by David Aries
After getting a quick rundown about keeping Trez in line, I trudged back outside to where my girls were chatting amongst themselves.
The sight of them alone was enough to clear the clouds hanging over me.
“My Brandon!” Casella said when she noticed I was there.
Trez spun on the spot and flashed a grin. “Hey, Muscles! Sorry for shitting you up. You know what Eret’s like: ignore him at your own peril.”
“No, it’s fine,” I replied. “And don’t put too much blame on him. He’s just doing his job.”
“Pff! I know my body better than anyone. I’m totally fine! I’m not even showing yet.” Trez pulled up her tank top before wiggling from side to side like a belly dancer.
Sure enough, her tummy was as flat as ever.
“Unless you count your breasts, yes?” Casella said.
“Damn right,” Trez said as she spun Casella’s way and pushed out her swelling chest. “The days of me needing training bras are over! Soon enough, I’ll be as big as you.”
Sylvetty buried a laugh in her hand.
“What was that?!” Trez snapped.
“Nothing,” a smirking Sylvetty said. “Two little handfuls, and she’s acting like she’s stacked.”
“Screw you! Ain’t like you’ve got much to write home about.”
Sylvetty pushed her own chest out, breasts bulging against the edges of her leather apron. “But I’m still bigger than ya, and I didn’t even need an ore in the furnace.”
A part of me knew it was time to step in and stop this, but there was something about watching my mates shaking their busts around which made intervention a difficult task.
Akko cleared her throat. “S-sweetie? Wasn’t there something you wanted to show us?”
I flinched. “A-ah. Y-yeah, that’s right. I’ve got a surprise for you all. A big surprise.” I pulled one of the batteries from my bag.
Trez’s eyes spread as wide as they could. “W-what… the fuck is that?!” She snatched it from me and pressed her face into the glowing tube. “No way. No fucking way. Muscles, you… you’re shitting me, right? This ain’t what it looks like, right?”
I smirked. “That depends. Does it look like a working battery to you?”
After a few seconds of inspecting the tube, Trez started laughing in the same manic manner I had earlier. Then she launched herself at me. “Muscles, you big beautiful bastard!” She assaulted my face with a rapid-fire kiss attack.
I didn’t encourage her to stop.
“Will someone tell me what the bleeding feck is going on?” Sylvetty said.
“I-I’m not completely certain,” Akko said, “but it sounds like Brandon brought—”
“A working ‘fucking’ battery,” Trez said as she untangled herself from me to show it off. “This is the damn thing we’ve been missing all these months! This is the bad boy we need to get that drill moving.”
“Really and truly?!” Casella replied.
“Totes. It’s gonna take some modifications—I’m gonna need to totally rewire the energy source—but I know this is gonna do the trick.”
“If you need parts, we made sure to bring the busted metaleaters with us,” I told her.
“For realz?!”
“And that’s not all.” I reached into my bag and pulled out another battery. “What’s one power source compared to four?”
Trez froze for a moment before bouncing around like a kid on a sugar high. “Dammit, Muscles. You’re the best fucking mate a girl could ask for! There’s no doubt about it; that drill is as good as working.” Which meant we were one step closer to getting through that underground door.
We still couldn’t be certain what was in there. For all we knew, it was filled with nothing but disappointment. However, my gut said differently. It knew, somehow it knew, that behind that thick slab of metal was the key to getting off this planet.
It was high time we took it for ourselves.
Chapter 3
Not a day had passed since I’d returned home bearing gifts, yet excitement levels had reached fever pitch.
“I can’t believe this is really happening,” Keith said, his entire body trembling. “We’re finally getting out of here. We’re gonna get home!” He threw his energetic arms around me. “I love you, bro!”
“H-hey, aren’t you getting a little carried away?” I said as I edged out of the man hug. “It hasn’t even started yet.”
Not that such a minute detail stopped a crowd from flocking into the glade. It was the largest gathering this neck of the woods had seen since Trez’s first false alarm many months back.
Their belief was blossoming anew.
All eyes rested on the woman of the moment. Trez hummed as she fiddled with the engine, sporadically switching between a small array of tools.
“How long will zis take?” I heard Davalina ask.
“One does not know,” Bipp replied. “Hopefully, this isn’t another dud.”
They were far from the only impatient murmurs spreading around the bleachers. Apparently, everyone had ignored the fact Trez said the drill would be ready ‘soon’ rather than ‘now’.
“Should she even be doing this?” Aya whispered.
“No,” Eret said. “Not that she’ll listen to me.”
I bit my bottom lip. That hadn’t exactly passed me by. Sure, Trez’s work wasn’t back-breaking, but that didn’t make it all sunshine and lollipops.
Once I’d freed myself from Keith, I trotted over and joined Trez on stage. “Don’t let everyone pressure you into hurrying up. If you need a break—”
“I’m fine,” she replied, sky blue eyes locked on the engine.
“It’s just, you’ve been working all morning.”
“I know.”
“Alone. Wouldn’t it be better if you had a little help?” I would have volunteered myself, but this was way out of my comfort zone. I’d never even fiddled with a car engine, so what good would I be with a sci-fi drill?
At last, Trez stopped tinkering and stared at me. “Sure, a little help would be nice… if anyone around here knew what they were doing. Even the damn herixes don’t have a clue. What sorta soldiers can’t handle an engine? Real smart plan, girls: leave it to the sibbons and hope they don’t all die on impact.”
I couldn’t claim to be too sad about that particular loss. After all, my first encounter with that race of pint-sized engineers had been more than frosty.
Not that there was any reason to suspect the group traveling with Demi was as depraved as the one that had tried to kill Faris and use Casella for her gift.
It still kept any tears at bay.
“Surely there’s still someone—anyone—who could help?” I said.
Trez let out a nice emphasized groan. “Seriously, Muscles, stop worrying so much. I’m fine. Just because I’ve got a bun in the oven doesn’t mean I need to be mollycoddled. In fact, I feel great! I’ve finally stopped puking, and I’ve actually got energy.”
“But—”
“No, no, no,” she said, waving my concerns away. “I understand you’re worried, but you seriously need to chill on the whole overprotective front. Eret’s bad enough without you joining in.”
I clenched my hands into fists. “I’m just worried about anything going wrong. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you.” My eyes wandered to her stomach. “Either of you.”
Trez sighed. She put her tools down, hopped up on her tippy toes, and caught me in her arms. “I ain’t going nowhere, buster,” she said before giving my chin a kiss. “Now stop lurking around like a dad at a music festival and gimme some space. Before you got all needy, I was moments away from finishing up.”
My brows twitched up. “Seriously?”
She grinned and tapped me on the nose. “Just you watch. I’m about to remind you what a damn star I am.”
I swallowed any more complaints. When my mates were this insistent, it was pretty difficult to argue.
True to her words, it only took Trez ten minut
es to stop what she was doing and wipe the sweat from her brow. “Alright! That should do it.”
The nattering onlookers fell silent.
“Really and truly?!” Casella exclaimed from the audience.
“Totally,” Trez responded. “The batteries are hooked up and ready to go. All that’s left is the moment of truth.” Her grease-stained fingers danced over the switch located atop the engine. “All that’s left is to flick this and get this bad boy moving!”
The huge crowd sucked in a collective breath as they awaited the big reveal. And waited. And waited.
And waited some more…
“What’s taking so long?!” Sylvetty snapped.
“Aw, shut it,” Trez replied.“This is a big moment for me, alright? I mean… this is it; I’ve finally got working batteries. If this bombs out, I ain’t got any excuses. If this damn drill doesn’t power-up, months—nay, more like a fucking year’s worth of work is down the shitter. If this doesn’t work…” She gulped as trembles coursed through her fidgeting hands.
As her breathing sped up, so did the vigor of her twiddling fingers.
My heart tightened. I rushed back to her side and squeezed her shoulders. “Calm down. It’s going to be okay. Remember, this is a you-approved creation. I’m sure it will work.”
“I concur!” Casella said, one of many confidants who hopped to Trez’s side. “You have worked far too hard to fall here, yes?”
“She’s right, sweetie,” Akko said. “You’ve got this.”
Vay laughed. “You can do it, little one! Show us what you’re made of.”
The sentiment spread through the crowd like wildfire until we were surrounded by a ring of avid, vocal supporters singing Trez’s praises.
Trez cheeks burned pink. Her twin tails rubbed together. “Aw, shucks. Why did nobody ever tell me everyone agreed I was awesome?”
I chuckled. “Wasn’t it obvious?”
“Well,” Trez began, although she seemed more focused on chewing her bottom lip than finishing that thought. “I’m not gonna say I ain’t grateful for the prep talk, but now I’m feeling more nervous than ever.”
“Sorry.”
She thumped my chest before taking a big breath. “Alright, no use delaying any longer. The work’s already done; all that’s left is to see if it’s up to snuff.” Saying that, it still took Trez several additional deep breaths before she plucked up the courage to activate the engine.
My eyes widened in anticipation of what was to come.
Nothing.
The drill didn’t budge. It didn’t even groan. It just… nothing.
My excitement flatlined. With Trez at the helm, I hadn’t imagined this being anything less than a roaring success.
Others thought similar or so said their crestfallen expressions. The spectators looked like a bunch of children who’d just learned Santa wasn’t real.
That was still somehow twice as cheery as Trez seemed.
“Y-you’ve got to be kidding me,” she mumbled as her whole body sagged.
It was a look that split my heart in two.
“Ohh,” Akko groaned before darting over. “Sweet—”
GHKK!
My fractured heart jumped from my chest.
What was that?!
It sounded like the snarl of a hungry T-rex, but that was one monster even this planet had yet to throw at us. Rather, the ear-splitting commotion came from within touching distance.
From the drill.
The huge metal slab fought against the rust cobwebs that had developed during its spell of immobility. It powered through the stiffness, starting up at a slovenly crawl before gaining more and more speed with every rotation.
By the time fifteen seconds had passed, there was no longer anything holding it back. It was spinning without a care like it had been born to do.
I stared, speechless. The truth was clear, but, after what had just happened, I could hardly accept it was true.
Casella, on the other hand, jumped into the air with her arms aloft. “It worked!”
And, just like that, the rest of Ulium and I were believers. We filled the clearing with cheers loud enough to drown out the whirling drill.
“Too bleeding right it did!” Sylvetty said, rushing over and mobbing the paralyzed woman of the hour. “I dinnae know how ya did it, but I fecking love ya.”
“Good going, little one,” Vay added. “Victory is yours!”
Trez was the only person who hadn’t made a sound. She looked like an android who’d been hit by a blue screen.
I squeezed her shoulders. “Are you okay?”
“I… it actually worked,” she muttered. Exhaling, she fell back into me. “Thank fuck for that! For a moment, I seriously thought… I thought I’d…” Tears started to form.
I embraced her before they started flowing. “I’ll tell you what you’ve done: you’ve just handed us the key to unraveling the mystery of this fractured planet.”
“He’s right,” Faris said as she watched the drill. “This is a major breakthrough, and it’s all thanks to you.”
Trez swallowed a sniffle and grinned. “Yeah… it is, ain’t it? Like, what was I even worrying about in the first place? I’m fucking awesome! Like this was ever gonna fail.”
I smiled. “That’s more like it.”
A working drill, a happy camp, and an adorable mate whose hard work had paid off. What more could a guy ask for?
“Does this mean we can finally get through that door?” Akko asked.
“Nope!” Trez replied.
And, just like that, the clearing lost its spark.
“I-it won’t?” I said.
“Wasn’t that the whole bleeding point?!” Sylvetty snapped.
“Don’t nag me!” Trez lashed back. “Do you know how much work it’s taken to get to this stage? I’ve worked my damn tails off! Now we’ve got a working drill.”
“But what does that matter if it can’t get through the door?” Akko asked.
“It can’t get through the door now… but it’s not always gonna be that way. Now the drill’s working, I can get modifying. A little tinker here, and a little tinker there, and I bet I can turn this useless piece of crap from a pretender into a door-smashing machine.”
“Really and truly?” Casella said.
“Of course! It being powered-up means I can test and tune as I go, fiddling around until I get it up to scratch.”
“So we’re not quite there, but we’re close?” I offered.
“Damn right! We’re on, like, the final bend. Once I turn this thing up a gear, we’ll be on the home straight.” She patted the top of the engine which was chugging away silently, feeding power to the drill.
A grin returned to my face. I knew I shouldn’t have doubted my little genius.
“Will you need any additional equipment?” Faris asked.
“Hmm… maybe,” Trez replied. “These metaleater corpses are good, and all, but I could do with some extra parts to fiddle with. Think Demi will let me dismantle some of her weapons if I ask nicely?”
“Niceties aren’t required,” Demi said as she marched over. “Whatever you need is yours.”
“Boss! I can’t wait to see what’s hiding within those blasters.” Trez rubbed her hands together. “Now all I’m lacking is a few more batteries.”
“These aren’t enough?” I said.
“I ain’t saying that, but having more would never be a bad thing. The more power I’ve got to play with, the easier it is to turn this beauty into a door-slayer.”
“There weren’t any more batteries at the lake,” Faris explained.
“What she said,” Vay agreed. “We scoured that place good. If there had been any more corpses, we would have found them.”
I could confirm as such. While the others had searched the shallows, I’d combed the depths, leaving no submerged stone unturned.
Trez clicked her tongue. “Fuck that then. I ain’t sitting around waiting for another ship crash.” She stretche
d her arms high, cracking her knuckles. “Nah, I’ll make do with this.”
I mumbled under my breath. If Trez said she could manage, I believed her… but damn was it annoying being unable to provide for my mates. If only I’d killed a few more of the flying fiends when I had the chance.
Wait a moment…
Bit by bit, an energy-saving light bulb flickered to life above my head. “I think I know where we might be able to get a battery.”
Suddenly, all eyes were on me.
“You do?!” Trez said.
I nodded. “Remember how we had a tussle in the desert? It was our first time taking down a metaleater.”
“When you discovered they were robots?”
“That’s right. I crushed the bastard’s head” —I snapped my hand shut as if reliving the moment— “but I left its body intact. If it’s still around, there’s no reason its battery shouldn’t be as well.”
“That was months ago,” Faris said.
“Hey, I wasn’t suggesting it was a certainty or anything. It’s definitely a longshot—”
“More than a longshot. Any corpse will be long since buried.”
“If the metaleaters haven’t gotten there first,” Akko said.
I raised my hands like a criminal being besieged by cops. “Do we need to be so pessimistic? It’s not like there’s any harm in checking it out. Worst case scenario, we go on an unneeded trip to the desert and get to play in the sand. On the flip, finding it gives Trez another battery to work with and brings us closer to getting out of here, right?”
Nobody rushed to dispute.
“That’s right, bro!” Keith said as he jumped in and slapped me on the back. “If it gets us closer to escaping this place, we gotta try, no matter what.”
The large number of lingering eavesdroppers voiced their agreement.
Vay laughed, making her large chest shake. “It seems the people have spoken!”
I grinned. “That they have.” And I didn’t want to let any of them down.
It was time to make our long-awaited return to a location we hadn’t entered since Bogdan’s demise.
The desert was calling, and I was ready to answer.
Chapter 4
Sweltering heat baked me from all angles. I exhaled as I draped an arm over my face to block out the sun’s blinding rays.
