When we get there, it will all be better, she reminded herself. Warm beds, fresh food.
She had stopped doubting that the other ships had landed, and that there was a colony to be found beyond the mountains. She couldn’t afford to let herself believe there wasn’t a settlement anymore. Walking through a vast, unending wilderness was taking a toll on her. She wanted to run and hide, but she would only be hiding in the very unknown she was trying to escape. There was no use taking her frustrations out on anyone else, as either Brennan would fight back, and they also had taken to protecting Diego. In any case, she knew that she was responsible for all of them now, something she hadn’t quite thought through when she stormed out of Will’s camp.
“What’s wrong?” Marya asked, her cold voice a subtle rebuke.
“Just running through it in my head,” Gabi replied, shaking away the doubt that was creeping into her mind.
“Is there something we can do to help?” Aidan’s tone was far more soothing than his sister’s. There was little that could rattle him. The hideous bear-like creature was one, but Gabi could not recall another time since the hurricane flattened Camp Eight that he had been unsteady.
Gabi nodded. “Follow close, and keep Diego between us.”
Aidan acknowledged silently. Gabi turned for the pass, launching herself swiftly over dried grass and parched earth. The path started out as a mild slope, but the grade steepened quicker than Gabi anticipated. After only a couple minutes she was winded, and their pace slowed to a modest walk. When the terrain flattened for a couple hundred feet, she picked up the pace again, only to slow down as another rise worked against them.
“Slow down,” Marya huffed in protest.
“Not until we get to the pass.”
She mounted the rise and nearly stopped in her tracks. The creek had cut deeply into the ravine’s bank, eroding all but two feet of the ledge. A couple trees jutted out from the side of the precipice, hooking upward near their bases.
“Damn it,” she muttered.
“Now what?” Marya snapped back.
Gabi glanced over her shoulder. Her rival-turned-companion was still twenty feet down the slope, bringing up the rear. Marya couldn’t see what had caused her outburst. Gabi cautiously shuffled up to the narrow ledge, tamping her foot on the ground to check its softness. It did not give at all, so she ventured farther out, with the same results.
“Nothing,” she replied. “Just be careful up here.”
Diego stopped at the edge and looked down, nearly causing Aidan to bump into him. His eyes widened, and he froze suddenly. A soft wail escaped his lips.
“Come on, Diego,” Gabi said. “Just take it easy.”
“I’ll go with you,” Aidan added.
The younger Brennan took Diego’s hand and moved forward a couple steps. Gabi’s heart raced as she considered the combined weight of the two.
“Wait!” she called out as she froze. “Wait, I don’t know if it will hold both of you at the same time.”
Aidan stopped in his tracks. For a moment, Gabi thought she saw his eyes bulge in shock, but he simply nodded and knelt next to Diego. “You first, little man. I’ll hold your hand as long as I can. Just go real slow, okay?”
He sniffed and nodded. Gabi inched closer, flattening her back against the rock wall. Diego would have to traverse fifteen feet on his own before Gabi could reach his hand. Inch by inch he moved forward, looking to the side every couple of steps and whimpering at the gash in the ground.
“Don’t look down,” Gabi scolded him.
“Shh,” Aidan hissed from the other side.
Diego was almost within Gabi’s reach, though he moved at a snail’s pace. Gabi gritted her teeth in irritation and shuffled a little further onto the ledge. Diego’s cheeks were wet with tears when he looked up at her face. She could see the fear written all over his face. Suddenly, he leaped to his feet and ran for her.
“Diego!” she screamed, lunging for his hand almost too late.
Diego’s foot kicked a loose rock at the rim of the precipice. He lost his footing and rolled off the edge, screaming in terror. Gabi was already on the move, and she caught his arm in her hand. But his momentum was too great. With a jerk she lost her footing, and Diego dragged her into the ravine with him. Gabi let out an ear-splitting scream as she landed sideways a few feet down from the ledge, though somehow she managed to keep her grip on Diego’s arm. The impact slowed them, and Gabi threw her free hand out, clawing at the earthen wall as clumps of dirt rained down on her from above. Her hand caught something solid. Gabi yelped as her arms and wrists were stretched to their limits.
“Hold on, Gabi!” Aidan called from above.
Diego flailed around, which pulled even more on her already strained muscles. Pain like hot fire burned in her shoulders. She glanced down; his legs were dangling in empty air, unable to reach anything that he could effectively brace his feet on. His eyes were clamped firmly shut, his mouth wide open, emitting screams of pure terror. Several of Gabi’s arrows tumbled from her makeshift quiver, plummeting into the creek below. Her hand clenched the exposed root of one of the trees. Her grasp held them suspended twenty feet above the rocky creek bed, though she couldn’t tell for how long.
“Damn it, Diego,” she bellowed. “Stop wiggling! I can’t hold you!”
“Gabi!” he shrieked. “Help me!”
Gabi’s head swiveled around, back to the top of the rim. Aidan was nowhere to be found. Marya’s head was barely visible above the ledge, but she didn’t seem to be paying attention. “Marya!” she shouted out. “Get down here.”
“Hang on,” Marya growled back in irritation.
Diego’s arm slipped an inch, and Gabi instinctively constricted, harder. He yelped. This time his fear was mixed with pain. More dirt rained down on them, forcing Gabi to snap her eyes shut. Her knuckles ached, and she didn’t think she could hold on longer than a few more seconds. With her vision cut off, she became keenly aware of the noise of rushing water below.
“Stop moving or I’ll drop you!”
“Don’t drop me, Gabi! Please!”
“I can’t hold you. Stop it, right now!”
“No! I’ll be good, I promise!”
Her eyes flickered open, and she found herself looking directly into his blue eyes. They were wide like the twin moons of Demeter, vivid and bright, streaming with tears. His lips quivered; he was out of breath. All he could do was mouth the word ‘please.’ The last vestiges of ill will she harbored for him eroded away, and she could finally see him for what he really was: a scared little boy, who loved her unconditionally. He needed her protection, and she was failing him.
Don’t give up on me now.
She gritted her teeth and bore down, curling her biceps, trying to drag them both higher. The effort was nothing short of exhausting. And ultimately futile. She couldn’t hope to lift them both to safety. Her hand began to slip from the root as she settled back in.
“I’m sorry, Diego,” she trembled.
I’ll be with you at the bottom. And then we can both be with Papa.
Gabi closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she waited for the strength in her fingers to fail. Moments later, they slipped, and her heart dropped into her feet.
Sorry, Diego.
In an instant, her momentum stopped. She heard a grunt, and felt warm breath on her neck.
“Now, Aidan!” Marya shouted, making Gabi’s ears ring with the force of her voice.
Her rival’s arms were wrapped around her, underneath her armpits, locking across her chest. Gabi’s free arm shot to Diego in a flash, doubling her grip on her brother. She felt a yank and they moved upward a couple inches. Gabi chanced a look behind her, to see Aidan, one foot planted on a rock at the lip of the outcrop. The rope was wrapped around his waist, leading down to his sister.
“Damn it,” Aidan bellowed from the ledge above. “You’re too heavy!”
“Keep pulling,” his sister shot back. “Just another foot.”
He dug in with his heels and heaved. Veins in his neck and face bulged, and his face slowly changed from pale to a deep shade of red. As he pulled back, Marya rose, dragging Gabi and her brother with her. The process was slow, and Aidan slipped a couple times, giving them a little more of a thrill than they would have liked under the circumstances. But as soon as Marya was able to put her feet on the tree that jutted out from the cliff face, she was able to lift Gabi and Diego to the relative safety that the stalwart plant afforded. After another minute Aidan had helped each of them back to the top, and they were clear of the danger. They all collapsed in the shade of the mountain spire. Diego, still softly whimpering, wrapped his arms around Gabi. She caressed his hair and kissed him on the forehead, a gesture she would not have thought possible just weeks earlier.
Gabi locked stares with Marya, who rested with her back to a boulder, carefully rolling up the rope.
“You… you saved us,” Gabi muttered hoarsely.
“Yup.”
“Why?”
Marya’s shoulders rolled, and one corner of her mouth twitched slightly. “We need you still.”
“But you hate me.”
“So? We still need you,” Marya repeated in a low growl. “And Diego doesn’t deserve to die.”
“He’s my brother, not yours.”
Aidan took a seat next to his sister and offered his canteen to her. “So you’ll finally admit that?” he jabbed playfully.
Gabi scoffed, but then the meaning of his words sunk in, and she grew quiet. She drew Diego closer, cradling his head in her arms as she eyed the Brennan siblings with measured suspicion.
“It’s a good thing,” Aidan continued, feeling the weight of her stare. “What were you thinking when you were about to fall?”
Gabi looked down at her brother, who had finally calmed down. “Don’t ever leave me,” she whispered in Diego’s ear.
Marya looked at her knowingly, and nodded once.
Calvin McLaughlin
18 July, 6 yal, 16:22
North Concordia
You can do this, Cal. For Darius.
Cal closed his eyes and sucked in a deep breath of air. His stomach fluttered with butterflies, just like the first time he had met Brittany. Only this time, the circumstances were much different. Instead of being a foolish boy in love, he was preparing to ask an old friend he barely knew anymore to possibly betray her new friends. He doubted the wisdom of this gamble, as well as his ability to do it. Ultimately he had little choice. He had already invited Brittany over, and Detective Vaughn was struggling for leads in the governor’s disappearance.
He fussed over the arrangement on the counter one more time. He adjusted the water pitcher to bring it into a neat line with the two cups and whiskey bottle. The dinnerware had been laid out with meticulous care. With nothing left to do he carved the pheasant, sighing with relief that it wasn’t undercooked. He placed a large portion on each plate, which was then rounded off with grilled native vegetables and small rye rolls. Cal reached for the bottle of whiskey, intending to pour in preparation for Brittany’s arrival, but something held him back.
You’ve changed. Maybe she’s changed. Let her choose.
As he withdrew his hand, there were two soft knocks at the door. Brittany opened up the door and peeked inside. “Cal?” she asked softly.
He motioned with his hand. “Come on in. You’re just in time.”
She smiled and closed the door behind her. She wore a slinky red dress that stopped halfway down her tanned thighs, a garment that clearly had followed her from Earth. Her hair was pinned up in a tight bun, something that was almost unheard of for her. Cal had to remember the last time he had seen her go to such efforts to doll herself up. She smiled softly, but her eyes seemed to evade his. When he locked on to her, she just turned her head to the side, and her eyes dropped toward the floor, as if she was unsure of herself.
It’s just an act, he told himself as she took a seat on the opposite side of the counter.
If it was an act, he shamefully had to admit that it was working, even if just a tiny bit. There was no denying that Brittany was a beautiful girl; that’s why Cal fell for her all those years ago. But as a woman, she was something more. Cal felt flames of desire flicker deep inside, mixed almost instantly with guilt at having so quickly forgotten his true love.
Brittany’s eyes lit up when she saw the feast on her plate. Without hesitation she grabbed her fork and took a bite. It was quicker than Cal expected. While she had never been the picture of manners on Earth, he was accustomed to her at least having a basic sense of politeness. He cleared his throat, though that didn’t seem to alert her to the breach in etiquette that she had committed. Cal suppressed a grimace and folded his hands together.
“Can I get you something to drink?” he asked.
She glanced up mid-bite, then looked at the offerings that he had available. Cal was relieved that she had the decency to finish chewing her bite before answering. “That whiskey of yours is pretty good. Mind if I have some?”
Cal smiled and shook his head, then poured two fingers into her cup. He repeated the process with his own. Brittany raised her cup high in the air in a toast. “Here’s to being alive,” she said in a flat tone. She didn’t wait for Cal to make contact with his cup before downing the contents. Her face contorted for a moment as she swallowed. Cal glanced down at the rippling brown liquid.
I’m going to pay for this, he thought as he downed the whiskey. Warmth slowly built into fire in his chest as the drink made its way down.
“So where’s the little one?” Brittany asked just before shoveling a forkful of vegetables in her mouth.
“She’s with friends. I have to pick her up in a couple hours.”
She smiled and shook her head. “Man, I still can’t believe it,” she said, this time with a mouthful of food.
Cal made very deliberate motions as he grabbed his knife and fork, cutting into the tender slice of pheasant. “What part of it?”
“Any of it. That you’re here. You’ve got a kid. And that you can cook. I mean, this is amazing, here!”
Jesus, this is going to be a long night. He poured another drink for each of them, though he took only a measured sip. Brittany took a longer draught, though this time she didn’t down the whole drink in one swallow.
“Dad always said that life was strange. That it would hit you and spin you around till you couldn’t see straight. And it would only be after that happened that you could figure out what you really wanted in life,” he reflected.
She paused and leaned back in her chair. Her eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly. “So you wanted to be thrown across the galaxy?”
“No. That’s what hit me. Spun me around pretty good. I guess what I’m saying is, no matter what happened, I’m thankful for what came out of it.”
Brittany downed the rest of her drink and poured another.
“You should go easy on that,” he cautioned.
“I’m not the one who can’t hold his liquor.”
Cal nursed the cup in his hand, again considering the liquid within. He took another small sip.
If only you really knew.
Cal turned his attention back to eating, though he kept an eye on his guest. While he consumed in a temperate manner, she consumed as if she had been starved for weeks. When she had annihilated her food, she threw back another drink before—rather impolitely—requesting another serving of pheasant. He put on a gracious front as he served her, then finished up his own meal and drink. The third filling of his cup was water, not alcohol.
“So what are you going to do now?” he asked. She stared at him blankly. “For work. Do you have any leads for work? Because if not, I can probably help with that.”
“No,” she replied brusquely.
“No leads, or you don’t know?”
“Shit, Cal. I need some time to get sorted here. I’m not like you, I can’t just drop down in some new place and be a success overnight. I’m n
ot even any good at anything.”
He smiled softly at her. “Neither was I. And trust me, it was anything but overnight. I had to put in my dues. Do a lot of crap jobs.”
“You don’t know what a crap job is,” she snerred.
“Oh yeah?” He rose to the challenge. “Humping cargo isn’t a crap job? How about living in the driver’s seat of a truck for a few weeks while scientists collect samples? That was pretty boring. At least…” he paused, realizing that the alcohol was about to make him disparage the memory of someone who deserved better.
“Oh boo hoo,” she snapped. Her voice began to waver. “So you had to break a sweat. Big deal. You’ve never really had to get your hands dirty.”
“I have too,” he protested.
“You didn’t. You weren’t there.”
Cal backed off in an instant. Brittany looked up at him, her ghostly blue eyes tearing up. He could tell by the twitch in her upper lip that she was fighting back something deep within, grasping at the straws of emotional control.
“You don’t get it. Your daddy picked your ass up and put you on one of those ships before the shit really hit the fan.” She paused for the slightest of moments. “He left us all behind, you know. All of us. While you were asleep, we had to fight to survive. I’m not talking about grabbing a gun and shooting any damned Chinese solders either. How do you think we got food, huh, Cal?”
He just glared at her silently, trying to breathe calmly, hoping that something he did would keep his jaw from clenching tight enough to shatter his teeth.
“Rob was the first to die. All he did was knock on a stranger’s door to see if they’d give us something to eat. Door didn’t open, either. There was just a big bang, and Rob fell back down the stairs with a hundred holes in his chest from the shotgun.”
Project Columbus: Omnibus Page 122
