Off Planet

by Aileen Erin

  The nanos flared, and it felt like a thousand needles ripping into my feet.

  I screamed, and she gripped my hand tighter.

  “You’re feeling your feet and the repair. Humans only feel the injury, and it slowly gets better. But you won’t be that lucky. You get injury plus the repair plus the energy imbalance. I’m going to keep on talking. You feel the need to pass out, you go on, but I’m here with you to the end. You listen to my voice.” She squeezed my hand. “I was born in New York…”

  For the next hour, I heard all about Audrey Faith Paris. How when she was twelve, she and her father managed to hide her mother during Liberation Week but lost her to a common illness a year later. Which prompted Audrey to go into the medical field. With homeschooling and online classes, she moved through high school and was an undergrad in a few years. She knew that there were other halfers out there and she wanted to be there to help them. So she raced her way through medical school.

  Wanting to help halfers had gotten her into trouble. It’s why she was here, instead of Earth. SpaceTech had found her books and research on Aunare physiology and had thrown her into jail. But she didn’t regret what she’d done or what she’d learned because it meant she was here to help me today.

  She explained that Aunare bloodlines were complicated. Her bloodline was weak—basically dormant—which allowed her to pass through SpaceTech’s scans without being found out. Depending on the bloodline, the effects of the nanos on a halfer could be nothing at all or minor annoyance or extremely excruciating.

  She’d had nanos before, and they didn’t bother her at all.

  Lucky Audrey.

  Pain rolled through my body again, and I screamed again and again and again. One scream rolled until the next until my throat was wrecked.

  “Okay. You’re doing great. You’re getting through this.”

  “Please,” I cried. “I can’t take it anymore.” I was pathetic, but I wasn’t beyond begging. Not anymore. I would do anything—anything—to make it stop.

  “You can do this. I’m right here with you.”

  Hot tears rolled down my cheeks as I turned my head toward her. “I’m done. I can’t do it. End it. Please.”

  “No!” she yelled. “You’re getting through this. Minute by minute. I wish it wasn’t like this for you, but a day of pain for a lifetime of walking. It’s worth it.”

  I tried. I really did. But I was so, so tired and I never passed out.

  No matter how much I wanted it, begged for it, that sweet darkness never came to rescue me.

  After a while, the pain started to ease, but I was still glowing. By the time Audrey asked if I wanted a painkiller, the worst had passed, but I still wanted it. I was tired of hurting.

  Audrey left for a minute to grab it, and Tyler came to stand next to me.

  “How’re you feelin’?” he asked.

  The pain wasn’t much worse now than getting a tattoo, but the combined hours of suffering plus my shift on the surface of Abaddon had left me feeling jittery and weaker than I’d ever felt before. “Not good.” My voice was raspy from all the screaming.

  As I looked up at Tyler, I wondered what he made of all of this. Of Audrey’s story and what both of us were and my still glowing skin. “Are you going to say anything about me?”

  “About you being a halfer?”

  I nodded, not trusting my voice.

  “You made it this far, that’s your business. I don’t have any problems with the Aunare.”

  “Okay.” I wanted to know more, but I wasn’t going to push.

  “I have my issues with SpaceTech.” He let out a low huff. “You know, I got hurt a couple of months back, and Audrey fixed me up, but she wouldn’t give me the time of day unless I was hurt. Damned near faked an injury to get her to talk to me, but now I guess I know why. You think I have a shot?” He gave me a quick smile and a wink, but then his smile dropped away. “I figure someone already knows what you are. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have made up this bullshit job for you. They want you tortured, and they’re going to make me feel responsible when you die out there. So I’m not going to let that happen.”

  I gave myself a second to feel relieved that there wasn’t going to be a problem between Tyler and me. I hadn’t known him for long, but he seemed like a nice guy. That he cared about me, even though I was a halfer, told me a lot about his character.

  Tyler leaned on the table. “Why didn’t you say anything while you were out there? Why didn’t you tell me you were hurting?”

  I licked my lips. The nanos had healed the bite and cracking, but my feet still felt a little dry. “It didn’t seem that bad, and I was so close to the elevator, but it got bad fast…” I met his gaze, wanting him to understand that I would never give up. No matter how weak I’d been just now. I was still alive, and that meant I was going to keep going.

  “You’ll just need to be more careful next time,” Tyler said.

  The monitor started beeping as my heart rate jumped. I hadn’t thought about going back out there. This was only my first day, but I already wanted out of this bullshit duty I’d pulled. I didn’t need to go out there again to understand that much.

  The general was right. I wouldn’t last long out there. Even the suits weren’t built for that kind of sustained heat. I had to find a way to talk to Ahiga. Or figure out how to get on the mining runs.

  “Don’t worry. I have a plan,” Tyler said like he’d read my mind. “Matthew and I went down to storage. They have plenty there. Each break, you’ll get a new one. We’ll inspect the shoes. I won’t let you back out there without checking. I’m sorry I wasn’t there during your second break. I was—”

  There was some yelling from outside the room. Tyler turned toward the door, waiting to hear what was going on, but the voices were either too far away or the walls were too thick. I couldn’t make out anything except for the tone of Audrey’s voice.

  “One second,” Tyler said before stepping out into the hallway, closing the door quickly behind him.

  If there was someone else out there that wanted to come in, then I was going to have to get my skin to stop glowing.

  Six in. Three out. Three in. Six out. Four in. Eight out. Eight in. Four out. Six in. Three out. Three in. Six out. Four in. Eight out. Eight in. Four out.

  It wasn’t working. Either the pain was setting off the glow, or the nanos’ frequencies were, or something else, but Declan’s breathing trick wasn’t working at all. Not even a little bit.

  When the door swung open, both Tyler and Audrey were yelling.

  I was still bound to the table. I couldn’t get up or run or do anything but wait to see who was on the other side of the door.

  I squeezed my eyes shut and hoped this wasn’t what Jason wanted. For me to reveal myself to some other SpaceTech goon, who would then execute me. Because that would be a fitting end to my seriously shitty day.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  “What the fuck is going on?” Ahiga’s voice was filled with cold fury.

  I opened my eyes to see him staring down at me, and his face was turning a lovely shade of purple.

  Tyler and Audrey looked ready to shit themselves as they glanced from me to Ahiga and back again.

  Ahiga was SpaceTech, and anyone who could see me now, with my glowing skin, knew I was the enemy. Yet Ahiga wasn’t doing anything about it.

  “It’s fine. Close the door,” I said to Audrey.

  Audrey didn’t look convinced, but she’d treated me instead of turning me in. It was her ass on the line, too.

  “Trust me.” My voice slurred with exhaustion. “This will work out better than the nanos.”

  He picked up my arm and let go. My arm dropped weightlessly to the table. “You’re spent.”

  “Yeah. I could really use a nap.”

  Ahiga spun to Audrey. Then looked at me again, before striding to the door. He slammed it shut with such a fury that I was surprised the concrete walls hadn’t cracked.

  He stepped d
irectly in front of Audrey. “You want to tell me why you gave her nanos, knowing what she is?”

  Tyler tried to get between them, but Audrey put a hand on his arm. “I’m confused. You’re mad that I treated a patient. Not about what she is?”

  “You don’t know who she is, do you? She didn’t tell you?”

  Audrey’s eyes were wide as she looked at me. “She’s a halfer.”

  “She’s not just a halfer. Christ. I don’t know how I’m going to explain this to him…” Ahiga grabbed the back of his neck. “Someone tell me what happened to her.”

  Tyler filled in Ahiga quickly on his part of it, and Audrey did the rest. I used the time to relax, letting the chatter lull me into a relaxed state.

  And as I was lying there, somewhere between awake and dreaming, I found myself on a beach. Waves lapping at the shore.

  “Amihanna!” Lorne’s mirth-filled voice was all I could hear. “What’s that mess of sand you’ve got there?”

  I couldn’t stop the grin. “It’s my beautiful castle.”

  “Beautiful castle?” Lorne’s laughter filled my mind, warming me from the inside. “I think I got here just in time. It looks like a—”

  A hand came down on my shoulder, jolting me from my dream with a gasp. I blinked as I tried to figure out where I was.

  Med bay. Abaddon. Nanos.

  Ahiga gave my shoulder a squeeze, and I met his gaze. “I knew you were going to be a pain in my ass,” he said.

  “Not funny.”

  “It’s kind of funny.” He grabbed the stool that Audrey had been using to sit by me and took her place. “How’re you hanging in?”

  “Worst is over now, but I can’t do this.” I was so worn out that I wasn’t sure I could sit up on my own. “Please tell me that he’s out of cryo.” Talking made my throat burn. I’d been screaming way too much, and I was spent. Emotionally. Physically. I wasn’t sure how I was going to walk back to my bunk, but I’d figure that out later.

  He brushed a hand over my forehead, pushing my hair from my face. “I wish I could.”

  “What am I going to do?” I couldn’t go back out there. The nanos were slowly running out of steam, but the last three hours had been excruciating. I couldn’t do this every day.

  “I don’t know. I—” He stopped himself, and looked back at Tyler and Audrey. “I have files on both of you. I know who and what you are Audrey—”

  “How?” She stumbled back a step. “SpaceTech—” Audrey started, but Ahiga silenced her with a look.

  “They don’t know, but I do. I looked into everyone that might come into contact with Maité. The Aunare keep better records of their citizens than SpaceTech. One image dropped into their database and…” Ahiga was quiet as he let that sink in. “Tyler—you now know everything yet stayed quiet today. You shouldn’t be here, like many of the workers on Abaddon, but I don’t know if I should trust you. And I guess it’s a little too late now, but I’ll leave it up to Maité to decide how much she wants to tell you or not. But trust me when I say we all need her to stay alive.”

  “You want her alive, you get those bots back out there and her off this job,” Tyler said. “You’re high up enough. You can get it done.”

  Ahiga turned back to me. “I’m trying, but her job came from someone much higher up than me.”

  I nodded my understanding. His talk with the CO hadn’t gone well.

  “Maité? Who are you?” Audrey stepped around Ahiga to come closer to the bed. “You’re a strong bloodline. I know that from your reaction to the nanos and the glow. And someone much higher up wants to torture you? Why would they care? Halfers are executed. Not toyed with. Not tortured. They’re executed.”

  “She’s not just a halfer.” Ahiga’s gaze was still on me, as if he were asking me what I wanted to do next.

  “It’s okay.” My voice was more a raspy whisper than anything else. “Tell them.” I was too tired to explain it, but I was okay with Ahiga telling them. I didn’t have that click. Not with Ahiga. Not with Tyler or Audrey. But that didn’t mean they weren’t good people. That didn’t mean I couldn’t trust them.

  “She is Amihanna di Aetes.” Ahiga’s voice was a low, menacing rumble. “Daughter of Rysden di Aetes. The Hand of the Aunare High King. The Leader of the Aunare Military. And SpaceTech knows exactly who they’ve got here.”

  “Jesus Christ,” Tyler muttered. He reached for Audrey’s hand, and she took it.

  Audrey’s face paled, making her freckles stand out that much more.

  “She’s a pawn in a game that the Murtaghs are playing with the Aunare. One that will most likely end in war. Especially if she dies. And that’s why I’m here. To make sure she doesn’t die. And now I’m trusting you to keep her secret and help me keep her alive.”

  I whimpered as the pain flared again and Ahiga squeezed my arm. “You okay?”

  “It’s getting better.” I stared up at the ceiling, willing the nanos to die.

  Ahiga’s face came into view above me. He looked ready to kill someone only there was no one he could kill. There was nothing he could do to fix this.

  “Right now it probably hurts less than when you got those tattoos all over your face, but let’s just say it’s been a long few hours and I’m so tired.” My voice broke on the last word, and my eyes burned with the few tears I had left.

  “I bet.” He sat back down. “Took me a while to figure out what happened to you when you didn’t show in the mess hall. Longer to get away from Jason’s men. Otherwise, I would’ve been here.”

  “Nothing you could’ve done.” I knew I needed the nanos. Audrey had done the right thing, and if Ahiga had been here he just would’ve been one more person to watch me at my weakest.

  “There’s one thing I can do, but I shouldn’t do it. Unless you’re ready to give up? Unless you’re ready for the war to start tomorrow?”

  My heart stuttered in my chest. “You’ll tell my dad where I am.”

  “Not him directly. Declan thought it was best I didn’t have that information in case I was ever questioned, but there’s a chain I can send a message through. It would take a few days, but I think it would reach him. Or someone who could get it to him.”

  I wanted to beg him to do it. If he had a way to get word to my father, I wanted that to happen now. Today. Immediately.

  The nanos flared, and I hissed as a burning heat spread up my legs. I breathed in for six, out for three, in for three, and tried to picture the pain flowing out of me, and it did. The burning and poking and crawling needles were all gone.

  I moaned with relief. “Oh thank God.” I looked at Audrey, still standing by my feet. “I think that was their last flare. I think they’re done.”

  Audrey went to her computer panel. “Yep. Let’s see how your feet are doing.”

  I held my breath as she pulled off what was left of my shoes. She ran a finger up my foot from heel to toe, and I jerked.

  “Hurt?”

  “Tickles.”

  She nodded. “Skin is new, so it’ll be a little tender, but you’re completely healed.”

  Audrey was right. A few hours of pain, and I was back to being okay. It was worth it. “I can walk?”

  “Jog. Run. Sprint. Kick some ass. You can do whatever you want. The skin is a little thin, like a newborn baby’s feet, so be careful with them. The skin would’ve been thicker if I’d injected more nanos, but I erred on the side of caution with this one.”

  Nope. I didn’t care about that. The fewer nanos used the better. “Thank you. I’ll double up on socks.”

  “I’d tell you it was my pleasure, but it honestly wasn’t. I’ve never felt so helpless as I did today.” She sighed. “Let’s not do this again, okay?”

  “That is something we can both agree on. Can I sit up?”

  “Yes. As long as you’re not too weak.” She pressed a button, and the restraints retracted. “I gave you fluids the entire time, but the nanos depleted you considerably. Take it easy.”

  Ahiga lea
ned forward, helping me sit. “You okay?”

  The room was spinning, and I felt like death, but I wasn’t dead. That was a win. “A little lightheaded and weak, but still breathing.” I sighed. “What now?”

  “That’s up to you. As I said, I can call your dad, but we’ll be at war within a week. Are you ready for that?”

  “So you call him and a war starts and I put millions of lives at risk?”

  “Tens of billions, and that’s only counting humans. I don’t know exact numbers on the Aunare and their allies.”

  I swallowed. “That’s a lot of lives to put on my shoulders.”

  “I know.”

  “But the war is coming anyway?”

  “I can’t say anything either way because I don’t know. I’ve been friends with Declan for a long time and he’s managed to avoid it so far. Every time things get tense, he and Lorne come up with a plan, but that’s only going to work for so long. It’ll eventually either be war or things will finally fizzle out.”

  That made this so much worse. How was I supposed to put myself and my survival ahead of so many others?

  “You’re going to get two days off,” Ahiga said after a while. “I’m going to put in for seven—standard for a work-related injury—but they’re going to give two.”

  “That’s better than nothing,” Audrey said. “If they want her dead, they could refuse it.”

  “They won’t,” Ahiga said quickly. “I have a feeling they want her tortured over and over. They’re going to want to give her the reprieve so that the torture will be that much more acute. They want her broken. They want her destroyed. The suit is recorded, right?”

  Tyler nodded. “From the time the helmet closes until it’s opened.”

  This was so messed up. “SpaceTech will send it to my dad. Make him act out first.”

  “That’s my guess,” Ahiga said. “When SpaceTech has all their ducks lined up—whatever they are—they’ll release it.”