Strange Skies by Kristi Helvig

glowing.”
    Yeah, James would never be accused of being verbose but I was still surprised he had talked about me at all. Getting him to string more than a few sentences together constituted a miracle.
    “Hey there, remember me?”
    The pilot who’d rescued Alec and me from the beach joined us, standing near Edgar. “Sure, good to see you again, Max.” At least some faces were friendly.
    A girl with straight blond hair stepped forward timidly. “I’ve heard so much about you,” she said. “It’s great to meet you. I’m Reed.”
    Sonya snorted.
    “Hi, Reed.” When I shook her hand, she leaned in and whispered in my ear, “Don’t worry about Sonya.”
    I smiled and resisted the urge to tell her that Sonya was the one who should be worried. “So when do we meet again? Do we need to do anything?”
    James cleared his throat. “You just need to stay safe and keep your ears open. We’ll meet back here same time tomorrow.”
    Edgar nodded. “I think we’re almost ready, sir … with or without Kale, no disrespect. It sounds like a Consulate search is coming sooner rather than later.”
    I’d prefer never having to set eyes on Kale again, but I still had to find my father’s guns. I wasn’t sure exactly how to destroy them yet, but I’d think of something.
    James studied Edgar. “We’ll give Kale another few days; still you’re right that we need a backup plan. Let me think and we’ll discuss it at the next meeting.” He turned to me. “We should get going.”
    The group dispersed and James turned to Sonya. “Are you on board, or what?”
    She twirled her hair. “Of course, you’re the leader. I’m just one of your minions. That’s all I’ll ever be, right?” Pain flashed through her eyes before the defiance returned and she stormed out the door.
    “She’s pleasant,” I said. “Might want to vet your minions a little more carefully in the future.”
    James touched my arm and a shiver ran through me. “Don’t worry about her. She and her brother were reallyclose. She’s just looking for someone to blame.”
    We headed out the door, and I was still awestruck by the beauty of the vibrant flowers and trees. I hoped we could take care of the Consulate and Kale once and for all, because I never wanted to leave this place.
    “Are we headed back to Markus and Alec?” I asked.
    James shook his head. “Not yet. I need to talk to a few of the men stationed at the bar first. It’ll only take a few minutes.”
    What I wanted to say was that he needed to talk to me and explain some things. Instead, I said, “Sure, no problem.”
    He told me that some soldiers were always on guard outside to watch for Consulate ships. So far, none had been spotted on this side of the planet, but if Alec was right, that would change very soon. We reached the bar and he squeezed my arm. “Be right back.”
    He walked over to two men standing near the side of the bar. They bent their heads in conversation with James, and I studied the sinking light in the sky. I’d spent so many years underground in the bunker that I’d barely known the difference between light and dark then anyway, aside from the screeching of the night storms.
    “Tora! Come here.” Reed was leaning out of a small makeshift window.
    James was still in deep conversation with the men, so I ducked into the bar’s entrance. Reed was sitting with some of the people I’d seen at the meeting. She patted the benchnext to her. The others nodded at me and smiled as I sat down.
    I smiled back. “I only have a few minutes.”
    Reed pushed a mug my way. “Here, have some water. Isn’t that cool to say? ‘Have some water.’ I can’t even believe I’m living on a planet where there’s water to drink everywhere. We’ve been here a few months now, but it still feels like heaven.”
    I took a long sip from the mug. She was right. Chronic thirst had been a staple in my life. A place where I could drink water anytime I wanted sounded like heaven to me too.