Strange Skies (11 page)

I punched him in the arm. “I’m serious, Markus. After all that crap you put me through over those guns, you’re going to help me.”

He snapped his hand to his head in a mock salute. “Yes, ma’am.”

Alec stared at us like we were crazy. “This is serious. Kale won’t love seeing you around, Tora. You should try to stay out of his way for now.”

I smiled. “That’s why you boys will have to be my eyes and ears. We have to stop Kale and destroy the guns.” I
tapped my finger against my chin. “And we need to come up with a plan to save my dad.”

Markus chuckled. “Good thing you’re not an overachiever.”

“Ha, ha. Now I need to think. I’m going down to the creek. Let me know when James gets back.”

As I limped down to the stream, I overheard Markus say to Alec, “I love a woman who takes charge.”

I sat on the edge of the creek and dipped my feet into it. The cool water felt surprisingly good on my injured ankle. My head spun as I tried to think through everything. We had to somehow rescue my dad from the Consulate and stop Kale from whatever craziness he was planning. Dad was still on the other side of the planet, Kale was here, and the guns could be anywhere.

As much as I hated those weapons, I didn’t see how I could save Dad without using them. It bothered me that I kept finding excuses to use them, just like when I’d shot down the Consulate ship. But the Consulate were the bad guys, not me.

A bird fluttered past and landed on a low branch hanging out over the water. The bird was pale blue and cooed in a soft singsong pattern. Maybe it was one of the ones that glowed in the dark. I remembered all the pictures I’d seen of sharp-beaked birds on the Net. This one cocked its head and looked right at me before it took flight and skimmed just above the creek’s gurgling surface.

I walked over to one of the trees and plucked a ripe
piece of my new favorite fruit, then sat down and leaned against the tree trunk. My ankle felt a little better after the cold soak, and the swelling had gone down. As I bit into the juicy goodness, I knew that being able to ingest things other than gel would never get old. The fruit was scrumptious but would taste even better served alongside a slow-roasted tooth monster.

The sound of running snapped me out of my food reverie. I spun around to find James racing toward me from across the camp. He didn’t even stop to acknowledge Alec or Markus.

“About time you showed up,
amigo
,” Alec called after him.

James didn’t slow down until he reached me under the tree. He crouched and shrugged off his pack. “I’m so sorry. I got away as soon as I could.… What the …?” His hand touched my cheek. “What happened to your face?”

I’d forgotten how hideous I must look until his eyes focused on my cheek. My heart raced at the nearness of him. “Tooth monster. Long story.”

James dug inside his pack for something. “I feel awful. I should have been with you.” He pulled out a thin, cylindrical contraption and turned it on. A low hum and blue light emanated from it as he lifted it toward my cheek.

“Wait!” I grabbed his wrist in alarm, remembering the pain that the energetic stitching device had caused Kale.

“It’s okay. It won’t hurt, I promise.” His deep, gravelly voice soothed me at the same time that it made my pulse
jump. “It just eradicates all bacteria to avoid infection and causes the cells to regenerate and heal almost instantly. I used this on your rib injury on Earth while you were out cold. You’ll still be sore for a while though.”

I pulled back from him. “Will it make it go away entirely, like it never happened?”

James had a quizzical look on his face. “No, you’ll still have faint lines where the claw marks were. Why, you want scars?”

Relieved, I stepped closer again. “I don’t mind them. They remind you what you’ve survived.”

I remembered the scar I’d seen on his lower back in the bunker. James lifted my chin. “You’re pretty tough, you know that?”

My cheek tingled where the tube passed over it. Our bodies were inches apart, and I hoped the hum of the device was loud enough to drown out my heart, which felt like it was going to explode out of my chest. I dared to raise my eyes to his. “You’re not so bad yourself.” I couldn’t help but add, “At least when you’re unarmed. Speaking of which, you know that whole explanation you gave me back in the containment center?”

James looked miserable as he turned off the machine. “You mean when I poured my heart out, and you didn’t remember a word of it?”

The sensation in my cheek faded to an itch, then disappeared after a few seconds.

Like that was my fault
. “Yeah, that one. You’re gonna
have to humor me and start over.”

James put the tube back in his bag. “I will, but I have to give the condensed version for now, because I have something more important to tell you.” He grazed my cheek with the back of his hand. His touch sent shivers down my spine. “How does it feel?”

Amazing
. “Fine. How’s it look?”

James glanced at my cheek. “Perfect. Faint white lines—just what you wanted.” He stared deep into my eyes. I couldn’t pull my gaze away. “I was a jerk, okay? I thought I could have it both ways. Act like I was following Kale to get the information I wanted and still keep you safe.” He ignored my eye roll and continued. “I thought it wouldn’t be a big deal to shoot you because I knew it wouldn’t be lethal. It was the stupidest thing I’ve ever done.” His hand trailed down my cheek to my neck. “You probably don’t want to ever trust me again, but I promise you that I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to convince you why you should.”

His fingers traced the outline of my jaw, and I fought the torrent of feelings rushing through me. Just when I thought he might try to kiss me again, something flashed across his face and he pulled back. “Look, the reason I ran here wasn’t just to check on you.”

I could tell from his tone that I didn’t want to hear what was coming next. I took a deep breath. “Okay, what?”

He looked down at the ground. “The person that Kale said needed medical attention … It was your dad.”

Chapter
ELEVEN

I
COULDN
’
T EVEN COMPREHEND WHAT
J
AMES WAS SAYING
. “You’re saying my dad is the leader of the Resistance?” I knew he’d had a lot of people helping him build our bunker and transport materials back and forth to the pod city, but I’d just thought people respected his intellect.

“Or was, anyway,” James said, nodding. He swallowed and took my hands in his. “Your dad’s in rough shape, Tora, and not just from withdrawal.”

My breath caught in my throat. “What do you mean?”

James’ face was grim. “After you escaped with Alec, they … they …”

Time felt like it stood still. “Just tell me.”

“They played on the fact that he knew you were alive. Your dad told us that they put you in the room next to his and tortured you. All he heard through the walls was screaming. He said the agony in your voice was unbearable.”

“But it wasn’t me.” I felt sick to my stomach for whoever had been tortured in my name.

“I told him that, but he’s not all there right now.”

“Those freakin’ burners.” Tears leaked from my eyes.

James shook his head. “He’s still pretty incoherent. I gave him some meds and I’ll go back later to check on him.”

“I’m going with you,” I said loudly.

“She’s going where with you?” Alec called out. “Come up here and tell us what’s going on.”

James helped me up the embankment toward the camp. “She’s not going anywhere,” he said.

“Like hell I’m not.”

“You’re limping,” James said matter-of-factly.

I tried to walk normally. “It’s fine. I just twisted it a little. No big deal.”

James made me sit while he taped up my foot and ankle, then gave me a vial of something to control the inflammation. Markus was on the ground, Lucy’s head in his lap while he stroked her fur. Guess she was growing on him a little. He raised an eyebrow at me. “What’s goin’ on, sweetcakes?”

James and I filled them in on the little we knew.

A look of worry crossed Alec’s face. “That means Kale knows you’re alive. Your dad doesn’t know your history with Kale and would probably have told him how happy he was that you had escaped the containment center.”

“That’s exactly what happened,” James confirmed.
“Kale had a few questions for me.”

I shot a look at James. “That means you’re in trouble, right?”

“Kale’s not happy with me right now, but I’m the only medic around. I told him you were here, but that you didn’t want any trouble. I told him you were really motivated by your dad being alive.”

Fear surged in me, for James more than for myself. I knew what Kale did to traitors. “But you’re not safe with him. Now he knows you didn’t kill me on that planet.”

James spoke carefully. “He thinks I tried, though. I told him that I really thought you were dead. I said the Consulate must have used heroic efforts to save you because they needed someone who could fire the weapons. That they must have thought your dad was a lost cause, and would never turn over intel about the weapons, so they were focusing on you instead.”

“Kale must think the opposite,” said Markus, looking at me. “He thinks you’re the lost cause, so he’s focused on your dad.”

I sighed. “Oh, what tangled webs we weave …”

Alec grunted. “No way is that burner getting another chance at you, Tora. You stay here with us. We’ll protect you.”

I laughed. “Great. We’ll just hide out in a hut for the rest of our lives … or until the Consulate finds us. No thanks. If I wanted that kind of life, I’d go hang out back in the bunker on Earth again.”

“That’s better than no life,
ángel
,” Alec argued.

James gritted his teeth. “Stop calling her that already. Her name is Tora.”

Alec folded his arms across his chest. “Like I’d ever forget the name of the
ángel
who rescued me from certain death in Sector Two. I’ll call her what I want. At least I follow through on my promises to her.”

James took a step toward Alec with his fist clenched. “I’m going to shut you up if you can’t do it yourself—that’s a promise I know I can keep.”

“All right, take it easy, boys,” Markus said. He pushed himself up from the dirt while Lucy ran over to Alec. “How ’bout we figure this out in a way that doesn’t make Tora want to shoot you both?”

James took a deep breath and uncurled his fist. “You’re right. This is stupid.” He turned to me. “And Alec’s right that it’s too dangerous. I don’t know what Kale will do, even if your dad is in the room … Kale’s a little drunk on power right now. You heard him at the bar. He said he has more recruits in other colonies. Who knows what he told them.”

I was furious. “He’s probably glad Dad is too incapacitated to take charge.” A thought hit me. “Wait, did any of you know that my dad was the Resistance leader?”

“No,” Alec and James said together. Lucy peered up at me with her innocent puppy-dog eyes. Shame she was the only one I totally trusted.

James must have noticed I looked unconvinced. “I
swear,” he said. “Kale said he was shocked himself.”

I actually believed that. He wouldn’t have tried so hard to kill me if he’d known my relationship with his boss.

Markus stared down at the ground.
No freakin’ way
. “Markus?”

He wouldn’t meet my eyes. “Aw, hell, Tora, your dad made me swear I wouldn’t tell you. He thought it would put you in even more danger if you knew. Then he died—or I thought he died—and I figured it wouldn’t do much good to bring it up.”

Pissed off didn’t even begin to describe how I felt. “God, Markus, how could you not tell me something like that? Don’t you think the Resistance would have tried to save me if they knew I was the daughter of their leader? But no, you didn’t want anyone else to know just so you could make a buck off the weapons.” I thought of all the trips Markus had taken to and from the pod city and how Dad had trusted him more than anyone else. Markus would have known exactly what my dad was doing.

I glared at the group and focused on Markus. “Can we all agree that no one keeps any more secrets from anyone else?”

“Yes,” Markus grumbled.

“Of course. I trust you with my life,” said Alec.

James stayed remarkably silent.
Figured
.

Tree branches snapped behind us, and we scrambled for our weapons.

Sonya trudged into the clearing. “Keep your pants on.
It’s just us.” She was followed closely by Reed and the two guards I’d seen earlier.

“Hey—Trent, Ian, I haven’t seen you in ages,” Markus said.

Trent shook his hand. “We’ve seen you plenty, man. Just not sober. Good to see you looking better.”

Markus shrugged. “Thanks, I’m trying.”

Reed flashed me a smile. “We just wanted to make sure you were okay after Kale almost saw you in the bar.”

Sonya rolled her eyes. “No,
she
wanted to make sure you were okay.” She fixed her eyes on James. “I wanted to know what the plan is now that Kale’s back.”

James eyed her. “So you’re still on our side?”

Sonya sighed. “Depends what side you’re talking about. What’s going on?”

I still didn’t trust Sonya at all, and I wondered how much James would say. His face looked guarded when he spoke. “We’re figuring out our next moves now that Tora’s dad is here.” He studied Sonya’s face as if to gauge her reaction.

“Tora’s dad is the leader of the Resistance?” Sonya arched an eyebrow, like she couldn’t quite believe it. I wanted to punch her.

“Wow, that’s so cool,” said Reed. “Oh wait, he needed medical attention, right? Is he okay?”

“He will be,” said James. “He just needs some time.”

Trent cleared his throat and looked at James. “Ian and I wanted to let you know that we’re with you, whatever
you decide to do. Kale’s so hell bent on revenge against the Consulate that he can’t see straight.”

Ian nodded his head. “He’s a little too much like the Consulate now, if you ask me. I think you should stay leader, James. There are many of us who agree.”

“Mutiny,” Sonya smirked. “I like it. Things were getting a little too boring around here for my taste anyway. As long as we get to take down the Consulate, I’ll be happy.”