The Dead Planet Series: Exodus (Book 1)

by Drew Avera

  Chapter 33

  Kara and Laurel led me up to the medical unit which was down the passageway from the galley. My fractured rib was very painful and it made it hard for me to breathe. Each step was more laboring than the last and I could feel my adrenaline dying down. I was on my own power now, no fear or life changing event to fuel me on to the next step and it hurt like hell.

  "Are you alright, Serus? You seem to be weakening," Laurel said to me as she gripped my hand in hers.

  "I've been better, but I've also been worse," I replied hoping that it would ease her concern.

  Kara was leading us and having the pedestrians move out of the way so that we could get to the medical unit without delay. I appreciated her concern, but I felt that it was a little too much given the circumstances. At least that was my thought until I coughed up blood. It was a hard hacking cough and my hand came away with thick blood smeared across it.

  "Oh no, Kara!" Laurel yelled out. "He's coughing up blood. We need to hurry."

  I looked down at my hand and ran my thumb over my blood stained fingers. I was mesmerized by how it felt sticky and I could create a swirling pattern with it. Kara fell back and helped Laurel carry me because my legs were becoming weak and useless. That was the last thing that I remembered before everything went black.

  I was standing on the edge of a cliff overlooking the water below. The waves broke against the rocks and created salty foam that looked like it was inviting me to dive in. There were aromas that I was not used to smelling beyond the salty water. I looked around at flowers that I had never seen before. They reflected the sunlight and were beautiful. I looked up at the sun and noticed that it looked bigger and brighter than I had ever seen it before. I reached my hand out hoping to touch it because it seemed so close.

  It was a silly thought that I could hold the sun in my hand, but I tried again anyway. I was in a kind of utopia, but I could not remember how I had gotten here. The image of everything around me fluttered for a moment. The sun and sky became a dark room with a single bright light shining down on my face, and then I was back in my utopia. I shook my head trying to rid myself of the vision, but it happened again. I reached down and fell upon the rocks below trying to anchor myself to my utopia.

  I closed my eye, but all I could see was that dark room with the single bright light shining on me again. I opened my eyes but my vision fluttered again, the dark room was pulling me away, stripping me of everything that I so desperately wanted to cling to. I struggled to hold on as I watched the rocks and trees blink out of existence. My feet were lifted as I held onto the large cliff with everything that I had, and then it was all gone. I was in a sea of darkness and I floated there alone. I was amazed by how the silence and the warmth were comforting and within moments I fell asleep.

  It started as a little beep that chirped every other second. They were only a slight irritation at first as I nuzzled back into the comforting darkness. Now it seemed that the beeps were trying to annoy me. I fought to maintain my composure, unwilling to move out of the darkness that I loved so much. I honestly tried to ignore it, but the beeping became too much. I lashed out of the darkness and I opened m eyes for the first time in what must have been several days.

  I looked around to see a well lit hospital room. The beeping was from the machine that was pumping oxygen into my lungs. I was stiff all over as I looked around the room. There was the bed, a table, a media device mounted to the wall, and a couch in the corner with someone laying on it.

  "Kara?" I said without realizing it. She didn't move so I said her name again. "Kara?" She looked up at me and pulled her long dark hair out of her face. She had been sleeping for a while based on the redness on the side of her face from the cushion on the couch.

  "Serus, you're awake," she said.

  "How long have I been out?" I asked.

  "A day and a half," she replied. "They pumped you full of drugs for the surgery."

  "Surgery for what?" I asked.

  "You had a broken rib that punctured your right lung. It was pretty bad so they had to do emergency surgery on you. You've been sleeping off the drugs during since then."

  "What happened with Sorell and the policemen?" I asked.

  "They are all dead and disposed of," she said. "Laurel had a hand in ensuring their disposition. I guess it pays to have friends who know their way around a transport." Kara smiled at me and I returned it.

  "Where is Laurel now?"

  "She's at work. The commander said that she could have some time off once you woke up, but he couldn't justify giving her the time when there was nothing that she could do."

  "Sounds like a lovely person to work for," I said.

  "Maybe, but he was the one that helped us get rid of the bodies so he must not be that bad," Kara said.

  I chuckled a bit though I had to hold my side due to the pain. "Maybe so."

  "Serus, there is something that I need to speak with you about."

  "What is that?" I asked.

  "It's about Laurel," she said.

  "What about her?"

  "I've had a pretty long conversation with her last night while you were recuperating. It seems that she still holds some very strong feelings for you. My concern is that the lifestyle that we will be leading on Earth will not allow for you to explore the possibilities of a restored relationship with her."

  "What are you suggesting? That I not pursue a relationship, or that I kill the mission before it even begins?"

  "I don't know," Kara said. "Either way life will be hard. If we allow the Syndicate to control everyone like they have been then there will be no hope for a decent future, if you step away from Laurel then you may lose a chance at being happy."

  "We'll why can't I have both in my life?" I asked.

  "Do you really expect her to accept the kind of life that you will be providing?"

  "What kind of life would that be, Kara? One where I am fighting for freedom?"

  "No, one where you will be fighting for anything. Do you not realize the potential risks involved? It would be unfair to uproot her from a secure life without at least speaking to her about the potential harm that may come because of her decision."

  Kara was right. If I allowed Laurel to get hurt because she didn't know what she was stepping into then I would never be able to forgive myself. It was something that I was going to have to discuss with her when I saw her next. I knew what I wanted and I knew what I had to do. I couldn't easily let one go for the other.

  "What does she know about our mission and what we are involved with?" I asked.

  "Nothing. I skirted around her questions, but I'm sure she will ask you many of the same things that she asked me."

  "Alright, I'll talk to her tonight and let her make the decision after I tell her everything," I said.

  "Are you sure?"

  "I have to be. There's too much at stake," I laid my head back on the pillow and closed my eyes, thinking about a future with Laurel was filling my heart with hope, but the possibility of pushing her away because of my mission stripped that hope away and stomped it to death. It would be her decision in the end; I just hoped that I could live with it.