Kristi Helvig: Burn Out

The fact that the only thing providing oxygen could also kill us pretty much summed up our world. She’d made the painting the week before she died.

So yeah, things had been hard, but I wasn’t telling Markus that. The fact that he might be the only man left on Earth didn’t make him any less slimy. But since he was my ticket out of here, I produced a wistful smile. “Yeah, it’s hard without them. I miss my sister … and despite everything, my father was a great man.” Unlike you .

His attempt at a caring smile was pathetic. I cut him off before he could say anything else. “What about you, Markus? Still running guns—or have you run out of people to run them to?” He’d sold illegal weapons ever since he figured out how to fly his dead father’s ship. And thanks to the Consulate laws, all weapons were illegal, so he had plenty of business. His father had been in the same line of work, and though Markus never spoke of his untimely death, I figured it had something to do with his job description.

This made him laugh. “You’re right that my prospects are … drying up … here on Earth.” He paused, delighted in his joke. “But Caelia is a new place and the colonies are trying to establish themselves. They’re mighty unstable right now. Lucky for me, man may travel far and wide, but he still loves his guns.”

“So, you mean it’s Earth all over again.” I sighed. “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”

He laughed. “You watch too many old GlobalNet shows—sometimes you talk like you’re hundreds of years old. Yes, it’s like Earth, minus the astronomical temperatures. Caelia’s sun is where ours was back before the ’roid hit it.” Markus smashed his fist into his palm like I needed a visual. He smirked. “People are already soaking up the rays—right next to the oceans.”

While I had no intention of lying out in the sun on any planet, the thought of standing knee-deep in an ocean of water transfixed me. Almost every day, I gazed with longing at the three-hundred-year-old picture on my Infinity, taken before things escalated and destroyed any chance that future generations would see water. I yearned for water. So much so that I would do almost anything to get Markus to take me there. There was only one thing I wouldn’t do. I had promised my father that in the weeks before his death.

Of course it was the one thing Markus wanted. “Come on, Tora. You know why I’m here. What are you going to do with all those guns? Be reasonable.”

Why couldn’t he have asked me for sex? Although dying was only slightly less preferable to having sex with Markus, I could’ve at least strung him along until I figured out an alternative. Disgusting, I could handle. Betraying my father, I couldn’t.

I realized I could hand over the guns to Markus and be zipping along to Caelia within a few hours. But at what cost? Bringing weapons of mass destruction to a new world wasn’t what I wanted for my family’s legacy. I’d rather die than see the guns fall into his hands.

I shook my head. “You know I can’t do that. My father—”

“Your father made these guns for the Consulate,” he pointed out.

He was right. As conditions spiraled over the last three hundred years, scientists frantically tried to develop ways to reverse the sun situation—most recently, my dad. It wasn’t until Dad told the Consulate that there was no hope that they changed his assignment to weapons creation. They told him it was in case they ran across hostile foreign species while they searched for greener pastures. Liars.

“Yeah, before he realized what they were going to be used for. Then he regretted it so much, he spent the rest of his life making sure people like you didn’t get your hands on them.” I clenched my fists, ignoring the pain that pulsed through them. “That’s why he made sure they wouldn’t work for anyone but me.”

Markus looked surprised by my last statement. Apparently Dad hadn’t told him about how he rekeyed all the triggers. Oops. Guess I shouldn’t have mentioned that part. His eyes narrowed. After a long, hard look at me, he took his feet off the table and pushed back his seat.

I gulped and thought fast. “The Consulate left you on the outside to die just like the rest of us. Still, I’m guessing that’s who you want to sell the guns to. Why deal with those creeps?”

“Survival. To use one of your old quotes, ‘If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.’ Don’t you want off this planet? I’ll take you to Caelia right now. You won’t die here, all alone. All I’m asking for in return is the guns. Do you have any idea how much money we could make if we sold them?” He stood and took a step toward me.

He was a good head taller and had at least eighty pounds on me. I knew what he was thinking. My heart skidded in my chest, and sweat broke out on my brow. Act tough. I couldn’t show fear or he’d win. Luckily, my father had taught me well. I leaned forward on the table and crossed my legs so that my right leg reached over my left. Trigger was tucked into my right boot but I didn’t want to risk dropping it with my bandaged right hand.

I smiled up at Markus. “I think I will have a swig of that paint thinner after all.”

“That’s my girl.” He looked down to grab the flask. “It’s quite tasty if I do say so—”

Taking advantage of the distraction, I used my left hand to pull the gun out of my boot and pointed it at his head. “Okay, asshole. You can leave now.”

Markus put his hands up in surrender, but didn’t look very scared. The fact that he didn’t even bring a gun meant he didn’t expect a fight. In fact, he smiled. “Have you ever actually shot anyone? I’m guessing not.”

The irony wasn’t lost on me that I was using a gun to protect other guns from burners who would use them against me. Still, I was the one aiming a gun at someone. Say something else before he realizes how scared you are . “You wanna find out? I can shoot well enough with my left hand—and I’ve got endless ammo in case I miss the first time.” I hoped he didn’t notice the faint tremble in my hand.

Markus kept his hands above him. “Do you really need a gun to solve this?”

I flashed a coy smile and batted my eyes, trying to ignore the tightness in my throat. “My father told me a girl should never be alone with a boy without protection.” I held Trigger steady. “What can I say? I’m a careful girl.” I gestured toward the door with a flick of my head. “Now get out.”

He took a step backward but didn’t seem ready to give up. “How exactly do you think you’re going to get off this planet without me, Tora? I promised your dad that if anything happened to him, I’d look out for you. Don’t be crazy.”

I snorted. “Crazy? I was crazy to think you came back here to help me. Did you promise my dad you’d steal his guns too? No, you only came back because you either thought I was already dead, leaving all of these guns for the taking, or you were hoping I’d be so desperate to leave here that I’d do anything.”

I stood and took a step toward him, not lowering Trigger. Anger replaced my fear. “So maybe I was crazy to think you had a decent bone in your body. I can see I was wrong—you’re a total burner. I don’t know why my dad didn’t see it. I should kill you right now.” I hoped he wouldn’t call my bluff, because I hadn’t killed a thing in my life. Even though he deserved it, I wasn’t sure I could take him out.

Markus frowned, but took another step backward and bumped into the ladder leading up to the door. “I’m a man of opportunity, always have been. Your dad tended to see the best in people and might have overestimated my character. Still, I think offering to take you with me was pretty decent of me. I won’t be back again, you know. This is your last chance.”