Voyage to Ayama

by K. A Knight

  We spend a couple of hours watching the stars and talking. When he walks me back to my unit, there’s something different between us that scares and intrigues me. He doesn’t even try anything when we get to my door, just smiles at me and leaves.

  I scan my hand, lost in my thoughts, and stop at the sight that greets me. Barrott is pacing in my living room and the brothers are sitting on my sofa looking tense. Barrott spots me first and stomps over to me.

  “Where the hell have you been? I get to your door to find these two idiots have lost you at a party? Do you know how worried I was? Anything could have happened to you, I even looked through the cameras.” I let him rant, seeing the fear in his eyes.

  “I’m fine. I had to take Effie home; she wasn't feeling well.” His eyes narrow to slits.

  “And then where did you go?” He growls, crossing his arms over his chest.

  “For a walk.” I don’t want to tell him about me and Cain, it feels like a secret; something only we need to know. I walk around him, ignoring the waves of anger rolling off him and then collapse in the sofa opposite the brothers. They frown at me.

  “Why didn’t you get us?” Auden asks. He looks sad.

  “You were busy,” I shrug. They both watch me, I can’t read their expression.

  “Don’t do that again, Indy,” Barrott shouts. I stand up, suddenly angry.

  “I am an adult, Barrott. If I want to go to a party and then go for a walk, I will.” I shout back. “Stop treating me like a kid!” I fume. He stares at me, his shoulders tight and his face hard.

  “Maybe I would if you stopped acting like one. Do you know what it’s like worrying about you twenty-four seven because I never know what stupid thing you are going to do next? It’s like a burden on my chest.” I step back like he slapped me. You know that feeling when your whole body aches and your chest feels constricted? Yeah, it sucks. It only makes me angrier though - in a simple sentence he can hurt me so much.

  “I am not your burden. You owe me nothing, just because you were there the day my parents died. I’m not your family, I’m not even your friend.” My voice is venomous and covers my heart breaking at his words. He stops and stares me at me. I think he just realised what he said, but it’s too late.

  “Indy, I didn’t mean-“ His radio crackles and we both stare at it.

  “Go, I don’t want you here and stop following me.” I stomp off to my room, needing to get away before he sees my tears. I told Effie he thought of me like some kid sister and his harsh words just confirmed it. Why did she have to get my hopes up? I get into my bed and lay on my side. Today started so well and now it’s gone to shit. I eventually hear the door to my unit closing and my heart goes with it. I hear footsteps, but I ignore them, my back to the door. The bed dips as one of the brothers curls up behind me. Auden walks around the bed and lays in front of me, his back facing me. I’m stiff in Eldon’s arms, my thoughts still on where they were earlier. Auden slides back, as close to me as he can get. He grabs my arm, wrapping it around him. His hands holds my other hand against his chest. Eldon wraps his arm around me tighter.

  “We weren’t busy,” he starts. I stay quiet.

  “We got rid of those annoying girls and went to get another drink while you were dancing. The queue was huge, and when we got back, you were gone. We searched for you when we realised you weren’t there. We left straight away and came here.” Eldon’s voice is soft and heals my hurting heart a bit. The hole that Barrott left jagged and painful.

  “You didn’t have to, you could have gone with those girls,” I mutter. Auden’s body shakes with silent laughs and Eldon laughs out loud. I tense again, he snuggles up behind me closer.

  “It’s cute when you’re jealous, good looking, but let me make something clear. We didn’t want those girls, we don’t want any but the one in our arms right now.” My heart speeds up and all my jealousy and anger disappears.

  “Really?” My voice is soft and shy.

  “Really,” Auden says.

  “We knew it the first day we saw you. You’re not like other girls and we love it.” Eldon says against the back of my head.

  “But how does this-“ I start, questions tumbling from my lips.

  “Shh, let’s leave everything for another day. All you need to know is: we want you, Indy.” I nod and smile, my heart aches a bit less. I lay between them and drift off to sleep, but my heart clenches at the thought of Barrott, and pain spikes through me. My eyes fill as I remember his words. I hide it in Auden’s back. My body is between the brothers, but my heart is out there with my surly shadow- not mine anymore.

  Even though he said I’m a burden, I can’t imagine my life without him. I wonder if he will listen to me and leave me alone. I don’t know which I want. Either way will hurt. To have him always with me, but unable to touch him, is torture. But not having him in my life? I can’t imagine it.

  TRANSMISSION LOG 00307

  DATE: 2033

  MISSION: 43, COLONY

  SHIP: DAWNBREAKER

  DESTINATION: AYAMA

  >…………… Accepted

  >There was a large attack last night. One of the loading bays sustained serious damage. The rebels have claimed responsibility. They have warned us it will only get worse until we tell everyone. Please advise on how to proceed?

  DAY 918

  I wake up before the boys, still warm and cocooned in their arms. Grudgingly, I slide out of the bottom of the bed without waking them. I freeze when Eldon grumbles in his sleep and cuddles to his brother’s back, throwing his arm over his middle. Covering my mouth with my hand, I hold on to the giggle at how adorable it is. It’s times like this that make me wish we still had ways to capture and save imagery, cameras I think they were called. It’s a sad thing that they were deemed useless and a waste of resources.

  I shower and make my way downstairs. As I wander into the kitchen area, I notice the comms unit blinking with a message waiting for me. Clicking the symbol, I access the message.

  Tonight.

  Excitement runs through me. It’s exactly what I need after what happened with Barrott last night. I can lose myself and let the hurt out. Plus, I get to see Cain again. Lost in my thoughts, I jump when arms wrap around my waist from behind. One of the brothers buries his head in my hair and just breathes me in. Eldon appears in front of me with a smile, so it must be Auden. His smile turns gentle when he looks at me in his brother’s arms.

  “Come on, good looking. Time for breakfast.” he says before brushing a gentle kiss on my forehead. Auden mumbles again, tightening his hold on me. Laughing, I try and step away. I don’t know what sort of mess I would be in if they weren't here right now. Probably be replaying every little detail from mine and Barrott’s fight. Yet, I find myself enjoying this time I have with them even if a storm hovers over me; threatening to sink me back into its depths at the slightest provocation.

  Auden clings onto me like a monkey, bringing me back to the here and now.

  “No. My Indy,” he says louder before burying his face into my neck. I laugh again, Eldon rolls his eyes, but his smile widens.

  “If you let Indy go, we can get food,” he offers, I feel Auden physically hesitate.

  “I’ll even give you my bread,” I offer. He grins against my neck.

  “Promise?”

  “Promise,” I say sweetly. He kisses my neck, sending a shiver through me and making my stomach flop. He lets me go and rushes to the door, looking back at us like an eager kid.

  “Come on then,” he whines as he bounces on his toes. Still laughing, I follow him, a grinning Eldon not far behind.

  It turns out to be just me and the brothers at breakfast. Effie sends me a message as I’m leaving for training saying she overslept and is hung over and Cain is probably wandering somewhere. I don’t even want to think about Barrott. I turn to the guys just before I leave.

  “Oh, I forgot to tell you, there’s a race tonight if you still want to go?” Both of their faces brighten and the
n they nod vigorously in sync.

  “I’ll meet you later on then,” I say around a wide smile, they both swoop in and drop kisses on either cheek before disappearing, muttering excitedly to each other. My mood is bright but instantly sours when I get to the loading bay. There’s tape across the door and guards milling around everywhere. Some are armed and watching everyone come and go suspiciously. My happy bubble that the brothers created bursts, the storm swooping in. I really need to distract myself from the fight and flight training is my usual way, but it looks like that won’t be happening. Frowning, I spot the other trainees standing against the wall. I slowly walk over to them.

  “What happened?” I ask all of them. A middle-aged man named Gus spares me a look.

  “Training is cancelled, apparently there was a pipe explosion.” It takes me a while to figure out what he said because of his strong accent, but when I do, I only frown harder, studying the bay door.

  Why would the guards need to be here for a pipe explosion? Plus, I don’t think any of the pipes in there would explode, after all, safety mechanisms were put in place for such a thing. My dad even told me so as he watched them be installed. Questions turn over and over in my head and are only stopped when one of our trainers stops and clears his throat before us.

  “Sorry for the delay. We were talking over the plan. Training is cancelled for the rest of the week. We will let you know when it’s back on.” He is smiling at us, but it seems forced and something in his eyes has mine narrowing in suspicion. Why is he sweating? He seems nervous.

  “Will we get to make up the time? And what about the test?” One of the others asks.

  “We will run the test next week and you will all get extra time.” His smile is so forced, I feel it might crack.

  “What happened?” I ask loudly. He turns to me, his smile fading when he realises who asked. He glances back hesitantly before swallowing and looking back at me.

  “Pipe explosion,” he offers, sounding unsure.

  “In the loading bay? Where the pipes are all locked behind steel walls and are checked every week?” I ask sarcastically, my dad’s knowledge easily coming to me. He shuffles from side to side not looking at me.

  “I don’t know the details, but I can assure you we are getting it fixed and making sure it doesn’t happen again.” He smiles again and turns on his heel, marching away. The others talk between themselves and wander off, but I stay near the wall; watching. The guards are carrying weapons and scanning everything, not just the people. I see the door slide open for the instructor and catch a look inside. That was no pipe explosion.

  I frown, but wander away, knowing the guards will usher me away soon. My curiosity is getting the better of me and I really want to ask Barrott, but I don’t want to with our fight still fresh in my mind. Taking a deep breath, I try to come up with a plan.

  I mean, it has nothing to do with me. Plus, the crew will deal with it, but even my own thoughts do nothing to dampen my curiosity. I shake my thoughts away and instead head to the lagoon to swim laps, hoping that will improve my mood. After an hour or so of swimming, an idea pops into my head. Racing to the shore, I dry off and head over to the medical wing to see Effie. She’s frazzled, running around manically when I walk in. She glances at me before holding her hand up in a wait sign. Nodding, I rock back and forth on my heels.

  The walls in here are painted white and grey and hover beds are placed around the large room, with holo screens ready to turn opaque when needed. Unlike the old Earth hospital, you find on those movies Effie loves so much, there's no wires and machinery anywhere. Instead, each doctor has a palm analyzer and scanner. Injections are done with nanobots and surgeries are practically a thing of the past with all our technology. I watch as Effie approaches a man clutching half of his face, screaming so much he is almost jackknifing off the bed. Blood and puss are everywhere, and it looks like a nasty burn. She waves her metal scanner over him and nods to herself at the results. She quickly programmes the bots and presses the scanner into his neck. He instantly relaxes, his eyes dilating with the pain meds and the nanobots work to reconstruct his face. Turning away, she presses the holoscreen, which turns grey. She stops and talks to another doctor before offering him a reassuring smile. Turning, she frowns at me, jerking her head in the direction of the corner of the room. Away from prying eyes. I follow after her, waiting until she turns. She runs her eyes over me worriedly, checking for injuries.

  “Is everything okay?” she asks. I can understand why, I never come here, after all. It reminds me too much of that day. I pull myself out of my memories, my mind occupied with thoughts of the ‘explosion.’

  “Sure. Just wondered if your dad was at work today?” She looks at me strangely.

  “Erm yeah, down on D-Deck.” Someone shouts her name and she looks at them and waves.

  “I gotta go.” She looks back at me. “You sure you’re okay?” She asks, concern lacing her words. I force a smile.

  “Yep, fine.” Nodding, she turns away.

  “Oh Effie, have you heard anything about a pipe explosion?” She looks around and then steps closer to me again.

  “Yeah, why?”

  I shrug. “Just curious.” She looks at me in that weird way, but answers.

  “Some guys got brought in this morning from the loading bay.” Looking around again, she lowers her voice. “But the wounds didn’t make sense for a simple pipe explosion.”

  I tilt my head. “How so?” She fidgets with her scanners, pursing her lips.

  “It’s hard to explain, they looked like they had been in a fire. I thought the pipes in there automatically freeze when damaged which would mean shrapnel cuts, at worst but...” Someone shouts her name again and she gives me one last look. She’s right. If the pipes in the bay had exploded, there wouldn’t be fire; it’s a safety precaution. And to only be limited to the bay?

  “Don’t say anything ‘kay? See you later.” She waves and runs off, her mind already on her next patient.

  I was going to ask Howard about it. I want to see if I’m right about the pipes, but when I get to D-Deck, he’s not there. With a defeated sigh, I head back to my unit. Something weird is going on. First, Barrott is working longer and longer shifts and complaining. Then, Howard mentioned the accidents aren’t accidents, and now they are covering something up in the loading bay? Something is bugging me, but I don’t know what. I know most people would be happy to have the week off and accept the excuses, but if there's something going on, I need to know so I can protect Effie and Howard. It doesn’t help that I have a brain that won’t let me forget and I have an obsession with trying to solve puzzles. I blame my mum for that. Thinking about her has her last words echoing in my head, making me suck in a deep breath.

  Look for the truth.

  What truth, and how did she know something would happen? Logically, she must have, it’s too specific a thing to warn me of. Frowning, I rub my head. There were other people there that day. Maybe she didn't want to give anything away so tried to warn me without being specific. But if so, what was she telling me to look for? Freezing, I think back over the accident that killed them. It was a fire too… in a sealed, controlled lab? I try to remember the specifics, but I wasn't paying much attention back then. Surely it can’t all be connected. Frustrated, I braid my hair trying to think through everything. In the end, all I have is more questions.

  I spend the rest of the day trying to relax, in vain. Ideas and theories run through my head and it’s only when the door buzzes that I let myself shake them away. The brothers are waiting on the other side, excitement etched on their faces for the race. It fuels my own, letting me escape my own thoughts. Hopefully, I can let go for a while.

  We head down to the races, sneaking through the airlock to the lower area. When we reach the edge of the crowd, they both look overwhelmed. I guess they didn't realise how big it was. Dragging my eyes over the hundreds of people and the race track, I can understand why. The first time I saw it, I knew I had to
be a part of it. Not to mention, when I saw the first race, my heart was beating in time to the stomping, my hands clutching the railing like a wheel as I imagined I was the one in the speeder. I approached Lee that night and told him I would do whatever it takes to be in the next race. The rest, as they say, is history. He gave me a chance and when he saw I was a natural, he guaranteed my spot at each and every race. Grinning at the brothers, the crowd's excitement mounting my I own, I drag them to two seats up front and push them down. I can almost taste the adrenaline, making me want to get started all that much quicker. I just wish Effie didn’t have to work because of the explosion.

  “Okay, stay here. I’ll be back when I’m done.”

  They look at me and I laugh at their expressions.

  “Be good,” I kiss them both on their cheeks like they do to me. As I’m pulling back, Eldon grabs my arm.

  “Wait, this is safe right?” he asks, concern flashing in his eyes. I laugh again.

  “Nope, not even a little.” I wave while turning. Vaulting over the railing, I wander over to the race track. Smiling, I make my way to the speeders which are already lined up ready for the drivers. Lee is standing over to the side talking to Cain, he turns and smiles when he sees me. I offer him a smile, but head over to my speeder. I can’t afford to be distracted. I leave the door open and slide into the seat, flipping the on switch. I watch as the four holo screens light up. There are only two seats in mine, the three from the back were removed to make me faster. The screens cover the right-hand side and down to the control panel next to the driver's seat, waiting for me.

  “Driver recognition,” the automated voice asks.

  “Indy Stewart.”

  “Welcome back, Indy.” The computer chimes, alerting me that my controls have been set up.