Chapter 31 - CLEO
CLEO
I DON’T KNOW IF I’m being walked to prison or to my execution, and I’m not sure if there’s a difference.
Blue Braid has me at gunpoint, and we’re making our way past the living quarters in silence as I frantically run through everything I know, everything I’ve learned, trying to come up with anything that could save me.
I don’t think it’s going to work, though. I’m realizing with a kind of dull surprise that I’m out of ideas. I think this is it.
Then Sabrina steps out into the path ahead of us, gun in hand, and I stop. She’s grim, her jaw squared, her lips pressed into a thin line.
‘I’ll take her,’ she says quietly.
‘I’ve got it,’ Blue Braid replies from behind me. ‘The boss said—’
Sabrina shakes her head – a quick, sharp movement. ‘I vouched for her,’ she says. ‘It’s my responsibility.’
My mouth goes dry, my throat closing. Holy shit, this is actually it. My breath’s shaking as it rasps in and out of lungs I can’t seem to fill. Hunter, where are you?
Except I don’t want him to come – even though I selfishly want him with me, I need him to stay with Marguerite. I need him to stay and fight for the thousands of people we’re trying to save. And I’m praying he’s strong enough to choose them, not me.
Blue Braid pushes past me, and for an instant I consider lunging for her gun. But Sabrina’s weapon is pointed straight at me, and I force myself to stay still.
‘Your call,’ Blue Braid says, shrugging. She claps Sabrina on the shoulder and heads around the curve of the hallway.
Sabrina and I stay right where we are as she disappears out of sight. I’m running through every delaying tactic in the book and coming up empty – she’ll know them all for what they are.
Then Sabrina holsters her gun. ‘We don’t have a lot of time,’ she says. ‘Let’s go.’
I spin around, my mouth open as she strides off in the opposite direction to Blue Braid. She doesn’t slow her pace, though, and I jog behind her, scrambling to understand.
‘Sabrina, what’s happening?’
‘Keep up. We’re heading for the rovers.’
‘I … what? Marguerite’s decided to take me with her?’
Sabrina snorts. ‘You’re not that stupid.’
We make our way into the empty garage, and Sabrina heads straight for the parking bay on the right. The rover there is sitting in its airlock, the two doors in front and behind it sealed shut.
‘The other two are disabled,’ she says quietly. ‘The only people who were meant to get out of here were Marguerite Graves and Nico – and then possibly your boyfriend, once he showed up.’
Shock ripples through my body as I absorb what she’s saying. And then I understand. ‘Hunter told you what’s happening.’
‘He sure did,’ she replies. ‘Now let’s pray he can dance like he promised.’ She presses her hand to the garage door, and her shoulders sag with relief as it opens.
I follow her inside, stepping out of the way as she swings the door of the rover open and climbs in to begin the start-up sequence. ‘How far away is Hunter?’ I ask as I climb into the back to leave a front seat for him.
Sabrina shoots me a look I can’t read, though it’s not patient, and fishes off her headset, passing it to me. ‘He’s on channel one,’ she says. ‘I made sure the others aren’t there, told them it kept getting bursts of static, so they’re over on three. You can talk without them listening.’
I tune it quickly, pulling my harness into place. ‘Hey, hurry up,’ I say, hoping Hunter’s listening. ‘We’re ready.’
It’s a moment before his reply arrives, crystal clear in my ear – as if he’s right behind me, so close I could touch him.
Cleo, he murmurs. He’s speaking low – I can hear other voices behind him, and the sounds of monitors throwing up alerts. Cleo, I’m … You need to go right now, and send a warning message as soon as you can.
‘But how will you …?’ And then my heart clenches, because I already know the answer.
For a moment I’m perfectly still, refusing to acknowledge it, refusing to even let myself think it. There’s a strange ringing in my ears and everything around me seems far away.
Hunter won’t get out. He’s given the last working rover to me. He’s getting me out. He’s found a way to choose me and the thousands of people at stake – but only at the cost of himself. He’s going to die here.
Everything roars back to life around me as that knowledge settles – as if the sound and the color of the world just got turned back up.
‘Hunter,’ I gasp. ‘Hunter, no, you can’t.’
Up front, Sabrina hits the command for the door seals and they swing closed.
‘No!’ I clamber into the front seat to grab for the handle.
But as my fingers close on it, the whole parking bay lights up red.
It’s depressurizing to match the atmosphere of the planet outside – and I’m not wearing a suit.
I’m trapped in this rover.
The door behind us rises to reveal Mars beyond it, and then we’re backing out.
Sobs roll through me, my throat constricting as if someone’s got their hand around it and they’re squeezing unbearably hard. ‘Hunter, please,’ I gasp. ‘She’ll kill you.’
His voice comes back quiet, calm. There are thousands of people depending on us. Every second counts. Send the message as soon as you get in range, all right? Make them hear you, whatever it takes.
Tears spill down my cheeks. I’m working toward being a crying, snotty mess, but this is a short-range radio and I’m going to lose him in a moment. The only person who’s ever truly put himself on the line for me.
He didn’t leave me when my suit breached, and he’s still not leaving me.
Hunter could be in this rover. He could have run with Sabrina, but he chose my safety above his. He chose me.
A lifetime of lessons in trusting nobody but myself, and finally I’ve found the one person I could break that rule for. The one person I can trust. Only to lose him.
This is a boy who deserves my heart, and too late I realize I should have given it to him when I had the chance. Because now he’s slipping through my fingers, and there’s no way to grab him.
In this moment I’d choose Hunter’s life over a thousand others, but I can’t. Sabrina’s turning the rover away from the doors that are already closing behind us.
‘Hunter,’ I manage, tearing the words from my throat. ‘I’d have come all the way to Mars just to find this. To find you.’
But the only response is a soft static hiss. We’re out of range.
The rover is silent then, except for my sobs. It’s a full minute before Sabrina speaks. ‘He could be sitting right where you are now. He made me promise to get you instead. We’re going to make what he’s doing worth it.’
‘Yes,’ I manage, trying to blink the tears away from my eyes.
She’s gazing straight ahead, eyes narrowed in concentration.
‘They’ll have seen the doors opening,’ she says.
‘They’ll be after us as soon as they can restore another rover, and the visibility out here is shit.
So sit your ass down, bring up the nav system, and plot us a course.
We don’t have time to drive around a crater we could have avoided, or reverse out of a field of rubble. ’
And through the muffling numbness, I make myself move, reaching out for the controls to bring up the nav display. It springs to life, projected against the windshield, superimposing the map over the barely visible landscape around us. The lights blur against my tears.
We’re going to get within range of someone we can warn. It might be the last thing we’re able to do.
In fact, I don’t care if it is the last thing I do.
I can’t imagine what could ever come after this.