by Rinelle Grey
Her tone stirred something in him. “Your father is in the old ruins?”
She shrugged, and looked back towards him. He wished he could see her face. “He has to be.”
Kerit took one last look up at the summit—he was so close—and sighed. That settled it. If there really was someone in the ruins, he’d have to go find them as well. They couldn’t leave anyone on the planet. “Fine. Back down the mountain we go.”
Her pose and attitude changed immediately. “Great. Can I use your pitons? My anchors are a little makeshift.” She held out an iron bar, bent into shape, with some nuts of varying sizes arranged on it.
Kerit suppressed a shudder. It probably worked, but he wouldn’t like to stake his life on it. “Good idea.” He looked at her harness. It was made of seatbelts. “I don’t have a spare harness though, I wasn’t expecting company.”
Her shoulders straightened. “It works just fine. I made it like the book said, and I haven’t had any problems.”
“Like the book said? Is this the first time you’ve been climbing?” Kerit said faintly.
“No, I’ve rappelled before, at the entrance to…” she broke off. “Never mind. I know what I’m doing. Do you want to go first or shall I?”
He hadn’t meant to insult her.
Since when was being concerned about someone’s safety an insult?
She stared at him through that damn scarf, hands on her hips.
“I’ll go first,” he said. He couldn’t catch her if her harness broke, but at least he could check the terrain and find the best places to pause and re-attach the rope.
“Let’s get moving then. I’d like to be off this mountain before the sun hits.”
She wasn’t the only one.
The trip down went faster than the trip up had. At every stop to pull down the rope and re-attach it, Kerit couldn’t help staring back up at the mountain. He was going to have to go back up again later. That thought was only slightly outweighed by each step he took closer to the air conditioning in the shuttle.
Below them, the shadow of the summit moved closer through the swirling dust.
“We don’t need the rope now,” Folly said. “We should be able to scramble down the rest of the way.”
Kerit looked over the edge of the ledge, frowning. “It’s still pretty steep. We’d be safer with the rope.”
“That sun is only getting closer.” Folly pointed. “Do you want to still be scrambling around here when it hits? I don’t.”
Of course he didn’t want to be climbing in full sun. “Better that than causing a rock slide.”
“I’ll see you at the bottom then.”
She stepped confidently out over the ledge and immediately started sliding on the loose rock that had been blasted off the mountain by the meteor impact, disappearing from sight.
Kerit raced to the edge of the ledge, sure he was going to see her tumbling head over heels.
She stepped lightly and quickly, keeping herself in control of her descent, not quite sliding, but rather letting the momentum carry her down.
Not so Kerit. In his haste, he’d forgotten to check the stability of the ledge. The edge gave way under him. He fought to keep his footing, his hands reaching for the edge. His fingers scrambled on the rock but could find no purchase.
The part of the ledge he’d been standing on slid down the mountain, its size enough to push all the smaller rocks in its way. They, in turn, pushed more rocks and the landslide grew.
And Kerit followed them.
Folly’s head whipped around at the sound, causing her to stumble.
Kerit only had time to realise that at the back of the slide, he might survive, but she had little chance. She would be buried by the rocks.
Then all he could focus on was not getting smashed by the rocks.
A hand reached out and yanked him sideways, and he stopped moving. The landslide went on without him, the sound of rocks bumping and crashing around him, drowning out everything else. He could barely even register the fact that he’d stopped moving, much less work out what had happened.
“What was that you said about causing a rock slide? I couldn’t hear you.”
Folly’s voice pulled his attention, helped by the fact that the sound of falling rocks faded. She’d managed to pull them in behind a more solid outcropping, probably saving both their lives. And her voice sounded like she was smiling, or even laughing.
“I… You…” Why was he muttering so incoherently? Oh yeah, that’s right, a few moments ago he’d been sliding down in a landslide toward certain death.
One he’d caused by his carelessness. “Sorry.”
She shrugged from where she crouched beside him, lifting just one shoulder as though it didn’t matter. “You didn’t mean it. I probably shouldn’t have rushed off like that either.” Her voice sounded casual and light, but Kerit sensed an edge to it, as though she thought he was going to be angry at her.
“You obviously knew what you were doing. It’s not like you started a landslide.”
She gave a laugh. “No, true. That was you.” She thumped him on the shoulder, and Kerit winced. Though he had no serious injuries, he was going to be black and blue for a few days.
Kerit moved to push himself up. “We’d better get moving.”
Folly held out a hand and as he took it, Kerit was surprised by how small it was. She was strong though and helped pull him to his feet. “At least we’re nearly at the bottom after that,” she said.
They stepped out of the shelter of the rocks, into the sun that bathed the whole area. If he’d thought he was hot before, it was nothing compared to the heat that hit him now. Dust and gravel stuck to the sweat that seemed to bathe every part of his body. Kerit adjusted his visor and patted his jacket, pulling the sleeve where it was torn down over the cuff before following Folly as she scrambled the rest of the way down.
At the base of the mountain, a light wind picked up more than a little dust. All the vegetation had been destroyed in the meteor blast, and anything left had died in the resulting impact winter. The slightest breeze stirred up enough dust to make it hard to see where he was going.
Finding the mountain had been easy—it had stuck out above the dust—his little shuttle, not so much. And he hadn’t dared push his flying skills to land too close.
Folly waited, hands on hips again, so Kerit picked the direction he thought the shuttle was in and started walking.
For a while, there was silence. The dust muffled their footsteps and even her breathing was inaudible through the scarf she wore. Kerit coughed. It probably protected her more from the dust than his visor did too. The dust burned his nose and throat.
He paused, squinting through the dust. Surely they should be there by now? He hadn’t landed that far from the mountain, had he?
“You don’t know where it is, do you? Or were you making it up, and there isn’t really a spaceship at all?”
Her voice was patronising and more than a little irritating. Kerit didn’t need her to verify the existence of his shuttle, he already knew it was there. Just because he couldn’t see it right now didn’t mean it didn’t exist. But it would be so nice to be able to find it.
He was unreasonably relieved when he spotted the shadow of the hull through the haze, a little to the left. “Here it is.”
Predictably, she didn’t even respond.
Not that he cared. He wasn’t out to impress her. He just wanted to get inside, out of this heat, and radio Tyris and find out where the rest of her people were hiding.
He hit the button to open the door and stepped in, sighing in relief as the blast of cool air hit him. As soon as Folly entered, he closed the door, to keep every bit of the cool air in. Pulling off his gloves, he smothered a gasp of pain. He pulled back the damaged cuff of his jacket, exposing red raw skin, throbbing agonisingly.
Again, he was glad he’d taken his mum’s advice about the gloves. A least, only a tiny bit of his skin had been exposed. It stung like crazy, but it w
ould heal.
“Here, let me look.”
Before he could object, she’d pulled off her own gloves and thrown them onto a chair and took hold of his hand, turning it this way and that, examining the burn. “I have some cream that will help.”
Her hands were firm and sure, and in contrast with the cool air conditioned air, pleasantly warm. Kerit bit back his automatic reply, that he had burn cream in the first aid kit. He didn’t want her to let go. If only he could see her face. With his spare hand, he ripped off his own face mask and tossed it after her gloves
She pulled a little container out of one of her baggy pockets, and at the same time, a little white furry creature with huge red eyes and ludicrously enormous ears ran out, up her arm, and regarded him from her shoulder.
This was turning into the most bizarre day ever.
“What…?” Kerit voice trailed off as her fingers touched the burn, and he steeled himself for the sting. But instead, the transparent gel was cool and soothing. His breath escaped in a sigh.
Her fingers slid over his skin, all over the area, making sure that it was covered right to the edges of the burn and beyond, while her other hand held his wrist firmly. The gel warmed slightly under her touch, but not unpleasantly so.
In fact, it was anything but unpleasant. The slow, careful movements... Kerit felt himself reacting and instinctively pulled back. Her head lifted, and he cleared his throat. “Thanks. It feels much better.”
Definitely better.
She didn’t move, and he had the uncanny feeling she was staring straight into his eyes. Hers though, were still hidden behind that damn scarf. What did she look like under that? He wanted to ask her to take it off, but couldn’t quite figure out how without sounding weird. She’d have to take it off eventually. He hoped he wouldn’t be disappointed.
“I’d better just…” He reached for the radio.
Folly reached up behind her head, untying the scarf, and unwinding it from her face.
Kerit couldn’t help himself. He stared.
She was nothing like he’d imagined. She was more. A lot more.
Her face was narrow and fine, with high cheekbones, and the sun-bleached blond hair, some of which had been dislodged from the ponytail when she pulled her scarf off, fell around her face.
But it was her expression, haunted and flighty like a deer caught in headlights that captured his attention.
“Ker? Ker? Are you there?”
Tyris’s voice cut into his thoughts. He hadn’t even realised that he’d depressed the PTT button. “Ah, yeah. I’m here.”
She turned away, staring at the instrument panel along the wall, running her hands over the buttons. His eyes followed her. Who was she, and what was her story? He couldn’t help but be intrigued.
“Are you at the top now?”
“Uh, no. I… had to come back to the shuttle. I ran into a bit of a snag.”
She turned then, staring, her expression challenging him. The creature on her shoulder seemed to mirror her stare.
What did she expect him to do? He’d love to help her look for her father. In fact, he still hoped to. But he had a ship full of people in orbit needing a new home. Because with the rate at which babies were being born, they were going to run out of room soon.
“The planet isn’t quite as deserted as we thought it was.”
There was no mistaking it—her eyes accused him. And if that hadn’t convinced him, her folded arms and glare told him the rest.
“Say again? It sounded like you said that the planet wasn’t deserted?”
“Yeah, that is what I said. I found someone.” Why did he hesitate? “A girl,” he forced himself to add.
Did she just make a huffing sound? Hmm, perhaps he should have said woman?
Tyris responded immediately. “That’s not possible.”
Kerit laughed. “Tell me about it. But I’m staring at her, so I can tell you for sure that she exists. Not only that, she crashed into me half way up the mountain and damaged my radio. I don’t know if it’s fixable or not.”
“Hmm.” He could almost imagine his brother frowning. “How many of them are there? This could be a problem.”
That was putting it mildly. “I don’t know, she... Folly, said that there were around five thousand.” He paused. If only she’d waited outside. He’d love to have this conversation privately. But that wasn’t an option. “She won’t tell me where they are.”
“We can soon fix that. A group that size should be pretty easy to find.”
Folly’s eyes widened. Apparently she’d never heard of life sign scanners. Kerit fought to keep his expression neutral and not give in to the satisfaction he felt at her reaction. That would teach her to try to blackmail him.
This way, he could help her willingly instead of being bullied into it.
“Hmm...” the uncertain tone to Tyris’s voice spoilt his moment of glee.
“What is it?” Kerit asked.
“Are you sure she’s not bluffing? I can’t find any sign of a group of life signs that large.”
The worried look on her face changed to self-satisfaction. She walked across to Kerit and held out her hand for the radio. He was so surprised, he let her take it out of his hand, pulling back when her skin brushed his.
She seemed to know exactly how it worked, depressing the PTT button and saying, “I’m not bluffing. They’re underground. Obviously your scanners aren’t strong enough to penetrate the rock.”
There was a long hush on the other end of the radio. Kerit turned away to hid his grin. It was rare to hear his brother shocked into silence. To his credit though, he recovered quickly. “Hi, I’m Tyris. You must be... Folly?”
“Yes, I’m Folly.” The expression on her face was defiant. “And if you want to talk to the people down here and work out a way to convince them to let you fix this planet, then you better tell your man down here to help me.”
“My brother,” Tyris said, but his voice sounded distracted. “Help you? What do you mean?”
Folly handed the radio back to him. “You explain.”
Kerit stared at her for a minute before depressing the button and saying to Tyris. “She says her father is in the old city. She wants my help to go there and find him.” A thought occurred to him. “Can you see if there is anyone actually there?”
Her eyes widened and she stared at him. Her brow creased.
Well, what did she expect? Not that he doubted her or anything, but he would like to have some actual physical confirmation of her story.
“Wait a sec, I’ll try,” Tyris responded.
There was silence for a moment. Folly folded her arms, staring at him. Kerit tried not to shift uncomfortably.
“Yeah, I can see one life sign in the ruins.” Tyris’s voice was surprised. “So there’s at least one more person down on that planet.”
Folly’s chin jutted out, but did she look… nervous? Was she afraid that he wouldn’t help her?
Tyris was silent for a moment, either thinking or conferring with someone else on board the Resolution. Kerit heard the rustle of his breath as he sighed. “You’d better go help her find him. We can’t run the reaction until we’re sure everyone is off the planet, so it makes sense to cooperate with the inhabitants as much as we can. We need their help as much as they need ours.”
A smile lit Folly’s face for the first time.
Kerit couldn’t help an answering grin.
He wasn’t giving in to her blackmail, he was cooperating. That sounded far better.
And exploring the ruins with a pretty girl wasn’t exactly a chore.
Chapter 4
“Looks like we’re going to have some interesting weather.”
Folly’s eyes followed Kerit’s pointing hand. Once they rose above the normal, low lying dust, dark clouds and the resulting wall of dust could be seen gathering. Back at the caves, the residents would be battening down, preparing to ride out the storm.
Somehow, it was more exciting to be he
re, in a spaceship, heading towards Tadig. She could feel Chicken’s shivers from somewhere inside her jacket. The strange echoes inside the ship, the vibrations from the engines, and the movement of the ship were all unfamiliar. It wasn’t surprising Chicken was afraid. But she couldn’t afford to miss this chance.
With Kerit’s help, she might just find what she was looking for.
He stared out the window, a concentrated frown on his face, giving her a moment to look at him unobserved. His long blond fringe covered his eyes at this moment, but she could still remember how piercingly blue they’d been as he stared at her back on the mountain. She suppressed a shiver, remembering how he’d stirred feelings she didn’t want to think about when he’d pulled her against him. His lean, muscular body had felt just right.
Adrenalin. That’s what the strange feeling had been. Nothing more. She didn’t find him attractive. Not at all. She just needed his help.
A twinge of guilt that she had let him think her father was still alive somewhere in the city affected her for a moment. But if she hadn’t, would he have agreed to help her?
“Is that going to be a problem for us?” Kerit’s question interrupted her thoughts.
Folly sighed. “Maybe,” she allowed.
Would he take this opportunity to back out of their agreement? She could tell him that they had to get to her father before the storm arrived, but she already felt bad enough about lying. Instead she said, “We should be in the city before it arrives, and we can take shelter until it passes. They usually only last an hour or two.”
Kerit stared at her for a long moment, and it took all her willpower not to squirm under his gaze. If only he had agreed to help her without her lie. Finally, to her relief, he nodded. “Do you know where your father might be? The city’s not too big, but the closer we can land, the better.” His hands didn’t leave the controls, but he nodded at something behind Folly.
She turned in her seat and couldn’t help the gasp of surprise.
She’d always imagined Tadig as being like Prioris, only bigger; with abandoned houses covered in dust, and treasures waiting to be discovered.
