by D. A. Hicks
He smiled at me. Those serene, green eyes calmed my nerves. Maybe he was meant to live in this iteration. I unbuckled my seatbelt and rushed to him. “Who are you?” I wanted to ask, but the words that came out were actually, “You’re hurt.”
I glanced at the usual gory scene, blood all over the pod deck, him, and now a new man, who seemed to be in as much pain as I was.
“Help him,” I yelled at him.
“Catita.”
My eyes flew open and met Ry’s concerned gaze. “It’s just a dream. You’re safe.”
“Then why does it feel so real?” I surveyed the room and immediately remembered I’d stayed in Ry’s room.
“Are you okay?” She pressed her hand to my forehead. The serenity that came with the touch made me slap her hand away. I didn’t want to be subdued. I wanted to live.
“What time is it?”
“Time to go.” She pointed at her wristband. “Unless you’ve changed your mind.”
“No, I haven’t.” I popped out of bed. “Did you even sleep?” I stepped back to take a good look at her. She was already all geared up in her QEC uniform. In those boots and breast plates, she felt like she was a foot taller than me, lethal.
“I did for a bit.”
“You did that creepy thing again where you watch me sleep, didn’t you?” I grabbed my pants off the floor and pulled them on.
“You snore. No one can sleep with that kind of ruckus.” Grinning, she ambled over to her locker, then swung her helmet under her arm. “Ready?”
“Ready.” I stood as straight as I could to look the part. On my way out, a vase filled with huge roses caught my attention. Those were not there when we came in before. “Just one question. Who sent you flowers?”
“Don’t be nosy.”
“Lieutenant Ryland Johns?” I pressed my hand to my heart in mock surprise. “Do we have a suitor?”
She rolled her eyes at me. “Shut up. We’re just friends. You said you were ready? You don’t look it.”
A half-smile pulled at her lips. Then I felt it, love all over me as if she’d dumped warm honey on my head. For her sake, I decided to let it be. For now.
“I am. I promise.” I stood at attention. After a beat, I stepped toward her. “We’re gonna talk about this later, right?”
“Don’t be a brat.” She touched her door and it slid into the wall instantly. “I can still change my mind.”
“Please don’t.”
“Walk, soldier.” She gestured toward the lift bay down the corridor from her quarters.
By the Titan, I’m really doing this.
2
This Riot Isn't Nothing
Catita
I fell in step behind Ry when she met her team halfway to the lift. The looks of disdain they shot my way told me exactly how much they didn’t want me near Ry—as if having a sister tainted her perfect record. I supposed in a way it did. The fact that I happened and that I was still alive was an insult to our way of life.
“I’ll see you later.” She jerked her chin toward the stairwell.
“Right.” I nodded.
With my gaze focused on my boots, I waited until the door shut. Who cared what they thought of me? Tonight, I was going on my first real mission. If everything went well, Ry might change her mind about my abilities and convince Wela to let me have a real shot at pilot detail. Being mortal didn’t make me useless.
When I exited the stairs and spotted the yellow designs on the floor demarcating the workers’ quadrant, I blew out air in relief. Even with Ry by my side, the QEC quarters put me on edge. I headed toward Ry’s assigned pod on the far end of the cargo bay.
I’d never been to this part of the ship. My days consisted of tactical lessons and random drills, which kept me confined to my bunk and the training facility. If it weren’t for Ry, I’d never leave the blue quadrant. I’d studied the ship schematics in class and had a fairly good idea of where I was going. But still, it was hard not to be overwhelmed by the sheer size of the place.
Twenty stories high and a couple of miles long, the Epoch1955 was one of the largest motherships ever built by the Martian fleet. Over one hundred spacecrafts in different sizes crowded the flight deck on the lower tier. The cacophony of excited voices and rumbling utility vehicles filled the air and made my heart pump hard. Pursing my lips to hide a smile, I stayed to the lane in the middle of the chaotic room where hundreds of workers and regiment members rushed back and forth.
When I reached the last row of spacecrafts, I glanced up at Ry’s assigned pod. I double-checked my wristband to make sure I had the right one. Ry had mentioned she was needed on the Old Planet for crowd control. Why waste fuel on a huge freight ship? A smaller transport pod would have been more than adequate to carry her unit of twelve.
I slowed my gait and made my way to the metal staircase still latched onto the entrance of the craft.
A woman about my age, wearing orange overalls, came out of nowhere and ran into me. “I’m sorry, sir.”
“That’s fine. I wasn’t looking.” I met her gaze, and she flinched away from me. “Hey, I saw you before. Upstairs?”
Her eyes grew wider, and she stepped backward. “Yes, sir.”
“Um, well, this is me.” I pointed my thumb behind me.
“It’s been unloaded and refueled. It’s ready to go, sir.” The words flew out of her mouth so fast I barely understood what she’d said.
“Sounds like I made it just in time. Thanks,” I said, then winced. Soldiers on important missions never said thanks.
“You’re welcome.” She furrowed her brows for a beat before she lowered her gaze.
I rushed up the steps before anyone with a higher rank than me showed up. My heart pounded so hard there was an odd murmuring in my ears. Like a quiet voice egging me on, telling me this was a risk worth taking.
“Sierra, get us out of here.” Ry’s voice filtered through the corridor on my left as soon as I engaged the lock.
I didn’t stick around to see if the other commandos could sense my presence too. When I reached the hold, I covered my nose and mouth with the lapel of my jacket to stifle a gag. The cargo area had been recently washed out, but the rancid stench of manure remained. We’d been orbiting the Old Planet for weeks now. If workers had hauled livestock to the Epoch, it meant we were ready to head back to Mars. This mission could not have come at a better time.
The engine came to life and made the floor growl beneath my boots. Shaking out my hands to still the rush of adrenaline pouring through my body, I spun around a few times. I had to find a place to hide before we picked up more speed. My gaze darted across the area where several containers were stacked. No time to second-guess my instincts.
I hurdled myself on top of the crates and crawled across until I reached a gap big enough for me to drop into. I pressed my cheek against the cold steel of the case keeping me safe and shoved my knees tight against my chest. Dense and heavy, my body pressed down on the deck as everything around me rattled and shifted across. Good thing I’d skipped dinner earlier.
Once we left the mothership, the ride became smoother. Ry hadn’t mentioned how long it would take for her to talk to her unit about her stowaway. To stay busy, I tapped on my wristband and pulled up the hologram stream Ry had sent me, which contained her mission log. She wanted me to memorize as many details of it as I could.
We were due to land in Wharf District, one of the last colonies on Earth. The Old Planet had been devastated over a century ago, during the Last War—right around the time when Mars was terra-formed and colonized. But a few well-populated territories along the East and West coasts still remained.
I thumbed through several images of the Ukruum fields, the plant that hosted the virus that gave Ry immortality. We were here to collect that plant. According to Captain’s orders, we were to keep the peace around the fields while the supplies were being loaded onto our freight ship. That was easy enough. Most people were terrified of the Queen’s army. Our presence there
alone would get the job done. Ry couldn’t trust me with a truly dangerous mission, but this was a very good place to start.
Before I finished reading, someone knocked on crate I was hiding in. I booted the panel over my head and crawled out of my cubbyhole, expecting to see Ry. But instead got her best friend Sierra. She hated me too. But at least she had a reason. More than once, Ry had canceled plans with Sierra to hang out with me. I had my own friends too, but it wasn’t the same as hanging out with Ry. Like Sierra, my friends didn’t understand the close relationship I had with my sister. Mainly because they didn’t have siblings of their own.
“I should’ve known something was up when Ry made us wait past the takeoff time.” She stepped back.
“Sierra.” Ry stepped in before I had time to tell her to fuck off.
“You know what? You wanna bring your pet to this mission. Fine by me. But if she dies down there, that’s on you.” Sierra pursed her lips and stormed off.
“What’s her deal?” I glared at Sierra’s back.
“She’s not wrong.” Ry rubbed her temple.
“Please don’t change your mind. I’m already here.” I hated the whine in my voice. But this was too important. I was ready to beg if needed.
“No, I already talked to the rest of my guys. Just stay close to me, yeah?”
“Done.” I put up my hands in mock surrender and followed Ry to the front of the ship where several rows of seats faced a wide window.
“Stay here. I’ll be back.” She winked.
“So cute. Can she also roll over?” one of her guys called after Ry.
I ignored the sniggering. I didn’t care if they were assholes. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me. No doubt Wela would find a way to stop me from doing another space tour after this one.
I let my head fall on the side panel and focused on the view ahead of us instead. To the far right, disappearing quickly behind us, the Epoch looked like a floating city attached to the Bourg Orbiter—a bright cityscape in the dead center of darkness. It was such a peaceful view. One I’d only seen in images during history lessons.
I stared at the familiar drones with their dangling tentacles as they buzzed around the station doing routine inspections. They held my attention until the entire orbiter disappeared from our line of sight and was replaced by the blue globe rushing toward us.
“Try not to look so pleased with yourself.” Ry sat next to me and buckled her seatbelt.
“How much longer until we get there?” I asked.
“About thirty minutes. You have time for a quick nap.”
“I’m fine. You think I’m gonna sleep through this?” I pointed at the sunrays bleeding over the curve of the planet.
“You’re right.” She wiggled in her seat to make herself comfortable and closed her eyes. “Wake me when we get there.”
The rest of the way, Ry’s unit ignored me while she slept. Sierra did manage to throw a few glares my way, but for the most part kept her focus on the hologram controls hovering over the pod console. As we approached the planet, she maneuvered the craft in a zigzag pattern to avoid satellite debris. White puffy clouds swirled against the window for a beat, and then it was as if we’d hit a solid wall.
Sierra stood flinging her arms left and right to get the ship under control. Seconds later, we had cleared the atmosphere and flew through a hazy, orange sky. I shoved Ry’s arm so she wouldn’t miss the spectacular view. “Are you seeing this?”
“Yeah, it’s great,” she mumbled with her eyes shut.
Ry had brought me with her out of pity. And also, in hopes that after seeing this once, I would forget about crazy missions that could get me killed. Now more than ever, I knew I wanted this. I wanted to be a pilot.
The freight ship landed on the outskirts of town with a soft descent. As soon as we touched down, Ry shot to her feet. “Remember what we said.”
“I remember.” I stood and waited until the other commandos had left.
Ry ushered me back to cargo bay where we hopped on a utility vehicle and took the ramp off the spacecraft. “If we have time, I’ll let you drive for a bit. It’s kind of fun.” She gripped the stirring wheel, beaming at me.
Anything motorized was prohibited in the city of Phoenicis. I hadn’t even considered that driving would be a skill needed on this tour. I laughed, sticking my head out the side window. “I would love to. It doesn’t look that complicated.”
I stuck my arms up and let the air brush my face and hair while Ry zoomed over the bumpy terrain. Twenty minutes later, we were almost to the small fishing village when Ry hung a left turn onto a paved road.
“Oh shit. Get back inside.” She pulled on my jacket and shoved me back into my seat.
“What is it?”
“There’s a fire up ahead.” She accelerated until we caught up to the rest of her team.
My chest tightened as if something bad was about to happen. “What’s going on, Ry?”
“Not sure. The locals riot from time to time. But they’ve never set anything on fire before. Those are the Ukruum fields.” She pulled to a stop next to Sierra’s vehicle.
Sierra climbed out and rushed over. “Something isn’t right.”
Ry winced, adjusting her heavy vest. “I know. I feel it too. Go on. I’m going to take her back to the ship.”
“What? We don’t have time for that, Ry. This isn’t nothing. She can’t be here.” Sierra slammed her hand on the hood. “Just drop her off in town.”
“Fuck,” she said under her breath and turned to me. “I’m sorry, Catita. You can’t come with us. We need to contain the fire before it does any real damage to the fields.”
“I can help.”
Shaking her head, she put the vehicle in gear and headed toward the lights in the distance. “You said you would do whatever I asked without question. I’m asking you to wait for me at the local bar.”
“Come on. Don’t do this. I’m a trained solider. Let me come with you.”
“I can’t. I promised Wela I wouldn’t let anything happen to you. Follow the signs to the marina.” She stopped the car in the middle of the dirt path that led to a cluster of small homes. “There’s a shack near the docks. You can’t miss it. The bartender is my friend. She’ll hide you until I can come get you.”
“You gotta be kidding me?” I blew out air.
“Stay out of sight until I come for you. Do you understand?”
“Yeah, I understand. When will you be back?”
“Sunrise.”
“Got it.” I set a timer on my wristband.
“Captain Weston downloaded to the planet tonight too. Make sure he doesn’t see you. I forced my unit not to rat on you, but I can’t do that with him. That goes for any other QEC commando too. If they see you, they won’t hesitate to turn you in. You got that? I don’t want you spending the rest of the tour in solitary. Shit.” She hit the stirring wheel.
In the distance, an explosion followed by bright orange smoke made my entire body jolt. The faraway cries pierced my ears, and my stomach twisted in anger. Why would the locals do this?
“Sierra is right. This riot isn’t nothing.”
Ry drove away in a swell of dust, and all I could do was watch as darkness fell over me like a blanket. I faced the Wharf District lights and forced myself to walk toward it. Ry had enough on her plate. She didn’t need me to be a brat and beg her to take me with her again.
Problem was, I had no idea which way to go.
3
Hide Me?
Catita
I glanced down at my uniform and the Martian tech on my wrist. Blending in with the locals couldn’t hurt. I shrugged out of my jacket and removed my wristband. The black tank top underneath had no insignia identifying my rank or unit and looked less military.
Peering at the dark, desolate alley in front of me, I chose a house with a dark side yard crowded with boxes and other junk. I stuffed part of my uniform in a nearby crate and pulled my hair up into a ponytail. My stuf
fy nose made a whooshing sound every time I inhaled the thick air that burned at the pit of my lungs.
You’re fine. Don’t be a wuss.
“You can do this,” a small voice whispered in my head. “Just breathe. Short breath. Hold it. One. Two. Three. Release. Short breath. Hold it.” This mantra played over and over in my mind, until my lungs got used to the rhythm and filled with oxygen without the burn.
Once I reached the end of the street, I followed the signs to the marina, meandering through small alleys. Mud and who knew what else caked onto the outsoles of my shoes and strained my footing. The wind carried all kinds of fishy smells and creepy creaking sounds. For a dying world, Earth didn’t look as dead as I’d expected. Hot and dirty, yes. But not exactly dead.
When I reached the docks, lined with boats on the left, I walked down the wooden pier to a set of shops on the opposite side. I peeked into the first window. Inside, the dim-light bathed the bar area where men and women swigged from their murky glasses. This place looked nothing like the pubs we had back on Mars with their loud electric music, sleek furnishings, and walls lined with Ukruum wine.
I shouldered the rusty, old door open and stepped inside. The stale air, a mix of salty breeze and beer, made breathing easier. This had to be the place Ry had told me about. I wasn’t surprised she’d made friends with the locals. That was Ry—kind and caring. It was impossible not to like her.
A hodgepodge of tables and chairs filled the wide space. Old lamps of different sizes and shapes provided what little light there was and cast small and big shadows throughout the room. At the far end, to my left, a guy leaned on the bar to whisper something to the bartender. He seemed out of place. Not because he was younger than the other men, or taller, but because he had a confidence about him. He carried his over six-foot-muscled frame with certain grace and strength.
I made my way toward his corner, doing my best to ignore the planes of tanned skin outlining his back and shoulders under his white tee. With fabric that thin, he might as well not be wearing a shirt. Maybe that was the point. The humidity and heat were ridiculous in here. I peeked back at the front door. From the entrance, anyone sitting in this corner would be completely out of sight — just what I needed.