they’re going. Stay safe until then.
Survive
. Those instructions are taking on a whole new meaning, somehow. She bites her lip.
The three of them turn their backs on the pit, and once again Ana fights back tears. She can’t erase Chen’s face from her mind. She feels a touch on her arm and looks down to see Todd’s hand gripping her lightly. “You know you did everything you could for him, right? What happened to Chen”—he swallows—“is not your fault.”
Not your fault
. There’s something in those words that drives a white-hot poker through her belly, and for a second there’s a flash in her mind and she’s back at the grave, watching the dirt trickle down…. She shakes herself.
Brushing Todd’s arm aside, she pushes ahead of the others and starts across the wide, flat summit toward the far edge where they will make their descent. Toward the ocean, toward the colony, yes—but above all, away. Away from Chen and loss and madness and piercing slivers of memory that burrow into her broken mind and don’t let go.
As far away as she can get.
The summit is wider across than Ana had expected. But the pace she sets to cross it helps push some of the storm clouds out of her head. By the time she clears the far side of the peak, the fist in her chest has loosened slightly and she’s able to lean over, put her hands on her knees, and catch her breath.
When Ysa approaches, her eyes are fixed on the distant view, her face a mask of wonder. “Oh!” she whispers. She reaches for Ana’s arm and squeezes. “Just …”
The Maraqa Sea is like a glassy jewel, green and glimmering in the glow of the twin suns. Stretching to the edge of the pink horizon, it steals Ana’s words and makes quick tears spring to her eyes. It feels so strange to find this beauty here, so much at odds with the ugliness she has just seen. It can’t begin to make up for everything else. But …
But maybe
, she thinks, looking out across the sea to far-off scattered brown dots that must be islands.
Maybe it’s a start
. She wouldn’t call it a sign of hope—she’s not nearly that sentimental. But with this image of beauty to hold on to, maybe, she thinks, she can continue going forward.
Todd comes up behind them and Ana turns to give him her best I’m-holding-it-together smile. He exhales visibly. “Okay,” he says. “Okay, good.”
“Can we see the settlement from here?” Ana asks. “The colony?” The last discussion on this subject left a sour taste in her mouth, but that’s still their goal, the place where answers lie.
Todd seems unsure, looking off into the distance with brows furrowed. “I don’t think so,” he says.
Ysa waves an arm toward the distant shoreline, pointing off to the right. “It’s a little farther down the coast that way. Can’t see much from here.”
Ana contemplates the distance they have yet to cross. The sea is there, lapping the far horizon. Before this is a wide wasteland that she remembers from the map as a stretch of sand dunes. Before that is the mountain slope, rolling and tame at its base but growing steeper the higher it gets.
And immediately below them? The mountain just … drops away. Ana smiles.
“How …” Following the direction of Ana’s gaze, apparently, Ysa says with a quavering voice, “How are we going to get down
that
?”
Ana snaps into take-charge mode; something about themountain face draws it right out of her. She reaches behind her to pat the side of her pack. “We’ll be fine right here. We’ve got all we need and more,” she says.
“We’ll be using ropes, I guess,” Todd says. He’s already shrugging off his backpack, opening it up and looking for gear.
“Third pocket from the bottom left. There’s at least one compression block in there,” Ana says, distracted. There’s a faint flicker in her middle and she’s cupping both hands around it to keep it going and growing; she doesn’t know exactly what it means but she knows that
Survive
. Those instructions are taking on a whole new meaning, somehow. She bites her lip.
The three of them turn their backs on the pit, and once again Ana fights back tears. She can’t erase Chen’s face from her mind. She feels a touch on her arm and looks down to see Todd’s hand gripping her lightly. “You know you did everything you could for him, right? What happened to Chen”—he swallows—“is not your fault.”
Not your fault
. There’s something in those words that drives a white-hot poker through her belly, and for a second there’s a flash in her mind and she’s back at the grave, watching the dirt trickle down…. She shakes herself.
Brushing Todd’s arm aside, she pushes ahead of the others and starts across the wide, flat summit toward the far edge where they will make their descent. Toward the ocean, toward the colony, yes—but above all, away. Away from Chen and loss and madness and piercing slivers of memory that burrow into her broken mind and don’t let go.
As far away as she can get.
The summit is wider across than Ana had expected. But the pace she sets to cross it helps push some of the storm clouds out of her head. By the time she clears the far side of the peak, the fist in her chest has loosened slightly and she’s able to lean over, put her hands on her knees, and catch her breath.
When Ysa approaches, her eyes are fixed on the distant view, her face a mask of wonder. “Oh!” she whispers. She reaches for Ana’s arm and squeezes. “Just …”
The Maraqa Sea is like a glassy jewel, green and glimmering in the glow of the twin suns. Stretching to the edge of the pink horizon, it steals Ana’s words and makes quick tears spring to her eyes. It feels so strange to find this beauty here, so much at odds with the ugliness she has just seen. It can’t begin to make up for everything else. But …
But maybe
, she thinks, looking out across the sea to far-off scattered brown dots that must be islands.
Maybe it’s a start
. She wouldn’t call it a sign of hope—she’s not nearly that sentimental. But with this image of beauty to hold on to, maybe, she thinks, she can continue going forward.
Todd comes up behind them and Ana turns to give him her best I’m-holding-it-together smile. He exhales visibly. “Okay,” he says. “Okay, good.”
“Can we see the settlement from here?” Ana asks. “The colony?” The last discussion on this subject left a sour taste in her mouth, but that’s still their goal, the place where answers lie.
Todd seems unsure, looking off into the distance with brows furrowed. “I don’t think so,” he says.
Ysa waves an arm toward the distant shoreline, pointing off to the right. “It’s a little farther down the coast that way. Can’t see much from here.”
Ana contemplates the distance they have yet to cross. The sea is there, lapping the far horizon. Before this is a wide wasteland that she remembers from the map as a stretch of sand dunes. Before that is the mountain slope, rolling and tame at its base but growing steeper the higher it gets.
And immediately below them? The mountain just … drops away. Ana smiles.
“How …” Following the direction of Ana’s gaze, apparently, Ysa says with a quavering voice, “How are we going to get down
that
?”
Ana snaps into take-charge mode; something about themountain face draws it right out of her. She reaches behind her to pat the side of her pack. “We’ll be fine right here. We’ve got all we need and more,” she says.
“We’ll be using ropes, I guess,” Todd says. He’s already shrugging off his backpack, opening it up and looking for gear.
“Third pocket from the bottom left. There’s at least one compression block in there,” Ana says, distracted. There’s a faint flicker in her middle and she’s cupping both hands around it to keep it going and growing; she doesn’t know exactly what it means but she knows that
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