Kristi Helvig - Burn Out

“Yeah, I’d listen to una chica bonita if I were you,” Alec added. Out of my peripheral vision, I saw his gun also pointed at Kale. The fact that I was more terrified than I’d ever been in my life didn’t stop me from registering the fact I’d just been called pretty.

Kale’s face was grim. He turned to James, who looked away from him and walked over to me. James slowly raised his gun in Kale’s direction. “I’m sorry, sir,” he said.

Yes. I knew he cared about me. All that other crap had been an act.

“I’m sorry, sir,” James repeated. He swiveled and pointed his gun at my head. “Sorry we have such pathetic traitors among us.”

Alec started to swing his gun in James’ direction, but James engaged his trigger panel. “Do it, and I’ll shoot her,” James said.

I shook with rage. How could James betray me like this? We were so close to getting away. The coldness in his voice as he threatened to shoot me felt like a knife going through me.

“No!” I yelled, too late.

Alec dropped his gun to the floor. “I can’t let him shoot you. You saved me.”

Markus finally snapped back into reality, and jumped to his feet. “What the hell?”

Alec hesitated a moment, which was all it took for Kale to raise his weapon and take back control. He fired a shot into the wall near Alec. Alec jumped, and Kale strode over to him. He retrieved Alec’s gun from the floor.

Markus took a step toward me. James shook his head, his gun pressed to the side of my head. “Don’t do it, man. Just stay there and no one will have to get hurt.”

Kale pointed his gun at Alec. “What’s it gonna be, soldier? The only reason I didn’t kill you just now is I need you on Caelia. You look strong and able. But this is your one chance to convince me that you just made a terrible mistake. Can I trust you?”

Alec couldn’t die. Somebody as decent as him had to live. He saved the last dog on the planet. Tears welled in my eyes. “Alec, you deserve to go to Caelia. Just do what Kale wants.” But I hope you kill these two burners when you get there .

I couldn’t decipher the look in Alec’s eyes. “You can trust me, sir,” he said finally. “But I am indebted to Tora for saving me.”

James snorted. “Then do her a favor and get her to give up the gun.”

Alec gazed into my eyes. “Give it to him, Tora. If you don’t, the only way it can end is with you getting shot.” He nodded toward Kale. “I don’t understand everything going on here, but I’m sure it’s just a big misunderstanding.”

“Yeah, we can work this out. Give him the gun. Please,” Markus added.

There didn’t seem to be any hope of working anything out, but I was out of ideas. I sighed and held the gun in front of me. “Fine. Take it.”

James reached out and only after he had my weapon in his hands did he remove his gun from my head. Asshole.

We were so screwed. Kale had all the guns, and it was impossible we could overpower James and Kale with our bare hands. We blew our only chance to turn the tables. If I used T.O., Alec and Markus would die too, and that wasn’t an option I wanted to consider.

Kale’s eyes flicked to Markus and Alec before he addressed me. “The only reason I’m not killing you right now is that I’m a more decent guy than you give me credit for.”

No, the only reason you’re not killing me right now is there are too many witnesses … unlike Britta . Kale was an observant guy. He’d already commented on Alec’s intellect and strong build, and likely wanted to recruit him for his cause. He also knew Alec felt allegiance to me, since I’d saved the guy from certain death in the pod city. Maybe Kale realized that Alec wouldn’t do squat for him if he killed me in front of them. I clenched my teeth to keep from responding.

James stood with his arms crossed, gun in hand. I wanted to charge at him and punch him, but I was more mad at myself for being such a sucker.

Kale handed the guns to James, keeping only his own. “See, no need for anyone to have guns anyway, now that we’ve killed all the bad guys.”

“So no need for handcuffs again either, right? It’s not like we can’t handle a skinny unarmed girl on our own.” I liked Alec more every time he spoke.

Kale’s eyes flitted to me. “Fine. I’ll leave the cuffs off you if you promise to behave.” If he thought that would make Alec and Markus think well of him, he was delusional. He turned back toward the others. “Here’s the deal. We’ll take care of Britta’s, um, body, and get out of here.”

Kale didn’t care about Britta’s body, but knew that Markus did. I had to give it to him—he was smart.

I gritted my teeth. “Guess you don’t need me, Kale. Alec and I can head back to the other ship and wait.” I gestured for Alec to join me.

Alec tipped his finger to his brow, but his face was grim.

Once out of Kale’s sight down the hall, I planned on somehow getting Markus, and booking it to Kale’s ship to fly the hell out of there. James could go to hell.

“You’re not going anywhere, Tora,” Kale responded.

James assessed Kale, a questioning look on his face.

“Listen,” said Kale. “Hear that? You can’t go back now.”

I’d been too distracted by dead bodies to hear the screaming of the winds. Night had come. The view out the control room window was one of near darkness, only a small reddish tinge lining the edge of the horizon. We were stuck here until the winds died down. We wouldn’t make it fifty feet in these conditions. For some strange reason, I thought of Lucy and hoped she wasn’t scared by the weather.

Instead of my grand escape plan, we all helped put Britta’s body in a containment box, while I choked back tears. When she’d shoved me into one of those units, I’d wanted her to die a slow death. Now, just a short time later, I’d give anything to see that weird smile she had when staring at Markus or petting Lucy. Markus wanted to bring the box over to Kale’s ship, then send her body out into space on the way to Caelia.

“She’d want to be free,” Markus said, before putting his head in his hands.

Silence filled the room.

Kale and Markus carried the container with Britta’s body to the hatch. As soon as the winds died, they’d transfer her over and we’d leave. In the meantime, we all trekked back to the med room through the enormous ship. There were so many hallways that branched off to different parts of the ship. Thoughts of Callie running and hiding popped into my head. My sister would have thought this was the most kick-ass place ever for a game of hide-and-seek, minus the dead people.

“Tora, can I see your Infinity a sec?” Kale asked like we were best buds. His face was anything but friendly.

Crap. I didn’t want to do this. I reluctantly removed it from my wrist and handed it to him. “This was a gift from my dad.” Like that would make a difference.

Kale fingered it a minute. “I’ve always wanted one of these. You mind if I play around with this a while?”

Yes, I mind, you freakin’ burner . “Knock yourself out,” I said, like it was a casual request. I knew I’d never see it again. My wrist already felt naked without it.

James strolled over to the table. His voice was mechanical, stiff. “Tora, help with these meds.”

Screw you . “Sure.”

“Toss the last few boxes in this bag, while I finish up with these others.” He ordered it like I was his personal assistant or something. I wanted to clock him.

James glanced at Markus as he placed colored vials and boxes in the bag. “Any meds you want? There’s some stuff here that’ll help you feel better.”

Great. He was sucking up to Markus, probably wanting to keep him on their side.