13. Arnaz
ARNAZ
“Twilight”
My soul is reflected in the looming darkness, strengthened by the dying sun.
S weat soaks my T-shirt.
Hell.
12:52 a.m.
Not even an hour of sleep.
Feeling like shit for running out on him, I’ve denied myself my nightly ritual of watching Salem’s videos until I fall asleep.
Blowing out a breath, I reach for my joint and lighter, then pause, cursing early practice tomorrow.
I crawl out of bed.
Plan B.
Leaving my house, I pop in my earphones and scroll through my watch to call the only person I know likely to be up at this time.
“Hello,” Ana?s answers.
“Waddup?”
“Watching Exosphere .”
“Cheater!” She was supposed to wait for me.
“How? I waited weeks for you to catch up. It’s not my fault you’re a whole season behind.”
“Judas!”
“Nope.”
“Delilah!”
She laughs. “Just lemme catch you up.”
“Fine,” I grunt, transitioning to a jog. “How you feeling about surgery?”
“Nervous.” The s trails off into a sigh. “But also ready to get it over with.”
“What can I do?”
“Besides flying home to binge movies with me while I’m recovering?”
“I’m there.”
“Even though I’ll be at Mom and Carter’s?”
“It’s not about them,” I reply, jogging in place at a red light. “I’ll be there.”
“Thanks.”
“Catch me up.”
“So, the Martians land on Titan, but the Saturnians get tipped off by Earth, so they’re ready for them.”
“Hold up.” I take off down the main road to the beach. “What happened to Kairis?”
“Whaddya mean?”
“The season ended with Skai and them fading from dehydration.”
“Okay, yeah, so when they didn’t respond to Noel’s tightbeams, she boarded a ship from Mars and used the thruster thingy to space jump to their ship.”
“She’s a real one.”
“But they couldn’t save Kairis.”
“Huh?”
“Yep, the ship’s gone.”
“Whoa.” I slip off my kicks and trudge through the sand.
“And they lost someone from the main crew.”
“Who?” I drop down to sit on the sand. “Not Moose!”
“God no. I’d have been bawlin’. Imagine if he survived the streets just to die from a drought.”
I shake my head. “We’d all riot until they un-dead him.”
An older man in red trunks passes me, beelining toward the shoreline.
Who the hell would swim in the ocean at this time of night?
“You heard me?”
“What?”
“Jenku died.”
“Oh damn. Who’s piloting the ship, then?”
“I just told you, they lost the ship.”
The man dives into the water.
“My bad. What else happened?”
He braces for a rough wave. I look around to see if anyone else is seeing this, but besides a group a good distance away sitting around a bonfire, the beach is empty. His head disappears under the water. Crazy fucker.
“So, after the Martians took the L, they retreated, right? But the Saturnians didn’t realize they activated stealth explosives before they left.”
“That’s the same stuff that wiped out Atlas Station?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Damn.”
“Yep. Remember the captain who went with her gut and stood down to prevent the battle with Mars?”
How long can someone hold their breath underwater?
I climb to my feet and move to the edge of the shoreline.
I bounce back. “Hell, that’s cold.”
“What’s cold?”
I scan the area where the man disappeared. “How long can someone hold their breath underwater?”
“I dunno. Why?”
“This guy just…” I move forward, cursing under my breath as needles prick my feet as the icy water washes over them. I lean forward, searching.
Nothing.
This isn’t my problem.
I step back and say, “Never mind. Continue.”
I start to turn away when I hear Carter’s voice, “…fuckin’ coward.”
My feet plant in the wet sand.
I’m not a coward. If the man wants to kill himself, let him kill himself.
“…fucking coward.”
Both voices lock me in place until the echo of one drowns out the other.
My chest caves.
“Let me call you back.”