Off Planet

by Aileen Erin

  “Here, honey.” I opened my eyes to find Tyler squatting in front of me, wearing a looser pair of shorts and nothing else.

  I was envious. I wanted out of the suit so badly.

  Tyler waved a tube of water in front of my face. “You need to drink all of this before you go back out there.”

  I tried to sit up to take the water, but the suit made my movements clumsy. It took me a couple tries to grab the tube, but Tyler just stayed there, patiently waiting for me to get the hang of it. The sad smile on his face made me a little uncomfortable. I didn’t want anyone’s pity.

  I broke eye contact and downed half of it in one gulp. “How much longer is my shift?” I asked before taking another gulp.

  “You’ve got two more two-hour sessions out there.”

  I coughed, choking on the water, and Tyler gave me a couple of hard swats to my back.

  “That can’t be right, can it?” My voice was raspy. “The heat wiped me out. I won’t last that long.”

  “I hear you. My butt’s draggin’ already, and I’m damned thankful not to be going out again today.”

  I didn’t have time to respond before he kept on talking.

  “And for the record, none of this is right. Regulation says a max of two hours per day on the surface for no more than four days a week.”

  I wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry. “How many days am I working? Six?”

  “Yes. Six. The only reason your shift isn’t longer is that it wasn’t approved. I saw the order. Higher-ups are working you to death on purpose. I don’t know what you did to get sent here, but that ain’t right.”

  “No. It isn’t.” I tried to be shocked, but I wasn’t. Not really.

  I drained the tube and then took another from Tyler. I dumped it over my head, and he laughed.

  “Now you know why I like to be naked and freshly showered before I put on one of those suits.”

  “I thought you were just sweaty.”

  “Maybe now. But before, that was water. Not sweat.” Tyler stood up and grabbed something from a locker, tossing it to me. My arms were too tired to catch it, and the packet slammed into my face.

  “Oh man. I’m sorry!”

  The horrified look on his face made me laugh. “No big. What is it?”

  “Concentrated electrolyte packet. You’ve got as many as you want down here. I made sure of it.”

  That was nice of him. “Thanks.” I ripped open the packet and swallowed down the sickly sweet grape flavored gel. It wasn’t as bad as breakfast, but still a little too slimy to be pleasant.

  “You do your job, and I’ll do my best to keep you alive. Just don’t hit a hornet’s nest with a short stick while you’re out there, okay?”

  Hornet’s nest? There weren’t any hornets out there… Oh, he meant that I shouldn’t do anything stupid. It was taking me a second to pick up Tyler’s way of speaking, but I was slowly getting it.

  I met his bright blue gaze. “I’ll do my best.”

  “Good. I don’t love goin’ out there. So I’m hopeful the water and electrolytes will keep you going during your shifts.” He grinned. “And now that I’ve seen you, I’m hoping eventually my keeping you alive will lead to me getting laid.”

  This time I wasn’t offended. Tyler had been easygoing out there. His little digs and Southern-sounding sayings kept me moving when all I’d wanted to do was throw down the stupid hose and give up.

  “Keep trying,” I joked back at him. “Maybe you’ll get somewhere in the next decade.”

  “Shit. I knew my luck wasn’t that good. I’m out of here in two months.” He came back to squat in front of me. He took my wrist in his hand and scanned through my vitals readout on the suit.

  I studied his face as he checked on me. The guy was sweet and charming. He seemed too good for this place. “How long have you been here?”

  “Couple years. It’s not so bad once you get used to it.”

  “What’d you do?” It was rude to ask, but he was nice. I wasn’t getting the murderer-rapist vibe from him at all.

  He raised an eyebrow. “Now that’s a story that needs a beer to go with it.”

  “There’s beer here?” I didn’t drink often, and I’d only been seriously drunk once, but I wasn’t opposed to it. Especially if it helped get me through my time on Abaddon.

  “Nah. On the mining side and for officers, sure. But not for us workers.”

  “Figures.” That would’ve been too good.

  He rechecked my readings, then dropped my wrist. “Vitals are normalizing. Color’s getting less tomatoish. How’re you feeling?”

  I groaned. “Like I don’t want to go back out there.” I really, seriously wasn’t looking forward to it at all.

  “It’ll get easier I’m sure.”

  He might be sure, but I wasn’t. Not even a little bit.

  He patted me on my shoulder. “Ready?”

  “Nope.” But I took the hand he offered me anyway.

  “Tyler!” A man wove through the maze of containers to stand in front of us.

  He wore the traditional SpaceTech formal uniform, with the pants and dress shirt despite the heat, but what caught my eye were the gleaming medals—the two silver stars marking him high up in the SpaceTech command—and the way his eyes narrowed with disgust as he stared me down. I had a feeling it had nothing to do with how sweaty I was.

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Status report.”

  Tyler lumbered over to the comp next to the door controls. “Bays Two, Three, and Seven are at capacity. I just shipped out ten megatons to STB-5612 out this bay, so I’ve got a bit more room here. Mining has slowed considerably, so we should be good for the next few months unless miners start pouring in again.”

  “Good. Good.” He placed his hands on his hips as he surveyed the room. “I want you to get three tons up to the lab in the next hour. I don’t want any delays like last time. Matthew will be here for the transfer, and he doesn’t have time to wait around for you.”

  “Yes, sir,” Tyler said. “I’ll get it done.”

  I wanted to hit this SpaceDouche, whoever he was. I hadn’t known Tyler for long, but he was a nice guy. He didn’t deserve to be condescended to.

  “The rest of six will be shipped out in the next two days, so you need to head over there once you get the lucole transfer ready for the labs.”

  Tyler did a side-glance at me. “Sir? I’m supposed to be supervising—”

  “Oh, she’s irrelevant. She won’t survive the week.” He gave me a grin that—even as tired as I was—made me want to step up and smash his face.

  He sounded so certain, so confident that I’d be dead soon, that I wanted to beat his cat-ate-the-canary look off of his face.

  Punching him would be even stupider than hitting Jason Murtagh, but I really, really wanted to.

  “You get the lucole ready for the lab. Nothing is more important than that. Especially not her.” After a satisfied chuckle as he studied my face, he turned on his heel and marched out of the bay.

  My arms shook with the force it took to hold myself back from taking him to the ground. He had to be one of Jason’s cronies since he was pleased with how exhausted I was, which gave me the strength to start walking toward the bay doors. “Who was that?”

  “General Ystak.” He winced. “It’d be best if you forgot everything you heard.”

  “Sure.” I hadn’t heard much, except that there was a large amount of lucole headed for a lab.

  I wasn’t sure why they’d need three tons though. My only thought was for some sort of weapon, but I had war on my brain. Maybe they were testing out a new refinement process to fuel a colony? Or maybe they were using it to test out a new way to travel faster through the galaxy?

  But my mind kept going back to war.

  Something was going on here. SpaceTech shipped out an entire bay and a half of lucole last week, and now they’re shipping out another half of a bay?

  Maybe this had nothing to do with the fact t
hat I was here, but what if the two were connected?

  I needed to talk to Ahiga, but I couldn’t do anything about that right now. The alarm on my suit rang.

  “Time for you to get back out there,” Tyler said. “I’d go with you, but I got shit to do here.” He rubbed a hand down his face. He’d been all smiles, but the general seemed to have drained all the fun-loving energy out of Tyler with his orders. “You need me, and I’ll be out there in a flash. I can get there easy enough from any of the bays, okay? No dying.”

  Dying wasn’t on my to-do list today, no matter what that General SpaceDouche thought. “Okay.” I could do this. Really. It wasn’t so bad. Just a little hotter than I was used to.

  I hit the button on my suit, and the helmet came up. The cold air whirled around my body, and I closed my eyes, relishing the feel of it.

  My days would be measured in two-hour chunks. I could do anything for two hours.

  I slammed my hand down on the green button. The alarm sounded, and bots buzzed around me, spraying cool mist into the air as I stepped into the cooling chamber.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  How I managed to get through my first shift, I wasn’t sure. If there hadn’t been water and energy bars in my locker on my second break, there would’ve been no chance of me going back out there for my third and final two-hour block. Tyler had been busy with getting the shipment ready for General SpaceDouche, so I hadn’t seen him. But I’d eaten what he’d left out for me, and as soon as the alarm sounded for the end of my break, I’d closed my helmet and gone back out there.

  I figured it was mostly pure di Aetes stubbornness that pushed me through the day. Every time I felt like I was going to pass out from the heat, I pictured Jason Murtagh’s face. I couldn’t—wouldn’t—let him get the best of me.

  The last alarm sounded, signaling the end of my first day and I almost cried with gratitude. My whole body felt like it was burned. Was it possible to get a sunburn in this thing? I wasn’t sure, but my skin felt hot and tender. My internal temp had just started spiking. It was hitting 130, and it felt like the heat was coming from my feet.

  Was that sulfur I smelled? No. It couldn’t be, because if it was, then that meant my suit had been compromised, and there hadn’t been any alarms.

  I clenched my jaw as I rushed back to the bay door. I was only a few feet from the elevator, but each step sent a wave of pain up my legs.

  I was used to more pain than most Earthers. Nanos were a no-no for Aunare, so growing up I’d had to make do with some archaic medical treatments. Pain had been something that I learned to deal with through breathing and visualization techniques. That was why I picked up so easily on the Aunare breathing technique that Declan had taught me. I usually was able to picture the pain flowing away from any place that felt sore, and with every breath I’d release the pain out of my body. But not today. The pain was stealing my breath, and I couldn’t focus enough to visualize on anything but getting out of the heat and finally taking off this suit.

  Inside. I needed to be inside. Now.

  The blast coolant hit me as I entered the cooldown chamber of the bay doors, and the suit’s temperature started dropping instantly, but it was going to take more than that to get my internal temperature down. The small doors opened into the cargo bay, and I hobbled through them as best I could.

  “How’re you holding up?” Tyler said as soon as the door shut.

  I opened my helmet. The cooler air inside the bay felt like a balm against my skin, but it wasn’t enough to ease the burning heat on the bottom of my feet. “I—” I fell over with a scream, unable to hold it in anymore.

  “Holy hell. What the fuck happened to your suit? I didn’t hear any alerts. Did you turn them off? Did you ignore them?!”

  “No. I didn’t get any alerts.” A tear rolled down my cheek. I must’ve looked as bad as I felt. “My feet. When I was maybe thirty seconds from hitting the elevator, something happened. My temp went up and—” My voice cracked. I’d been gritting it out to get inside, but now that I was here, I couldn’t hold it together. “Burned. I’m burning!”

  “Oh shit. Oh shit.”

  He rushed toward me, picking me up, and little starbursts appeared in my vision.

  “Don’t worry. I’m not gettin’ any ideas,” Tyler said as he darted around the stacks with me in his arms.

  I laughed, but tears were rolling down my face. It felt like blisters were coating the bottoms of my feet, and as much as I wanted the stupid suit off, I was scared to take off the boots, let alone my shoes.

  “Where are we going?”

  “Med Unit. Faster for me to carry you than wait for an assessment in the bay and have them haul you there. It’s close. Hang on.”

  I wasn’t sure I could hang on, but he hustled me through a few hallways and into another room.

  He wasn’t lying. It was close.

  I was trying to keep from crying, but I was hurting and scared and I wasn’t sure what I was going to do. I was Aunare. I couldn’t do nanos. But I was in so much pain that I knew I needed a miracle.

  A desk stood in the center of the room. Waiting chairs pressed against the walls. But it was empty of any people.

  “Medic!” Tyler yelled.

  A woman hustled out of a back room. “What’s going on?” She wore navy scrubs—loose fitting pants and a wrapped top. Her red hair was tied in a tight knot at the base of her neck.

  “Thank God, Audrey. Something happened with her suit while she was out there.”

  “Come on. This way.” She spun on her heel, rushing down a short hallway to a door with the large gray number four painted on it. The room had cabinets built into one of the walls. On the opposite wall was an exam table. A third wall was a glass screen.

  Audrey took a scan of my tracker and linked it to her computer, giving her a readout of my stats.

  “Temperature is dangerously high. Set her down.” As soon as Tyler did, she gasped. “Oh shit.” She pointed to my feet. “Ty. Look.”

  “I know. I saw.”

  I tried to sit up, but my vision spun. “What? What did you see?” I still had my suit on, so she couldn’t see my feet. But something had freaked her out.

  “It’s worse than I thought,” Tyler said as he inspected the soles of my boots. “Why didn’t you say anything? Why didn’t you just come in?”

  “It wouldn’t have done any good. I was right there when it happened, and I just had to keep moving or I knew I’d burn alive.” I shook my head. “What’s wrong with my feet?” The pain was getting worse, and terror made my stomach roll. If I’d had anything in it, I would’ve already thrown up. It was all I could do to breathe, but I needed answers. I had to know what was wrong.

  He pressed his lips together. “The bottom of your boots have melted. Didn’t your suit warn you?”

  “No.” I swallowed. “My suit didn’t say anything about it melting.”

  “Didn’t you feel the heat?”

  Was he kidding? “It’s hot as fuck out there. Of course I felt it.” A tear rolled out as I snapped at him.

  “Stop it, Ty. She’s in pain.” Audrey put a hand on my shoulder. “We’ll fix this, honey. Hang tight. You just keep on breathing for me. Okay?”

  “Okay.” My heart was racing so hard, and my ears were ringing, but I was hanging on to consciousness. That was all I could do.

  Audrey gave me a nod and hustled off.

  “I’m so sorry, Maité.” Tyler whispered the words. “The suits… They’re only meant for a few hours at most. I didn’t even think… We should’ve traded out suits, but Matt only gave you the one, and with your shoes, you might not have felt the boots being compromised until it was too late, but I don’t understand why the suit’s internal system didn’t warn you long before this happened.”

  I knew. I knew why.

  My suit didn’t warn me because Jason didn’t want it to. He wanted me in pain. He wanted me to suffer. He was punishing me. For hitting him. For being a halfer. For being Amihanna
di Aetes. For whatever reason his evil, shitty, microscopic brain could come up with.

  I closed my eyes and started my deep breathing. I focused on the pain in my feet and tried to picture it flowing out of me, but it didn’t work. Closing my eyes only made the pain worse.

  My skin wasn’t glowing. I didn’t know why, but at least I wasn’t totally giving myself away in front of strangers.

  Audrey came back. “Okay. Painkillers first.”

  She was my savior. “Yes. Please.” I barely felt the sting of the injection.

  “Okay. Those should kick in five seconds.”

  As soon as she said it, the pain eased a bit. “Thank you. It’s already helping.”

  She patted my arm through the suit. “Of course. This suit is trash, so I’m going to start cutting you out of it.” She started with my arm and attached an IV patch as soon as my wrist was free. Cool tendrils ran up my arm as the liquid seeped through the patch and into my body.

  “All right. That’ll get you hydrated and cooled down. Hang tight, and I’ll go grab the nanos. They’ll fix you right up.”

  My heart skipped a beat, and suddenly I was filled with a whole new terror. “I’ll be fine. I don’t need any nanos.”

  “The company will pay for them if that’s what’s concerning you. They consider it part of keeping the workforce going here. It’s not in their best interest to have you down, so it’s free.”

  Nothing was free with SpaceTech—even if it got me back to work sooner—there would be a cost involved. “I can’t afford for SpaceTech to hold anything else over my head.” Plus, I couldn’t have nanos. They’d drive me mad before I healed.

  “Come on, girl,” Tyler said. Concern wrinkled his brow as he squatted down next to me, bringing him down to eye level with me. “You gotta do something about those feet. You’re talking about your ability to walk.”

  My lips tasted bloody as I licked them, trying to find some reason to explain why I didn’t want nanos without giving away what I was, but nothing logical or reasonable came to me.

  Stall. It’s all I could think to do. “We don’t even know how bad it is. Maybe they’re just a little burned.”