Solara 3
I feel like I’m falling into utter oblivion.
Halfhaven is in smoking shambles. It’s my third disaster site in the last month.
Myndrous are popping up everywhere, and Earth’s forces don’t seem to have a way to block the portals.
Aphria has to be completely overwhelmed with patients. She’s the only medic this far out.
Parking in the dust at the edge of town, I grab my gun from under my seat and strap it to me. Then I pick up my emergency care pack from the back of the car and hike to Aphria’s office.
The roof has caved in. They’ve set up makeshift tents throughout the market. Many people have been clawed to near death. A few didn’t survive; I know by the fresh graves on the nearby hill.
“Solara…” Aphria runs up to me and hugs me. “Thank the stars.”
I return her embrace. “How bad is it?”
“Like most places with not enough Madmyn vaccines. I can only vaccinate those I know will live. And that means the infected, who are worse off…”
I nod. “Okay. Tell me where I can help.”
“If you could stitch them up for me, that would let me visit more homes.”
“Sure.”
She motions to a tent, where I can set up my things.
“Where are the Fed Meds?” I ask.
“Working the camp up the valley. They were hit harder. But that’s fine with me. Fewer people to muck things up.” Aphria pulls her large barrette out of her silver hair, smoothes the strands, then reclips them into place.
Her son brings me the first patient with deep claw marks in their back and a bullet wound that’s got interesting discoloration on it.
“Nebs?”
Aphria grimaces. “Yes. Keep that quiet. We don’t need to cause a panic.”
“But they need to know their risk in staying here. We need to get forces into the region to keep Nebs under control. They are invading our world and tearing it apart from the inside out,” I say. “They’re not just sending their creations anymore.”
She nods. “But the people can’t fight now. They’re barely holding it together. Don’t take their hope until you have to.”
I sigh, put on my mask and gloves, and begin cleaning and stitching the patients. I prefer a sterile room. But out here, there is no such thing.
I work all night without more than a break to change my gloves and grab a drink of water. Aphria finally sits down with me at dawn the next morning.
“How are you holding up?” I ask.
“Me?” She swipes a strand of silver hair from her eyes with her forearm because her gloves are covered in grime. “I was going to ask you.”
“I’m fine. Not my first all-night surgery. Feels good to be back out here doing important work.”
Aphria puffs out a breath. “Can’t believe this is the third wave this year. I don’t know what they think we have here. I heard a scavenger friend was on their list. She stopped by to say hi a few months back. Just had twins with her new mate, some Shifter from the Aegeris fleet.”
“Is she safe with them?”
“Oh, yeah. Much better life now than she had before. Just wish I knew why Myndrous keep coming back.”
I toss my gloves in the trash bin beside me and stretch out my legs. “It does seem strange. But that bullet wound was from a Nebulous gun. Could one of their ships have crashed here? Or are they all just coming through portals?”
Aphria shakes her head. “I don’t know.”
“It’s near Sequoia Sanctuary just south of Caulder Mountain.”
I turn around and find Aphria’s son washing his arms at an emergency water station. “How do you know?”
“I’ve seen it.”
“Foster, no…” Aphria gasps and gets up from her seat far faster than a woman of her age and exhaustion level should be able to move. “Do not go near Nebulous, ever!”
He dries his arms and packs up his gear.
“Who else is going to protect us? The feds? They care about the cities! They do not help us out here because we are not the masses!” His scar-freckled face reddens as he thrusts a hand toward the street.
“We starve. We suffer. And they don’t care!
I thought all life was supposed to be equal! ”
I ease out of my seat and turn around to face him, wary of a conflict.
“At least I care!” He pounds a fist to his chest. “Those of us who can fight have to, or we will all die!” He isn’t old enough to enlist, yet he already has in his own way.
His eyes gloss over. “You sacrifice for these people, Mom. I don’t want anything to happen to them or to you. Dad is gone. I am the man of the house. This is my duty! Do not take it from me!”
Aphria lifts her hands. “I won’t! I just… I can’t lose you. You are all I have left. Promise me you always have a backup plan.”
His dark silver eyes squint at her as he picks up a gear bag. “Dad taught me to have more than one. We’ve been training hard. I’m not going unprepared.”
Aphria draws him into her arms. “Please be careful.”
“That’s not possible,” he mutters. “It isn’t a safe job.”
I pack up my things. “She just means be prepared and have countermeasures for the unknown.”
“How can I do that?” Foster asks.
“Talk to the oldest fighters with the most scars. They have the best stories to tell and have survived the most shit.” I rest a hand on Aphria’s back. “I’m going to move on.”
“No, you must stay, rest.”
“I can’t.”
“I wish I could pay you.”
“No need. I have the credits I need to work without pay. I have investments. This is my life now.”
I leave them behind and walk to my hovercar, unable to get the thought of the Nebs just outside of town out of my mind.
Fuck it. I climb in, ignite the hoverpads, and head for the sequoia trees near Caulder Mountain. I know I’m flying into fire, but I’ve got a score to settle and hundreds of thousands of Delsfein who never got justice.
I set down in a clearing, draw my gun, and climb out. The hatch hisses as it closes and locks. I scan the trees for movement and listen for other steps as I make my way toward the break in the forest. Sure enough, between the boughs, I catch a glimpse of the ship.
It’s a tangled dark mess with weeds climbing up the wreckage. It’s been a long time since it crashed. I cautiously slip through the trees for a closer look. Parts have been cut out of it everywhere.
Scavengers definitely got to it more than once. I’m certain that’s why the Nebs keep sending the Myndrous back, to recover what is theirs. Then I notice an odd patch of dirt scratched out under the ship, like someone’s been trying to get to something underneath.
I glance around me, checking the perimeter of the wreckage, before climbing underneath.
A panel is cracked open, but the access path between the hull and a boulder is narrow.
By the way that the metal is raked open, someone tried to get into it.
My hands are much smaller than Nebs’ and Myndrous’, so I snake my fingers into the opening, find something square and warm, and break it free.
I pull my hand out and find a smoky glass chip settling into my palm, with radiant blue tracework that fades as it powers down.
As I look it over, I hear a droning warning start inside the ship. My stomach burns with urgency to get out.
I scramble through the dirt, crawl out from under the ship, and run. The drone turns into a sharp warning trill. I throw myself behind a tree and hunker down. I curl forward, cover my ears, and screw my eyes shut.
Wind tears by me with violent force, carrying metal and rock and dirt.
As the world quiets, leaving me with only the light rain of falling debris, I crack open my eyes and peer back. The Neb ship has turned into a black patch of ash. The tree sheltering me is painted with scorch marks, and metal shards jut from the trunk.
I stagger to my feet, my brain still ringing from the percussive wave, and make my way back to my hovercar. I don’t think the Myndrous will be visiting here again.
The dark chip in my palm has to hold something special inside. Maybe data on the flight plan? Battle plans?
I throw myself into my hovercar, lift it, and rush away from the mountain, eager to be free of the hotspot. At least Foster should be safer for now, along with the others from Halfhaven. Only one person I know can crack this thing without reporting me to the Feds for scavenging without a license.
Turning away from the valley, I kick on my thrusters and fly over the forested mountains toward the unincorporated community of Gneiss. My hands shake as I think about what I’ve done.
It’s almost time for my Abr heat. It’s the only thing that brings me comfort now. Even if I don’t find a male who wants me, Abr will no doubt have contacts who can get me to another world and on a humanitarian aid crew.
Parking in a familiar cave hangar, I open my hatch. I get out. Before I’m even upright, Chris’ armored silhouette greets me.
“What is it this time?” he gruffly asks. His hair is still buzzed off, but his beard has grown several inches since I last saw him.
I hold up the chip.
All irritation slips away from him. “You have officially gone off your rocker, Solara. That’s a Neb chip.”
“I know. I pried it out of the wreckage myself.”
He swears a blue streak, stalks up to me, and snatches the chip from my hand with a large, grease-covered hand. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“I have my father’s curiosity and adrenal glands.”
“And his blind idiocy.”
I squint at him. “Don’t talk bad about the dead.”
“He doesn’t care.”
“But I do. Now what does this store?”
His nostrils flare with his irritation. “A connection to a mothership. It contains all the data on that fleet so it can communicate maneuvers, access hangars, everything.”
“Great. How about you get that for free, and you give me a new ID so I can start over somewhere else.”
“No.”
I point my gun at him. “Try again.”
“You wouldn’t shoot me.”
I smirk. “I just got fired by my mother and then stitched up over thirty Halfhaven residents mauled by another wave of Myndrous among other camps this month. That ship blew right after I pried the chip free. Now, I am tired. I am hungry. And I’m about out of patience.
“And don’t think I’m unaware of what you can do with that chip. It would get you plenty of credits on the black market or… You could use it as an in with Earth’s military if you wanted to rejoin. I know you want to.”
He scratches his silver beard. “No ID. You need to learn to live with your choices.”
I sigh and lower my gun, glad to see he’s still got his moral compass despite his reclusive tendencies.
I wish I could escape my family, but I have a feeling somehow, my mother will hunt me down for revenge when the silence gives her too much time to think.
“Are you going to report me to the military?”
He tilts his head. “No. Your father wouldn’t want me to rat out my contact. I found this in the desert.”
“Thanks. I hope that stops Myndrous from showing and tearing apart the valley.”
“You are so much like him.” Chris taps the chip in a palm. “Playing with fire as much as he did.”
“Someone has to, or those who break the boundaries of respect will go unchecked. I’ve seen that more than most.”
“I know.” Chris runs a hand over his eyes. “But you are too important to be out there on the frontlines. Women should not have to give up their lives to bring peace. It is our job to keep you and the future safe.”
A sigh escapes me as I step back toward my hovercar. “The Nebs hunt us, not you. I want to take a few out before they get to me. I won’t hide behind a veil of perceived supremacy while my people and others die. That’s not how my father raised me.”
Chris walks toward me. “Please stay. I made stew.”
“There are more people who need my help.” I start for my hovercar.
His eyes beg. “I’m sorry. I…I’m not trying to be a patriarchal asshole, Solara. I just… I promised him I’d keep you safe. And I haven’t done that.”
“Chris…” I look back. “None of us can keep that kind of promise anymore. We can only promise to try.”
“Where will you go?” he asks.
“I’m checking the Myndrous hot zones on Earth before I…” I stop myself, unsure if I want to admit it to him. But if he watches the TV, he’ll find out anyway.
“I’m leaving Earth.”
“What?”
I nod. “Not sure where to yet. Depends on who I meet.”
His mouth hangs open. He nods. “I got it. Just be picky.”
“Definitely.” I climb into my hovercar. “Take care, Chris. And use your new power for good.”
He slumps like a broken man as I ignite my thrusters. We are all just wandering souls that occasionally bump into one another. But knowing he’s still out here gives me a small thread to cling to.
I back out of the hangar, wave at him, and head for the next camp that’s reported infiltration. But I’m looking more forward to leaving this world behind for good.
Hopefully they’ve got someone at the race that will want me. Deep down, I really want to know what it’s like to have someone fight to keep me safe instead of using and abusing me. I want my level of care to be mutual instead of one-sided.
But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t know what that felt like. I don’t know what became of Onidus, or if he’d even care to see me again. I’m certain he’s busy, fighting for his Isonian fleet up there in the stars.
I miss his kind of conviction, the way he fought with everything he had and never abandoned me even when there was a serious risk to his life, when the ground was hot ash from Neb weapons, and buildings were barely piles of charred bones.
I wish I knew where he was, that I could see him one more time before I put myself on a stage in front of hundreds of males eager for a mate.
Maybe I won’t get picked. Or I won’t find one I like.
The idea of searching for Onidus grows on me.
But we’ve got separate lives now. I doubt he wants anything to do with me.
After a deep breath, I solidify my conviction and head for Lockout Community up north. I’m going to do what I can one last time before I leave my homeworld behind for good.