by Chris Fox
keep your head on straight, Priya. Like you all said, you're trying to help people, not hurt them." With this, Najima crossed the room to the next staircase, and continued rising up the minaret as Priya watched her leave.
∞∞∞
On the next floor, Najima found Bri looking out the window. When she heard Najima's footsteps, Bri pivoted nervously. "What are you doing here? I thought you were back at base with Anna?"
"I came to stop you," Najima said. She was most disappointed with Bri. If there were anyone in Otto's group that could sway his horrible decision of bombing a town, it was the bombmaker herself. "What are you doing Bri? You know better than this."
Bri stood defiantly, reaching into her satchel and backing away from Najima's approach. "Otto knows what we're doing. I've made bombs before. He says we need to make a stand. And Brat says this is something that needs to happen too."
"They say, Bri," Najima replied as she continued to approach her. "But how many times have you blown up a crowd of innocent people with one of your bombs? You're smarter than this! You know it's wrong. When do you get a choice in the matter?" Najima's eyes trained to Bri's hand, where she pulled out one of her small chemical mixes - the same type of ball she had seen Otto using when they broke through the skylight of the warehouse. This one was coloured yellow.
"You just don't understand. You don't get it Najima! We've all had to make sacrifices. We'll have to keep making sacrifices." But even Bri's words faltered as she spoke them. She raised her hand nevertheless, yelling at Najima to stop her approach, which Najima obeyed.
Brishti’s hand shook, and she seemed to be on the verge of tears. "This mix is called Ninde. It's a chemical sleep agent I made for disabling assailants. One dusting of this stuff and you'll be asleep in seconds. Don't make me use it on you, Najima."
"Bri, I'm not trying to hurt you. Just let me by." But this only stiffened Bri’s stance, and she readied to throw the chemical mix at Najima.
"Don't you trust me?" Najima asked after a moment. Bri didn't respond, but tilted her head slightly as if to humour Najima. "Do you know why I'm here in the first place? Why I helped you, and Priya, and Brat in that alleyway? Why I helped Otto with those explosives? Because I trusted you. And I still do. Because the first time I met you, you weren't blowing things up, or mixing chemicals for bombs. You were wanting to feed hungry people. That's the Bri that wanted me to help her do some good and change the world."
Bri's hand lowered slightly, before her arm ran taut again. Najima was just glad she was listening.
"There are people out there right now that you gave food to. They are in that parade, standing right next to that Doyel. People you wanted to help. And when that bomb goes off, they will be dead." Her arm dropped further this time and Najima began approaching her again. They were now only separated by the length of the slim window next to them. Najima only stole one glance at the Civil Protection sirens that had begun ringing from around the town before she turned back to Bri.
"You're a chemist, Bri. I get it, this is what you love. And I know you’re talented at what you do. But you can't build bombs that kill just because someone tells you it's a good idea. Because Otto is wrong, Brishti. And I have to stop him. But if you don't let me, well, it'll be your bomb that killed them. Not mine."
Bri looked out the window, and in this moment, Najima reached out and grabbed her by the wrist. Her grip was strong enough to be forceful, but only enough to keep Bri from throwing the Ninde. Bri responded with shock, before instantly losing the tension in her arm, and eventually lowered her arm.
"You're right... How could you be so right? Oh stars, why did I agree to this?"
"Otto's a cool guy. He knows how to make us do what he wants. He almost made me join you all. But that's not an excuse to follow through."
"But Najima, the bomb, we have it set on a timer. There's no way you can..."
Bri was interrupted by the stamping of feet. What they had not seen was the creeping of Bratindra from the next floor up. Najima released Bri and pushed her by the chest, pivoting toward her assailant before she was tackled by Brat’s stampede. His much larger size knocked Najima off her feet, and backwards toward the glassless window.
Her hands reached out to both sides, and the tips of her fingers barely caught the edges of the window. Her head was suspended above the town, a very long drop to the ground out of the window. With a rush of adrenaline, she kicked wildly with her legs, and caught Brat. After his weight fell away from her, she pulled herself desperately back into the room.
No sooner was she safely in the room did Brat land a solid punch against her already cut brow. The added pain to her already weak head made her yelp in pain, and only a instinctual reaction to throw her arms out and cover her face saved her from taking another punch.
Brat raised his dominant hand again, and spotting a weakness in his stance, Najima kicked his leg from underneath him, until his heavy body rolled on top of her. The two struggled as Bri hollered at them to stop.
The two rolled away from each other, and Najima was the first back to her feet. She threw a kick to Brat, but he grabbed it, pulling at her leg. Najima lost her balance and landed flat on her back. She cursed herself for attacking the same way as before, and she coughed for breath, winded by the fall. Najima tried to roll away, but Brat kicked her in the side, forcing what little breath she had left to exit her lungs.
In her coughing fit, Brat sat on Najima's chest, his legs resting on Najima's arms and pinning her squarely to the ground. With his free hand, he produced Najima's plasma dagger from his pocket, and engaged it. It's pink colour hummed in front of Najima. "We knew we shouldn't have left you with Annapurna," Brat said between deep breaths. "She's always been sodding weak. But Otto gets me now. He knows if we want to really teach the bloody Empire a lesson, we have to hit them where it hurts. Make them feel our pain. An eye for an eye. If they suffer like they've made me suffer, by stars, they'll know exactly what they're up against."
"Brat, it's over," Najima said, blinking away blood that trickled toward her eye. "Just stop." But Brat wrung his free hand around Najima's neck, choking her as he moved the dagger centimeters away from her face. One touch and her eye would be seared into nothingness.
"I told you to back off. This is my group, and this is my mission. And you try to trick my Brishti with your little speech? I don't bloody think so."
"Najima, hold your breath!"
Najima did not question Brishti's voice. She took one final choked breath as Bratindra looked away from her, the plasma dagger still in his hand. In his befuddlement, Bri threw the Ninde directly in his face. The small ball popped like a balloon, powder scattering in the air and across his face. Najima felt the weight of Brat's heavy body lift off her as he tumbled backwards, her dagger clattering along the ground, the fiery plasma disengaging with the drop.
Brat began screaming and sweeping at his eyes with his sleeves. Najima refused to move or open her eyes, and after only moments of struggle, she heard a heavy thump.
"Don't breathe. Don't open your eyes. Hold on." Najima did as she was told, her lungs already strained for air, until a splash of water hit her in the face. She almost let out a scream, but held it in as she felt Bri over her, and felt the cloth of Bri shirt scrubbing at her face before she pushed the cloth against Najima's mouth and nose. "Okay, breathe."
Najima's eyes opened all at once and she took the deepest breath she could manage through the cloth. Her hungry lungs worked desperately to recover until Bri removed the cloth, and Najima breathed freely again. "How do you feel? Woozy at all? Can you move?"
Before she moved, Najima mumbled that she was fine, as she looked up at Bri, who stared with unblinking eyes back at her, using the hem of her shirt as if she were trying to polish Najima's face. But when Najima made an attempt to sit up, she felt her brain dance a conga in her skull. It was almost as if her vision took a summersault, and feebly she let her head lie back down.
"Maybe a little woozy."
"Some of the chemical got in your open cut," Bri said, pouring more water onto it. "Not much though. You should be okay in a few minutes."
But Najima forced herself onto her hands to sit up straight despite Bri's efforts to sit her back down, and despite the enormous effort it took to move her lethargic body. Brat laid in a slump off to the side, yellow powder covering his face. "He'll probably sleep for three days," Bri said. "But he'll be okay as long as we get him some water."
"As far as boyfriends go," Najima said, leaning over to his body and recovering her daggers, "he's just a little crazy."
"I'm sorry. He's stupid, I know." Once Najima tested her daggers to make sure both were working - seeing both light up magenta comforted her - she began to pick herself up off the ground, but only with the help of Bri who fought against her. "No, Najima, you can't move. You have to let your body dilute the chemical."
"This is about Otto. I've got to get to him." With some struggle, Najima stood to her feet. She wiggled her body a little to make her heart beat faster, which seemed to regain some of her senses, although all of her limbs felt rubbery and unwieldy. After a few uneasy steps, however, she regained her equilibrium and began to walk more normally. Priya entered the room, suddenly flooding the two with questions.
"It's just Ninde, Priya,"