The look on Britta’s face was of pure horror. I’d wager this whole mission was a tad more than she bargained for.
“Look at the bright side,” added Kale. “There’s no way their ship is out flying in this storm. It would get torn apart. They’d likely find a valley or someplace safer to wait through the night.”
Markus laughed as he zipped up his suit, the zipper seam instantly disappearing into the fabric when he finished. “Yeah, it’s not like they’d think we’d be freakin’ crazy enough to run for the ship at night.”
He was right about one thing. We were crazy to try this. It’s amazing what one would do for water. Speaking of, only inches of it had accumulated in the W.A.R. machine in the last few hours. “Wait!”
Everyone stared at me. I ran to grab the cups from the table. “We should drink what we can before we leave. Who knows what will happen out there?”
Markus eyed me with suspicion as I handed him his tiny ration. He even sniffed it first, which made me chuckle. “You can’t blame me, Tora. Your sudden generosity is a little surprising.”
Maybe I was getting used to having company around, no matter how dysfunctional they were.
I felt James watching me, and my cheeks grew warm. He rested his empty cup on the table. “Thanks, Tora.”
I met his gaze briefly, then dropped my eyes, embarrassed that he could somehow see the effect he had on me.
The raging winds subsided above us. Silence filled the air. Kale grabbed his helmet. “Okay, this is our window. Is everyone good to go? Use the com system in the helmets to communicate—I don’t want you taking off your helmet unless it’s an emergency. Got it?”
The others nodded. James walked over to me, my helmet in his hand. He held it out to me. “Here.”
“Thanks.” His fingers brushed mine as he handed it to me and an electric charge ran up my arm. I blushed.
Kale studied me a second, then put his helmet on. I’d go along with the plan but he wasn’t my commander and I sure as hell wasn’t taking orders from him. I put on my helmet. The others headed up the ladder behind Kale, and I followed. After everyone was outside, I shut the door behind me.
We stood in the darkness, the moon nothing but a dim spot in the distance. No sight of the huge Consulate ship. A slight breeze stirred the air, reminding me that our time was short. It was also damn cold. I jumped up and down, trying to keep warm. Kale ran to the rock he’d hidden behind when they first attacked me. After checking to make sure it was clear, he motioned us onward then took off again toward the next rock. “All clear,” he said.
I jumped at the sound of his voice in my helmet. Markus and Britta went next, while James and I brought up the rear. I made sure to keep clear of the cactus grove. The blue light panel of my gun glowed reassuringly in the dark, though I hoped I wouldn’t have to use it. It was ironic that Trigger was the closest thing I had to a pet, but I never wanted to use it for its intended purpose.
Running alongside James, I realized he had to be slowing his pace for my sake. We’d gone maybe a hundred yards and I was already breathless. My forty-five minutes a day on the motion machine were clearly no match for his kamikaze workout routine. Maybe I should have done more jogging and less walking after all.
“You okay?” James’ voice penetrated my ear, his husky words burning into me through the com system.
“Yeah, I’m okay,” I managed between gasps. At least there was no wind, so I didn’t have to worry as much about inhaling dust on top of my pathetic sprinting skills. Kale glanced over his shoulder to check on us.
Kale’s ship remained out of sight, over the ridge, about five hundred more yards away. Running there and back was going to count as my exercise for the entire week. Still no sign of the Consulate ship. Markus was right. They wouldn’t think we’d be nuts enough to go outside at night. They were probably bunkered down enjoying a good night’s sleep, certain we’d come out waving a white flag in the morning.
Another two hundred yards and I was panting harder than I had in my life. Making matters worse, the cold penetrated every fiber of my being and my toes were numb. The night had grown almost pitch-black, the light provided by the moon, minuscule. My feet pounded the ground, twisting a few times as I stepped on several small rocks.
The sound of my own breathing, loud and erratic, filled my helmet, punctuated by the occasional expletive from Markus. I noticed Markus had slowed his pace as well. He’d never struck me as much of an exercising kind of guy. At least I might be able to outrun him if necessary, though I could never outrun James or Kale.
We’d almost reached the ridge and aside from my bruised ribs screaming at me, things were looking pretty good. We were almost there. The night didn’t seem quite so scary after all.
I didn’t notice at first. I’d been breathing so hard, I didn’t hear it. It wasn’t until a rock skittered across my foot that the whooshing of the wind registered. James was a short step ahead of me, and he turned, tugging on my sleeve to hurry up. I heard Britta’s panicked shrieking in my ear. “Run!”
I cranked my legs, trying to move faster, but they burned in protest, practically shouting that they were doing the best they could. They felt like rubber appendages beneath my torso. My lungs were on fire, the icy cold air like a vise clamping around them. A rock hit my calf as the gusts grew stronger. Unfortunately, this last stretch contained no large boulders—nothing to hold on to when things got worse. Which they would. Very soon.
Finally Kale’s ship came into view, maybe a hundred yards away. Crap, it was so freaking cold outside that a hundred yards seemed like a mile. The wind whistled through my helmet, almost rhythmic in its deadly hum. Please let me make it. James dropped back and placed his hand behind my arm, propelling my numb body onward. He yelled something that sounded like “hurry,” but I couldn’t hear him clearly over the howling of the wind.
Another gust ripped through the air and my feet lifted briefly off the ground. Only James’ firm hold of my arm kept me anchored to Earth.
Kale made it to his ship and the hatch door opened. My eyes fixed on that door; it beckoned yet mocked me with its distance. Thirty yards away. A bowling-ball-sized rock flew past, narrowly missing my head. Britta and Markus rushed through the ship’s door. The air around me screamed.
Fifteen yards. Almost there. A second later, my feet weren’t touching the ground. James literally pulled me through the air toward the door. Markus and Britta stood in the entrance, making desperate motions with their arms. Their screams mixed with the shrieking winds in my ears. They moved back as Kale gripped the door frame with one hand and reached out to James to pull us inside. The safe haven of that doorway was a few feet away.
It came out of nowhere—something sharp in my side that hurt like hell. I felt blood running down the inside of my suit. Then everything went black.
Chapter NINE
MY FATHER SPOKE TO ME TENDERLY THE NIGHT BEFORE HIS murder. Part of him must have suspected his Consulate visit was a one-way trip. He’d gone over all the safety procedures because he said this business trip might be longer than usual. I hadn’t guessed then just how long my alone time would be. For the first time, he hadn’t had me practice with the guns after dinner. He said he hoped I’d never need to touch them again. Then he kissed me good night, which he hadn’t done since the night he found my mother and sister dead.
The voice filtering through my mind at the moment was not tender. It sounded grating and harsh.
“Could someone please explain why we’re helping her? She only came so she could take part of the water anyway, so why are we giving a crap?”