Kristi Helvig - Burn Out

“Be a good girl,” Alec told her.

I wasn’t usually a betting kind of girl, but odds were the dog would outlast us all.

As I suited up for the brief trip, Alec caught my eye and winked like he knew everything would turn out okay. I wished I had his confidence. We stepped out into the sweltering air and ran for the Consulate ship. It had to be ten times the size of Kale’s compact ship. Markus insisted on going in the main hatch first, in case Kale had planned an ambush. Britta, Alec, and I followed, and Alec stayed close to my side. No one was in the entryway when we got there.

I checked the oxygen reader on my Infinity, and called through the helmet coms. “The air reading looks okay, only a little lower than normal.”

Alec removed his helmet and frowned at me. “That’s weird. Wasn’t that gaping hole I just saw outside because of your shot?”

“Her slightly misguided shot,” Britta added, but smiled.

“Why?” I asked.

“Because the air shouldn’t be okay. It would mean someone sealed off the area around the damaged wing to keep the levels stable. And that would mean—”

“Survivors.”

I jumped at Kale’s voice and whipped my head around. He strode up to Alec and shook his hand. “I’m Kale. Nice to see they rescued someone with some brains.”

Alec looked leery, but forced a smile. “Thanks, I’m Alec.”

I sucked my breath in when James walked in behind him. This time he didn’t avoid eye contact and his hazel eyes locked on mine—until Kale turned around. Then his eyes flicked to Kale. “James and I have scoped out the starboard side and haven’t found anyone yet. Those bastards have to be here somewhere. Help us check out this side, then we just need to raid the med room, grab the spare parts, and go.”

They’d been in the room with me for ten whole seconds and hadn’t started shooting. Maybe Kale had changed his mind, or James had changed it for him. We moved down the hallway and an acrid smell of smoke filled the air. The hallways were black and burned, like fire had ripped through the ship. It must have been caused by the explosion when the ship crashed. I touched one of the walls, and came away with black ash covering my finger.

We came to a room with a huge window into the hallway, allowing us to view the suspended sleep pad and various medical equipment inside.

“Great. The med room. We’ll stop here on the way back,” Kale said.

We started moving past it when a laser came through the door, narrowly missing Britta. She dove and rolled on the floor, coming up on the other side of the door frame.

“Now!” Kale yelled and charged into the med room. James and Britta followed him, while I stood back with Alec and Markus. The room looked empty but there was a large white cabinet under the suspended sleep pad.

Kale’s voice sounded calm and deadly. “We know you’re back there, and there are six of us and only one of you.”

It reminded me of the day when I was the one facing them, and I felt a little sorry for the guy. For about a minute. I had to do something to make Kale think I was with him one hundred percent, and my gun wasn’t named B.K. for nothing. If it worked on boulders, taking out a med cabinet would be easy. With one shot from my gun, the cabinet vanished, bits of thermoplastic showering the air around the startled soldier. His eyes darted around the room, as if checking for other hiding spots. Not finding one, he dropped his gun and raised his hands in the air.

ZAP! ZAP! ZAP!

“What the—” I stopped midsentence as the soldier fell to the ground.

Kale and James continued firing until he stopped moving. Markus stood frozen, gun down at his side, and Alec’s mouth hung open. They hadn’t been kidding about the “no enemy survivors” thing. I tried to wrap my brain around the fact that James just shot an unarmed person. An unarmed person who had tried to surrender. James, who was supposed to save people with his medical skills.

Kale’s head whipped around toward Britta. Her unfired weapon hadn’t gone unnoticed. She held her head high, in clear defiance of yet another order. She’d refused to kill an unarmed soldier despite knowing Kale’s rule. That earned her more points in my book. After what seemed like the most awkward silence ever, he turned away from her and nodded at James.

James walked over to me. “Hey, Tora.”

My stupid heart skidded in my chest at the sound of his voice. Not like anyone would accuse his words of being romantic or anything, but still. He wouldn’t have warned me to stay away if he didn’t care about me a little. He reached down to touch my hand, and my knees almost buckled.

Until he jerked B.K. out of my hand. Before I could react, he passed it over to Kale. “Sorry about this.”

“Nothing personal,” Kale said, turning the gun over in his hand. “If there hadn’t been survivors on board, I would’ve done this sooner.” He raised an eyebrow. “James?”

James nodded. He pulled my hands in front of me. I tried to pull away but in one quick movement he’d slapped handcuffs around my wrists. Old-school cuffs that required a real key rather than an electronic one. At least he’d cuffed my hands in front of me rather than behind my back. I’d spent all this time thinking James was really on my side, and it took him mere seconds to set me straight. The sun was turning out to be the least of my adversaries. At least it didn’t discriminate with its destruction—I knew what to expect.

Markus held up a hand. “Whoa. No need for that, is there, captain? She just wanted to help a guy out.”

“Yeah,” said Alec. “It’s my fault … sir. I begged her to come get me.”

Kale stood taller. “Standard protocol. I just can’t have her kidnapping my soldiers again.” He stared at me. “I’m the only one with the key to those by the way.” So that was why I didn’t have the electronic cuffs. He was worried that someone might help me out. The thought gave me hope.

Britta’s chest puffed up like she was about to give Kale a piece of her mind, but I shook my head slightly at her. Pissing Kale off wouldn’t help me. Killing him would.

Kale sprang into commander mode. “Listen up. Britta and I will make sure the control room is clear. Markus, you and Alec move the parts and the last crate over to my ship. James, you stay here in the med room with this one.” He nodded toward me. “Take whatever supplies you need, and we’ll get out of here.”

This one. I didn’t even warrant use of my name. I’d seen enough videos on my Infinity to know that the no-name character was the first to go. I was the red shirt.

“Can’t Britta come with us?” Markus asked, his brow furrowed.

“Yeah, maybe we should all stay together,” James added.

I gaped at James, not believing he’d questioned Kale’s order. Especially not when he’d just disarmed and restrained me.

Kale shook his head. “I need backup, and you’re the only one who knows what med stuff we need. I want to do this as quickly as possible. We’ll see you in ten.”

Britta ran to Markus and kissed him lightly on the lips. “Don’t worry. See you soon.” She glared at James with defiance. “Take good care of Tora. I mean it.”

James met her eyes and gave a slight nod. She and Kale turned toward the front of the ship. They moved slowly with their weapons drawn.

Markus hesitated, then winked at me. He leaned in close to my ear. “Don’t worry. We still have our guns and have no intention of handing them over. You’ll be fine.” He must have concluded that James was deceiving Kale. I wasn’t so sure any longer.

Alec didn’t look sure either. “You sure you’ll be okay with this guy?”

James’ jaw clenched. “I don’t think anyone asked for your opinion.”