Too bad Lady Luck’s so often a bitch.
“How come he doesn’t have to use it?” Hit jerks her head toward Vel.
“He was kind enough to let me borrow his fingerprints before we left,” Vel says as he steps out.
“I’m fine,” she says, when Hit tries to help guide the sled. “I got this.”
“You okay?” I step closer as she switches the sled back to chair configuration.
“I gotta get out of this thing,” she tells me, jaw set. “Or I’ll kill somebody.”
He’s
my
pilot, and I have to fly without him soon.
“Do our best to step lightly,” I say. “Check.”
“Because there’s a storm coming.” Vel flashes his handheld.
“Damn, it’s cold.” I don’t realize I’ve spoken aloud until I see his smirk.
“You should really keep a coat in that pack.”
“You should really fuck off and die.”
“Then who’ll save your ass when you panic over a bit of barbecue?”
“If everyone you give a shit about is gone, sounds more like a curse.”
That startles me. I don’t offer confirmation that he’s right, though. I don’t want to talk.
More than March even. I’m sure he knows that. That’s what happens when you love a junkie.
I feel like a prisoner of war.
“You holding up all right?” Jael asks, well after I’ve lost track of how long we’ve been walking.
“Not really,” he answers. “I’m just making small talk.”
“I have a better idea.
No
talk. That’s been working like a charm for hours.”
Ahead, Dina asks Vel, “How much farther?”
“Four kilometers due west from here,” Vel answers. “We’ll find a hangar.”
That was a long time, another lifetime, ago.
“Why borrow trouble?” Jael shakes his head and sighs.
“I never
borrow
it. That implies it wasn’t mine to start with.”
“It’s a good question,” Hit puts in quietly. “And I’d like it answered.”
Shit, if I can do all that, why don’t I just
wish
us off this rock?
Nothing but open plains from here on out.
Please let us get there safely.
Please let Dina’s sled hold out.
Because I don’t think I can go another step.