by Rinelle Grey
Her chin stuck out, and her eyebrows pulled down. “You’re not leaving me behind.”
He tried not to be swayed by how adorable she looked. “I can’t guarantee that anything I try will work, Marlee. The chance that I’ll actually make it into orbit isn’t large, and if I fail, I may not be able to land the Hylista safely. It’s too dangerous.”
She put floury hands on her hips. “If it’s too dangerous, why are you doing it? Or is it only too dangerous for me? Forget it, I’m coming with you. You promised.”
How had he known she was going to bring that up? “I did,” he agreed. “But that was before I knew how dangerous it would be. And... before I realised how much I cared for you. I don’t want to risk anything happening to you, Marlee.”
Her bottom lip trembled, and he wanted to kiss her worries away. But while a kiss might distract her from them, it couldn’t remove them.
“I don’t want anything to happen to you either! We go together or not at all.” She nodded her head firmly.
Oh how he wanted to take her with him. “We may not be going anywhere anyway,” he admitted. “And if I do manage to get into orbit, I can’t risk landing again. I’ll be going straight for Urslat. There won’t be a chance to say goodbye to anyone,” he warned.
She tossed her hair over her shoulder. Her eyes sparkled. “There’s no one here I want to say goodbye to.”
Once she set her mind to something, there was no dissuading her. “So how are we going to manage it without interference?” If he couldn’t convince her to stay behind, he might as well take advantage of her help.
Marlee thought for a minute, lips pursed. “There will be a rest day in two days. Everyone takes the day off, and while lots of people will hang out at the hall, no one will be too surprised if we don’t turn up, especially if we drop a few hints about how we’re looking forward to a day to ourselves. By the time they realise that we haven’t turned up to work the next day, we’ll be gone.”
Two days. How was he ever going to wait that long?
*****
They set off just before sunup, hoping to be far from the village before it was light enough for them to be noticed. When they arrived at the canyon, it was still bathed in the early morning light.
Each carried a bag slung over their shoulders. Marlee had packed for their trip, and she had been so happy to be able to do something useful that Tyris hadn’t had the heart to tell her he had more than enough blankets and food on board the Hylista. Having something familiar to eat and her own quilt to sleep under would comfort her on the long journey to Urslat.
If they made it that far.
Tyris stared down at the fissure in the ground. It wasn’t deep or particularly narrow. It wasn’t even dark and gloomy. But his hair stood on end as he gazed at it.
This was where they had mined for anysogen. There was probably more of it in the air here than anywhere else on Zerris.
Karla said it would take time to affect him. And it was already too late for Marlee. And anyway, it only affected fertility, there was no other danger. Even so, he felt like he struggled to breathe.
Marlee continued down the overgrown path into the valley without pause. When she realised he wasn’t behind her, she turned. “Are you coming?”
He pushed back his fears and followed her.
The rough cliffs towered above them. The air was cooler down here. The rising sun didn’t reach them. Tyris shivered. He couldn’t wait to get the anysogen and get out of this place.
Many caves were worn into the sides of the walls. Tyris shone his torch in briefly, but most were shallow and contained nothing. Finally they came to a larger cave, its passage into the cliffs obviously shaped by human tools not natural forces. Tyris’s torchlight shone on rusty old machinery. Marlee gasped softly beside him.
They stepped inside, and it took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the darkness.
Marlee ran her hands over the machinery in awe, but Tyris focused on the pressurised canisters lined up along one wall. There were around twenty of them. How could he know which were full and which weren’t? What if none of them were full? He ran his hands over them. They were cooler than the surrounding air, giving him hope. Several had purple tags attached to the release valve, and he decided those were the most likely. Picking the cleanest canister, he tried to turn the valve to open it.
He pulled and pulled, but it wouldn’t move. Tyris seethed in frustration. To have come all this way and be stopped by a rusty valve! He tried the next, but it was the same. He could probably get them undone with the tools on the Hylista, but that was a long way to drag bottles he wasn’t sure were full.
How were they going to get the heavy bottles—he’d need at least two—that distance anyway?
He stared around the cave, hoping to find something, anything, that might give him an idea.
“This is amazing,” Marlee said, still exploring the cave. “I had no idea all this machinery was here.”
Tyris walked past Marlee, searching. But of course, anything of use, any tools that might have helped him, had been scrounged long ago.
“I need something to get the valve open, to see if there’s any anysogen in the canisters,” he said.
A few moments later, with both of them searching, they met back at the line of canisters with everything they’d been able to find.
It wasn’t much. The villagers never wasted anything, and the mine had been stripped thoroughly. Tyris stared at the pile. A few rags, scraps of paper, an empty aerosol bottle, and a broken screwdriver.
Marlee systematically tried to undo each of the valves. Tyris didn’t even bother to watch or hope. He glanced over at the valve and back to the pile. Picking up the broken screwdriver and the rags, he slipped the long shaft through the open tap that closed the valve, and gripped each end with a handful of rags.
The extra leverage was just enough. He felt the valve slip. Applying as much force as he could, he felt the valve slowly turn. They were rewarded with a hiss of releasing gas. Tyris closed the bottle again quickly.
Marlee clapped her hands together in excitement, but Tyris refused to get his hopes up. They still had a long way to go across uneven ground. He hefted one experimentally. It wasn’t outrageously heavy, but it would be awkward to carry. He could only carry one, and Marlee would struggle to lift the other.
Between them they could probably carry one with relative ease, but making two trips would eat into the window of time they had before being discovered. There had to be an easier way. Dragging or rolling them risked damaging the bottles, and could be lethal if a hole was punctured in the compressed canisters.
“What’s wrong?” Marlee asked.
“Can you lift this?” Tyris asked, pointing to the canister.
The expression on Marlee’s face was doubtful. She stood next to him, wrapped her arms around the awkwardly shaped bottle, and managed to lift it off the ground. But he could see the effort it took.
“It’s going to take all day to get these to the ship,” he said, running his hand through his hair.
Marlee pursed her lips then smiled. “No it won’t.”
Tyris frowned.
She walked over to her bags, and rifled through them for a moment, returning with one of the blankets she’d brought with her. As she laid it out on the ground in front of the bottles, he worked it out and helped her tip the two bottles over onto the strong woollen blanket.
He hesitated for a moment. The thick woollen blanket would protect the bottles from small rocks and sticks, but... “It’s going to damage the blanket,” he warned.
“That’s okay,” Marlee said. “I’m sure I can buy another one on Urslat.”
His heart warmed at the thought, and for the first time, he felt a little bit of excitement. If this worked, he was going home! “I’ll buy you two,” he promised.
Tyris tied knots in the corners to form a slight pocket to keep the bottles from sliding out. Then he and Marlee each grabbed a corner, and dragged.
&
nbsp; It was slow going. Despite Tyris’s impatience, he stopped frequently so Marlee could rest. By the time they reached the Hylista, the sun was high in the sky.
*****
Marlee dropped her corner of the blanket and groaned. She stretched, one hand behind her back, and stared at the Hylista.
The last six months hadn’t been kind to the ship. Snow and storms had brought a tree down across the tail fin, and branches blocked the entrance. She hoped it was fixable.
Tyris didn’t stop to rest, even for a moment. He pulled the branches away from the entrance, grabbed an axe from inside, and cut up the tree that had fallen. Marlee dragged the branches away, as Tyris examined the damage. “It’s minor, shouldn’t stop us. Let’s get that anysogen in and see if she’ll fire up.”
He climbed onto the side of the ship and opened up a hatch just out of sight. A moment later, a clear flexible pipe slithered down the side, and Tyris jumped down after it. Marlee held her breath as he attached it to the first canister of anysogen. The low hissing started, and a rumble could be heard from the Hylista. Marlee and Tyris let out their breath simultaneously.
Tyris laughed and held out his hand to her. “Come inside, I need to check to see that the fuel gauge is registering.”
Marlee nodded.
What was she doing here? She could grow a plant, feed and milk a goat, and make a jumper out of the fleece from a sheep, but she didn’t know anything about spaceships. Could she really jump into this ship and fly away with Tyris? Oh she wanted to, more than anything, but the idea scared her as well. What was it like, out there in space?
She sat cross legged on the floor and watched as Tyris examined several screens full of text, numbers, and blinking lights. He smiled widely. “The fuel’s registering. It has some impurities, refining methods have improved over the last twenty years, but it should work.
He focused on the console in front of him, and Marlee could see difference between the intensity he showed here and the way he worked in the village. This was the real Tyris—in his own world. He belonged here, in a way he didn’t belong in hers. She’d thought he fitted into the village perfectly, yet when she saw him here that she realised it was only a shadow of who he really was.
Her heart ached. Would she be as out of place in his world as he was in hers? Was there anywhere that they could both belong?
“Here, watch this little bar, it tells me how much anysogen is in the tank. When I attach the next bottle, it should climb.” He ducked outside.
Marlee watched the little bar, but it didn’t seem to be moving. A familiar drone started above her, and she watched more intently. Still it didn’t change. She bit her lip. Would they have to go back for another bottle?
The line jumped up a notch, and another one. Tyris’s head appeared in the doorway. “Is it working?”
“Yes! It’s moving.”
Both of them watched as the little bar slowly filled up, notch by notch. Tyris slipped his arms around her and hugged her. “We’re going to make it, Marlee,” he whispered in her ear. And despite her misgivings, excitement curled in her belly.
It was not that simple of course. Tyris disconnected the bottles, wound the hose back into the hatch, and came back inside. He began to work over the screens, frowning again, the elation gone. Marlee stayed quietly out of his way.
If this didn’t work, it wouldn’t be for lack of trying. As the afternoon wore on, Tyris worked without stopping other than to scarf down the food she brought and to explain what he was doing.
“I still have one working booster, but it doesn’t have enough thrust to get us out of the atmosphere alone. I’m rigging the thrusters to fire at the same time as our one booster, to give it extra power and to try to balance the craft. It takes a fair bit of precision, and I can’t guarantee it will work.”
He looked at her, hesitating, a frown creasing his forehead. She knew what was coming. “Are you sure you won’t stay here? I promise if I get back to Urslat, I’ll be back for you as fast as I can.”
The promise warmed her heart. But she wasn’t ready to wait. “I’m sure,” she said stubbornly.
Tyris smiled. “Even with the thrusters, we won’t quite escape the gravitational pull, but if we can get high enough, I can override the safety protocols and fire the anysogen engine in the upper atmosphere. It’s been done successfully before, but it uses a lot of fuel. Luckily, we have plenty.”
Marlee nodded as though she knew what he was talking about, and he turned back to the consoles. By the time he stopped, it was getting dark. “Well, that’s about all I can do for tonight.” He smiled at her. Tiredness showed in the lines at the corner of his eyes, and he wasn’t as buoyant as he had been earlier.
“Are we going now?” Marlee asked.
Tyris ran a hand through his hair. “I’d love to, but it’s going to be a tricky flight. I’ll have to adjust the balance of the thrust manually several times, and I think I’m too tired. We’d better wait until morning.”
Marlee nodded, trying not to let the relief she felt show on her face. “Do you think it’s going to work?”
“I can’t say for certain until I try it,” Tyris said. “But I’ve done the best I can with the materials I have. If it doesn’t work this time, that’s it. I don’t have any more ideas to try.”
Marlee hoped, for his sake, that it was enough.
Tyris heaved a sigh. “I’ll just have a shower then I’ll find some dinner for us.”
“What’s a shower?”
Tyris grinned, and held out a hand to her. “I’ll show you. You’re going to love it!”
Marlee wasn’t so sure, but she didn’t have the heart to disappoint him right now. She took his hand and let him pull her into the tiny room off the bedroom. He stood distractingly close behind her, reached out and turned the knobs. Water spurted out of the fitting up above her head and Marlee jumped back with a squeal, running into Tyris. He caught her with two arms around her waist and laughed, his breath tickling her ear.
“It’s okay. It doesn’t hurt.” He fiddled with the knobs for a bit and then took her hand and put it under the water. It was the perfect temperature. She stared at the falling water, both fascinated and nervous.
Tyris pulled off his clothes, letting them fall in a pile on the floor, and stepped under the water. It ran in rivulets down his body, and Marlee couldn’t help but follow its path with her eyes. She looked up, to see Tyris smiling at her, his eyes dancing. “Are you going to join me?”
The little space was so tiny, she didn’t think they’d fit without squeezing. Not that squeezing was a bad thing. Tyris’s laughing eyes convinced her. She pulled off her clothes and added them to the pile then hesitated at the door.
Tyris stared at her, and Marlee could see the reaction her nakedness had on him. He held out a hand, and she let him draw her into the water. It pelted over her chest, splashing off into her face. Tyris pulled her close, her breasts pressed up against his chest, his hardness nuzzling at her belly.
The warm water ran down their bodies, pooling in the space between her breasts and his chest. Tyris kissed her, water dripping from his wet hair, his lips damp and warm. Marlee let her hands run over his back and down to his waist. Was this a taste of what life would be like on Urslat?
Tyris pressed her back against the wall, and she jumped. “Cold,” she muttered, when Tyris raised an eyebrow at her.
He reached up above his head and moved something then the warm water sprayed the wall behind her, droplets splashing down onto her hair. He straightened it up again. “Better?”
“Much better,” Marlee nodded, and leaned back against it. Tyris bent forwards, kissing her, his arms sliding down over her buttocks, his hardness nudging between her thighs. He slid one leg between her legs, and then his hands cupped her thighs and lifted her up a few inches.
Marlee gasped against his lips as he slid into her. She could learn to like this ‘shower’. She wrapped her legs around his waist, trusting completely that he could hold
her weight. It was his turn to gasp. Feeling bold, she rested her back against the wall and used it as leverage to rock back and forth against him.
He breathed heavily, and Marlee held onto his arms, watching him as he moved in time with her own thrusts. Tension mounted, drowning out all rational thought. Tyris thrust into her, groaning softly as waves of intensity overwhelmed her. She clung to him as the water pelted around them both.
*****
After the shower, Tyris insisted on cooking for both of them in a small box on the bench. “It’s reconstituted. Not brilliant, but it is edible.”
Marlee sat down on the bench seat and looked at the plate. The white, lumpy sauce looked rather unappetising. Tyris squeezed in next to her, and she slid over to give him room. Tentatively, she tried a mouthful. It tasted better than it looked, but it was still a rather watery, washed out version of the cheese sauce she cooked. She didn’t want to hurt his feelings though, so she ate a little.
Tyris took one mouthful then screwed up his face. “This is worse than I remember,” he said apologetically and took her plate away.
“It’s okay,” she reassured him. “I brought some cakes with me. We can eat those.”
Tyris sighed and fetched Marlee’s bag, and she retrieved the cakes she had baked last night. “I wanted to cook for you for once,” Tyris said, disappointment showing on his face.
Marlee smiled. “That’s sweet. But it doesn’t really matter who cooks, as long as we have something to eat.”
Tyris nodded, still seeming disappointed then brightened. “Do you want to watch a movie?”
“What’s a movie?” The thought of another new experience was a little daunting. The shower had been fun though. Perhaps a movie would be too. She was going to have to get used to new experiences. There would be a lot of them if they made it to Urslat.
Tyris grinned. “How about I just show you. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.”
His anticipation was infectious. “Okay then.”
