Kristi Helvig: Burn Out

“Well, we don’t normally allow visitors but I’m always happy to hear that someone wants to serve our great cause. It’s nice to meet you, Tora.” Allan extended his hand in my direction.

I hesitated but leaned over and shook it. His moist, meaty skin clung to mine and I fought the urge to rip myself away. He gave me a good strong squeeze, then released me. When he turned his focus on Dad, I wiped my hand on my pants.

“So, Micah. I was quite impressed with the weapons demonstration you did for us yesterday. I assume the timeline is still on schedule.”

My father smiled. “Absolutely. In fact, the timeline is better than expected. I haven’t been down to the weapons lab today, but will double-check some of the gun capabilities tomorrow.”

“Excellent. So everything will be ready by the end of the summer?”

“Yes, sir.”

I glanced over at the assistant and the same smile was pasted across her face. She looked almost frozen until her mouth moved.

“Do you think it might move along even faster if we brought in some help for you?” She managed to speak and smile at the same time.

Dad’s jaw clenched but he recovered quickly. “No. As you know, the work I do is highly sensitive. I couldn’t promise the same level of confidentiality if others were involved. I’d hate to think what would happen if this sort of information leaked out….”

“No, no, that would have terrible implications,” Allan said and threw a piercing gaze at the woman. “Our original deadline is fine. Let us know if there’s anything you need.”

It was the first time I realized that Dad’s weaponry work was of the top secret variety. He’d mentioned making peacekeeping weapons, and it had crossed my mind that weapons and peace didn’t seem to go together but who was I to question him? I also realized how valuable Dad was to the Consulate. No wonder he didn’t seem concerned about being fired.

Allan opened a drawer in his desk. “Micah, I want you to know how much we appreciate your years of tremendous service to us. We’ve taken the liberty to add additional funds to your currency chip. I hope you will find it to your satisfaction. We would also like to give you this as a small token of appreciation.” He held out a device to my father.

“Thank you, Allan. I’m proud to serve the Consulate in any way I can.”

We stood and I moved toward the door before Allan could touch my hand again. I turned once before leaving and the woman’s smile remained. I shuddered.

On the ride home, I asked Dad what he’d wanted to show me.

“The weapons room … but I decided today wasn’t the right time.” He sighed. “Soon though.” He reached into his bag and tossed me the gift he’d received from Allan. “It’s an Infinity.”

“Whoa.” I stroked the small device and immediately attached it to my wrist. I’d heard of them but had never seen one. Most people had basic GlobalNet tablets, but only a lucky few had the Infinity. I’d even read that people could access books and videos from hundreds of years ago on these things.

I punched a button and a glowing, virtual keyboard appeared in front of me. “This is awesome.”

Dad flashed a weary smile. “It’s yours.”

I gasped. “No way. Thanks, Dad.”

“Sure, I need to make a few modifications on it first, but I think you’ll find it useful. Especially once we relocate.”

I was so mesmerized by the graphics of the pictures in front of me that it took a minute for his words to sink in. I turned my head. “Relocate?”

“Yeah,” Dad said. “We’re moving.”

That same week, Dad had started moving the guns out and used his “bonus money” to build our bunker. I’d overheard late-night whispers between him and Mom about something “bad.” All I knew was that whatever he was doing, the Consulate didn’t know about it. He told my sister and me that we couldn’t tell a soul about our moving, and three short months later, we arrived at our new home sweet home. My weapons training with him had started almost immediately.

I ran my hand over the Infinity and smiled wistfully. Guess it couldn’t hurt to check for survivors again. A light flashed off as I turned on the machine. The locator light. No way could I have imagined it twice. Someone had to be out there.

After an hour staring at the screen, my eyes got blurry. Hope took a nosedive when it occurred to me that both times I’d seen the light flash had been when I’d turned on the device. The light itself was probably defective. Fabulous.

I considered watching one of my favorite old shows but pulled up my sister’s favorite program instead. A three-dimensional field of wildflowers instantly surrounded me.

I lay down on the floor amidst the carpet of blossoms. She and I would lie for hours as the flowers waved around us in the gentle wind, a breeze so unlike the harsh winds we experienced in our world. We’d watch butterflies land on the colorful petals before taking flight again, inhale the lush fragrances, and pretend this wild garden was our front yard. The scent of the flowers was the best part of the program—it almost made it real. Instead of rocks and dust, we had fields of flowers and the ocean as our landscapes. This was how we spent our time, rather than worrying about school.

Though there hadn’t been formal schooling in decades due to lack of enrollment, the pod cities provided online tutorials in basic subjects. My sister and I stopped all the lessons except Spanish once we moved out of the pod city. It seemed ridiculous to learn about history when we had no future.

We kept up with the Spanish though because the Consulate frowned upon all languages except English. It made us feel like rebels to turn on the Infinity program and discuss the bellas flores . For hours at a time, we lost ourselves in fantasy worlds involving flowers and oceans.

I turned my head to track an abeja skittering from flower to flower. It flew closer toward me, so close that I flinched despite knowing it couldn’t sting me.

I sat and turned off the device. The flowers disappeared into thin air.

PING! PING!

The strange sound jarred me. I cocked my head to listen, my ear tilted up toward the ceiling. The wind had died down, so it couldn’t be something blowing against the shelter.

PING! PING!

The noise sounded like it was coming from directly above me. Maybe it was the same animal that had chewed through my oxygen line, though I still didn’t understand how it could survive out here. If so, I had to get up there and take care of it before it did more damage. But what if Markus had come back? What if the lure of such high-tech weaponry was too tempting to resist? Either way, I’d have to strap on my entire protective suit. Another burn would not be pretty. I wriggled into my suit, and winced as the glove slid over my hand. Ready, I grabbed Trigger and powered her up.

I climbed the ladder, then hesitated at the top rung underneath the door.

PING! PING!

Something was definitely hitting the door. My heart raced. This could go very badly, but I didn’t make it to seventeen by being an apocawuss. I braced myself, took a deep breath, and pushed the door open. I jumped out and kept the gun in front of me while scanning the area. Nothing looked unusual. In fact, there was nothing but dirt, boulders, and cacti as far as the eye could see. A large boulder sat ten feet to my left, and another group of huge rocks stood at least fifty feet away.

The cacti to my right, descendants of the saguaros, were fifty feet tall and six feet across. Their crazy-sharp spines looked like they could do some serious damage. The roots grew forty feet underground. These plants provided some major oxygen, which is why my dad built the shelter near a cluster of them. The oxygen line I’d repaired looked fine, the reflective duct tape gleaming in the sunlight. There was nothing hostile to be found, save for the sun, and it was always hostile.