Paradise 21 (14 page)

His name felt stale on her tongue. “Astor Barliss.”

“Oh.” Tria looked away. “Isn’t he too old for you?”

Aries’ brother jumped off the treadmill. “Hey, Lieutenant Barliss is a respectable man and a highly trained official. It’s not every day a maintenance engineer gets paired with an elite officer. You should be honored.”

Aries’ throat tightened and she couldn’t suck in enough air. The room pressed in on her, the waterfall gushing in her ears, an unstoppable force.

Her brother moved by her and put a heavy hand on her shoulder. He pressed down, his tone hard and edged with warning. “You are honored, aren’t you?”

Aries gasped in a small breath. “Of course.” She swallowed and focused on Tria, as if ignoring it would make it go away. “Tria, who’d you get?”

Tria flipped her paper over. Her eyes widened as she read.

“Tria?”

She crumpled the paper in her hand and turned to leave. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Why?” Aries grabbed her arm as she ran to the door. Her life partner couldn’t be any worse than a controlling superior officer with a penchant for power. Tria wriggled out of her grasp and pressed the panel. The door fizzled away.

“I’m going for a walk.”

Aries grasped her friend’s arm. “Wait, Tria. Tell me who.”

Tria sighed. “Adam Stenzer.”

An image of a man lying eternally in a sleep pod flashed in her mind. Tria would be bound to a sperm donor, not a husband. Aries didn’t know what to say.

“You can appeal it.” Aries spoke out of hope, not only for her friend but for herself.

“We all know what happens to appeals, don’t we?” Tria kicked her boot against the chrome, unable to make a dent.

Tria moved, but Aries still held onto her arm. “Where are you going to go?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll be on this ship somewhere. We’ll always be on this ship somewhere, won’t we?”

Aries loosened her grip as the reality of Tria’s words hit her. When she didn’t answer, Tria took off down the hall. Before she could follow her, Aries’ brother pulled her back inside, pressing the door-seal panel. The chrome coalesced into a barrier between her and her friend.

“Hey, it’s not Adam’s fault he’s comatose. It was a freak accident, and he’s lucky to be alive. Don’t feel bad for her, Aries. Even though odds are he won’t wake up, the man’s got perfect genes and that’s what matters. Her children will be smart and healthy.”

Aries turned around and stared into her brother’s eyes, wondering if he’d ever questioned the policies of the Guide. Knowing Trent, he’d eaten every word of it up, just like he gulped down spinach because they’d told him it would make him strong. But was this really the best pairing for Tria? Was Lieutenant Barliss the best man for her? Could computers ever calculate wrong?

Trent sauntered into the kitchen and opened a bottle of vitamin water. “With an attitude like that, she’s going to get herself into trouble. I’m glad you took the news well.” He gulped the beverage down and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “You’re a true Lifer, and Tria, she’s bad news. I’d stay away from her as much as possible, even if you two are assigned to the same job.”

Aries never questioned Trent, but to separate her from Tria stirred up so much resentment, she had no choice but to speak her mind. “Why?”

“People talk. Tria’s attracted the wrong type of attention from the upper command.” He leaned in close, so close his eyes bored into hers. “You don’t want to be associated with her, Aries, especially if you’re now tied to the lieutenant.”

Aries looked back at the door, wanting to be with Tria and not Trent. She took in a deep breath and forced herself to meet her brother’s gaze. “Gotcha.”

“Good.” Trent disappeared into his bedroom and closed the door.

Aries’ body loosened in relief. She’d played the game well today, giving the appearance of compliance. But inside, she hurt like she’d been punched in the stomach. She worried about Tria, who didn’t want to play the game at all. If her rebellious attitude continued, she’d be contained in the emergency bay and given meds to keep her under control. Aries would rather die than be kept in a prison, and she knew Tria well enough to assume her friend would do the same.

The screen on the wall flickered, the rushing waterfall morphing into desolate wasteland. Misty water and verdant shrubbery became gray, pockmarked rock. A single figure in a space suit stood by a broken escape pod. The spaceman stared back at her and beckoned her to come closer with a curling index finger.

Aries stepped toward the screen, the static from the light making the room seem like she’d walked into an old black and white movie. Her bare feet pressed into the carpet, her toes clenching. The suit’s visor clicked open and Tria stared out.

“No, don’t do it!” Aries collapsed beside the screen, putting her hands up to the wall. “You didn’t test the air!”

Tria’s face shrank as the atmosphere sucked the air from her lungs. Her voice was faint as her last breath flew away. “You aren’t free yet. Barliss is close and his search is relentless.” Her voice turned to a rasp. “Be careful. You’re walking right into his slimy hands.”

“Tria, put your visor back up. The
New Dawn
will come back for you. I know it.”

The whites of Tria’s eyes filled with red as the veins burst, spilling blood. Her eyes glazed over, staring at the space above her. Her voice sounded in Aries’ head, because her lips no longer moved. “I know, Aries. That’s not what I want.”

As she fell to the barren rock, the screen faded to static. Aries beat her fists upon the wall. “No!” She didn’t care if her brother heard her or if the
New Dawn
officials marked her as insane. Everything felt like it was too late. Sinking to the carpet, she wept.

…

A snarly reptile face, two inches long, hissed at Aries as she woke, flashing its headdress of scaly skin and dancing from side to side.

Aries screamed and scrambled away, pushing sand at it with her heels.

“What is it?” Striker peeked his head under the tarp.

“A lizard! Over there.” Aries backed up toward his feet.

Striker grabbed it and held it down with his knee. He pulled out a knife and cut its head off in front of her. “That’s what I call breakfast.”

The haziness of a disturbing dream kept her from thinking clearly, and she rubbed her eyes, trying to shake the feeling of uneasiness. Although she could blame it on the reptile, she knew the uneasiness ran deeper than a snarly wake-up call.

“You were supposed to be keeping lookout.”

“For raiders, yes. For critters, no.” He grinned and offered her his canteen. “You slept like you were in hyper-sleep.”

“I guess trekking across the desert can make a person tired.”

“Understandable.” Striker examined the lizard’s body as if deciding how to eat it.

Aries sat up and stretched. Her skin felt sore and itchy from sunburn and every move made it worse. “Any more raiders?”

“None since the last caravan.”

She watched as he gutted the animal and fried it on a rock with his laser gun. “Good. That last caravan was enough for me. What about those awful sandworms?”

Striker shook his head and scanned the horizon. “The sand is too thickly packed in this region for them to dig through. That’s one reason the raiders have made this their home.”

“At least we don’t have to worry about them coming up from the ground. You’re not really going to eat that, are you?”

“You bet. You should try it, too. Our supplies are only going to go so far, and you never know when another meal will walk right into camp.”

Aries wondered if it would be anything like the scorpion he’d cooked for her earlier. Small reptiles were the least of her worries. She searched the distance, expecting the
New Dawn
to emerge from the horizon like a flying beast, but nothing came. The dunes were an endless sea of hazy, golden light.

“You seem on edge this morning,” Striker said. “Bad dreams?”

“You could say that.”

Striker’s voice was soft. “Afraid of raiders?”

“No. I’m more afraid of being found by the man who’s searching for me.”

Striker picked at the lizard’s hide. “You never told me what he’s like.” Although his tone was nonchalant, Aries could see the muscles in his jaw tighten.

She’d never voiced her thoughts, not all of them. Not even to Tria. “His name’s Barliss. He’s controlling.”

Striker tested a piece of meat. “Don’t worry. I won’t let him find you.”

“No, you don’t understand. He’s bent on ambition. Closed minded, insecure, and self-centered.”

Striker stabbed another piece of lizard meat and handed it to her. “Wow, that bad, huh?”

Aries shook her head. She’d lost her appetite. “Yeah. And he’ll go to every extreme to find me, even if it means sacrificing some of the crew. His concern for humanity’s DNA isn’t going to outweigh his desire to pass on his own. If he doesn’t have me, the computer may not let him have anyone.”

“Listen, he’s going to have to get through me to get to you. I won’t let him get you, okay?”

Aries sighed. “That’s what I’m afraid of. He’ll kill you, Striker. I know it. I won’t have you die for me.”

“No one’s dying. You’re helping me find the last piece of my ship so we can get the hell out of here.” He stared at her with an intense gaze. “Besides, you’re worth any risk.”

A shot of heat ran through her. His compliment jump-started her heart. She wanted to ask him about the woman he’d loved, but she stopped, unable to form the right question. She envied her, whoever she was, this woman who’d once held Striker’s heart. Aries yearned to ease the pain this woman had caused him, just like he wanted to protect her. Could she be the woman to make him love again? Aries took a deep breath before pushing the issue.

“Any risk? But—I thought last night, when you said…?”

Striker ruffled his hair, the black waves resettling in such a way Aries longed to run her hands through them. “I said I didn’t want a lover. That doesn’t mean I don’t value your friendship. You’re special, Aries. You’re smart and kind. You want to help me save this dying species. You deserve better than Barliss, and I won’t let him have you.”

Aries wanted to scream at him,
If I deserve better than Barliss, why can’t I be with you?

The question rested on the tip of her tongue. Why couldn’t she spit it out?

Striker spoke before she could voice her thoughts. “Now, let’s have some breakfast, shall we?”

Aries sighed as disappointment overwhelmed her. She’d missed her chance. But maybe life was better this way. She couldn’t handle being rejected twice. She’d storm off into the desert alone, with no ride home. “Scrambled eggs and bacon?”

“More like scrambled scorpion and lizard-strips.”

“Sounds delicious.”

They ate and packed up camp, stuffing the tarp into Striker’s backpack. He smoothed over their indents on the side of the dune with his walking stick, then they followed the same path as the raiders.

Aries had to make sure her clothing covered every bit of her skin. Flakes peeled off her nose and arms from the previous day’s trek, and she didn’t want any more of her body to burn. Striker’s skin was darker than hers, tanned from his years of exposure. The way the sun hit his cheeks and forehead made his skin glow like he was some bronzed demigod. Again, she wished she could reach out and touch him, but after the scene last night, she decided against it, holding her hands close to her sides.

They climbed a plateau to a large plain. Spindly thickets of grass grew in patches and cactus rose in bulbous forms with sickly, sweet-smelling flowers and prickles the size of her hand.

“Don’t eat those.” Striker kicked one out of his way as it hung down. “They’re poisonous.”

“I wasn’t going to.” Aries turned in the direction they were headed. White structures littered the horizon like an abandoned city. Her eyes squinted against the glare of the sun as she peered out from underneath her raised hand. “What are those?”

Striker turned around and gave her a wistful smile. “That’s what I call the Sea of Bones.”

“Bones?”

Striker gestured ahead. “You’ll see.”

As they trekked closer, the white stalks poked out of the ground and curved around in patterns. Aries realized that they weren’t frames of buildings at all, but giant rib cages of massive beasts, sprawled out like some doomed migration, all heading the same way.

Aries stepped through the first skeleton, making sure not to trip on the bumps in the sand. “Jeez. What happened to them?”

Striker shrugged. “Climate change? Like the dinosaurs on Earth?”

The skeletons looked far nastier than any triceratops or tyrannosaurus. Their teeth curved out like a wire fence blasted with a laser gun, sharp as diamond points and as thick as her fingers The sockets where the eyes had been lay deeply sunk in each skull and slanted in an empty but still menacing predator’s stare.

Aries skirted around the skulls as if they’d come to life at any moment and swallow her whole. A great sense of futility washed over her with the transient nature of all things, large and small. The universe was a vast wasteland with small pockets of life, and even those pockets faded out like dying stars.