Blood in the Fire (Timelaws Trilogy) (21 page)

HMSS Ingeniur – November 2184

Elizabeth

My words divided me in two. My ears shut down to the sounds of the ship breaking all around. A second consciousness formed, but I had no place to make her materialize. Something exploded nearby. Hot pellets bit my arm. I ignored the pain. With the intelligence tugging at the edge of my mind, I stopped constructing my alter-self and reached out to find her a home. My essence split apart. I had to pour myself into Rothin, and I had to stay behind.

She began to tear away from me, incomplete. I changed the words to draw her back, but there was a void that beckoned. The void left by Rothin in his body. And without my soul to take his place, Rothin was slipping back to his corpse. I had to force him out.

The wind poured out of me and my limbs fell limp. The darkness became more still and turned to a deeper black. Sound faded to silence. I pushed everything I could of myself into Rothin. His psyche sensed me there. My skin began to burn. As before, the cavity created when my soul separated from my flesh felt like it was being filed with searing acid. It seeped into the crevices of my skin and into the space between my bones. But this time, I had to hold onto the pain. I couldn’t let numbness take over. If I left my body, it died.

No, you can’t,
Rothin pleaded. His panic scraped against my mind and revived me with a rush of adrenaline through my veins. Death loomed for one of us. The sense of losing control overwhelmed me. But I had to focus on Rothin’s core or he would win. I felt myself seep into Rothin’s bones, filling his mind, connecting with his senses. This time, I embraced the desperate need to breathe air into his lungs. I concentrated on the burn of oxygen-deprived muscles and the painful ache of a still heart. Pins and needles began to consume his flesh.  I heard one last dying cry, and then he disappeared.

But what about me?
What about my other identity? I tried to cling to her, to hold onto the sensation of her boiling skin. Her heart continued to beat, but I couldn’t get her to wake. I felt torn. Like a heavy weight was dragging me out of Rothin and back to myself. But I knew I had to stay. I had to wake-up within Rothin so I could use his hands and eyes and voice to destroy his ship. It was our only chance.

With considerable effort, I directed my mind away from my own body and focused on Rothin’s.
Breathe. Please Breathe.
The paralysis that had gripped my muscles unlocked, my jaw dropped open and I sucked in as much air as Rothin’s starved body could endure. I opened his eyes and looked around as I gulped at the atmosphere. Eight wizards all peered at me with curious eyes.

“Did it work?” the closest one asked.

“Yes,” my voice barked.
I sound like him.
“Help me up,” I demanded. My senses tried to take in the dimly lit bridge as my compatriot helped me to my feet, but my vision blurred when I moved. I could still feel the tug pulling me back to my own body. It was like a strong current wearing away my strength. I wouldn’t be able to stay in here long.

My heavy hand slapped onto the nearby armrest and I used it to pull myself into the captain’s leather chair.
Was the seat the source of this thick leather smell?
Or maybe it was me. It was still hard to see clearly, but it looked like I was the only one with a place to sit. I was also the only one without any controls nearby. The other wizards all stood next to walls covered by what seemed like endless rows of buttons and levers.

Alright, Rothin, tell me how I destroy this thing.

“Well?” the nearby wizard probed. “Do you know where the girl is?”

“Yes,” I choked out. Rothin’s memories flooded my mind with sickening intensity. My thick fingers dug into the armrest as I tried to control the assault. Cool sweat coated my forehead and dripped down my neck.
The weapons station is on my left.

“Move,” I growled as I made to my feet and heaved a wizard aside. My trembling hands shoved buttons and pulled levers with clumsy but fierce intent. My vision was still unsteady, but a lot of the motions were muscle memory. Weak knees threatened to fall out from under me. I willed Rothin’s wobbly legs to hold me up.

“What are you doing,” a voice behind me demanded.

“Humph,” I replied. “Getting the girl. She’s on their ship,” Even as I said it, I could feel the current winning, pulling me away from this body.
Just hold a little longer,
I begged.

“You’re directing the infrared radiation into our fission reactor!” the wizard next to me yelled. He was too late. A deafening bang swept across the ship just as my soul slipped away. Then there was blackness.

Luke

“She’s completely out,” Mark said. Two more screens exploded above us. Everyone ducked as chunks of hot metal and debris rained down. A fire started on the ceiling and expanded to the walls with alarming speed. System must be out of that anti-fire foam.

Anton yelled to be heard over crashing metal. “We don’t have time to revive her now.” He moved to the back door and yanked to open it. No luck. “We’ll go to the cargo bay adjacent to the engine-room,” he continued. “There should still be enough coolant running through that area to buy us some time.” The console above Mark’s head blew up. Shards of hot glass poured on top of him as he crouched over Liz to protect her. I pulled him away and hoisted her up in my arms. We scrambled toward the door. SNAP! The sound from above echoed through my body. I looked up to see a beam hurtling toward us. Mark shoved me forward, out of the way. The door parted under the weight of Anton's pull, not a second too soon. I rushed through, just as another loud bang engulfed the bridge.

The hallway was even worse. Intense heat, smoke, and ash filled my nose. The crackle of a fire roared, but I couldn’t see a thing through the black clouds. I started forward toward the elevators, but Anton grabbed my shoulder. “Take the utility shaft,” he commanded as he opened an adjacent side door. It had looked like a closet at first, but inside was a long shaft equipped with a ladder. It looked like a long way down.

“How ‘bout you just teleport us,” I yelled.

“I don’t know what I’d be teleporting us into,” Anton shouted back. “Would rather be able to turn back if we had to.”

He pulled his arm up over his mouth. “Gravity is inactive inside this shaft. Just step in and pull yourself down with the ladder,” Anton instructed.

Didn’t seem possible he could breath, never mind speak through such thick smog. I searched the smoke for Mark. I wanted to make sure he was on board with this plan. Then I realized he wasn’t next to me. The sound of the loudest explosion yet followed us from the bridge.
“
Mark?”

“He’s gone,” Anton said. “A titanium beam landed on him. I couldn’t stop it in time.”

I could have sworn he was right behind me.
I turned to go back, but Anton grabbed my shoulder again.

“He’s gone, Luke.”

My feet turned to lead. I couldn’t walk. My muscles petrified.

“You’ll just get Liz and yourself killed if you go back in there,” Anton yelled. I still didn’t move.
I can’t leave my brother behind.
But Anton was done talking. He grabbed me and shoved me toward the ladder. I tried to pull back, fearing I would fall to my death, but he had caught me by surprise and I had too much momentum. My feet slipped off the edge of the deck and I braced myself for the inevitable drop. To my surprise, I just drifted forward in the air and bounced back off the ladder. Realizing I didn’t need both arms to carry Liz anymore, I wrapped one arm around her waist and used my other hand to pull myself down the shaft.
What am I doing?
It didn’t seem possible that the universe could erase my brother from my life so easily.

It was like my mind suddenly shut down. Every part of me was numb.
It’s a dream,
I told myself as I drifted through the cloud of black haze and into clearer air. It couldn’t be real. I would not abandon my little brother—I would never. My hand was shaking. I couldn’t understand why. I’d misunderstood Anton. If I went back for Mark, he would be there waiting for me.

My fingers wrapped around the next rung on the ladder. My bicep strained to alter my momentum.

“Keep going,” Anton yelled.

“But Mark,” I said. I’d meant it to sound strong, demanding. Let Anton know that I wasn’t going to be pushed around. But somehow, my voice came out weak, barely more than a choked whisper.
I’m not crying,
I told myself.
That wouldn’t make sense. There’s nothing to cry about.
Although the corner of my mind noted that there seemed to be moisture coating my left cheek.

Anton’s face filled with compassion. “I’m sorry, Luke,” he said softly and because of the crack in his voice I knew he meant it.
Was he choking back tears?
For the first time, I marveled at his strength. My whole body began to shake as the weight of the news engulfed me.

“Keep going,” Anton said gently as he pushed me and Liz down the shaft.

HMSS Ingeniur – November 2184

Elizabeth

The dark fog began to lift and I let out a soft groan. Severe heat bombarded my skin. Although my body was sore, it felt like my body. A wave of relief washed over me at the realization. I opened my eyes and noted the bright chemical lights above me. We weren’t on the bridge anymore. The alarm repeatedly faded to reveal sounds of straining metal then intensified again.

“What’s going on?” I asked as I pushed myself up. We were in a green, steel room with a series of large computer consoles against the front wall. It was the cargo bay adjacent to the engine room. Luke turned and saw I had regained consciousness. He helped me stand but didn’t answer. Anton was at the shaft door, peering through a small window.

“Where’s Mark?” I asked. Luke dropped my arm as though it had just electrocuted him. Anton stared at me.
Why?

I turned to Luke. His expression made me sick. “Luke, where is Mark?” I asked again. Explosions from the above decks rattled the whole ship. This had to be the only safe room left, but there was nowhere for Mark to hide in here. “Luke?” Dread gripped my stomach.

“I don’t… I don’t know,” he said. “We were running and the ceiling was falling...” His voice was raspy, like his throat was constricted and he was forcing the words out. “Mark shoved me. I would have been crushed.” He looked at me as if I were invisible, as though he were talking to the wall behind me.
Please, dear God, don’t…no.

Suddenly, I wanted nothing more than to make Luke shut up, but he kept talking. “Anton was up ahead opening the door. I was carrying you. There… there was no time.”

“Luke, no, please stop,” I begged while shaking my head. I backed up, thinking dumbly that it wouldn’t be true if Luke would just keep his mouth shut. “Don’t say it,” I demanded. Luke turned his gaze down to the floor.
Why can’t he look at me?

But Anton knew I needed to hear it. Still standing by the door behind me, he picked up where Luke left off. “An explosion filled the bridge the instant I closed the door,” his steady voice said from behind me.
Please be quiet
, I begged telepathically. I didn’t want to turn to him. I couldn’t bear to see the pain in his eyes, adding truth to his heavy words. “Mark wouldn’t have had more than a second,” he continued. “He’s gone.”

I couldn’t breathe. My vision blurred. The walls around us screamed as heat and internal pressure forced the metal to yield. “Liz, I’m sorry,” Anton said. His compassion crushed me.

“Why didn’t you shield him?” I yelled. “Anton, you should have saved him.” My body started shaking.

In a few strides, Anton closed the gap between us. He reached out to pull me backwards into his arms, but I twisted out of his grasp. “I couldn’t in time,” he said.

No. No, no, no. This couldn’t be happening.
Mark was alive. Mark had to be alive. Anton tried to come near me again, but I stepped away. My eyes searched his. P
lease tell me this is a joke.
The pain in his expression pierced me like a sharp blade.

Luke?
My brother was frozen in place.
Please forgive me,
I whispered telepathically
.
He didn’t respond, just regarded the wall with stone-cold eyes and wrapped his hands into fists to keep them from shaking. I wanted to comfort him, but he couldn’t look at me.

HMSS Ingeniur – November 2184

Elizabeth

Unable to bear Anton’s compassion or Luke’s regret for another second, I ran past Anton to look outside the small window in the door. Maybe I would look out and see Mark standing on the other side. There was nothing but a thin veil of smoke in the narrow shaft.

“No!” I yelled as I shoved myself away from the door. “Not Mark. Do you hear me? The deal was—I save the universe for you—you save my brothers.” I looked up at the metallic ceiling as though I expected it to speak.

“Shhh…” Anton said softly. He sounded like a vet trying to quite a crazy horse. But I kept yelling. “Answer me! The universe is safe. Now give me back Mark.” Tears streamed down my face. I brushed them away with a quivering hand. I could fight this.

A pipe in the back wall exploded and burst into the room. Sticky green liquid began to pour in. It rapidly reached my shoes and started to seep up my dress.

“Liz, we have to go,” Anton said. “I’m so sorry to have to ask this now. The wizards on the other ship: can they follow us?” His words didn’t make sense. “If we teleport now, will we be leading them back home?” he asked again.

I stared at him.
What was he saying?
I remembered all those times my brother made me laugh, how he used jokes so I wouldn’t be scared or sad. Tornado threats were an opportunity for family games in the bathroom. Monsters under my bed transformed into comical creatures cowering in fear, afraid of little girls.

Anton reached out and gently took my hand in his. Each muscle in my body tensed.
I couldn’t go back to a home without Mark. Every movie he liked, his favorite foods, the diner, the jungle gym, the park, everything would be poisoned. I wouldn’t be able to move in that world. There would be no purpose to anything ever again. My stomach clenched at the horrifying thought that I might be able to leave this ship. I searched my heart, but there wasn’t the strength to let him go.
I have to return to the bridge.

An explosion in the next room rocked the entire vessel. I lost my balance and fell in the liquid. Anton’s hand slipped out of mine as he was thrown across the room. Everything went dark. The alarm disappeared. The rattling hum that had been coming from the engine was gone. I knew what had exploded, and without it, the ship was dead. Life support would shut down.

A single dim emergency light buzzed to life above the door. I saw Anton reach for the handle and use it to pull himself out of the rising liquid. As quickly as he’d fallen, he found his way back to his feet and closed the distance between us. On his knees by my side, he picked me up out of the coolant and pulled me into his arms. This time, I didn’t fight him, just slumped down and sobbed into his shoulder.

I thought about Luke and how he
needed Mark. Luke lived to protect us. Every moment, his thoughts were consumed by concerns for our future and safety and schooling. Mark was the only interruption to that internal dialog that looped endlessly in Luke’s head. What little was left of Luke after Mom and Dad passed, his passion for economics, his love of chess, his excitement in the face of competition and his ability to laugh. It would be lost without Mark. I imagined the rest of Luke’s life. I imagined the rest of my life without Mark: no more of his pranks, no trying to help him over the phone with his calculus homework, no seeing him graduate or having him there at my graduation.

“Life support is down,” Anton whispered into my ear. “You have to tell me if it’s safe to go home?”

If I said yes, we would teleport away. The ship would disintegrate with Mark’s body on it, and he would be gone forever. My lips moved to say the word, but no sound came out. I couldn’t do it.
Except that Anton and Luke will die if you don’t.
I pulled away from Anton’s grip so I could look at him. Then I nodded.

“Ye-Yes,” I choked. He pulled me right back into his embrace and held me tight as a new wave of sorrow wracked my body.

I never heard Anton start the teleportation spell and I didn’t feel the usual numbness. Only when I heard the sound of a car driving by outside did I lift my head up to see that we were kneeling in my kitchen. Shards of shattered glass dusted our floor and counters. The dining table had somehow toppled over during the attack. It looked as if the house knew Mark was never coming back and it had torn itself apart with grief. What had I done?