That day, I was cleaned up and given my first regulation haircut, the same style I’ve maintained all these years. Short by the ears, longer on the top and in the back. My belly was full for the first time I could remember, but I was still terrified. Life alone on the space station was hard, but it was all I knew.
That first day, I walked around in a daze. I decided then and there, drenched in the rain, that I was done stringing together bad decisions. My entire perspective changed, and suddenly, the possibilities of the future shined a light on my past. I locked up those shameful memories and put them aside until I forgot they were even there. From then on, it was structure, discipline, and anything that would keep me from ending up back where I started. Things were going to be different. I was going to be different.
SEVEN
Bri
Icurl up on my side in the narrow shade of a dried-up husk of a tree. I used the last nutrigel hours ago. A painful emptiness stabs at my stomach. My throat and mouth are so dry it’s hard to breathe. I clutch the last hydropack in my dirty hand.
I can’t even trust my own eyes anymore. They’ve been playing tricks on me for hours. Footprints in the sand wind around me, in and out of my vision. The wind carries the sound of tinkling bells. Jagged rocks pop up on the horizon but always stay out of reach.
Bells jingle again. I don’t bother to look up—another hallucination. Memories of games and good times have shriveled up and died, along with any hope. Nothing can distract me from reality now. I’m too tired, hot, and thirsty to care what happens next.
A warm drop of water lands squarely on my chest. I blink a few times, trying to clear my head. Did that actually happen, or is mybrain messing with me again? Another, then another. Soon, wet marks on the ground begin to connect. I open my mouth to catch some of the rain. Unable to keep my eyes open, I pass out.
A sharp poke to my ribs rouses me. I groan and twist away from the assault. Another poke, harder this time. I blindly swat away in the direction of the intrusion and my hand hits against a long hard stick.
“Brethren! She’s alive! Our salvation has arrived,” the stick says.
The stick drops to the ground next to my head and calloused fingers grab my face and force my eyes open. Hands pinch my mouth agape and cool water trickles over my dry, cracked lips. It feels foreign in my mouth at first. As it washes away the sand, I’m able to swallow.
A face comes into view. Black round eyes stare down at me. A head tightly wrapped with a scarf casts a shadow across my face. I force my eyes to focus and realize it’s not eyes but darkened goggles watching me from above.
“Brethren, lift her carefully. She must be unspoiled,” a voice says from outside my periphery.
“The prophecy foretold the rain would come.”
“Yes, Brethren. You take her legs. I’ll lift her arms.” Hands grab my ankles and wrists, and I’m off the ground and moving.
EIGHT
Tai
I’m being hunted. The same tracks surround my tent again. I double-check my blaster and tuck it into my belt. This weapon hasn’t left my side in six years, and I’ve never been more comforted by its presence. Whatever is stalking me, I’ll be ready for it.
I’m not thrilled about being prey. If it weren’t critical that I find Bri as soon as possible, I’d set a trap for the creature and end this once and for all. But I’ve lost too much time out here as it is.
Like yesterday, the visor can’t locate Bri.
I’m comforted at the thought that Bri is too stubborn to let this place win. Bri is out there somewhere, raising hell and fighting for her life.
The visor registers a spring at the bottom of a crater to the southwest. I adjust my trajectory to head there.
My bionic arm is getting worse by the hour. It doesn’t respond half the time, and when it does, it’s slow and jerky.
It’s funny how it’s giving me trouble here. The same place that led to me needing it in the firstplace.
The circumstances are different, but the planet hasn’t changed. The first time I felt solid ground was here on Sabaak. It was brown and miserable, but it didn’t bother me. I felt free. Eventually the environment took a toll on me, and I stumbled around in the desert until I reached a small village with painted arches and a water well right in the center.
I wonder how far that village is from here.
I still don’t know how I got caught. Maybe it was the Sabaaki. Maybe someone tracked down the stolen ship I arrived on. Either way, I shouldn’t have been surprised when the Authority showed up with an ultimatum.
The time has come for me to face the reality of my situation. Bri isn’t at the crater. There are, however, several sets of animal footprints. Some large, like the ones surrounding my tent this morning. Some small, all heading in the direction of the stagnant pool of water at the base. I don’t bother climbing down. No sense in putting myself in unnecessary danger.
Animals get territorial near water, and my scent is new. I don’t trust it here. The swirling wind keeps me from seeing very far, and there is a long list of things that could use the terrain against me down there.
My blaster sits lightly in my belt, a reassurance until it reminds me that Bri doesn’t have one. She doesn’t have anything to use for protection. If she could defend herself with sharp glares and even sharper words, I wouldn’t be worried. But I doubt she would be able to outrun or outmuscle whatever is out here.
