Kristi Helvig - Burn Out

“She,” said Britta. “It’s a she, not an it. And she’s way too cute to have a disease.”

Britta pulled on her helmet, wrestled Lucy into an extra sunsuit, and marched past Markus into the street with the dog in her arms. “Come on, people, we haven’t got all day.”

Markus grunted and followed her out. He must have known he was way outnumbered on the dog issue.

Alec shrugged his shoulders at me, and grabbed his own helmet along with the enormous duffel bag. I smiled. He seemed like a good guy. He was certainly the first one I’d met that went out of his way to rescue an animal, let alone give it a cute name. Plus, he got huge bonus points for not shooting at me. James could learn a lot from him.

“Are you really as perfect as you seem?” I asked.

Alec’s smile evaporated. “No one’s perfect in this hellhole of a world. It’s just a matter of degrees of imperfection.” He gestured for me to go ahead of him, and we exited onto the deserted street.

Once on board, the dog curled up at Britta’s feet, causing her to gush more about how cute she was. The more Britta gushed, the more Markus scowled.

“Jealous of a dog, Markus?” I teased.

“Whatever. I guess I’ll leave it to you then … you know, to explain the dog to Kale.” He gunned the engine and we flew away from one desolate area toward another.

The mention of Kale’s name was like a slap across the face. In an hour, I’d have to deal with James and Kale. I’d told Alec some basic stuff in our earlier messaging but that was before Markus overheard the whole “let’s kill Tora” convo. I mentioned to Alec that Kale hadn’t known we were coming for him, and wasn’t happy about it.

“He’s not happy with any of us,” Britta added. “So don’t be expecting a welcome wagon. Be on guard and don’t trust them. Hopefully, we’ll all get to Caelia and can go our separate ways.” She eyed Markus. “Except for you … I’m thinking of hanging with you a while longer.”

Markus laughed. “For a while, huh? Lucky me.”

I didn’t feel so lighthearted. Maybe there would be safety in numbers. I’d play the dumb and apologetic role, and hope I could get James alone to talk. Britta and Markus would back me up if things got bad.

“So what’s your story, Alec?” Britta asked, looking over her shoulder at him. “Kinda fortunate that Tora found you, huh?”

Alec sighed. “No kidding. Seems we kept missing each other on the Net.” He turned to smile at me. “I seriously don’t know how to ever repay you, mi ángel .”

I blushed. No one had ever called me their angel before.

Alec told Marcus and Britta the story about his friend and how he ended up alone in the pod city.

“Guess if you’ve gotta be stranded alone, it’s better to be inside the pod city than out,” Markus remarked. “I see why you hate the Consulate so much.”

Alec’s face darkened. “You have no idea.”

I turned to Alec. “You got a gun?”

He patted beneath his shirt. “Yeah. Why?”

“You just might need to use it is why. That’s all.” I exhaled slowly and sank back in the seat.

Markus’ com system crackled and beeped. He lobbed it underhand toward me. “Here, I’m sure you’re the one they want to talk to.”

Hesitating, I pressed my finger on the button. “We’re heading back now—”

“No, don’t come here.” James spoke so quickly, it was hard to follow. “Leave us. I don’t want you to—”

My heart pounded. What had happened? “James?”

Silence on the other end and then crackling.

“Tora, that you?”

“Yes … sir,” I answered. My skin crawled at the sound of his voice. I’d hoped he’d had some sort of sun-related death while I was gone.

“Good, James got ahold of you. How far are you?”

“We should be there in thirty. We got the survivor. He’s fine.”

Alec pointed at Lucy, but I shook my head. Kale would put a laser blast through anything that couldn’t pull its own weight, and he definitely wouldn’t be giving it water.

“Great, glad he’s okay. We’ve made it through half of the Consulate ship. Call when you get here.”

I caught Britta’s raised eyebrow. She knew as well as I did that Kale didn’t care if the survivor was okay.

“Okay, Kale. We’ll meet you there.”

“That was interesting,” said Alec.

“James was trying to warn us, I mean you,” said Britta. “What should we do?”

“Going back there doesn’t seem to be in anyone’s best interest,” Markus said.

Alec looked back and forth among us, as though we were a puzzle he couldn’t figure out. He spoke slowly. “So why exactly are we going there?”

Britta scoffed. “Because Tora and James … well, it’s complicated.”

Heat flooded my face.

Markus looked back at me over his shoulder. “Are you sure it’s worth it? If he cared enough to warn you, maybe we should listen to him and just head to Caelia.”

Britta pulled her hand from Lucy’s head and raised it in the air. “I second the motion.”

“I want to see me some ocean,” Alec added. “I owe you big-time, Tora, but I didn’t plan to get rescued just to be killed by some loco .”

I couldn’t catch my breath and my heart pounded. I had a much better chance of survival if I went along with the group, but I couldn’t live with the version of myself that would leave. James knew he wouldn’t survive long if we left, yet he’d been willing to sacrifice himself so that we’d be safe. That had to mean something.

If I didn’t do the right thing, I’d have nothing. I wouldn’t be my father’s daughter. “I’m not leaving him. I can’t do it.”

“Look, sweetcakes, I get that you have mixed feelings for him, but I heard the dude say he would kill you. Britta’s right that it’s too big a risk—”

“Stop, Markus. It won’t take long. Worst-case scenario, I die and you all go to Caelia without me.”

Britta studied me while she continued to stroke Lucy. I fought the tears trying to overtake my eyes.

“Tora?” It was the softest I’d ever heard her speak.

“Yeah?” I stared straight ahead at the vast bloodred sky out the window.

“It’s okay. We’ve got your back.”

Alec leaned over and squeezed my hand. “Yeah, I definitely got your back.”

I couldn’t stop it this time. I cried.

EVERYONE DOZED OFF ON THE FLIGHT BACK, TRYING TO GRAB a few minutes of rest before whatever came next. It felt like forever since I’d gotten a full night’s sleep. I stretched as we approached our target. Only a few hours of daylight remained, and the sky glowed a brilliant reddish orange, making the entire landscape look like a raging inferno. The sun sure wasn’t dying without a fight. It would be admirable if I wasn’t made of such flammable material.

We landed fifty feet from the Consulate ship.

“You okay?” Alec asked.

I nodded, then reached to secure my satchel. A wet tongue greeted my hand, and I couldn’t help but smile. “It’s like she knows I’m upset.”

Alec laughed. “It’s crazy how much she knows.”

I stood and stretched. T.O. in my bag and B.K. in my hand still didn’t seem like enough if they started shooting right away.

I pushed the button on the com system and Kale picked up immediately. “Get your asses over here, we could use help.”

Britta thought we should leave Lucy on Kale’s ship for now, and I agreed. The fewer surprises for Kale, the better. If we waited until we were airborne to tell him, he’d have no choice. That’s if Kale made it onto his ship at all. I hoped we could get away without him. Alec poured Lucy a bowl of water and put her in the hatch room until we got back. If we got back.