Off Planet

by Aileen Erin

  “No way. I’m not going for number eight. I’m older now. I break, dude.” Santiago held up his hands in surrender. “Sorry, chica,” he said, more quietly. “I forget that about you. About you liking privacy.”

  “Doesn’t everyone?” I wanted to be pissed at him, but Santiago was clueless. That was always his problem. His positive, fun-loving nature made up for it.

  “Nah. I don’t need privacy.” He rubbed his head. “I’m an open book.”

  Ahiga laughed. “That’s because your book is mostly empty.”

  I nearly spurted potatoes on the table. By the time I stopped laughing, my sides ached, and tears were running down my face. It wasn’t even that funny, but everything had been so horrible that my mind needed the cathartic release. “Oh God. I needed that. You don’t know how much. Thanks.”

  “My pleasure,” Ahiga said. “You need to eat up. Your duty starts in twenty, and you’re going to need a little extra time to get into your suit.”

  “Suit?” Santiago asked.

  Ahiga explained, keeping his cover. “Looked her up while you were spilling all her personal information. Got more information for myself. Must’ve pissed off someone up top, because she’s got ice-down duty.”

  Santiago’s smile melted. “No. She can’t. That’s total bullshit. We have bots for that shit.”

  “Not anymore. They’re in repairs.”

  “That’s bullshit.” The joking, smiling John Santiago was gone. His face paled. “Can’t you change it?”

  Ahiga gripped his fork so hard, it bent. He threw it on the table. “Not up to me, kid. I’m only here for training. Just like last time.”

  “But it’s bullshit. No one should have to do that. It’s not even a job here. If the bots are broken, I could fix them. Fucking SpaceTech. They’re the worst. They think that—” Santiago continued ranting at Ahiga, and I took that as my cue.

  “Don’t get upset on my account. I feel you on the SpaceTech front. They’re pure evil, and I hate we’re both here working for them. But you haven’t heard why I got sent here yet, and you can be damned sure I’ll spill about my tattoo before I tell you why I was arrested. Not going to happen. Ever. So don’t ask.” I stabbed the last bite of potato and choked it down with water.

  “They’re using this as punishment, and until someone stops SpaceTech, until someone isn’t afraid to stand against them, they won’t care about honor or what’s right or anything except their bottom line. The only problem they’d have if we all died here is that their productivity would go down while they shipped more convicts up to replace us.”

  My wrist unit started vibrating, and I tapped the screen. “Looks like it’s time for me to take off,” I said. “Good to see you, Santiago.” I took the sausage and bread in one hand and my tray in the other.

  “Sure thing, chica. You’re always welcome with me. I’ll look out for you. Survivors Together.”

  “Survivors Together,” I said back to him as I blushed, feeling a bit touched to have a friend so far from home. “Thanks. I appreciate that.”

  I dropped off my tray on the way out and headed to the cargo bay, forcing myself to eat the food as I went. The sausage was even grosser than I’d expected. It was slimy and chewy and chunky—which made eating it a chore—but seeing Santiago had been kind of awesome.

  If I was looking for bright spots here, at least I had Santiago and Ahiga. Two people I could count on. I tried to keep that in mind as I walked down the deserted, hot hallways to my work duty. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen out there on the surface, but my plan hadn’t changed. I was going to survive until someone got me off this hell planet. End of story.

  Chapter Eighteen

  I followed the map on my wrist unit and ended up at Cargo Bay One. From what the map said, there were seven cargo bays on the base. My heart was pounding, and sweat dripped down my temples, and I wanted to believe that it was from walking through so many sweltering hallways, but I wasn’t sure I could lie to myself well enough to make it believable.

  This was it. I was about to endure the hell that Jason dreamed up, but I was going to do it with my head held high. I glanced at the camera hanging in the hallway. He probably wasn’t watching, but I was sure someone was. I wouldn’t let them see me squirm. I wouldn’t give them that pleasure.

  Before I could think any more about it, I slapped my hand on the door’s scanner—ignoring the energy ripping through my system—and the door opened.

  Stepping into the cargo bay was like entering a yawning cavern with stacks of containers climbing their way to the ceiling. I couldn’t tell exactly how tall the room was because of all the piles. They seemed to tower impossibly high, and I couldn’t help but hunch down a little.

  It didn’t seem safe for them to be placed like that, but if it wasn’t then SpaceTech wouldn’t allow it, especially if anything valuable was in the containers.

  I forced my shoulders back and my chin high, and looked up at the stacks. The squat, round tubs towered easily twenty floors above me, ending in a black abyss overhead. Bots zoomed in and out between them at various heights, scanning barcodes on the sides and moving containers through the air to different spots. I wasn’t sure what was happening exactly with the bots or the containers, but I was here and on time, and there was no one in sight.

  Getting in trouble for being late wasn’t on my agenda. Not on my first day. “Hello?” I called out. “Anyone here?”

  One of the bots zoomed down to hover in front of my face. Four spindly arms—two on each side—stuck out from a chrome, basketball-like body. A red light blinked at me as the camera honed in.

  “Name.” The disembodied voice came from the bot.

  “Maité Martinez.” My skin started to warm, and I took a long, deep breath to stop the glow before it took root.

  What the hell was that? Why had saying my name set off my emotions so much that the glow started? It didn’t make sense. It’d been mine for a long time, but something in me had changed. It felt like a lie, one I didn’t want to tell anymore.

  “One moment, please. The appropriate parties are being contacted.” The bot stayed hovering a foot in front of my face, watching me.

  I wanted to hit it. Smash it into the ground. I knew the bot wasn’t doing anything wrong exactly, and it wasn’t judging me. The bots didn’t have the programming to care about that kind of thing. But the way it stared at me, with the flashing red eye and the camera inside it recording my every movement, put me on edge.

  “Hey there,” a voice called behind me.

  A man the size of a giant came through the doors. He had to be over six feet, five inches tall with arms thicker than my head. With how fit everyone was here, I wondered if there was a gym on the base. There probably wasn’t much else to do here other than work out. And if there was, I would bet that this guy lived there.

  “I was running late,” he said.

  He wore a tank top and biker shorts a little longer than mine. I was sure my eyeballs were popping out of my head as I looked down his body—and what I could make out under his shorts—and quickly looked back at his face. His outfit seemed even more revealing than mine, and he didn’t seem to care.

  I wished I could feel as confident as he did.

  Sweat coated the giant man’s body, making it look like he’d just stepped out of the shower. He reached out a hand, and I took it. He held my hand in a loose, gentle grip. From the size of him, I knew he could’ve crushed my hand, but he’d chosen to be gentle. That told me that he was kind and probably not one of SpaceTech’s lackeys. Which made me think that this might not be so bad.

  “I’m Maité Martinez.” I stepped back, dropping his hand. “I’m not sure if I’m in exactly the right spot, but this is where the map said.”

  “Tyler Higgins. You’re right where you need to be, honey.” He winked, his blue eyes sparkling. “You’re prettier than a doll.”

  “Uh…” I wasn’t sure what to say back to that. So far he’d been nice and seemed pretty
sweet—which I wasn’t expecting, especially from someone his size. But was he hitting on me?

  “Matthew dropped off your suit. I put it in a locker for you. You’re going to want to take those clothes off though.”

  All my muscles tensed. I’d been wrong about Tyler. “Excuse me?” Who the hell did he think he was?

  He held up his hands. “I ain’t gettin’ fresh. Even if I am open to it.”

  “What’s your—”

  “Just let me finish.” His arms looked even thicker as he crossed them and stared down at me.

  I should’ve felt more intimidated, but something about him didn’t seem creepy, despite what he’d said. “You don’t want to be wearing anything under your suit because it’s hotter than a witch’s tit in church out there, even with the cooling system. Can’t expect it to work a miracle against the heat of the surface. You’re going to want that cold AC on your bare skin. Best if you strip before you put it on. You can store your clothes in the locker. No one’s going to mess with them, and don’t you worry. I’ll be doing the same.”

  I opened and closed my mouth but couldn’t find the words. Tyler might have a point about the cold AC on your skin, but did he really think that I would undress in front of him? And the bots?

  “You think I’m a perv.” He laughed. “No. I won’t be watching. You can find a place around one of these stacks if it makes you more comfortable, but I’m tellin’ you. You’re gonna regret your clothes ’bout five seconds after you step onto the surface.”

  I glanced down at my shorts and tank. They were moisture-wicking, thin, and skintight. I figured on or off wouldn’t make much of a difference. But since I was new here, I was open to suggestions. “Maybe I’ll—” A bot flew in behind me as another came closer from the side. I stepped to the right, and they moved with me. I moved the other way, and they moved again.

  There wasn’t an inch of privacy in this cargo bay. Jason wasn’t going to allow that. Not when there was a free show to be had.

  I looked directly at the bot in front of me and scratched my nose with my middle finger. “You know what, I’m from the desert. I’ll be fine.”

  “Your funeral. This way.” He motioned for me to follow him. “I’m going out there with you for part of today. Show you where stuff’s at. We’ll come back to refuel and cool off. Then it’s gonna be on you. My duty is in here. I usually only go out to the surface in an emergency or when one of the bots needs tending, but you’re replacing them now. Beats me why they’ve done this to you, but it ain’t none of my business. I’m doing my time here just like the rest of the assholes.” He laughed, but I wasn’t sure what part of that was meant to be funny.

  I tried for a grin, but it was pathetic at best, and I gave up.

  “Don’t be nervous. Most folks here ain’t ever been out there. The suit will hold you. Just find me when you clock in every day. Find me on your way out. This job ain’t hard, just brutal as all hell.”

  I snorted.

  “What?”

  “Just you called it hell.”

  He gave me an earnest look. “It is. I’m tellin’ you. Ain’t fun out there.”

  “But the planet is literally called hell.”

  “It sure is.”

  I gave him some side eye. I still couldn’t tell if he knew that Abaddon literally meant Hell or not.

  A bay door at least six stories tall and half as wide took up almost the entire wall. From there I could see the top of the cargo bay, maybe fifteen or so stories up. To the side of the bay door was a much smaller one—about the size of an ordinary elevator. It was hotter on this side of the bay, but it wasn’t oppressive. Either I was getting used to the heat or the walls weren’t just metal like they seemed. They must’ve had some sort of insulation system.

  A little keypad and two red and green buttons took up the tiny space between the smaller and bigger door, but they didn’t seem very high tech. Both red buttons were flashing.

  “Why are they flashing?” I pointed to it. “What does it mean?”

  He glanced at it. “Ah. Simple’s better. When people are panicked, they ain’t gonna remember a code. Red button closes the door. Green opens it. Flashing means that’s what it’s stuck on—closed. We don’t like to leave the green button pressed for longer than it takes to open the small door to the cooling chamber. Bots’ll come as soon as it’s open. They keep a watch on things and make sure a certain temp’s maintained in here, but it doesn’t matter much. Those lucole crystals can handle anything. Well, most anything. But it’ll take a week for the room to cool if the big door opens for longer than a few seconds, which makes it unpleasant for me.” He shrugged. “Beyond the smaller door is a cooling chamber. We’ll go through it when we exit.”

  I turned around, staring back at the expanse of the room. The bots were back there, some watching us, but most keeping an eye on the room in general. I tilted my head to see a bit farther down the line of containers but could only see a few rows. Still, I just walked through the bay from one end to the other. This place was massive. I couldn’t believe…

  “I’m sorry, but you said lucole?” There had to be hundreds of thousands of the round three-foot tall bins. “You can’t mean all of these are filled with lucole.”

  “They sure are.”

  That couldn’t be true. Even with all of SpaceTech’s greed for more, they didn’t need that much fuel. “But some of them are food or supplies or replacement parts for bots, right?”

  “No, ma’am.” His eyebrows drew down. “Only lucole. That’s what we do here.” He considered me for a moment. “This is the main hold for the mining facility. Bay Four has some medical supplies, a good amount of food, various other necessary things, plus a bit of lucole. We usually ship out fuel to the colonies little bits at a time on Tuesdays and Thursdays. But about three weeks ago, they shut down processing and started clearing out the bays. Lotta ships coming and going these days. Bay Five was finally emptied last week, and half of Bay Six has gone, too, but Bays Two, Three, and Seven are the same as this.”

  I knew that it was a mining facility, but knowing it and seeing how much they were actually stockpiling were two different things. “But why do they need so much?” And why did they stop processing it? Why were they shipping so much out? I wanted to ask but didn’t want to start piling on too many questions at once.

  “SpaceTech guys keep saying war’s coming, so we’re stocking up. We gotta be prepared for it or those Aunare will kick our butts. Their tech is more advanced, but we’ll make up for it in firepower. So, even if it is a bit difficult, this work we do here, it’s important. Could be all that stands between survival of the human race and its total annihilation.”

  Stocking up? This wasn’t just stocking up. This was hoarding weapons for a massive assault. You only needed a lump the size of my palm to power a ship the size of a small city for a month of solid use. Including weeks of cryo travel. I didn’t even think SpaceTech had enough ships and cities and planets to use this much fuel in several lifetimes. Especially if there were three other cargo bays with at least as much stored in them. Which meant that most of the lucole had to be for weapons.

  Firepower. A whole fuckload of firepower. Enough to decimate the Aunare and their allies.

  Suddenly, the containers towering overhead felt a lot more ominous.

  I’d been wrong. I’d been worried about the coming war. That the Aunare would come and slaughter all the Earthers. That the shape of the galaxy would change. But with this much lucole, SpaceTech could own the universe.

  It wasn’t the humans that were in danger of annihilation. It was the Aunare.

  Did the Aunare know that SpaceTech was preparing for this kind of assault? Because if not, someone should probably tell them. Someone should stop them. It couldn’t be a coincidence that they’d stopped processing and started shipping out lucole after I was captured.

  I didn’t have access to the outside, but Ahiga did. If he could get in touch with Declan—

  Ice i
t all to hell. Declan was in cryo sleep.

  I had to do something, but I didn’t know what. Aside from blowing up the whole base, myself included.

  Chapter Nineteen

  “Avert your eyes if you like,” Tyler said.

  I blinked my eyes as I tried to focus on what was in front of me. Tyler was shoving his tight shorts down his hips.

  I slapped a hand over my eyes.

  I’d been so preoccupied with the door and the containers that filled the cargo bay that I didn’t even notice the lockers standing to the side of the doors. I hadn’t even noticed Tyler grabbing his suit.

  “Sorry.” Tyler’s bare ass was definitely not something I expected to see on the job.

  “Don’t need to worry. I ain’t shy.”

  “That’s okay,” I said, my voice a little too high. “Should I put on my suit, too?”

  “Only if you want to live more than thirty seconds out there. Locker five. Go ahead and grab it.”

  Right. I kept my hand blocking my view of Tyler as I walked to the locker. I peeked through my fingers to find number five. The suit fell on top of me as soon as I opened the door, and I let it drop to the ground. I turned my back to Tyler to give him privacy. “How hot is it exactly?” Knowing wouldn’t help me, but I liked to be prepared.

  “Eh. Depends on where you are and how hot the lava is. Some places, only like 260 to 315 degrees. Others, you’re looking at three times that or more.”

  “Degrees? You’re talking Fahrenheit?”

  “Shit, no. Celsius.”

  Holy mother. That had to be like 500 or 600 in Fahrenheit.

  I glanced down at my feet. The suit seemed good and all, but more protection between me and the lava sounded better. The shoes were just canvas with a thin foam and rubber sole, but better than nothing. “Can I leave my shoes on?”

  “I didn’t leave anything on, but seems like you’re doing it different than me.”

  Right. Okay. I left the shoes on and shoved my feet into the suit, which took some doing with the shoes, but I wasn’t abandoning my plan. Tyler might prefer to be naked even on a normal, not-going-to-step-on-the-surface-of-a-lava-planet kind of a day. But I wasn’t comfortable undressing. Not here. Not now. Not ever. I glanced back at the bots hovering behind us. And not in front of SpaceTech’s eyes.