“I thought I lost you,” she whispers urgently.
“I thought the same.” I kiss her softly. My heart heartbeat hammers against my ribcage. That was too close. I hold her tightly against me. Her small body trembles and she pants against my neck.
“Don’t worry,” I soothe. “I will die before I let anything hurt you.”
“I — I know,” she whispers, her quiet voice oddly strained. “I’m just —”
She goes limp in my embrace. What’s wrong? I look down.
My heart stops.
Her eyelids flutter like the delicate shadows of dried bushes upon the sand at sunset. She’s barely able to keep them open. Her lips part to say something, but I can’t make it out. It’s too soft.
No.
I peel back her eyelids. Her pupils are so dilated they’re swallowing up the iris.
No.
“Can you sit for me, Simone?” I ask, lowering her on the sand. She flops forward into my chest, face expressionless, lips parted. Her body is slick. I have to hold her harder than I intended to keep her from slipping out of my grasp. But she doesn’t mind my rough treatment — in fact, she doesn’t even seem to notice it.
My rib cage constricts around my heart. My hands are so dark and wet that they reflect the rays of the sun like water. Her shredded shirt entangles my fingers.
No.
I peel the coarse fabric off her dark skin. Blood gushes from a laceration that stretches from her sacrum to her left shoulder blade. Deep red ooze crackles around the black edges of the wound. Venom has already flooded her system.
No time.
She moans as I pull her into my arms. I run with her in my arms. My left hand holds her head to my chest so it doesn’t bob up and down. When I get to the truck, I flop her over one shoulder, open the door, and swing my arm so all our supplies fall to the floor.
I lay her down flat. A sheen of sweat covers her dark skin. She shakes and the back of the truck darkens with her blood.
"It's so dark," she whispers. "I can't see you." She raises her hand.
"I'm here," I reassure her, capturing her hand that's trying to find mine. She gives me another weak smile.
I don’t return it. I must act quickly. I locate my medical bot and growl with frustration. It was damaged during the skarpian’s attack. I knock it against my thigh and finally it flickers on, but it won’t scan. That’s okay, I know the code for skarpian venom. I enter it manually and force the syringe lock open, injecting the anti-venom into her side.
"You'll feel better soon, I promise," I tell her. “Just stay with me.” I kiss her forehead and curse myself for wasting precious seconds, because despite my bravado we aren’t out of the desert yet. She still needs medical attention. The bot only administered the antivenom. It wasn’t enough to fully cure her. She needs real medical attention.
Her eyes roll to the back of her head as she tries to look at me. Her lips twitch in what I assume is an attempt to smile. She raises her hand to touch my cheek, but she can’t reach it.
I catch her hand and bring it to my chest. I won’t lose you. I can’t.
“All in all it was an almost perfect vacation,” she croaks. “I just wish I had fruit."
I’ll give you all the fruit you want. I’ll even take you to the beach and pick it for you myself. Just hold on a little longer. Stay with me.
I slam the back door and leave her lying down in the back seat of the truck. She makes high-pitched, desperate sounds but I don’t look back. I can’t waste any more time. The bent truck door creaks as I yank it open, and the engine rattles like a skullsnake as I turn it on. Then, I whip the wheel around, turning us in the opposite direction.
She needs to get to a high-tech medical facility. Now. The military outpost I’d been stationed at is the best in the area, but it’s in the opposite direction we were traveling in. It would take precious hours to get there, and the suns were coming.
It doesn’t matter. No matter what, I’ll make it.
Hold on Simone. I start the ignition and race the rising suns.
9
Irriuth
"I didn't expect to hear from you so soon. I guess the little woman was more than you could handle?"
I grit my teeth, ignoring my kin, Kozar’s, condescending tone. "Prepare the medical room. We have a patient — human female."
Kozar’s good cheer disappears. "Oh shit, what happened?"
I open my mouth, then close it. I failed.
I inhale sharply and all the water in my mouth instantly evaporates. I have protective shades pulled down over the windshield and side windows, but my knuckles are still sizzling. My driving gloves would do a lot to protect them, but there’s no way in hell I’m stopping until Simone is safe.
Right now she’s in the back, covered by blankets and military grade sunscreens. About 20 minutes ago, she stopped making irritated sounds when the truck lurched. I don’t have time to drive around the obstacles. I keep powering the vehicle ahead at full speed.
She needs help, and I’m the one who condemned her. If I hadn’t stopped the truck — if I hadn’t gotten distracted by her body — if I’d taken the tank Kozar told me to take — she wouldn’t be in this position. She’d be in paradise right now, eating the fruit she wants so much, lounging beside my king.
Maybe that would have been better.
No. She is mine, my ego roars. A small voice inside of me responds, If you can’t protect her, and she’ll never be yours. You don’t deserve her.
“Irriuth, are you there?”
“Yeah. Just trying to drive.”
“Wait a minute, you’re not driving right now, are you? What the hell are you thinking?”
I don’t have time to argue. I know goddamn well that I shouldn’t be driving. It’s too bright. Even through my protective glasses, it’s hard to see anything. “Just get the facility ready for arrival. Will be there in five. That’s an order.”
“Yes sir.” Kozar can be a pain in the ass sometimes, but he’s dependable. I trust him with my life — and Simone’s.
My truck launches off the top of the last dune. For a few seconds are airborne before slamming into the sand. Dust swarms in a thick cloud as we land. I slam my foot on the ignition, going faster, careening down the final stretch of the steep ledge towards the base.
Like most things that have survived out here in the deep desert, it’s not much to look at — just a large, weatherbeaten dome surrounded by above and below ground tunnels used to drive aircraft and vehicles in and out of the base.
I zoom through the nearest station’s open bay. Darkness falls, and the temperature drops. For a moment I can’t see and am operating on pure instinct. I’ve driven through these tunnels for almost a decade, but never has a mission been this important — this personal.
I skid to a stop when we reach the medical station. There is a team of medical bots waiting. I put the truck in park and leap out, not bothering to turn it off. Immediately, I’m swarmed up to my hips by bots.
“Not me!” I yell as they start scanning my body. I need them to focus on Simone. They scurry in between my feet as I push past them to open the back door of my truck. “In there!”