Strange Skies

by Kristi Helvig

  I reached the end and exited the stone structure. It was night but there were no lethal storms. The breeze was gentle, no threat of destruction beneath its soft currents. I turned back to examine where I’d been. It looked like a huge rock that had been hollowed out. A vague recollection of something I’d seen on the GlobalNet surfaced but I couldn’t pull up the memory.

  I tossed my hair back and let the ripples of wind sweep through it. What I saw above me took my breath away. The light I’d noticed came from what looked like thousands of twinkling stars. They blinked and sparkled like a carpet of diamonds had been rolled out across the sky. Not one, but two luminous moons stood watch among them. I’d never seen anything so strange and beautiful.

  An arm grabbed me from behind.

  I screamed as a hand clamped over my mouth.

  “Shhh. It’s just me. Alec.”

  My body relaxed. “You shouldn’t sneak up on people like that.”

  Alec came around to stand at my side, his gun in his hand. He spoke in a low voice. “Good to see you awake and well. You crashed hard. I’ve been keeping watch outside the cave while you slept.”

  Cave. That’s what it was.

  “Any sign of them?” I asked.

  Alec tucked the gun back into his holster. “They came close about an hour ago but they moved on. They’re way ahead of us now, which works in our favor.”

  I stretch again, loving the feel of the delicious air. “How long have I been out?”

  “Just a few hours.”

  I frowned. “Then how is it night already?”

  “It’s not like Earth. Night and day cycle much faster here … every four hours instead of every twenty-four, so we just say light breaks and dark breaks.”

  My head couldn’t wrap itself around the concept. “So, there are like eighteen hundred some days in a year? Or does that mean there aren’t years the way we think of them?”

  Alec shrugged. “I’m not sure time matters like it did before. At least not in the same way.” He pointed at the two moons. “Loco, huh?”

  “Huh, it’s gonna take some getting used to.” I stared at the small glowing orbs. “Pretty, though.”

  “I’ll say.” Alec’s face was turned toward me. He looked back up at the sky. “See those stars right there, the two bright ones? One of them has a trail of smaller stars underneath, and the other stars surround all of them in a circle shape.”

  I squinted. “Yeah, I see them.”

  “They remind me of a face, the bright stars are the eyes and the smaller ones are the tears. I call it the ‘Weeping Boy.’ It’s cool being on a new planet—you can name any constellation you want.”

  Dad had once told me about the constellations on Earth, but I’d had to satisfy myself with seeing them on the Infinity since it wasn’t safe to go outside at night. Once Kale and his soldiers came along, we had ventured out a few times after dark in order to outsmart the Consulate, but I’d been too busy running to notice the sky.

  I stared at the Weeping Boy a second longer, then met Alec’s gaze. “That’s fascinating, really. But I want you to explain yourself and how you were working for the Consulate, right after you tell me that Lucy and Markus are okay.”

  Alec’s tone was serious. “Lucy’s good. James is taking care of her.”

  Hearing his name on someone else’s lips made my heart skip. “James?” He didn’t strike me as a dog person. “What about Markus? And how did James get to Callie City anyway? He was on the Consulate ship with me.”

  Alec coughed and I knew he was weighing his words. “I better let James tell his side of the story. As for Markus, well, he didn’t want anything to do with Lucy.”

  That was an understatement. I remembered how he resented Britta fawning all over the dog. But still, it was weird that he wouldn’t help out.

  Alec flashed the illuminated screen of his com device toward me in the dark. “This one is recent. James has been good about sending pics even though I don’t think he likes me much.”

  Lucy was crouched down with her head toward the floor and her butt in the air, tail wagging behind her. She looked at the camera like she was ready to pounce on the photographer and lick him to death. I wished James was in the picture too, but he wasn’t exactly the type to snap photos of himself.

  I smiled. “She looks great. You must be excited to see her again.”

  “Yeah, which reminds me, we gotta keep moving. Our contact is meeting us at the next light break.”

  “Light break,” I repeated. It sounded weird, but I guess the terms night and day weren’t really accurate anymore.

  Alec pulled an energy packet from the pack slung over his shoulder and handed it to me. I drank as we walked through the trees. We used the starlight that managed to penetrate the forest to guide us. Every once in a while, the drone of a ship sounded overhead and a bright light would sweep the area. I doubted they could see more than the tops of trees in the dark, but still froze in place until they passed.

  The energy packet worked wonders. It had been a long time since I’d had anything other than meds and intravenous fluids. I felt stronger than I had in a long time. Alec handed me a bottle of Caelia Pure and I gulped it down in three sips. Chills still occasionally racked my body, but I’d take that over being drugged up again in a heartbeat. This new world was breathtaking.

  I wiped my mouth with the sleeve of my shirt. “Okay, Alec. Start talking.”

  He moved fast and I tried to keep up. “There’s really not much to tell. I was Consulate … long before I met you. Once I figured out they weren’t the good guys, I stepped back, but you can’t just quit the Consulate. They’d kill you.”

  “So, so …” I panted and wheezed. I might not have cold sweats anymore but lying on my ass in a containment cell hadn’t done wonders for my cardio. That reminded me of James running shirtless on Dad’s motion machine. I shook my head. “So, the Consulate didn’t know you weren’t working for them anymore?”

  “Right. That day I hid from under my friend’s pod wasn’t because I thought the Consulate would kill me. It was because I knew they’d make me kill others,” he whispered, anger seething through his words.

  He stomped ahead. “It worked out, though. I’d been in the Resistance settlement, now called Callie City, for about three weeks after Kale dropped Markus and me off, when we heard you were taken to the containment center in Consulate City. I went there and acted like I’d been kidnapped by the Resistance while on Earth. I fed them some fake intel so they’d trust me. Even did this to myself.” He pointed to a scar across his cheek. “Told them I got it when I tried to get away, and that I killed the Resistance soldiers who’d taken me. The Consulate congratulated me on my dedication and put me to work right away.”

  The stars became less visible as the sky lightened. I glared at Alec in the twilight, or dawn, or whatever it was called now. “Back up. On Earth, you didn’t tell me the whole Consulate bit. Why?”

  Alec looked at me sideways. “Right. Because you still would have come to rescue me if you knew I was Consulate, but not really?”

  I thought about it. “Probably not. Trust isn’t easy to come by these days.”

  “And yet, here you are, out alone in the forest with me. I could be taking you anywhere.”

  I brushed a branch away from my face as I trudged onward. “Please. You have a gun and I don’t, so I’m pretty sure if you wanted to kill me, you would have already.”

  Alec stopped in his tracks and walked back to me. He brushed my sweaty hair from my eye. “I would never hurt the girl who saved my life. That’s a fact. Now come on, we’re almost there.”

  “Back when the Consulate first rescued me, Dr. Sorokin said something about Callie City probably being on one of the outlying moons or planets. So are there other habitable places besides Caelia?”

  Alec shrugged. “As far as the guns go, James told the Consulate that Callie City was on another planet. He figured it would discourage Consulate sweeps on Caelia if they thought the
guns were elsewhere. What better place to hide than where they’d least expect to look?” The trees thinned out and a pinkish tinge crept across the sky. “And yes, there are some survivors who didn’t want anything to do with the Consulate or the Resistance, and they struck out on their own within this solar system. A few of the outlying moons and planets are habitable, but barely. Nothing even close to Caelia. Nothing like what you’re about to see.” He scratched his head. “I don’t get why you’d come all this way and choose one of those desertlike rock planets over this paradise, but to each his own.”

  The sun peeked out over the horizon. The two moons were faint but still visible. Maybe we were almost at Callie City. I couldn’t wait to get there. I’d find James, locate the guns, destroy them for good, then figure out a plan to save my dad. What could possibly go wrong? A fresh burst of energy propelled me onward. That same delicious aroma I’d smelled outside the cave caught me again. Something about it reminded me of the weeks upon weeks I’d spent in a haze in the containment room.

  “What is that scent?” I asked.

  Alec pointed to my right. They were just visible in the breaking light. My heart almost stopped in my chest. A small tree held hundreds of pink flowers in full bloom. I walked over and touched the soft, velvety petals. They smelled like heaven, and I buried my nose in one and inhaled deeply. I wished Callie had been able to see this; she would have loved it.

  “Muy bonita,” Alec said. He appeared at my side and plucked one of the larger flowers. Then he reached up, tucked my hair behind my ear, and pinned the flower to hold it in place. “You deserve something beautiful. Do you really not remember anything from the containment center these last few months? Nothing from the time you got here on the Consulate ship to the time you found your dad?”

  “Not really,” I said. “A few times I thought I smelled flowers, and I still remember bits of that propaganda crap that they played through the sound system … and some strange dreams. But that’s it. Why?” I wasn’t about to mention that those strange dreams involved James kissing me.

  Alec stared at me a minute and I worried that he was the one who was going to kiss me, but his mouth curled up into a smile. “No reason. Come on, you haven’t seen anything yet.” Then he took off running and I lost sight of him.

  “Wait!” I yelled. I followed as fast as my sorry-ass legs would take me. I caught a glimpse of him up ahead and tried to go faster. Finally, I broke through the trees and Alec stood there waiting, a knowing smile on his face.

  I gasped at what lay before me. It looked like the Infinity program, only better. Pink sand stretching out in all directions. Beyond that, aquamarine water as far as the eye could see.

  The ocean.

  Chapter FOUR

  I TOOK OFF MY SHOES, PUT THEM IN MY SATCHEL, AND squished my toes into the pastel sand. It felt incredibly soft, like I’d stepped into a cloud. My eyes fixed on the sparkling, churning sea of blue.

  Alec smiled. “Breathtaking, isn’t it?”

  I flashed him a smile and took off across the sand toward the water. My feet sank with each step until I reached firmer wet sand by the ocean’s edge. A gentle breeze rippled across the water and through my hair. I hesitated and stared, hypnotized by the ever-changing waves undulating ahead. A wave broke and warm water splashed over my toes. I wanted to walk in a little farther but remembered the satchel at my side.

  I turned to Alec, who was coming toward me. “It’s amazing,” I said. “I keep using that word but it’s true.”

  Alec reached for my hand. “You’re pretty amazing yourself. I remind myself every day that I’m alive because of you.”

  I worried that he was confusing his feelings of gratitude for a whole different type of feeling. Not that I wasn’t flattered. He was nice and cute enough. His dark, thick hair and muscled physique would make some girl really happy someday—I just wasn’t that girl. If I’d had even a flicker of feelings for him that went beyond friendship, I would’ve gone with it. Life would be much easier without liking the boy who had tried to kill me. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get that boy out of my head.

  I gently extracted my hand. “Alec, I like you. It’s just, just …”

  “Just James, right?” He shrugged. “So I might have a chance too, if I shoot you?”

  That wasn’t fair. But it was true. “It’s not like that. I—”

  A ship came into view from over the trees. It was quiet, unlike the loud drone of other Consulate ships. I grabbed Alec’s hand back and tugged. “Run!”

  He shielded his eyes and looked upward. “No worries. It’s one of ours.”

  The ship landed on the sand a short distance away. Alec grinned. “Come on. Let’s get moving before the Consulate finds us.”

  We ran to the ship and boarded. It was similar to Markus’ though a tad smaller. The pilot tipped his hat to me as I sat down. I pressed a button and a strap appeared around my waist to secure me in the seat.

  Alec clapped the guy on his back. “Nice timing, amigo,” he said as he sat next to the pilot. “Tora, this is one of our best pilots, Max. Max, meet Tora.”

  Max nodded in my direction. “I’ve heard all about you. Now let’s get out of here.”

  We rose silently into the air. A million questions filled my head and started tumbling out. “Why didn’t Markus come? He’s a pilot. Where did you get a ship like this? How far away is Callie City? Are the guns there?”

  Max turned to Alec, who frowned and shook his head slightly. What was that about? Max cleared his throat. “Markus hasn’t been doing well. These days, he’s usually too drunk to fly.”

  Alec met my eyes. “Ever since Britta died, he’s been a mess. We can’t pull him out of it.”

  I remembered the pain on Markus’ face after she was killed, how he’d touched her cheek before they released her body into space.

  Max cleared his throat. “As for the ship, it was created by one of our Resistance members. It’s the only one like it for size and stealth. We need it in order to carry out our activities without Consulate interference.”

  I scanned the skies, hoping one of their ships wouldn’t appear. Memories of them bombing the bunker until the door fell off weren’t ones that I wanted to revisit.

  “Callie City,” Max continued, “is on the other side of the planet. As far from the Consulate headquarters as you can get without heading back into space.”

  Alec turned around to face me. “Caelia is a little bigger than Earth, so the Consulate realized they didn’t have the manpower to patrol everywhere. They’ve claimed control of an area about equal to half the planet.”

  I frowned. “If the planet is bigger than Earth, wouldn’t the days and nights be longer than on Earth?”

  Max shook his head. “It’s more about the moons than the planet size. The moon on Earth was closer and slowed the rotation of the planet. The moons here are farther away.”

  Good thing that Markus was part of the Resistance, otherwise I’d feel like the dumbest one around.

  Max guided the ship higher until we were out of sight from the ground. I watched in awe as we moved through a wispy white intangible substance. These were actual clouds. So different from the empty red skies of Earth. It was exactly like the dream I’d had after James shot me when I saw Callie again. It had felt so real, but how could I have dreamed clouds when I’d never experienced them before now?

  Thinking of Callie, I reached into the satchel and pulled out the picture she’d made. It had hung on our bunker wall and after she’d died, I’d faithfully straightened it every day, knowing how much effort she’d put into it. The pastel colors of the flower petals had faded a bit and one corner had bent from being jostled in my bag, but it was the most valuable thing I’d ever own.

  Max’s words pierced my reverie. “Those burners assumed that everyone else had died. They didn’t know the depth of the Resistance movement. Some were able to infiltrate the pod cities, blend in … even work at the Consulate.”

  Alec cut in quickly. “Ot
hers lived in bunkers outside of the cities, like your family.”

  I’d never even considered that there were other bunkers out here.

  “Of course, they weren’t as high-tech as your bunker,” he added. “And they wouldn’t have had an Infinity like you, which is why you thought you were alone on the planet, but our Resistance network was able to get the word out over the com systems once Caelia was found.”

  “So how many Resistance members are there?” I asked. “And didn’t they check the Net for survivors?” I thought of all the messages I’d posted that had gone unanswered until Alec had come along.

  “About fifty in Callie City,” said Max. “We’re the biggest settlement. There are a few other colonies on Caelia and on a nearby planet and moon, but I’d say no more than a hundred Resistance members total.” He sighed. “And though I’d like to tell you that the Resistance was on the lookout for survivors, we were busy taking care of our own. We didn’t even use the Net for fear that the Consulate would locate us. Just used secret com channels to communicate.”

  Alec agreed. “So they wouldn’t have saved me either if it makes you feel any better. You were my only hope. Also, there are a few other colonies of people I told you about who aren’t Consulate or Resistance. We’re not sure of their exact numbers, but there can’t be too many of them.”

  I sank back into the seat and tried to absorb everything Alec and Max had said. The Resistance movement was bigger than I’d realized. There had been other survivors with me on Earth, others who’d escaped the Consulate and had come to start a new life. I had no idea.

  “But now there’s all the water and air anyone could ever want,” I said, confused. “So why is there still a Resistance?”

  Alec shook his head. “Man may have traveled thousands of light-years from home, but what’s that saying? ‘Wherever you go, there you are.’ They’re still the same. We’re all still the same.”