Kristi Helvig - Burn Out

“Thanks, I’m okay,” I finally managed. I didn’t realize how heavily I was leaning on him until my foot caught on the edge of the container, and I started to tumble, helpless due to the handcuffs.

His arms wrapped around me and he caught me to him before I could fall. He was impossibly strong. Our faces were an inch apart and my body pressed against him. My heart felt like it was beating out of my chest, and I was certain he could feel it through his shirt. Was it me or did his breathing seem faster too? His hand moved around to the small of my back and a shiver went up my spine. But then he pressed gently on my arm to push me back to a standing position. Touching my back had only been to get leverage.

“Guess I should have taken these off first,” he said. “Gotta find the electronic key.” He pushed a few buttons on his com device and the cuffs expanded and fell to the floor. He sounded embarrassed.

“It’s okay,” I said, struggling to sound normal. An awkward silence filled the room. I rubbed at the raw skin on my wrists, trying to think of something to say. “So, about Britta. Is she …”

“No.” He showed me the setting on his gun. “I tranquilized her. I wondered what was taking so long. Knowing Britta, I thought maybe she’d done something stupid. Which she did.”

James tucked the gun into his waistband and removed a slim tele-com device from his pocket. He called Kale in the cockpit to inform him what had happened.

I cringed as I stepped toward the door, a sharp stabbing pain running through my ribs. James put an arm around my shoulder. He’s only touching you because you’re hurt—it means nothing .

“Maybe a pain tab wouldn’t be a bad idea,” he said softly.

The idea was beyond tempting. Just a little something to ease the discomfort. Plus, if the med was all it was cracked up to be, it would do more than dull my physical symptoms; maybe it would take the edge off the wrenching pain I’d felt a moment ago when I’d opened my eyes to find my sister was gone—again. But that pain was all I had. It was the only emotion I was really comfortable with, aside from anger. After the numbness that set in for a year after she died, the pain was a welcome change. It helped me realize I was still alive. “No, thanks. I’ll be fine.”

James sighed beside me. “Everyone needs help once in a while.”

I gestured at my rib cage. “I believe I did let you help me with this.”

“Only because you were unconscious.”

I smiled.

“We better get to the main hatch.” He jerked his head in Britta’s direction as he helped me into the hallway. “Kale can figure out what to do with her.”

“She’s a piece of work. I can’t believe you and her—” I clamped my mouth shut.

“Can’t believe we what?” He faced me and looked genuinely confused.

I gulped. “I thought that you two … you know, used to … go out or something.”

Shock crossed his face. “Hell, no. What gave you that idea?”

Blood rushed to my cheeks. “I heard her say that you needed your space and I assumed …” I stopped, realizing how lame I sounded.

I felt his eyes on me as we walked toward the front of the ship. He had to notice the scorching blush across my face, and his silence made it worse. After another small eternity, he said, “I like my space … from everyone. It’s not specific to Britta, although space from her is a bonus.” Before I could ask anything, he rushed on, “You had a sister too, right? Markus told me.”

I remembered the photograph from the drawer. Where was he going with this? I played dumb. “Yeah, I did. You mean you have a sister too?”

“Had.” He looked straight ahead while he talked. “Then you would understand how losing people can change you.”

I wanted to ask more but we reached the main door and found Markus waiting for us.

“Where’s Britta?” Markus asked.

James and I exchanged glances. James explained about Britta as the ship rumbled beneath us and lifted into the air. Looking out the window, I watched as we rose over the ridge, almost skimming the ground. The boulders near the shelter door were visible, and thankfully, the Consulate ship was nowhere in sight.

Another minute and we touched down. The winds remained still and the first cracks of sunlight punched through the darkness. Dark red streaks of light permeated the sky, relentless in their assault on the night. The bright orb blazed open like the eye of an angry demon. It would overtake the night, day by day, piece by piece, until there was no more dark. Someday soon it would be everlasting daylight, all day, every day. Blazing light with no reprieve, until it swallowed the Earth and burned out completely. Only then would it be eternal night.

The ship landed less than twenty feet from the shelter door. We moved quickly in the cold. I carried the lightest bag due to my injury. I pressed my thumb to the door lock and it clicked open. Kale and Markus carried a bound and still-unconscious Britta to the shelter, then ran back to the ship for a few more supplies. I would have been fine with leaving her for the Consulate, but Kale thought they’d kill her. It figures they’d decide now was the time to get all ethical.

I stood watch atop the ladder. As James returned with his final load, Markus and Kale ran toward me with their bags. Their heads jerked up to the sky in unison. I turned around to see the giant Consulate ship rising from the east. It was heading right for us.

“Run!” I screamed. I pulled my gun from my waistband. I had to close the door or they’d kill us all. The ship’s guns began firing as Markus reached the door. I moved to the side as he jumped straight down to the floor of the shelter.

Kale followed close behind but the ship bore down fast. The laser pulses came closer to me and I screamed for Kale to jump. He did.

The ship fired and hit the large boulder by the door, which sent shards of rock flying. A piece of it hit Kale as he fell through the hatch door. I shot at the ship and grazed one of its wings. A small plume of smoke billowed out, yet it remained airborne.

“Hannibal!” Kale screamed as he fell down the entryway, landing with a hard thud at the bottom of the ladder. After firing one last shot at the ship, I scrambled inside and pulled the door closed behind me. The groan of the lock sliding into place echoed through the shelter.

James was already at Kale’s side by the time I reached the bottom rung. Markus hobbled over, having sprained an ankle in his own jump. “How bad is he?” I asked James.

“He’s just fine, thanks,” Kale responded. His leg bled profusely from a large gash on the back of his calf.

“At least we have the supplies with us,” said James. “Tora, can you hand me that bag?”

I tossed him the bag, glad that I wasn’t the one whose leg looked like it had been turned inside out. At least there wasn’t as much blood with my injury. I didn’t do so well with blood. James worked quickly to stem the flow. To my eyes, it looked less like a laser wound and more like his leg had been gutted. Kale didn’t refuse the pain meds like I had, but my wound hadn’t looked like his. James pulled a small, shiny disk from the bag. When he turned it on, a triangle of red light emanated from it.

Markus leaned closer to get a better look but James put his arm up to stop him. “I wouldn’t get too close to this if I were you.” He aimed the red light at the back of Kale’s leg, moving it slowly up and down the sliced open area. Even with the painkillers, Kale grunted in agony. The device was piecing his leg back together.

I gasped. I’d never seen anything like this before. Then again, my father specialized in weaponry, not medicine. “Wow,” I said. “It’s like energetic stitches.”