Kristi Helvig - Burn Out

I smirked at him. “You’re pretty funny when you want to be.”

He smiled but his words were heavy. “Thanks. Not much opportunity for funny lately.”

“Where’s your family?” The words flew out of my mouth before I could grab them back. I gulped. “I mean, you mentioned having a sister too.”

“I don’t really like to talk about it.” His eyes hardened.

I ignored the surge of sympathy that welled up. I needed answers, not the silent treatment. “Okay, so then let’s talk about why your things are in the captain’s quarters, shall we?”

James leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, hands clasped in front of him. Against my better judgment, my heart pounded at the close proximity of our bodies. “You ask a lot of questions, you know that?” His eyes drilled into mine. “Okay, I’ll tell you, but then I have a question for you.” He looked down at his hands. “So my sister—”

“Spartacus! Why does my leg feel like someone set it on fire and then pissed on it?”

James smiled at me. “Guess somebody’s pain meds wore off.”

“What’s up with all the names?” I asked.

James laughed. “Oh, that. Kale is one of the hardest core military guys you’ll ever meet. He’s obsessed with ancient military heroes.”

I shook my head. “He uses military names as curse words?”

James nodded and stretched as he walked toward the door. His shirt lifted—a strange jagged scar ran across his lower back. It looked too precise to be an injury. His body couldn’t keep secrets the way his mouth could. Another question for my list if I could get him alone again. He turned around at the door and caught me staring at his back. James tugged his shirt down. He whispered, “Seriously, Tora. Don’t trust them.”

What the hell was I supposed to do with that information? I already knew I couldn’t trust the Consulate, Kale, or Britta. Dad had told me long ago not to trust anyone if anything happened to him. Yet he had trusted Markus, who turned out to be a burner, so putting my trust in James would make me just as dumb. I couldn’t let him get to me no matter how amazing his abs were. Still, that sadness in his eyes—

Another bomb rocked the bunker, and I almost fell out of my seat. I gasped as the lamp in the study crashed to the floor. My father got it at an antique trade market years ago. Lamps hadn’t been used in ages. The one benefit of Earth’s demise was that we got a truckload of solar energy. Special solar cell panels provided all the light any one person could use. We only had two panels, disguised as part of the cactus grove, and we could light this place up like a Christmas cactus if we wanted.

“Everyone doin’ okay?” Markus asked.

I reached the front room and noticed Britta sitting near Markus. Scratch the near part; she was almost in his lap. His hand rested lightly on her cuffed ones. Guess he wasn’t too disturbed by her trying to send me on a one-way ticket out of here.

Kale hobbled in, refusing James’ offers of assistance. “I’m not sure it’s a good idea for you to be bearing weight on it yet—”

“Nonsense. Am I the damn captain of this team or what? I walk when I want to walk. Nobody tells me when the hell to walk.” He grimaced as he hopped to the nearest chair and parked himself in it.

Markus looked over at James. “Is he drunk or something?”

“Nah, just the pain meds can have a similar effect. He’ll probably fall asleep again soon.”

“Dammit! I don’t want any more sleep. I want to get the hell out of here.”

I thought of their ship. It was unlikely that it was even in one piece, so I didn’t think we were going anywhere. I told him so.

Kale laughed long and hard. Yeah, he sounded drunk. “They didn’t drop the bombs on the ship, I guaran-fucking-tee it. Tora hit their wing so they’ll save our ship in case they need it. But they won’t get far.” He started laughing again, then reached in his pocket and pulled out a small metallic object. It looked like a machine part.

Britta’s eyes widened. She was probably wondering if her fearless leader had totally lost his mind. She looked ridiculous, but I had to admit, I wondered the same thing myself.

“What is that, Kale?” asked James in the gentle tone one uses to talk to a child. His gravelly voice soothed me and I wasn’t even the one freaking out.

“Just a little thing my ship can’t fly without—the fuel converter. Those burners aren’t goin’ anywhere in our ship.” He chuckled a minute, then dropped his head on the table and started snoring.

Markus laughed. “Wow. Nice meds there, James.” He cleared his throat, and pulled his hand back from Britta’s. “So, in light of what’s going on here, don’t you think we should take off Britta’s cuffs? She’s promised to be a good girl.”

Britta scowled at me. Nothing about her looked remotely good. I fought to keep my temper, but it never allowed itself to be kept for long. “Markus, I realize this pint-sized burner raises the flag on your flagpole so to speak, but no way in hell is she getting out of those. She’d just attack me again.”

“I didn’t attack you.” She spat the words at me. “Well, okay, I did, but it wasn’t like I tried to kill you or anything.”

Right. Because leaving me in a locked coffin for the Consulate was a total act of kindness.

“Please, these cuffs are killing me.” Her tone changed to that of a petulant child.

I couldn’t help laughing. “Yeah, like I wouldn’t know how that feels, right?”

“Fine, I’m … I’m … sorry.” Britta almost choked on the last word. It had to be the first apology she’d given in her life. She did look miserable though.

I looked to James, but he deferred to me. “It’s your call.” He stared at Britta. “But Britta, I’ll take you down myself if you try to sabotage the plan again. You didn’t follow orders and that’s punishable by death. You of all people should know that.”

A long look passed between them, one I didn’t understand.

“Fine,” Britta said. “But he doesn’t seem capable of giving orders right now, so that makes you in charge.”

“Only until he wakes up, which should be in less than an hour. What do you say, Tora?”

James’ deference surprised me. He was certainly trying to make the case that I could trust him. It was a shame I didn’t have an ounce of trust to spare. I wondered if the “punishable by death” thing would apply if I told Kale about James not shooting at me earlier. If so, he trusted me more than I would have if I were him.

“You can release her.” A small surge of pleasure ran through me at having power over Britta. A taste of her own medicine.

James pushed the electronic release button, and Markus removed her cuffs. Britta rubbed her wrists vigorously, like she’d been confined for weeks in a dark dungeon, instead of an hour on the couch.

We sipped water, trying to be civil to one another while rotating door patrol and bracing as each round of bombs dropped. Kale finally woke up, swearing up one side and down the other.

“Sorry, sir, no more pain meds. We need you.”

“Zulu! What’s a man gotta do to get good medical help these days?” Kale bitched and moaned but James refused to give him any more meds. Markus handed Kale a water bottle instead, which Kale promptly threw against the wall. Thank God the lid was still on it; wasting water was unheard of. I’d never seen a man have a temper tantrum before, but he finally calmed down after realizing he wasn’t getting any more painkillers.

Kale took a long chug from the water bottle Britta had retrieved from the floor. “So, did you figure out a game plan in my absence?” he asked.

Looks passed back and forth among everyone. No one wanted to be the one to say there was no game plan.