Burn Out (6 page)

A strong surge yanked me off the ground and I held on with every ounce of strength I had left. I yelled in frustration, and soon realized I wasn’t the only one yelling. A body flew past me. Someone had lost their battle with the storm. I craned my neck and watched as the body was flung higher and higher into the air, like a rag doll. It must have been fifty feet in the air when it got caught in the wind shear. The wind slammed it straight into the cactus grove. Several of the sharp spines drove clear through the body, pinning it halfway up the cactus. It didn’t move, and I guessed it wasn’t going to.

Still clinging to the rock, my only thought was a selfish one.

The odds just got a little better.

T
HE SUN STORM SEEMED TO LAST FOR AN ETERNITY
. F
ROM
the safe confines of the shelter, these storms didn’t seem quite as deadly. Things were sure different when you were smack ass in the middle of it. The screaming of the wind gradually subsided to mild whimpers, with occasional defiant gusts mixed in, as though daring me to come out. I relaxed my hold on the rock and touched my side where I’d been hit. Tender and sore, but not broken. I groaned at the deep ache beneath my ribs.

“That you whimpering, Tora? You know they already have a hospital on Caelia.”

I yelled back at him. “You won’t need a hospital by the time I’m finished with you, Markus!”

A deeper male voice called out. The voice belonged to
boulder number two, which was where the body had flown from. “Miss, um, Reynolds is it? We suffered an injury during the storm and would like permission to check on our man’s status. Can we have a cease-fire?”

I looked at the motionless body in the air, hanging from the spikes. “Our man’s” status. Then it wasn’t the girl that died. “Mr., um, Assassin, is it? There’s nothing to check. You didn’t suffer an injury; you suffered a fatality. If you insist, be my guest, but I will shoot you in the back.” I clutched my weapon, bracing for more gunfire.

“For Attila’s sake!” His sigh was audible, despite the distance between us. What kind of name was Attila? Markus must not have warned him about me. Maybe the man had been expecting a frightened, desperate mouse of a girl. I was not that girl.

“Come on, Tora.” No way. The girl was trying to reason with me. “Look, we want the guns and we’re not leaving without them. There’s no reason for anyone else to die.”

You mean anyone except me. The odds were still four to one—four too many for my liking.

I yelled back, “Little girl, you sure have been out here an awfully long time in the hot sun … thirsty yet?” I knew I’d hit a nerve when she fell silent. They were thirsty. I only had to outlast them. I licked a drip of sweat that fell from my nose onto my lip. If I made it back underground, I was going to drink my entire day’s ration in one sitting.

“Give us a break. We’ll all die if we sit out here much longer.”

“You first, Markus.”

The sun started to sink in the sky. Within a few hours, the small sliver of night would emerge. Instead of dying of heat, we’d die quickly from the rapid descent into arctic temperatures—if the night storms didn’t get us first. Maybe I could make a break for the door and hole up for the night. If they made it back to the ship in time, we could start the fun all over again in the morning.

More roaring sounded overhead and dust swirled at my feet. This was not possible. Sun storms never happened this close together, and it was too early for the night storms. The noise thundered louder in my ears and the wind picked up speed. Light blazed in my eyes and I shielded them from the glare. When I looked again, I found that this particular blinding light wasn’t coming from the sun.

It came from the sun reflecting off the metal of a ship.

A gigantic ship.

The monstrosity veered closer, before hovering over the ridge where Markus and company had parked their craft. The jerks had called for reinforcements. The hand that held my gun shook. This was it. Game over. The odds had been stacked against me anyway, but this ship knocked the whole stack on its ass. I was going to die here, in the same spot as my mother and sister. But I wasn’t going to die without a fight. I raised my gun, and peered out from behind the rock.

The ship’s engine revved as it came full throttle toward us.

Markus yelled, “What the—?” He stood upright, ripe for the shooting. I placed my finger on the firing switch of the gun and took a breath. I aimed at Markus who faced away from me, staring at the ship.

The ship fired. Pulses of orange light rained down on the ground ahead of me, apparently targeting Markus and his friends. The pulses of light came closer. Yeah, they were definitely aiming for the white suits, which made me glad to be in a red one. Markus hesitated a second before running full speed toward me. Another white suit followed close behind. The two behind the other boulder stood, glanced at Markus, and also raced in my direction. What the hell? Did they think I could protect them from the monstrous ship in the air? They were the military-looking types, not me. That’s when it hit me. They weren’t running toward me. They were running toward the door. My door.

“Oh, hell no!” I leapt from behind the boulder, sprinting the short distance to the door. The orange pulses came closer and I looked up to see a laser strike the boulder where Markus had been hiding. It exploded, sending rock fragments flying in all directions. Crap. I didn’t want to see what it would do to me. Reluctant to switch the gun to my other hand, I grasped the door handle with my injured one, grateful for the protective glove I wore this time. Rapid footsteps pounded behind me as I yanked it open.

I tried to scramble inside and close the door, but hands were on my back, pushing me down the ladder. The laser pulses sounded like they were almost on top of us. My foot
caught on the bottom rung and I tumbled in an awkward somersault. Footsteps crashed down the ladder above me while I struggled to regain my bearings. Three figures stood a few feet away. A fourth figure pulled the heavy door closed as a barrage of light pulses rained down on it.

“Graceful as ever, Tora.” Markus stood across from me. He tore off his helmet and then placed his gun back in the holster.

Keeping hold of my gun, I used my other hand to remove my helmet. Sweat poured down my neck and frizzy, dark ringlets fell over my eyes. I tossed my head back, trying to keep my line of sight clear. Staring upward, I realized what a genius my father had been. He must have known the lasers wouldn’t affect this type of metal. He’d constructed a bomb shelter, not just a keep-away-the-sun-shelter. Though the lasers had pulverized the boulder, the door held tight.

Markus shrugged and had the nerve to smirk at me. “Guess we’re all on the same side now.”

T
HE DAY MY MOTHER AND SISTER DIED
, I
’D MADE A BARGAIN
. They’d only been gone a short time, but had left their suits behind, and in this climate, every second counted. My father went to look for them and ordered me to stay put. I wasn’t even sure who I was bargaining with; any god with half a brain would have fled this hellhole long ago. But I wanted my family safe. Speaking to the empty air, I’d promised that if my mother and sister were alive, I would spend the rest of my days being more helpful and less of a smart-ass. I’d be a better person. A minute later, my father found them. They weren’t even remotely close to alive. All bets were off.

I leveled my gun at Markus. “I will never be on ‘your side.’ Get out.”

Loud humming filled the room. The three suits had their guns aimed at me with their fingers on the engagement triggers.

“Settle down, sweetie.” Markus turned to the group. “No one’s going to shoot anyone. Let’s calm ourselves.”

“If you kill me now, you’ll never get the guns. Right, Markus? Except that didn’t seem to bother you earlier when you were all shooting at me.”

He laughed. “I already told you … we were trying to incapacitate you, not kill you. Besides, you can’t kill us either—I doubt you’ll escape the Consulate lackeys out there on your own.”

I flashed him a withering look. Of course they wanted me alive; Markus must have told them only I could fire the guns. If it prevented the Consulate from killing me outright, maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing. “I was doing just fine before you all came along. And they didn’t seem to be shooting at me.”

The largest of the suits spoke. It was the deep voice from earlier who’d asked to check on his dead guy. “Look, we’re all in the same situation here. See, I’m putting my gun down.” He turned off the trigger and placed the gun at his feet. He reached up and slowly removed his helmet. His short hair was drenched in sweat.

The smaller of the other two suits—it had to be the girl—yanked off her helmet. “It’s too frickin’ hot for this shit. Would someone please tell me what the hell is going on out there? Aren’t they supposed to be on our side, Kale?”

She was small, dark, and bony. Even her cheeks looked sharp—like those mean-looking birds I’d once come across on the GlobalNet. I’d been glad they’d died out before I came along. She lowered her gun, but didn’t drop it.

I glanced over at Markus, annoyed at the amusement on his face. Bad choice on my part. The humming sound warned me just in time, and I dove to the floor and rolled. The laser hit the wall behind me and created a shower of sparks. I came up, my weapon aimed at the girl who’d just fired at me, but the tall man, Kale, had already knocked her gun out of her hands.

“That’s enough,” he boomed. “You never shoot without an order. Got it, soldier?”

The girl glared at me. She kicked the floor with her boot. “Got it,” she mumbled.

My relief lasted only for the second it took for him to hand the gun back to her. “Next time I take your gun, it’s for good.”

The girl grunted in reply. It seemed clear that Kale was in charge, or was supposed to be anyway. He looked older than Markus by a good decade. My pulse wouldn’t stop racing, and I stood slowly, not lowering my gun. Had Kale putting his gun down been a trick? Did they think I was completely stupid?

That was when the third suit, which either had to be a guy or quite a strapping young lady, put down his gun in a halting way, as if reluctant to let go of it. He took off his helmet and laid it carefully by his weapon.

I sucked in my breath when he looked directly at me. The guy had an intense stare. His sandy blond hair matched the scruff on his face, and he didn’t look much older than me—I’d say three years max. He might even be considered sort of cute if I didn’t count the whole killer-for-hire thing against him. Which I did. Of course, maybe he only seemed cute because, before today, I could count the number of boys I’d seen in the past year on one finger. His eyes held mine for an instant before he turned to the older man. He didn’t say a word, just eyed him with a questioning expression.

Kale sighed. “One of my contacts must have gone to the Consulate after we left Caelia. Sold me out for some currency.”

I frowned, confused. “What are you talking about? Didn’t the Consulate hire you?”

Scruffy boy chimed in. “They probably figured out he wasn’t going to hand the guns over.” His voice sounded deep and rough, like his vocal cords had been rubbed with sandpaper. I wanted him to say more but he didn’t. Why hadn’t Kale planned to hand over the guns? It wasn’t like any greater payment than a UCC existed.

Markus whirled to face Kale. “What? You wanted to double-cross the Consulate? Well, I want my UCC.” He punched the table with his fist. “I never would have agreed to this if I’d known about this bullshit.”

“Exactly,” said Kale. “And we needed you in case Tora needed some extra persuasion. Don’t get your panties in a
bunch. I planned to pay you myself for your services.” He gestured above us. “But first we need a way out of here.”

Markus glanced at the girl. “Were you in on this too, Britta?”

Somehow the name fit her. Britta just shrugged.

I laughed at Markus. “Aw, you poor thing … doesn’t feel good to be screwed over, does it? Well, now the Consulate knows where the guns are and don’t need any of your sorry asses. There’s no way they’ll let you live now.”

Britta whined. “I didn’t sign up for this. I just want my money and I want to go home.” She glared at me with her beady black eyes. Britta the bird. “But first, I really want to be the one to hurt her.”

“I don’t think anyone’s going home anytime soon, Britta,” Kale said. “And there will be no hurting anyone tonight.”

I noticed the “tonight” qualifier. Should I be grateful they wouldn’t maim me until morning? Maybe I should let them know that my finger wouldn’t work on the weapons security door if I was dead.

The aerial attack continued a bit longer above us, and then came to an abrupt halt. Maybe it dawned on them that I could easily take them down with one of my father’s super-guns. Or they were just changing strategies.

Britta grumbled as she peeled off her suit. “I still don’t get why the government would kill their own?”

I yawned in mock boredom. “They must not see you as valuable. You’re certainly not a very good shot.” I eyed
bird girl and scruffy boy. “Let me guess—you’re two of Earth’s last juvenile delinquents. You already got in trouble on Caelia and this mission was your chance at redeeming yourselves. Sorry it didn’t work out so well.”

Britta lunged at me, barely held back by Kale.

Scruffy boy shot icicles at me with his eyes. “You don’t know anything about me.”

“Give it a rest, Tora,” said Markus. “We’re all tired here.”

He sounded eerily like Dad, who used to ride me for my “relentless sarcasm.” My mother defended it, saying it made me a fighter and that it was “better to have dark humor than none.” She’d said once that if she’d had some of my spunk, she might not have needed so many meds.

Kale shifted and cleared his throat. “Um, Tora, can I use the bathroom?”

I suppressed my laughter. Their fearless leader went from trying to shoot me to requesting to take a piss. It’s amazing the difference an hour can make in one’s life. I pointed to a small door off to the side and snorted. “Make sure you aim into the center of the machine—we recycle here.”