that time, a colossal meteor, the X26, threatened to destroy the planet Life. The Royal Council had exhausted all options to neutralize the threat, leaving only one possibility: to use a powerful laser beam coupled to the Star Hunter to deflect the asteroid.

The problem, however, was that the ship was damaged, and the time to repair it was scarce. Merko, in an impulsive act moved by despair, decided to sacrifice himself.

Ignoring the protocols and possible disapproval of his peers, he embarked on an auxiliary ship with the intention of colliding with the meteor and diverting it from its trajectory. Z8, his onboard computer, calculated the exact point of impact to maximize the chances of success of the mission.

Silion, aware of Merko's determined nature and sensing the danger, tried to discourage him to go. But the commander, convinced of his sacrifice, remained firm in his purpose. He departed, leaving behind a distressed friend and a planet on the edge of chaos. At an unbelievable speed, Merko had scheduled the spaceship for a course against the great asteroid.

The commander traveled with tears in his eyes when he thought of everything he had left behind. At the same time, he hoped the impact was enough to save the inhabitants of his planet. Silion quickly went to meet the engineers, who were recovering the reactors of the ship. He requested urgent repair and accelerated all steps of the maintenance process.

Merko could already see the monster that seemed voracious in its goal. In silence, he said goodbye to his life. As the ship approached, a few kilometers away, he heard a voice shout in a holography that projected in front of him:

"Friend, open the way, I'm going to shoot that meteor with everything we have!"

He only had time to observe the ultra powerful red laser ray pass near his ship and reach X26 with surgical accuracy. The asteroid passed close to Merko and he felt a turbulence with the effect of its passage. His spaceship shook. The meteor moved away from the planet Life and everyone was saved, including the captain, who had been so close to giving his life for the lifeans.

"You're crazy! You would sacrifice yourself for humanity. I would miss you so much, friend."

"Thanks again, Silion. Maybe none of us would be here. You always appear when I need most. I confess that I am happy to be alive. Let's go home celebrate the success of the mission."

***

After recalling that adventure he had lived along with Silion, in a remote time on planet Earth, Merko returned to reality, inside Star Hunter, continuing the persecution of the ship Science at the bottom of the Ocean. With the coordinates he had received from Mirov, he followed his way in search of information that led him to Nicholas, to fulfill his mission.

Once again, the figure of Lorena appeared in his mind despite having seen her 23 years ago. The beauty of her smile framed by the golden curls made her unforgettable. He remembered the woman he had visited in Los Angeles while looking for Nicholas, and felt a shiver in his chest as he recognized her, the same woman he had been in the past when he had lived the best moments of his life. In fact, the two women were the same and he felt it at that moment.

"This is why it felt so strange to see her. I had the feeling that I knew her from somewhere. She is the woman I spent that memorable night with. But could this be possible? And the boy has the right age of the time when I stayed with his mother. Is he my son? No, he can't be. It would be too much a coincidence..."

Lorena was preparing to sleep another night without the presence of her son. She put the little girl on the bed and covered her with a blanket. She stared at Sophia for a few minutes until her daughter closed her eyes.

The mother closed the door and went to her room. There, she cried, missing her son. With tears, she began to remember everything that had happened to her husband who had also disappeared, leaving no sign of his whereabouts.

She didn't understand what had happened to John, after that unforgettable night that they spent together. The next morning, he went to work with the usual mystery. She didn't imagine what they were doing on that military base, where he never came back from. The army had no concrete news and had only said that her husband had disappeared.

She began to receive financial help from the government, but she missed a lot the man she had lost. She also lamented that it was not possible to make a decent funeral and say goodbye to her husband, father of her son.

Lorena was very sad, but continued to raise Nicholas. Very costly, she managed to educate him and paid the University he was studying at. Years later, Sophia was born, the result of marriage to her second husband. The girl was a blessing, whom she also did her best to rear properly.

She was very proud of her children, for they both were good students. They did not get involved with bad company and had clear goals in life. That night, lying in her bed, she thought:

"My shy Nicholas wants to be a physicist. I wanted to know where he is so much. If his father were here, I'm sure he would help me."

She set her eyes on the ceiling while trying to sleep, thinking about that police investigator who stared at her deeply. Lorena had not been able to deviate from that look and, somehow, he had moved something inside her, as if he was someone she already knew.

Lorena couldn't sleep and started thinking about her second husband, Robert, Sophia's father.

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