Her thoughts are jumbled. They’re smushed together and some of the words don’t make any sense. Maybe I just don’t know what they’d translate to.
But she shifts and those thoughts turn back into the gentle buzzing. She huffs a little sigh and snuggles closer.
Smoke from the wreckage isn’t the only plume billowing into the sky.
We’ve only used the fireplace in the outpost once. I know it’s not an accident that it’s working now.
Shock knows we’re coming. He’s preparing.
Good.
Our outpost is the only one in the caldera that doesn’t have geothermal heating. The fireplaces are the only option for heat, and before now—before her—we’ve never had a need to use them.
Top downwhy’s my top off?
Her thoughts fill my mind, and I flinch as she laughs in hers.
Snowball fights aren’t any fun.
Glancing down, she’s not awake, but her lips are pursed in a scowl.
As I pull into the garage, I can smell the smoke, and an uneasy thought strikes me… where did Shock get the fuel?
I don’t bother with parking the bike. I kill it and let it go wherever it wills.
Its engine barely dies before I’ve slipped off the thing, carrying her away and have her through the door that Shock holds wide for me.
He has it calibrated for her.
Risk waits at the diagnostic machine; Shock was right, it is already calibrated for her.
Neither of them try to take her from me. They help as I unwrap her and lay her down on the table.
And for once, they don’t have any opinions. Only questions.
“Did you try waking her up?” Shock asks.
“Yes. I keep getting snips of thoughts from her, and she opened her eyes for a moment while I was getting her wrapped up.”
“She’ll wake up,” he assures. “Just give it time.”
I nod, exhaling and stepping back as Risk runs the diagnostic program.
When the blue halo forms over her, my skin crawls, like I’ve fallen into a hive of frost mites.
She looks dead.
Risk’s thought twists my stomach.
“She’s not dead.”
“Sorry.” He looks at me over his shoulder, and I shove his thoughts away. I don’t need to hear his self-recriminations too.
“How long have you known?” I look at Shock only long enough to be sure he knows he’s the one I’m asking.
“It solidified last night.”It started three months ago.
That explains how he knew to order fuel.
