Markus gave me a questioning look but I shook my head. He pulled back on the throttle and the ship lifted and turned. James and Kale had dropped the guns and ran directly toward us. Kale lifted his own weapon and aimed at the ship—his ship. A leaden weight sank in my stomach. I hadn’t planned on the fact that he’d be willing to try and take down his own ship.
“Oh, God. He’s gonna shoot us down!” Britta screamed and covered her eyes with her hands.
James reached over and put his hand on top of Kale’s gun, pushing it down toward the ground. Some exchange took place and then it was James’ voice I heard through Markus’ com. “Tora, what are you doing?”
The deep scratchiness of his voice got to me, even through the com device.
“Keep going,” I told Markus. “And toss me your com device.”
We had to be almost out of firing range. If James had really wanted me dead, why did he stop Kale from shooting us? Unless what he wanted in one piece wasn’t me, but the ship and my guns.
Once I had the com device in my hand, I wanted to rage at him for betraying my trust and tell him where he could put those guns, but I also knew what he must be thinking. That I’d left them to die down there. Now he’d know how I felt. But a part of me wondered if maybe Kale was the one James was deceiving. I refused to believe that the time in the weapons room and my room had all been an act. Or maybe I was just refusing to believe what a bad judge of character I really was. I fiddled with the device.
“Tora?”
“I’m here. Give me a sec.” I clicked off the device.
“Hey, Tora?” Markus asked.
Irritated, I looked up. “What?”
“Are we out for a joyride or are we actually going somewhere? Like Caelia. Just wondering if I’m supposed to be headed in a specific direction is all.”
I shook my head. “Not Caelia. Sector Two.”
Shock crossed Britta’s face. “But there’s nothing there. It’s a giant dust bowl, just like here. Come on, I want off this burnin’ planet.”
“Yeah,” Markus agreed. “What’s up?”
“There’s a survivor there. I promised I’d help him if I could. So we’re helping.”
Markus nodded. “Another survivor? Cool.” He entered coordinates and flicked a switch, which must have set some type of autopilot, because he stretched his arms above his head. “So, to Sector Two. In and out, and on to Caelia, right?”
I frowned. That plan made the most sense, but leaving James and Kale meant they’d die for sure. It made me no better than them, not that I wanted to be the one dying either. If there was even a chance James was playing Kale, could I live with the fact that I’d killed them? At least by rescuing Alec, I’d have someone to back me up if we did go back and I was wrong about James.
“Right. Maybe. Well, n-no. We might go back for them.” I pressed the button on the com device. “You still there?”
The pause felt like an eternity. “Yeah, I’m still here.” His voice sent tingles along my spine. How could I spin this so Kale wouldn’t suspect that I’d caught wind of his plan to kill me, yet still make our sudden exit believable? Maybe I’d give the truth a shot.
“There’s another survivor. In Sector Two. I knew Kale wouldn’t agree to save him, that he’d think one life wasn’t worth deviating from the plan. I think one life is worth something.”
Nothing but silence from the other end. My heart pounded. “Anyway, we’re going to get him. It’ll only take a few hours and we’ll be back for you. Then we’ll ship out.”
Several choice curse words erupted through the line. Kale was not a happy camper. He must have grabbed the com system from James. “You’ve got buckets to learn about being a soldier, soldier. You better have your asses back here by sixteen hundred hours. Meet us at the Consulate ship.”
Oh, that’s right—the “no enemy survivors” thing.
“We’ll be there.” I clicked off and took in a huge breath. I had no idea what I’d do when we got there, but hopefully, I’d figure something out. At least it sounded like Kale bought my story. My insubordination would be attributed to being a bleeding heart rather than running from him.
I tossed the device back to Markus. “You must both think I’m crazy, huh?”
Markus chuckled. “Being crazy is how you’ve survived this long on your own. I get us rescuing the survivor, but not sure I get the going back part. You understand they were planning to kill you, right? I don’t trust Kale as far as I can throw him.”
Britta studied me closely, not saying anything.
I sighed. “Go on, Britta. Just say what you’re thinking. At least I know you won’t sugarcoat it.”
She chewed her nail. “Look, I’m already on Kale’s shit list and he’ll probably blame this on me too. Markus is right that I don’t think we can trust Kale anymore. But the James thing …”
“What?”
Britta spit off part of her nail. “It’s just that, for whatever reason, I think he likes you … or liked you anyway. Just something he said while you were out of the room in the bunker. That I should lay off you … that you could be trusted.”
My heart raced. “You waited to tell me this until now?”
She shrugged. “Does it matter? He still told Kale he’d kill you. You know the score as well as I do. It’s kill or be killed. That’s why we’re both survivors.”
Kill or be killed. It was sad that entire human existence had been reduced to such a bleak motto. But it was true.
“But what if James didn’t mean it and was just playing along?” I heard the desperation in my voice.
“Maybe,” Britta agreed, “but are you gonna risk being blasted into bits just to find that out?”
She had a point.
Britta’s face changed. She looked lost in thought. After a minute, her eyes refocused on me. “You’re not the only one that’s been burned by someone you trusted. It sucks, but you know, what doesn’t kill you …”
“Makes you one tough-ass bitch,” Markus finished. He blew Britta a kiss. “I’ll take care of you, baby. I promise I won’t take my eyes off you.”
Britta tossed her hair over her shoulder. “And what if I want more than your eyes on me?”
Ewwww.
Markus smirked. “It’s on autopilot and we’ve got a little time to kill.” He sauntered over to Britta and laced his fingers through hers. “Come with me, beautiful.”
I gawked at them. “What? You can’t leave me up here by myself. What if something goes wrong?”
He laughed and pulled Britta through the doorway. “Get some rest. You look exhausted. If any alarms go off, you know where to find me.”
The sky zoomed by at an amazing speed, and though I’d never traveled to this part of the world before, it was hard to ignore the fact that Markus and Britta were doing god-knows-what in the other room.
I typed a quick message to Alec letting him know we were on the way, and he messaged back that he was “in awe of my bad-assedness.” I had a sneaking suspicion that he had an addiction to old shows too.
After a while, I refused to look down at the ground below. It was too depressing. The devastation reached everywhere. Miles upon miles of rock and dirt stretched before the ship, punctuated by the occasional cacti grove. The cacti were the only evidence that the planet wasn’t completely dead.
I must have drifted off for awhile, and I woke with my right hand gripping the Infinity on my wrist. I fingered the device, trying to figure out what the hell I could do to save myself when we returned to the Consulate ship. Hoping Kale and James wouldn’t try to ambush me, hoping I wouldn’t have to kill people, hoping there was still a peaceful way out of this mess. Kale’s voice echoed in my head: Hope is for pansies who can’t shoot straight.
A noise sounded near me and I whipped my head around.
Markus grinned. “You were expecting someone else?”
Britta followed him. I noted her mussed hair and strange facial expression. It took me a minute to realize she was sm
iling, a real smile, not the sideways ones I’d seen before.
Markus settled into the pilot chair and pulled Britta onto his lap. She curled her body around his, resting her head on his shoulder. I threw up in my mouth a little bit, but refrained from issuing a flight safety lecture about multiple occupants in the pilot’s space.
Markus stroked Britta’s hair. “I hope you slept as well as we did.”
I rolled my eyes. “Is that what you call what you were doing?”
Markus laughed but it died quickly. He stared at me. “So, here’s what I don’t get. You’re the only one who can fire the guns, so why would Kale want you dead?”
I wasn’t ready to disclose that James could fire them too, though Kale had to know. Because James told him. Kale wouldn’t want me dead unless he knew of another way to fire the weapons.
“Maybe the guns aren’t as important to him now and he just wants me out of the way?”
“No way,” said Britta. “Guns are always important to Kale. But the Consulate wants someone who can fire them, so killing you doesn’t add up. I mean, James is smart and all, but it’s not like he knows how to reprogram a gun. There’s something else going on.”
I got that. I just couldn’t figure out why James would be part of it. “How well do you know James anyway?”
Britta leaned into Markus. “We met when we both broke into the same abandoned pod trying to steal the W.A.R. machine. I could tell he really wanted it, needed it, but he let me have it … said he’d get one from another pod.” She smiled at the memory. “I thought he was decent. Anyway, we exchanged information and I told him I’d heard about a former government soldier who knew what the Consulate was doing with the W.A.R. machines. We decided to find him.”
“Kale.”
Britta nodded. “Yep.”
It still didn’t explain why James would want to kill me. “James certainly seems loyal to Kale.”
Britta frowned. “That’s what I don’t get. Yes, he’s loyal to him … for a lot of reasons. But I still don’t understand the killing you part. I don’t know what’s going on. The fact that they seem to have some new secret agenda is bad for all of us. ’Cept Markus. Kale wants him since his last copilot got skewered by that cactus.”
I eyed Markus. “What about you? Wanna tell me how you got hooked up with Kale in the first place?”
Markus squirmed a bit under Britta. “The first time I came to see you, I really thought you’d come with me and we’d sell the guns to the highest bidder.” He laughed. “Stupid me. Anyway, when I got back to Caelia, I heard about Kale’s interest in the guns and searched him out. He contacted the Consulate … and well, you know the rest. He’s a burner.”
A wave of fresh anger rode through me. “That didn’t seem to bother you much when you thought you were getting paid. Kale might need a copilot but he was ready to shoot you down in this ship along with me.”
Markus took his hands off Britta and held them palms up toward me. “I said I’m sorry. I have no doubt he’ll kill whoever he wants to, or thinks he has to.”
Britta shifted in Markus’ lap. “Kale looks at me like I’ve defied orders one too many times. For him, that’s enough to make someone the enemy.” She bit her nail again in quick, jagged movements. “Don’t get me wrong, if this had gone down a day ago, hell, even a few hours ago, I would have jumped at the chance to take you down.” Britta looked down at the ground. “But … it looks like we’re both on Kale’s bad side right now.”
Yeah, I remembered some old saying: The enemy of my enemy is my friend. I thought about it. Kale had a crate of super-weapons, and someone who could fire them. He had what he needed, aside from a functioning ship.
I had Markus, who despite some significant character defects, had warned me about Kale and gotten me out of there. He’d backed up his words about having my back, and since he and Britta seemed to care about each other—which I might never understand—she might be less likely to jump me again. And we had the ship.
I narrowed my eyes at Britta. “But don’t you owe your life to Kale too?”
Britta trailed her finger along Markus’ arm. “Kale did save my life, and I owe him for that. I took this job because he promised me a lot of money—said I could start my life over on Caelia once it was finished. That doesn’t look like it’s going to happen. So I’m grateful to him, but I’m not going to be anyone’s puppet.”
She smiled at Markus again, and I guessed the rest. He’d made her promises that were better than Kale’s. Promises that twisted the bitterness she wore so well into something that looked almost like happiness. Something in my gut twisted inside. They had something I didn’t. Whatever I thought I had with James was delusion on my part. I had no one. I was alone.
Markus patted her leg and Britta rose from his lap. “We’re almost there. I gotta land this bird.” He winked at me. “I understand why you want to go back. If we stick together, we can deal with Kale.”
I nodded even though I wasn’t sure what we could do to stop them.
Britta flashed me her version of a smile. “Don’t worry. I’m too badass for them to mess with.”
Markus smirked and smacked her butt. “You lost me at ‘ass.’ What was the rest?”
She swatted his hand away, laughing.
I fake coughed into my hand. “Gross.”
Markus guided the ship down. “Here it is. Sector Two.”
The dome sat on the ground, looking like a curved bit of plastic had been plopped in the midst of nowhere. It looked exactly like the one in Sector 5, from what I remembered. How ironic that he couldn’t make it inside the pod city until everyone else left. It wasn’t until we’d almost touched down that I noticed the things clustered by the pod city’s main entrance.
“What are those piles out there by the door?” I asked.
No one answered. The ship touched down and I reached for my helmet. As we got closer, the piles came into focus—bodies. They were people who had tried to get into the dome and been burned to ash. My head swam.
Markus spoke up. “They’re outside our dome too. I’d imagine the numbers were much higher than this … the winds would have blown away most of them.”
A sick feeling knotted inside my stomach. These people were banging on the door, begging to be let in, and the Consulate let them all roast in their sunsuits. If anyone deserved the wrong end of my father’s weapons, it was those burners.
“Don’t think about it too much,” said Britta. “Sadness just slows you down.”
My thoughts exactly. Maybe we were more alike than I’d realized. We trudged the short distance to the door with our guns powered up, just in case. I kept my eyes straight ahead, ignoring the carcasses littering the perimeter of the entrance.
The door opened easily enough now that the place was empty. The streets were deserted. Rows of empty pod houses lined the streets. It reminded me of the hide-and-seek dream I had about my sister.
“Creepy,” Britta said.
“He said he’d be in the first building on the right,” I said through the helmet com.
Britta turned to look at me through her faceplate. “You sure this isn’t some kind of trap?”
“Yeah, how well do you know this guy?” Markus added.
“No, I’m not sure. I’m not sure of anything anymore. It’s not like we don’t have guns.” I shook B.K. in the air to prove my point. I didn’t tell them about T.O. hiding in my bag.
Markus stopped five paces in front of me. “This is the first building on the right. I guess we go in.”
I pushed past him. “I’ll go first. It was my idea, right?” No one argued with me as I knocked, then opened the door to the pod building.
“Hello. Alec? Anyone here?” I called through the empty front hall. Britta and Markus followed behind, their guns drawn.
We cautiously removed our helmets and the oxygen seemed okay in here. I moved a few more steps before hearing something. Footsteps. Quick ones. Too quick.
A big, furry thing round
ed the corner and headed straight for me. Britta squealed in fright, and I aimed the gun in its direction. My mind raced to sort through the catalog of creatures I’d seen on the GlobalNet. This one flew at me and would reach me in seconds. I didn’t have time to think. I positioned the beam at its head and moved my finger to the firing panel.
“No, don’t shoot! It’s harmless.” I jerked my head up to see a guy running down the hall. I hoped it was Alec. He yelled again. “Stop!”
The thing was almost on top of me. “What the hell is this thing?”
He looked sheepish. “Perro. Lucy. She’s a dog.”
Chapter SEVENTEEN
LUCY-THE-DOG JUMPED ON ME, LICKING ME AS FAST AS SHE could. I jerked back and gaped at the dark-haired boy in front of me. “Is she trying to eat me?”
He laughed. “No, she likes you.” He looked around at us. “Sorry, I’m Alec, obviously. Are you Tora?”
I nodded, while Markus and Britta introduced themselves. Lucy nudged my hand with her head. “I don’t get it. What is she doing?”
“She wants you to pet her.”
“I’m sorry. Pet her?”
“Yeah, like this.” Alec walked over and ran his hand down Lucy’s head and back. “Who’s a good girl? Yes, you’re a good girl.” Lucy’s tail wagged like she was on drugs. Alec smiled at me and stepped away. “Go ahead. You try.”
Britta and Markus watched in stunned silence. I put my hand on Lucy, patting her awkwardly on the head a few times. This was beyond surreal. All the animals were supposed to be dead. “She’s soft,” I managed.
Alec smiled down at the dog. “Yeah, she’s a real sweetheart.” He beamed at me. “You, Tora, have no idea how happy I am to see you.” His lilting accent caught me off guard. When Alec gripped me in an unexpected hug, I gasped, staring at him with my mouth wide open. The last person who had hugged me was my sister. Who was this guy?
I tried not to stare at him while he answered Markus’ questions about how he’d survived on his own. His black hair and dark eyes were a complete contrast to James’, which was a plus. I didn’t want to think about James. He seemed very sure of himself, even his hug had been confident—and strong.
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