by Rinelle Grey
Kerit didn’t seem to notice her melancholy thoughts. “I have no idea why she volunteered to explore. There were plenty of less strenuous jobs she could do if she wanted to help.”
“I think she had another reason for volunteering.” Folly didn’t quite manage to keep the bitterness out of her voice that time.
Kerit stopped in the middle of the darkness, and turned to shine the torch near her face. “Oh. That didn’t occur to me. It would explain the flirting though.”
His voice was so matter of fact. He could at least sound a little remorseful.
“I’m sorry I interrupted your fun,” Folly said stiffly.
She started to walk off into the darkness, but Kerit grabbed her arm. “Hey, I wasn’t encouraging her. I was just trying to get a job done.”
True. He had seemed more than happy to get rid of Caylie. “I know. Sorry.” Her apology sounded mechanical, even to her own ears, but it was the best she could do. “Let’s just get this cave finished and get out of here, it gives me the creeps.”
Kerit stared at her for a few more minutes, although surely he couldn’t see much, then nodded. “Okay.”
He turned back to shine his torch along the walls, asking as he did, “So what’s the issue with the caves? Just that they’re dark?”
Folly was glad of something different to talk about. “Oh, nothing really. The kids at school used to say they were haunted. I know they aren’t really, but it scared me when I was little, and I guess I haven’t really gotten over it.”
It was silly, when she thought about it. She didn’t believe in ghosts, or any of the other creatures the kids told stories about. So why was she still scared? “How far have you explored?”
“Not far,” Kerit said wryly. “I checked either side of the entrance pretty thoroughly while Caylie was sitting on a rock talking about hairstyles, but I haven’t made it into the middle or either of the back corners. And I think there’s another cave over on that side.” He shone his torch over, and it barely made an impression on the darker patch he indicated.
“Shall we go around the edges clockwise, then check the centre?”
“Logical as always,” Kerit said, patting her on the shoulder. “Sounds like a plan.”
Folly knew he didn’t mean it negatively, but somehow, it felt that way. She strode off into the darkness in the direction she’d indicated, and Kerit limped after her as fast as he could. To Folly’s relief, he didn’t say anything though, just started shining his torch around.
They worked their way around the side of the cave in silence, and through into the second cave, and the one after that. After a while, the silence started to sound oppressive, even to Folly.
When Kerit’s voice said out of the darkness, she jumped. “Look, if I’ve done something to upset you, I’m sorry.”
“No, you haven’t upset me,” she said gruffly. It was the truth, he hadn’t.
Yet.
“Then what’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I just want to finish this and get out of this cave.”
Folly strode off into the darkness, cutting off any further conversation, and tripped on something, falling flat on her face. She put out her hands to save herself, wincing at the grazes, and her torch bounced off across the floor, its light shining off the walls. And…
Pushing herself to her feet, Folly stared at the large shape covered by a cloth. It was tied down with ropes along the side, one of which she’d tripped over. “What the…?”
She scrambled to pick up her torch, not even noticing the stinging in her palms. Kerit’s torch played out across the shape that was nearly as large as Ma’s little house in the forest.
“Looks like someone’s been hiding something,” Kerit said. “And hasn’t checked on it in quite a while by the looks of these ropes. This one snapped when you tripped over it. Are you okay?”
“Yes, fine.” Folly dismissed his concern. Excitement was bubbling up in her. “You don’t think…?”
“Let’s find out.” Kerit pulled out a pocket knife and cut two more ropes. “Give me a hand with this.”
He grabbed one corner of the cloth and Folly pulled on the other.
The cover slid off easily, and both of them gasped as their torchlight revealed the piecemeal ship.
It looked like it had been put together with pieces of scrap, but Folly recognised it instantly. She didn’t even need Kerit’s torchlight shining across the words ‘Tahlia Mae’ painted on the nose. Tears pricked in the back of her eyes.
“Is this… is it… your dad’s ship?”
Folly nodded, unable to speak. Unable to believe, after all these years, that she’d found it. “It was here all along.” She didn’t even care that her voice was all choked up. “It really does exist.”
Kerit slipped his arms around her. “I didn’t doubt it for a minute.”
She had. Now that she’d found it, she could admit it. There had been moments when she’d wondered if the ship and the adventure she’d had in it had been all a dream, sparked by one of her mother’s stories.
The radio at Kerit’s waist crackled. “Ker?”
He released her and brought it up to his mouth. “Ty? You have to come see this.”
“It will have to wait. Dr Benton just confirmed that Marlee’s in labour.” Folly could hear the suppressed excitement and nervousness in his voice. “Can you take over the evac for me, bro?”
“Of course. But… Ty?”
“Yes?”
“We’ve found the ship.”
There was a silence on the other end of the radio for a minute. Then Tyris asked, “Where are you?”
“We’re in one of the back caves. I guess Folly’s dad hid it here, thinking no one would ever find it. He was nearly right. If we hadn’t been checking the caves so thoroughly, we would have missed it.”
“Well, it will still be there once all this is done,” Tyris said. “I can’t wait to have a look at it. For now though, we need those caves checked.”
“Right,” Kerit agreed. “I’ll finish this one, since I’m right here, then get back to see how everything else is going.”
“Thanks, Ker. I appreciate it.”
“No worries.”
The radio cut out, and Kerit returned it to his belt. He shone his torch over the ship again. “Well, I guess it will be safe enough here while we finish. It’s not like it’s going anywhere.”
“No.” The words were out of Folly’s mouth before she even thought them. But thinking didn’t change her mind. “No. Do you know how long I’ve been looking for this? I can’t just walk away. I need to see inside. To see if it still flies.”
Kerit put a hand on her shoulder. “I know what this means to you, Folly. But Tyris is right. The ship will still be here after the terraforming is complete. Right now, we don’t know if that alien is still buried or what. We need to get this done as soon as possible. You know that.”
Even the threat of the alien had faded away. She almost forgot how scared she’d been. None of it mattered anymore. All that was important was that she’d finally been proved right. No one would think she had been making things up now. Except…
“I have to see if it flies. And if it…” she couldn’t even say the words. The ship was here, but if it couldn’t fly faster than light, then it didn’t prove anything.
“We will,” Kerit said. “I promise. As soon as we’ve made sure everyone is safely on board the Resolution. The alien, remember?”
“You go,” Folly said. She waved her hand. “Your brother asked you to help, I get that. But I have to do this.”
She was free. If this worked, she could go anywhere in the galaxy she wanted to. She didn’t have to choose between going with Kerit or staying here. She didn’t have to wait around and see if he was going to drop her as soon as he became bored. If she left now, she’d be able to just remember that he had cared. That was a better memory.
She took a step towards the door.
Kerit’s voice halted her. “Folly, plea
se.”
Something in the sound of his voice made her stop and turn around. The light bouncing off the hull illuminated his face enough that she could see the drawn worry lines. “Just wait, please. We can do this together.”
“I appreciate the sentiment, Kerit, but we both know this isn’t going to last. I’ve had an amazing time, and I’ll never regret it, but it’s better that it ends now before I get too attached.”
“What? What are you talking about?”
“You can’t possibly love me. I’m not the sort anyone loves. I’ll never fit in to your family. I’ve never fitted in anywhere. Not since my family died. But I do fit here, in this ship. It’s part of me, and I’m part of it.”
Her heart ached at the look on his face for a moment. Then she cut it off. Better he was the one hurting than her. “I love you, Kerit. Thank you.” She hit the button on the side of the ship, and stepped inside.
Kerit headed straight for the door as soon as it opened, but Folly knew the inside of the ship as well as she knew her own room. She slid the door closed and pushed the metal pin into the latch.
Funny, she hadn’t been able to move it when she was little. Probably a good thing.
She could hear Kerit pounding on the outside of the door, but the thick hull muffled any words.
Sitting down at the controls, she had a momentary fear that she wouldn’t know how to use it. But the lessons Kerit had given her on board the shuttle helped. She thanked him silently again as she pressed the button to start the engines.
For a moment, it hit her that it might not work. A thousand things could have gone wrong. What if there was no fuel, or it was bad after all these years? What if something had rusted up? But the engines came to life with a roar, and the banging at the door ceased abruptly.
She reached for the radio. “Tell them to open the roof.” It would be tricky to fly between the shutters the cave residents had put in place to protect them from the dust, but she could do it.
“Folly! Wait!”
Doubt hit her. What if he really did care about her? What if she was throwing it all away?
Brent’s mocking voice filled her mind.
You actually believe he cares about you, don’t you? Still so naive. Men don’t care about women, they just pretend to, so they can get into their pants.
She cut the radio off and pulled back on the throttle. Cameras came online on screens in front of her, showing the area outside the ship. Most of it was dark, but she could see the arch of light that indicated the way out.
And Kerit, standing in front of her, waving his torch. She gave herself a moment to memorise his face and the way his hair fell across his forehead.
Luckily, she didn’t have to go forwards. She changed the angle of the thrusters and lifted into the air, pivoting on the spot, and heading for the exit. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Kerit racing to follow her.
She steered her way carefully through the cave systems, holding her breath. Then she was out, the ship skimming above the top of the trees. Exhilaration filled her. It worked. It existed.
It was real.
She lifted higher, glancing at the camera showing her the roof above her. The plexiglass doors were still closed. Frowning, she realised that it was her only way out. If Kerit refused to open them…
He wouldn’t. Would he?
He wasn’t that desperate that he would risk everyone’s safety to prevent her leaving. He was the sort to do the right thing. Protect all those people. His brother had entrusted him with that job, and he’d do it.
She lifted the spaceship up, and sure enough, the doors opened.
The last obstacle was gone. The little Tahlia Mae lifted up into the sun for the first time in twenty years. Folly’s heart sang, even as it ached.
Chapter 24
Kerit’s first thought, as he clutched the side of the arch, watching Folly’s ship skim over the trees, was to pick up the radio and ask Tyris for help. He would know what to do.
Then it hit him. Marlee was in labour. Tyris was about to become a father. He couldn’t interrupt that moment just because Folly had lost the plot. He not only had to sort out his own problems, he had to do it while getting everyone from the caves onto the Resolution.
He stared after Folly. She had been searching for this ship her whole life, and just when she found it, he said they had to wait to see if it would fly. Could he blame her for not wanting to wait? She’d be back after she took it for a test flight.
All that stuff she’d spouted about not fitting in and him not loving her, that was just…
Just what? He’d known she had doubts, right from the beginning, but he’d stupidly thought that their moment in the Resolution had changed all that. He’d thought the fact that she’d slept with him had meant she’d overcome them. But what if it had just made everything worse?
She was afraid that all he wanted was sex. And now that he’d had that, she thought he didn’t care. A horrible feeling began to grow in the pit of his stomach, making him feel sick.
He should have told her. Should have said the words. I love you. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t known, but the idea had been too new and scary, and he hadn’t been game to voice it.
Now it might be too late.
He shook his head, and straightened up. No, it couldn’t be too late. His heart couldn’t accept that. He couldn’t possibly feel this strongly about her and not have her feel the same. The universe wasn’t that cruel.
She’d been overwhelmed by the excitement of finding her father’s ship. As soon as she’d assured herself that it worked and it really was what she knew it was, her doubts would vanish. That was what had caused them in the first place, everyone doubting her. Once that was gone, she would come back, and they could do things properly.
She would.
He needed to let her go and do what she had to do and she would come back.
He flicked the channel of the radio to the one they were using to organise the evacuation. “Open the roof.”
“What? Who is this? Why should I….” the voice cut out.
Kerit gave a breathless laugh as Folly’s ship rose towards the roof of the cave. The doors began to slide open and his legs wouldn’t hold him. He collapsed on the ground, staring up, watching her ship disappear out the opening. It hovered there for a few long minutes, then it sped off.
“I love you, Folly.”
No one could hear him, least of all her, so Kerit pulled himself to his feet.
She would come back. She had to. He refused to doubt the way they felt about each other. He just needed to trust.
And in the meantime, he had an evacuation to organise.
*****
The long line of people stretched out between the Resolution and the caves. They didn’t rush, just wandered along, dragging bags and suitcases with them. He’d told them not to bring anything more than what they needed for a couple of days, but most of them hadn’t listened. They didn’t seem to believe that the terraforming wouldn’t harm anything on the surface.
Not anything that wasn’t living, anyway. And hopefully nothing in the caves.
Kerit shaded his eyes and glanced up at the sky. But no shadow darkened the horizon where Folly’s ship had vanished several hours ago. Everyone had asked him about it, but he hadn’t been able to answer their questions. He wasn’t about to tell them Folly had run off.
Had left him.
No, she just needed a bit of time. Maybe a day or two. That was all.
That had to be all.
But the doubts wouldn’t be completely silenced. The best he could do was to focus on the task at hand, and try to ignore them.
“Come on, we haven’t got all day,” he grumbled.
A middle aged lady, carrying what looked like a bag of test tubes, glared at him.
He didn’t care.
He looked up again, scanning the horizon in all directions.
There, was that something? It was moving, and it was in the air. And it was coming
in this direction.
She was coming back.
But as the speck grew, a nervous feeling grew in Kerit’s stomach. The speck was too small to be Folly’s ship. And it wasn’t moving quite fast enough. The feeling grew, expanding and overflowing. Kerit stayed rooted to the spot, unable to tear his eyes away. The shape was…
“The alien!”
Everyone’s head jerked up and stared in the direction Kerit pointed. There were mumbles. “There’s nothing there. Stop going on about that nonsense…”
Then gasps.
Kerit’s heart pounded. The alien might be moving slower than Folly’s ship, but it was moving far faster than anything here on the ground. Already, its huge wingspan could be made out.
“It’s a bird. Nothing but a bird,” someone called out.
“There are no birds,” someone replied.
For a moment, Kerit couldn’t find his voice. This all felt like a bad dream. Then a child cried, and suddenly, he could speak. “That’s no bird,” Kerit shouted. “Run.”
Adrenalin raced through his veins, and his leg muscles tensed, preparing to run. Hopefully, his ankle wouldn’t fail him now. He glanced forwards and backwards. The caves were closer, but the drop to the ground was too far. Only a few people would make it back down the rope before the alien descended on them. Panic welled up in him. “Run for the ship!”
For a second, no one moved. They all stared at the shape, growing larger by the minute, shading their faces from the glare of the sun.
Then the alien roared.
The sound was faint at this distance, but unmistakable.
Bags dropped onto the sand and people began to run.
Kerit turned to run towards the Resolution, glancing back once as he did so. At least a dozen people were running to the cave entrance. He hesitated, the urge to flee was strong. Stupid people, who had ignored his instructions, they deserved what they got. But he knew they wouldn’t all make it. Not in time.
“I was first.”
“No, I was, get out of my way.”
He glanced back at the safety of the ship once, then swore. He was in charge. He couldn’t just leave them.
