Off Planet

by Aileen Erin

  “On Sel’Ani.” The Aunare home planet. “It was too dangerous for him to come back to Earth, but we’ve been looking for you for a while. We weren’t sure if you lived through the initial attack at your house, but Lorne said—”

  “Lorne?” I cut him off. “That’s the other guy looking for me?”

  “Not the point. Sorry. I’m rambling and saying things I shouldn’t. It’s not like me… Shit.” He looked up at the sky and let out a long breath. “I’m really messing this up royally, but it’s so surreal. I’ve been searching for you for thirteen years.”

  The smile he gave me felt a little awkward because he was obviously genuinely so happy. But since I didn’t know him, I didn’t share his excitement. At first, it felt nice to cause his excitement, but now it was making me uncomfortable.

  “Here you are. Just like that.”

  “Yeah. Here I am. But how’d you find me? Why now?”

  Jorge had paid to fix my files when we got to ABQ, but the patch-up was a piss-poor job. When we were twelve, Roan checked the files and added more schooling information, some medical charts, and he even put in some shopping history to make it look like we’d been in Albuquerque my whole life. As far as my records went, I was Maité Martinez, born and raised here. I’d been Maité so long that my real name didn’t feel like me anymore. I wasn’t even sure I’d answer to it if someone used it.

  “Well, it took me a long time. Clearly. Mostly because my brother is an asshole and never liked your family. He figured I knew your escape route, and he was right. Your father told Lorne and me what to do if something happened, but nothing went as planned. It took me a week to shake my brother, and that week was enough for you to slip away. I almost caught you at a train station in Austin, but after that, your mom ditched the plan, and I couldn’t find you. Until now.”

  Our four years of running were all a blur now. We’d been moving so fast, not really sleeping and homeless for chunks of it. I didn’t even remember being in Austin. “And? Why now? I must’ve messed up somehow, but when?”

  “Ah. Your implant.” He tapped my finger. “They had to run your blood—”

  “They didn’t run my blood!” No. I’d been careful. I started to get up, but he held my leg for a second, stopping me. That pause gave me enough time to think.

  “They couldn’t run it,” I said, more calmly this time, “because they didn’t have it. Roan was with me. He—”

  “They didn’t run it, but techs had to report the vial missing. There are a lot of strict rules about implants and handling of blood. Even with third-rate doctors.”

  “You’re messing with me. Right?” This was bad.

  “Unfortunately not. No one thinks that SpaceTech would keep track of this kind of stuff, but… If you’d replaced it with a different sample, you’d have been better off. And since your blood was handled by such a seriously shitty doctor…” His voice was getting louder, and I could see the anger growing in him. “That dirty office? That man… He barely qualifies as a physician. He could’ve maimed you, and—”

  “I know. Okay. I know,” I said quietly. “But it’s not like I had much of a choice. I have to blend. And don’t you judge me.” I stood up, unable to stay sitting next to him. “You don’t know me. You haven’t been through what we have. Don’t you dare judge me.”

  He held up his hands. “You’re right. I’m sorry. But honestly, no one would’ve run the blood if you’d have left it. The way that office is set up, they weren’t actually testing it. Only keeping track that it was accounted for. But since it went missing, it was marked as someone trying to hide something and…”

  Ice-coated shitballs. I hadn’t even thought of that. I was so screwed. I leaned back against the railing, sliding down to the floor of the balcony. I hugged my knees to my chest, silently cursing myself for making such a massive mistake, but how was I supposed to know they wouldn’t actually test the blood?

  Declan slowly stood up. “The record of the missing vial went into the system with your picture. Anyone in the system with your stats goes into my search folder. I’d know your face anywhere.” If I wasn’t mistaken, he was almost wistful with his words.

  If he knew my face, then that meant that others would, too. We were going to have to run. If not right now, soon. “But SpaceTech doesn’t know where I am?”

  “No. Not yet. But if I found you, it’s safe to say that someone else will, too. It’s time for us to get you out of here.”

  “And my mom.” I wasn’t going anywhere without her.

  He nodded. “And your mom.”

  I couldn’t believe that this was finally happening. After the scare I’d had tonight, I’d thought I was inches away from being caught. And I was kind of right. Except this particular officer was probably the only one that wouldn’t turn me in.

  I didn’t even know how to feel. What would it be like to see my father again? Would he even like who I was now?

  What was it going to be like not to be afraid anymore? “So what now? Do I pack or…?”

  “Take whatever you want with you, but honestly, if you came as you are now, that’d be fine, too. Your dad is just ready to have you back.”

  That last statement was so emotionally loaded. I didn’t even know how to separate the swirling mix that was brewing deep inside. My skin started to glow, and I groaned.

  Declan reached down to run a fingertip along my cheek, and I shied away from it. “It can’t hurt me, and you shouldn’t have to hide it.”

  That it wouldn’t hurt him was something, but the rest… “I hate it. I can mostly hide, but this…” I squeezed my eyes shut. “I can’t always control it.”

  “You can always control it if you—”

  Knocking came from inside the apartment. Three loud thumps followed by even more then some garbled commands.

  My skin grew brighter to glow like the moon.

  Only one type of person would knock like that.

  Chapter Four

  I jumped up and shoved Declan into the railing. “You!”

  “No. I had nothing to do with this.” He held up his hands. “I swear. But please, let me handle it.”

  I was pushing past Declan before I could think, to dive back through the window into my bedroom.

  Declan grabbed my arm, and I gasped. I’d moved fast, yet he’d managed to catch me?

  “Calm down,” he said. “We have to think.”

  “My mother is in there.” I wrenched my arm away and sprinted through the apartment. This time I was too fast for him to catch, but I froze when I hit the living room. Mom was sitting on the couch wringing her fingers, but she hadn’t answered the door.

  For the second time in under an hour, I was confused. The only people in the building that IAF would be here for were us. I was pretty sure of it.

  Mom shook her head slowly and pointed up at the ceiling.

  The pounding came again.

  Thump. Thump. Thump. “Interplanetary Armed Forces. Open up or we’ll be forced to break down the door.” It wasn’t until I heard the voice that I realized it was still too soft. IAF—Interplanetary Armed Forces—was here, but not at our apartment. They were upstairs.

  Telly and Frank lived up there. They weren’t Aunare. They were just an older couple with too many cats.

  Footsteps sounded overhead. The officers yelled. My palms started sweating.

  IAF couldn’t do this. Not to them. Telly was sweet, and Frank wouldn’t hurt anyone.

  The sound of something shattering and a thud had me moving across the room.

  “No, Maité,” Mom said. Her knuckles were white as she twisted her hands. “It’s too late for them. You have to leave it be.”

  “I can’t. This is wrong. I have to go help them.” Another thud had me racing for the front door, and then all of a sudden, I was on my back. I tried to move, but Declan’s legs were pinning mine, and one of his thick arms was across my shoulders, firmly pressing me into the floor. “What the hell are you doing?” This guy was about to
be on my shitlist. I didn’t care if he was here to help me. Not anymore.

  His smile was gone. “If I let you up, are you going out there?”

  What was his problem? “Of course I’m going out there. They need help.”

  “Then I can’t move.”

  I ground my teeth as I tried to rein in my temper, but he was pissing me off. Didn’t he get that Telly and Frank were nice, innocent people? Whatever was going on in their apartment, I was sure they didn’t deserve it. “Get off me or I’m screaming.”

  He slammed a hand over my mouth. “No. I didn’t come this far and work this hard to find you to have you throw it all away for whoever the hell is up there. They’re expendable. You’re not.”

  Expendable? How could he say that about anyone?

  A thump was followed by Telly’s cry, and I struggled to get out from under Declan. He pressed down on his arm across my collarbones. I shoved at his arm, but it was like moving a boulder, and he had all the leverage. For now. All I needed was an in, and I could flip him. I’d move too fast for him to stop me.

  He removed his hand from my mouth. “I know you want to help them, but you have to think. What will happen if you go up there?” He paused. “We both know that they’d start asking you questions. They’d ask to scan you. Anything legit would drive a halfer with the weakest Aunare blood to distraction, and you’re from the second strongest Aunare line.”

  He was right. I knew it, but that didn’t change what was happening above my apartment.

  “We both know that useless piece of crap in your finger doesn’t count to IAF. Like you said—it’s to blend. That’s it. You’d be scanned, and that would be a huge red flag. You’d be thrown into a cell for interfering, which would give them enough cause to run a full scan on you. Not that they need cause.”

  I knew where he was going with this, but I hated it.

  “You’d be outed as a halfer, and if they find out exactly who you are… It’s not just your neighbors’ lives on the line here. IAF takes you in, it’s war. Millions will die. The only reason the Aunare haven’t made a move against us yet is because, until tonight, no one knew where you were. Not SpaceTech. Not your father. But now your father knows… This is dangerous. So fucking dangerous.”

  My lip trembled as I heard Telly pleading with the IAF upstairs, and then something heavy hit a wall.

  “You can’t save them. Not now. But you can maybe save everyone else,” Declan said.

  He was right. God, I hated it, but he was right. The glow started to fade to nothing as I gave in.

  A chunk of the ceiling rained down on us, and I gave up fighting, relaxing into the carpeting under me. My heart felt like it was shattering for them, and I squeezed my eyes shut. Hot, silent tears poured down my face.

  This was so iced. I was from a strong Aunare line—a line of generations of fighters—and still, I couldn’t do a damned thing for my neighbors. “I’m letting them die so I can stay hidden. How can I look myself in the mirror after this?” He’d pinned me pretty well, but if I’d fought him harder… If I’d actually used my Aunare strength and speed…

  He settled down beside me, staring up at the ceiling like I was. “Over the years I’ve done a lot of things I’m not proud of. I’ve blurred the lines so that I could stay in the good graces of SpaceTech. So that maybe I could change things. So that one day I could find you and your mom alive. Hell, for a lot of reasons I guess. But there were times I could’ve stood up and saved someone but didn’t. I’ve always tried to look at the bigger picture. The times when I didn’t stand up against something that I knew was wrong? I’ll have to live with them.”

  I stared at his profile as he talked. He was pretty, even his bad company haircut couldn’t hide his perfect nose, square jaw, and light blue eyes. A little scar on his right cheek only gave him a bit of character.

  He caught me staring and smiled, but it wasn’t as happy as it was earlier. His eyes didn’t crinkle in the corners. “I’m telling you only because I don’t want you to feel guilty about not saving your neighbors. When you look in the mirror, you’ll hold your chin high because I was the one to stop you. This was my bad. You can put this on my shoulders.”

  No. I couldn’t let him take the guilt for my inaction. “Why make me feel better when you were just trying to do what’s best for me? Why do you care so much about me? I still don’t get it.” There was a scream from upstairs, and my hand found his.

  He squeezed my fingers tightly. “You know that saying about not being able to pick your relatives but picking your family?”

  “Sure,” I said, focusing on him and his words as the noise upstairs descended into deathly quiet.

  “Well, I picked my family because the one I was born into is deplorable. But I got away. I spent a lot of time on Sel’Ani as kind of an exchange student and—”

  What? “I didn’t know there were programs like that.”

  “It was kind of a one student thing. I don’t think it went quite how they were hoping.” He turned away from me and was quiet for a second. Lost in his memories.

  I wanted to ask so many questions, but I bit my lip to stop them from pouring out.

  “Anyhow,” he said after a moment. “I got to know your dad and his family pretty well. And Lorne and his family. And you and your mom. You all took me in, overlooking everything about where I came from and who my family is. I think it’s safe to say that your father helped me survive a shit childhood and shaped me into the man I am today. Even if I have some things in my past I’m not proud of doing, I still can be proud of who I am. I can never repay him for that. So helping you now, it’s a given. You’re family.”

  “With that kind of loyalty… You make my dad sound like an amazing person.”

  “He is.”

  “I wouldn’t know. I don’t remember him at all. All I know is what I see on the news. He’s as much a stranger to me as you are.” A few years ago, this would’ve bothered me more, but I’d found my own family. I had Mom, Roan, the ABQ Crew, and my students. I’d come to a place where I was okay. I was surviving.

  Sure I was scared. Every damned day. But I had a plan. I’d been taking flying lessons on any kind of craft I could find on the odd chance that I’d find something I could afford to buy one day. It was slow, and I’d had a few setbacks, but I was going to get there.

  But everything was changing again, and it felt like I was caught in some weird alt reality. Now I was here, talking about my father?

  “To hear you say that you don’t know him would break your father’s heart.”

  “He’s right, mija.” I nearly jumped at the sound of Mom’s voice.

  I let go of Declan’s hand and sat up to see her, still sitting on the couch. Tears glistened on her cheeks.

  “He hasn’t tried to find us,” I said. “If he really cared, we would’ve been out of here a long time ago.”

  “That’s not true,” Declan said. “I’ll let him explain for himself, but not knowing where you were and if you were okay—it wasn’t just me going through that torture. You’re his only child. He loves you more than air, and not being here right now is killing him.”

  I didn’t know what to say to that. It felt so surreal to be sitting here talking to a stranger—who wasn’t exactly a stranger—about my father—who was also a stranger… To be thinking about actually leaving this planet soon?

  “What’s the plan, Declan? When do we leave?” Mom asked.

  “That part is trickier than I anticipated.”

  Shit. Now that he said we were leaving, I wanted to go. Now. Waiting was going to kill me. Possibly literally. “What’s tricky about it? Besides the obvious harboring fugitives part.”

  “My brother is here,” he said as he stood up.

  Mom hissed.

  He reached down and pulled me up off the floor. “Exactly.” He let go of my hand, and I felt cold without it.

  I rubbed my palm off on my pants to stop myself from reaching out to him again and moved to sit next to M
om on the couch. “Why does your brother being here make this trickier?” I felt like I was missing something.

  Declan moved to the door, leaning against it as if to stop anyone from coming in. “My brother hates the Aunare. He’s made his career outing halfers, and it all started with you and your family. It’s a lot to get into right now, but let’s just say he blames you specifically for everything that’s gone wrong in his life. Catching you is everything to him. He thinks it will bring him closer to our father. Closer to finally getting back at me for every wrong he thinks I’ve done him. Closer to starting the war both he and my father want.”

  “Jesus. What did I do to piss him off so badly? I was a kid.”

  “Nothing.” He crossed his arms as he stared fiercely down at me. “You didn’t do anything, and you’ve got enough to worry about without worrying about a past that you can’t change. What matters right now is that we have to be very careful with what our next move is.” He let out a long sigh.

  If he felt nervous about this whole thing, I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to feel about it.

  “You got that implant over two weeks ago, and I’ve known exactly where you were since then, but I couldn’t come. Not until I had a good reason. I used the groundbreaking of the spaceport’s expansion as my excuse to get here, and my brother was off on VegaFive. He shouldn’t have come for something like this, and yet he landed an hour after me. I got to your apartment about five minutes before you did. And not long after that, IAF takes in your upstairs neighbor?”

  I always knew that things were crazy dangerous for me, but it felt more real in that moment than ever before. To know that IAF had been that close to picking me up was terrifying.

  “My brother knows I’m in this building, but it’ll take him a few days before he realizes that he sent IAF to the wrong apartment. Or maybe he’ll never realize his mistake. I don’t know if we’ll be that lucky, but either way, I know now exactly how closely I’m being watched. And that this building is also being watched.”

  I didn’t like that. Not at all. “We should leave. Right now.”