Strange Skies

by Kristi Helvig

  After the need to breathe became apparent, I stood up and faced James. He was a good ten feet away. I fist pumped in the air. “I did it!”

  James gave me a thumbs-up sign. “I’m impressed. Now swim back to me.”

  He didn’t need to tell me twice. I dove under and pumped my legs as I rotated my arms. When I rose out of the water and smoothed my hair back, I didn’t see James.

  “You overshot me,” he said and laughed from behind.

  I couldn’t believe I’d just swam in the ocean—it felt incredible. Something I’d dreamed of for years but never thought would happen. I turned to face James and walked to him. My nakedness was bothering me less and less under the intensity of his stare. I still felt vulnerable, but there was something liberating about allowing myself to be exposed to him. It felt natural. He took my hands in his.

  His eyes drilled into mine under the light of the moon. I was nervous but we didn’t have much time left. “So I swam like you wanted me to.”

  “And?” He reached out his hand toward me.

  I smiled. “It was amazing, but I’m just wondering if we’re done?”

  James grasped my hips and pulled me to him in the waist-deep water until our chests touched. “No,” he said. His voice sounded huskier. “We’re not even close to done.”

  He leaned down and kissed my shoulder with feathery light kisses and moved slowly up my neck until he reached my mouth. I parted my lips and he kissed me slowly while he caressed my lower back with his hand. His kiss intensified and we slowly stepped toward the glowing shoreline as our mouths moved with greater urgency.

  My hands traveled up and down his body as I explored every inch of him. My fingers traced the areas on his arms where he’d been shot by the Consulate, and then I touched the scar I’d seen on his lower back when we were in the bunker. I pulled back. “Where did you get this?” I asked breathlessly.

  He nuzzled my neck and murmured into my ear. “It’s the sign of the Resistance. Kale marked all of his soldiers. Britta had it too.” His hands were all over me again. “Any more questions?”

  I groaned. “No, I’m good for now.”

  We reached the shoreline and James eased me down onto the pillow-soft sand. I pulled him to me and brought his mouth to mine. Our bodies tangled together. His hands. My hands. The last bits of clothing coming off. Overwhelming sensations vibrated through me. Only the occasional lapping of gentle waves against my legs grounded me to reality. I forgot about everything else. There was no Consulate, no Kale, no dead mother or sister.

  There was only James.

  Chapter FOURTEEN

  AS WE HEADED BACK TO CAMP IN MAX’S SHIP, I HAD THE BRIEF selfish thought to tell Max to keep going, to take us somewhere where James and I could be safe together. My head rested on James’ shoulder as I sat in his lap. Max had taken one look at us and hadn’t mentioned a word about flight safety. My clothes were damp, and I had sand in places I didn’t know was possible, but I didn’t care. It was the messiest I’d been in my whole carefully controlled life, and I’d never been happier.

  James stroked my hair. “Is it bad that I don’t want to go back?” he asked.

  I sighed. “You stole my thoughts.”

  He kissed my neck. “It will all be fine. We’ll do what we planned and then get out.”

  James sounded so sure, but doubt nagged at me. What if something went wrong? I nuzzled closer into him. His arms were strong and I felt safe there. Like nothing could hurt me, and it all could turn out okay. “Tell me about our first escape attempt that I don’t remember.”

  “Let’s see. Alec knew Dr. Sorokin’s routine and snuck me into your room between rounds. When I first asked you to escape with me, you slapped me. I deserved it, by the way. It took a lot of talking, convincing, and explaining before you finally agreed.” He chuckled. “Took even longer before you let me kiss you.”

  “I kissed you? Back in the containment center?” Those dreams had been real.

  James leaned into my ear. “A few times, but you held back, until the day we ran. Right before we got caught, you kissed me like you meant it. It gave me hope.”

  A heat spread through me as I recalled that kiss. The one I’d thought was just an amazing dream.

  James ran his hand up my arm. “That’s why I was so confused when you came into the bar that day when I was talking with Sonya. I thought we were okay.”

  I shook my head. “I can’t believe how powerful those drugs were. Even though I can remember everything now from before the containment center, my time there is still like a thick fog.” I traced circles on his arm with my finger. “I’m still trying to come to terms with everything.”

  I thought of all that the Consulate had done to me, to James, to Dad, to the countless other victims they’d amassed. Maybe taking them down wouldn’t be the worst thing. Maybe Kale was right. As we flew over the night-blanketed landscape, a question still nagged at me. “James, I have to ask. Do you still plan to get revenge on Allan Davis and the others who killed your family?”

  He squeezed my hand. “Yeah, I still plan to get even. But I won’t compromise your safety again now that I have you safe.”

  I looked into those hazel eyes of his. “I think Autumn and Callie would have loved this place. They wouldn’t know what to do with all these flowers and leaves.”

  James smiled and squeezed my hand. “Yeah, they’d think Caelia was pretty kick-ass.”

  Markus, Lucy, and Alec were all asleep when we got back. The sky had a few tinges of gray, so we didn’t have long to rest. James and I crept into Markus’ hut and curled up together on the extra cot. I’d wanted to go to James’ hut, but he worried that if we stayed away any longer, Alec would send out a search party to find me. Plus, we didn’t have much time before we had to get moving. James and I lay facing each other and stared into each other’s eyes. “Can I ask you something?” I whispered.

  “Shoot,” he said, then winced. “Sorry, bad choice of words.”

  “The thing about us both being able to fire my dad’s guns? I don’t get it. It’s so rare for two people to have the same exact vibration.”

  James didn’t say anything for a minute. “I’m not sure, but have you ever wondered … Never mind, it’s cheesy.”

  “No, what?” I prompted.

  James laced his fingers through mine. “Do you believe in soul mates?”

  I stiffened. With everything we were facing, I didn’t think I could handle where this conversation was going. “Maybe, why?”

  “It’s just that … I’ve read a lot on the Net, watched videos, though I’m sure not as many as you have. Even back when there were tons of people of Earth, it was rare to hear people say they found their soul mate. But once in a while, you’d hear a story. Like they were meant to be together.”

  I shifted, feeling uncomfortable. Yet I kept my hand in his. There wasn’t room for love in a world like this, was there? Love had only ever brought me pain. Love ended in death. That’s what my head said. I wasn’t sure my heart was listening. “Are you saying you think that two people who are true soul mates have the same vibration?”

  “Maybe,” James said. “Something to think about anyway.” He leaned over and kissed me gently on the lips. “Now, get some rest.” As soon as he put his arm around me, I fell asleep.

  “Wake up, sleepyhead.” Markus shook my arm. “Time to get stuff done. Big day ahead.”

  I sat up and rubbed my eyes. James was gone. As I’d drifted off, I remembered he’d said that he was going to take care of Dad, but would be back.

  Markus took one look at me and laughed. “I don’t even want to know the reason your hair looks like that.”

  “What?” I fingered my sand-filled hair, which had dried as I slept and stuck out in weird angles. “Oh.” I thought of the last few hours with James and blushed. “Um, I’ll meet you outside.”

  A sunny, warm day greeted me. It was hard to shake the term “day” after using it for so many years. Plus a “sunny, warm lig
ht break” sounded weird. I dashed down to the creek and dunked my head under the cool water until I could get my fingers through it. It might be my last chance to bathe for a while.

  Alec was outside wrestling around with Lucy when I returned to the camp. I was glad to see him having some fun for once.

  Alec threw a stick and Lucy took off after it. “Did you have a fun time?” he asked.

  I met his eyes. “I really did.”

  Alec sighed. “Bueno. I want you to be happy.”

  I smiled. “I want you to be happy too. Reed seems pretty cool, huh?”

  Alec grinned.

  James came racing back through the woods into the clearing.

  “How is he?” I asked before James could catch his breath.

  “Better,” he said. “Still weak, but we’ll get the guns, get him on the ship, and move out.”

  Markus emerged from the hut. “We ready to do this?” he asked. “Also, what exactly are we doing?”

  James steadied his shoulders and adjusted the pack on his back. “We’re as ready as we’re gonna be. I’m going to town to see if I can get Sonya to tell me where the weapons are, but we need a backup plan if she won’t. Markus, I thought you could do flyovers of the area. Maybe you’ll see something from the air.”

  “I can go with Markus,” said Alec. “He could use an extra pair of eyes to make sure we don’t miss anything.”

  James nodded. “That’s what I was going to suggest. Bring Lucy with you. If everything goes as planned, we’ll take off as soon as we get the guns and Tora’s dad.”

  I was going with James. My satchel was packed with Callie’s picture, and I’d stuffed the page with the gun formulas in there too, though I still didn’t know what I was going to do with it.

  Markus slung his pack over his shoulder. “Got it. We’ll keep you posted through the com system.”

  “I’m counting on you, Markus.”

  He grinned. “And I’m counting on you to find a cute señorita or two to bring along. Preferably three.”

  “Be careful, you two,” Alec said, though he looked at me. He grabbed his things and called out to Lucy. “Do you want to go for a ride in a ship?” he asked her. “Do you, girl?”

  Lucy wagged her tail like it was the best idea she’d ever heard.

  “Come on, then, Lucy,” Markus said. “We don’t have all day.”

  She bounded over, her tail wagging at warp speed.

  Markus laughed. “I’ve never had a female run that fast to me before.” He turned to leave, then walked back and hugged me.

  I gave him an awkward pat on the back. “What’s that for?” I asked.

  “Don’t know,” he said. “Just don’t die, okay?”

  “I’ll do my best.”

  Markus stared at me a second longer and nodded. “Good.” He looked at Alec. “Let’s motor, we got work to do.”

  They headed farther into the woods, past our camp, toward the area where Markus remembered parking his ship. I hoped they found it quickly.

  James and I headed in the opposite direction, back along the creek toward the bar. We’d discussed this part of the plan while flying back from the beach on Max’s ship. Originally, James didn’t think it was safe for us to separate and wanted me to come with him to see Sonya. I figured she’d be more likely to give him information without me there. He’d already used his com device to set up a meeting at the command center.

  While James was talking to Sonya at the bar, I’d meet with a small group at the center. That way, Sonya wouldn’t be able to report our plan back to Kale if she wasn’t really on our side. James had only invited to the meeting those Resistance members that he thought would be open to leaving with us. We’d have them help move Dad once the guns were loaded on Markus’ ship.

  Anxiety knotted my stomach. It didn’t seem so simple now that we were doing it. I tried to think about all the things that could go wrong—which pretty much involved everything.

  If Sonya had been swayed by Kale’s bravado and grand plans regarding a Consulate takedown, I doubted she would be an open book about the location of the guns. Yet, she’d bragged about seeing the weapons and had tried to tell James something important the night before, so maybe there was hope.

  I was also consumed by guilt. Guilt that the people we were forced to leave behind would be defenseless against the Consulate. Their measly guns wouldn’t stand a chance against Consulate ships. Dad’s guns could help them, but it was too dangerous for us to stay with them. At least that’s what I’d told myself.

  The wildflowers were in full bloom and their scent wafted through the trees as we walked toward the center. As beautiful as they smelled, they sent pangs of pain through my heart. If everything went according to plan, I had no idea how long it would be before I could smell real flowers again.

  “Hold up a second,” James said. I hadn’t noticed that he’d plucked one of the flowers. He tucked it behind my ear and smiled. “Alec can find someone else to give flowers to. That’s for good luck. Now Callie will be with you.”

  I wiped a tear away. “Thanks. That means a lot.”

  He gave me a brief, tender kiss on the lips. “I still think about Autumn a lot and know how much it hurts. We’ll get through this.”

  I touched his cheek. “I hope so.”

  We hurried toward the bar and stopped when we reached the clearing. “Be careful,” I said. “I don’t have a com device, so you better get your ass to the command center soon. Don’t make me worry.”

  James gave me a quick kiss. “I’ll be right there. What could possibly go wrong?”

  I groaned. “You can’t say that. It’s like tempting fate.”

  He smiled. “You never struck me as someone who believed in fate. Now get going. See you soon.”

  It took so much effort to get my feet to move away from him. “See you soon.” He jogged toward the bar and I watched him before I headed toward the command center. It had grown so warm that I sweated in my light T-shirt and pants. It was nothing compared to the blistering inferno back on Earth, but I couldn’t help my momentary flicker of fear. I glimpsed the yellow sun through the trees and relaxed. We’d have billions of years before we had to worry about that again.

  The command center looked deserted when I approached. No guards stood outside. I knew James had relayed the plan to Max on the com system, but wondered if Max had gotten the word out fast enough. The windows and door were shut tight. I crept up to the door and pulled. It opened easily and I peeked inside. Everything was dark.

  “Tora!”

  I jumped a foot in the air as I scrambled for my gun.

  “Sshhh.” A hand grabbed my arm and pulled me inside. “It’s just me, Reed. James said this should be top secret.”

  My heart raced. “It just would have been helpful if I’d known how top secret ahead of time.”

  I looked around at some faces that I recognized, like Edgar, Trent, and Ian. There were others that I didn’t know, including a few girls. Markus would be thrilled.

  Edgar came to stand at my side and started speaking Spanish to the group. I held up my hand. “You lost me at hola. I think we’re good as far as the secret thing, so can we please talk in English?”

  “Sí, lo siento,” Edgar said. He cleared his throat and addressed the room. “We are gathered here to discuss a plan to move to a new location. If Kale is to be believed, the Consulate is close to finding us and plans to wipe us out as soon as possible. We could stay and fight, but then Kale would maintain control of the weapons, and some members of the Resistance—myself included—believe that he has lost his way.”

  “So what does that make us?” one man asked. “The Resistance against the Resistance? We’re just going to give up everything we’ve been fighting for?”

  “No, Connor,” said Trent. “We’re still resisting the Consulate, but Kale’s methods have become too similar to theirs. I don’t consider Kale the leader of the Resistance anymore. That title goes to James, in my opinion.” Trent looke
d to me. “No disrespect meant to your dad, of course, but I don’t think he’s interested in leading a revolution anymore.”

  He was right about that.

  “Yes,” agreed Reed. “James.”

  I sucked in my breath. Though I agreed that James was the best person for the job, I had some idea what that job description entailed, and I didn’t like it. Being named the leader of the Resistance meant you might as well paint a huge target on yourself. The Consulate would know exactly who to kill first.

  “I’m not sure we need to get all formal with titles,” I said, but no one was listening to me. Their eyes were on Edgar. He certainly had a commanding presence.

  “We are the hope for a new world,” he said. “There are small groups on nearby moons and planets. Imagine how we could help them if we join forces. When the Consulate attacks here, they’ll only find power-hungry people like Kale left. It will be violence and greed against the same, and we will remain safe away from the bloodshed. Upon our return, we will form a land of peace and harmony.”

  It sounded great in theory, yet I still doubted whether such a small group could manage to carry it off.

  Edgar bowed to me. “Tora, we are at your service. Just tell us what you need and we’ll help.” He straightened and addressed the group. “I’m going to say this one more time. It is imperative that no one speaks of this plan outside this group. As we all know, there are those whose sympathies shift with the changing of the winds.” Edgar turned back to me. “I assure you, we are not those people.”

  All eyes fell on me. I was glad I’d taken the time to wash the crazy angles out of my hair. “Basically, we need any info at all on where the guns might be. Some people are looking, and James is talking to Sonya as we speak.”

  “I’m sure Sonya wishes they were doing more than talking,” said Connor.

  Someone snickered across the room.