Strange Skies (22 page)

I tried to silently communicate to him that we needed to kill Kale now. As long as there weren’t Consulate soldiers on the ground, we didn’t need Kale or his men to help us fight. We exchanged a brief look. I acted nonchalant as I hit the buttons on the guns to power them up. Kale was about two seconds away from being a past problem rather than a current one.

An explosion rocked the ship and threw us to the floor. Flames shot out from the wall behind me. Kale yelled from the hatch, “Get out, the ship’s gonna blow.”

James grabbed my arm and we scrambled for the door.
We dove out into the woods just as the ship erupted into a huge fireball.

“This way,” Kale shouted and we followed his men and Sonya into the woods.

Markus called to us through the com. “Where are you guys? You okay?”

We gave him our location and watched through the trees as the blaze reached toward the sky before it died down. Kale had no ship anymore, which meant that Markus had the only working Resistance ship left. Wonder how long it would take before Kale tried to take it for his own use.

The others found us a few minutes later.

“That was close,” Markus said.

“Too close,” said Web.

“Yeah,” said Ian. “What’s the plan?”

Though he looked at James, Kale answered. “We’ve got three ships to worry about. Two have been flying around dropping bombs, so I’m thinking the third one landed and sent out ground troops. You can bet that they’ll be heading for that.” He pointed through two large trees at the remains of his ship. Everything was still smoking and burning, including the containers that held the guns. The guns, themselves, were perfectly intact, though. Dad wasn’t kidding when he told me that he’d made them completely heat-resistant in order to withstand the scorching sun of Earth. They lay among the wreckage in gleaming piles, a sure beacon for the Consulate soldiers.

My heart dropped. No matter what else happened, the Consulate couldn’t get the guns. I didn’t know how long it would take them to figure out the missing steps to rekey the triggers, but once they did, we wouldn’t have a chance at survival. We had to protect those weapons.

“We should spread out in the woods around the perimeter,” said James. “Once a Consulate ship flies back over and sees the guns, they’ll alert the ground troops.”

“We’ll work together,” said Kale. “I’ll send a few of my men with each of you.”

Of course. He wanted to keep tabs on the guns … and us. I’d bet anything that his men had orders to kill us as soon as the Consulate threat was over.

As much as I didn’t want to split up, I knew what we had to do.

What I had to do.

“I’ll stay here,” I said. There was no way I was letting the guns out of my sight. “I’ll go after any ship that comes this way.” I swallowed hard. “James, are you thinking the same thing I am?”

He nodded. “It’s the only thing that makes sense. Markus’ ship is all we have left, and we have to protect the people on board. I’ll go there with a few men.” The fact that he said it out loud, even though Kale would soon know the location of the ship, meant he didn’t plan on Kale living long enough to do anything with that information. If we made it out of this alive, I was going to show James exactly how brilliant I thought he was.

Kale nodded and selected his pilot, another man, and Sonya, to go with James. Of course he picked Sonya.

“I’ll stay here,” Kale said.

Yay for me
. I got to hang out with the person I most wanted to kill, while the person I wanted to be with more than anything was leaving.

Maybe it was a good thing I was stuck with Kale. Killing him would be the highlight of my week. Well, aside from my beach time with James.

“I’m staying with Tora,” Markus said. “I’ve got my com so I can stay in touch with you.”

James nodded. “Good idea. Web, you stay here too. Reed and Ian can come with me.”

Reed looked like she wanted to jump for joy. I’m sure she wanted to get back to Alec as soon as possible. I knew the feeling and couldn’t blame her for it, though I’d miss having her nearby. The fact that Markus was staying made me feel better. He’d have my back and keep an eye on Kale.

James placed his finger under my chin and tipped my face up toward his. “Stay safe.”

“I’ll try. Wait, here.” I handed James my satchel with Callie’s picture and the trigger formulas inside. “Keep this safe for me.” I didn’t trust having it on me when I was with Kale.

I ignored Kale’s raised eyebrow and watched James head off with his group.

“Hey, James?” Markus called after the group.

James looked back. “Yeah.”

“Take care of my bird,” he said. “We’ve flown through a lot of crap together, and I’m sort of attached to her.”

“I’ll do my best.” James disappeared into the trees, which swayed back and forth in the breeze.

I wondered if I’d see him again. I didn’t have long to contemplate that thought when I heard the roar of a Consulate ship zooming back our way. If I hit it, taking it down on the first try, maybe the crew members aboard wouldn’t get the chance to notify the other ships about finding the weapons.

“Cover me,” I said to Markus and Web as I crept to the edge of the area where Kale’s ship had been.

“You heard the woman,” Kale said to his two men. “Get moving and cover her.” Even he crouched down with his gun aimed upward.

The Consulate ship flew low, almost grazing the tops of the trees. It fired lasers as it went, and when it neared the clearing, a hatch slid open near the bottom of the hull. I didn’t want to wait and see if we could survive a direct hit from another bomb. I jumped out into the open clearing with my gun raised. The ship dipped lower and I fired, but shot a second too late. Their bomb dropped at the same time that my laser hit the ship. I missed the engine, and instead I blasted off the entire nose. The ship veered sharply downward and crashed near the weapons as the bomb hit the edge of the tree line.

I dove into the woods as shrapnel from the ship and branches shot through the air. Thick flames and smoke
filled the woods. I covered my head with my arms to protect myself from the onslaught of twigs and branches.

“Mengistu!”

I kept my head down and peeked behind me. Kale had a tree branch sticking straight out of his thigh. He yanked it out with a grunt and blood poured down his leg. I’d rather the branch had impaled his skull, but I’d take what I could get. At least James would be safe a while longer since Kale clearly needed medical attention.

When the aftershocks ended, I inspected my limbs for damage. Despite some good-sized cuts on my hands and arms, I was okay.

“We need to get to that downed ship, pronto,” Kale said as he pressed on his leg with clumps of leaves to stop the bleeding.

I completely agreed with him, though I’d never admit it out loud. Even his “no survivors” policy sounded good to me. We had to hope the crash wiped out the com system so the Consulate soldiers couldn’t signal for help.

“I’ll be right behind you,” Kale said as he tested out his leg and limped a few steps. “We’ll be right back.”

“Web, can you stay here in case anyone tries to go for the guns?” I asked.

Web held up his gun in a salute. “Yes, ma’am. No one will lay a hand on them on my watch.”

Markus and I led the way with Kale’s men close behind. Kale lagged and limped in the rear. We followed the smell of smoke for what must have been close to a mile as we
headed toward the fallen ship. We’d check things out, then join the others at Markus’ ship, so we could grab Web and the guns on our way out of here. Kale would have to die between now and then.

“At least we have the trees for cover,” Markus said as we walked west.

No sooner had the words left his mouth than the smoke grew even thicker. The breeze kicked up and several embers blew past me. They landed in a tree to my left and the leaves caught fire. When I saw the flames up ahead through the trees, I stopped.

Markus stared at the sight in front of us, then took a step closer. He frowned. “Is the Consulate ship still on fire?” he asked.

The flames danced closer. “No,” I said and tugged on his sleeve to pull him back toward me. “The forest is.” I turned and yelled to the others, “Fall back. Fire!”

We ran back toward the area where we’d left Web guarding the guns. We’d have to take him with us to Markus’ ship, or he’d get burned alive. The wind stoked the fire, and the flames fanned themselves out in a semicircle as more embers were blown into the trees. Thick smoke burned my nostrils and made me cough. Fire was yet another thing that was faster than I was.

“Keep going this way,” Markus called out. “We need to make it to the creek.”

If the wind and fire kept going, I wasn’t sure the creek would be wide enough to hold it back. The trees crackled
around us as they were consumed by the fire, and I forced my legs to move faster. I checked behind me and Kale was barely keeping ahead of the flames. It would be a terrible way for him to die, but I couldn’t help thinking that it would save me the trouble of killing him later.

Unfortunately, Kale’s men stayed by his side and didn’t seem to have plans to abandon him. When we reached where Kale’s ship had been, I saw the sky. The wind had driven in some dark black clouds. Maybe that meant rain was coming. I’d seen Markus put out the fire in the fire pit by pouring creek water on it. The rain might do the same for the fire in the trees.

I scanned the clearing as I ran. The guns were there but Web was nowhere in sight. “Web!”

No response.

“Web!” I screamed again.

That’s when I noticed a new sound above the pops and crackles of the trees—lasers.

“Go!” I shouted and ran toward the lasers firing on the opposite side of the clearing. Whoever was firing was between us and the safety of the creek. We had fire behind us and burners in front of us. Perfect.

Markus ran ahead of me and someone fired at him from the direction of the creek. It just missed him, and he dove and rolled behind the nearest tree. My lungs burned from the smoke and running, yet I made it into the trees on the east side of the clearing just as another laser fired.
There was return fire a second later but it didn’t come from any of us.

I turned around and Kale and his men were dashing toward us, the forest ablaze behind them. They’d just passed the piles of Dad’s weapons when more lasers blasted. Kale tried to dart to the side to avoid being hit but his injured leg gave out and he fell. The laser just missed him and hit one of his men instead. The man’s body hit the ground in a heap. No medic would be necessary. Not even James’ fancy gadgets could help someone without a head.

I motioned for Markus to follow me and we kept moving away from the fire toward the safety of the creek, even though it was the same direction the lasers had come from. That was when I felt the first drop of water. It was huge and splashed on my nose. Relief and fear competed with each other. The water would help with the fire, but I remembered what it did to my gun the last time. What if Dad’s guns had the same reaction to water as the regular ones did? I remembered one time when he told me that he had to consider all future environments when designing the weapons, but would he have realized how wet some planets might be? I had to take care of these burners fast.

A laser shot my way and I ran straight toward it, firing my gun in rapid bursts. An arm reached out and yanked me back behind a tree.

“He’ll kill you. Are you crazy?” Web asked.

I gasped. “Web! You’re alive.”

He grimaced. “For now.”

I saw the blood on his arm. If I never saw more blood for the rest of my life, it would be too soon.

“How many are there?” I asked.

“Two for sure,” he answered. “I got one, but I think he’s still shooting.”

Another raindrop hit my cheek. “Then let’s stop him for good.”

Markus ran up on my other side. “Sounds good to me. This crap is interfering with my nap schedule.”

Web ran straight ahead while Markus and I flanked him. As another laser came toward us and hit a tree, the three of us fired in unison and didn’t stop until we reached the spot where it had come from. A Consulate soldier lay on the ground, his gun still powered up and clutched in his dead hand. The heat coming from behind us told me the fire was still raging.

A groan came from nearby and I searched the trees for the source. The soldier sat against a tree, with a large laser blast hole through the abdomen of his Consulate uniform. When he tried to speak, no words came out and his gun was just out of his grasp. Markus ran up and grabbed the soldier’s gun. He tossed it to Web who caught it and slipped it into his waistband.

“What do you think?” Web asked me.

An image of me as a younger girl flashed through my mind. It was the first time I ever held B.K., and I was sweating like crazy in my sunsuit. Dad pointed at a rock some distance away. “Kill him before he kills you, Tora. Just like I taught you.” I’d hesitated and he’d grabbed the gun from my hand and blasted the rock to smithereens. Then he’d walked back to the bunker. As he opened the door, he shook his head. “If that had been a soldier, you’d be dead now.”

The man writhed in pain on the ground. There was no way we’d be able to get any information out of him, and there was no way he’d survive.

I raised my gun and looked him straight in the eyes. “I’m sorry.”

And I ended his pain.

Chapter
NINETEEN

The occasional raindrops had settled into a steady, pitter-pat rhythm on the leaves. We ran toward the creek while Markus reported to James on the com that we’d taken down one Consulate ship as well as two ground soldiers who must have been from another ship. James said the fire hadn’t reached them yet, though they could smell the smoke. He thought it would be best for Max to move the ship to a safer location.

As I ran, I kept thinking about the man I’d killed. Rather than guilt, I felt anger. Anger that the Consulate had started all of this crap. Anger that I was in the position of having to kill someone in the first place. Anger that I couldn’t live out the rest of my life collecting seashells on the beach. And underneath it all, a tiny, nagging worry that I was becoming more like Kale.