The twins guffawed and groaned their disgust.
“Do you have any, other than the bird?” I asked, but my voice was too soft, giving me away.
“Would you like that?” he asked as he leaned in closer.
“Okay,” Roddy said and moved to stand between us. “Mommy and Daddy need a time-out, yeah?”
“If Roddy doesn’t move, he’s going to get a time out,” Maxton growled. “Now,” he said when Roddy just looked at him.
“Bruh, you’ve got some major anger issues,” he told Maxton as he moved back toward his brother. “You should really see a doctor about that.”
Maxton slipped his arm around my waist. “I’ll just see the nurse instead,” Maxton joked and kissed my forehead.
Roddy groaned and ground his palms into his eyes, “I don’t know how much more of this I can take.”
“You’re just jealous, Roddy,” Fletch stage-whispered.
“No!” he yell-whispered back. “Okay, yes. Being in the resistance doesn’t give us many chances to meet the dames.”
“You’re telling me, brother.”
“You just did, Fletch.”
Fletch looked at his brother with annoyance on his face, his brow down, his lips pursed. “Come on, Roddy. You’re supposed to the smart one in this duo. What kind of line is that?”
“No, you’re supposed to be the smart one! Don’t dumb down on me now!”
“Quiet, you two,” Maxton said as he turned me in his arms, but kept my back there against his chest. We faced the crowds and the sentries who were running the shindig. It looked as if they were getting ready to declare a winner. I looked out at the expanse of the beach. There were sand castles as far as I could see around the bend, all shapes and sizes and meanings and people making them. Some were animals, some were robots, some were people, some landmarks and structures, some were actual castles.
Maxton rubbed his cheek once against mine from behind. “I lost track of the days out here like this. I had no idea it was Exodus Day.”
“Me neither.” I turned my head slightly. “It wasn’t good to be caught off guard.”
“No,” he agreed. “We’ll make sure we stay one step ahead from now on.” I nodded. “Are you all right?” he asked softly.
“This day just always gives me the creeps.”
He tightened his arms around my stomach before bringing one hand in a slow caress up my arm, landing on my cheek. He looked into my eyes as he pulled my face around to him and kissed my lips so softly. I felt his sigh against my mouth and thought right then and there that I knew exactly what my mother and father had felt for each other. My mother used to say love wasn’t something you could describe or tell someone about, it was something you had to feel for yourself. You had to wait until it was tangible and something you could grab onto. I never understood how a feeling could be tangible…until this moment.
This small, sweet kiss, with him checking on me to see if I was all right, a small press of the lips and nothing more, his fingers on my face, caressing in understanding and camaraderie of our existence on a planet where we no longer had a place, meant everything to me.
This moment was tangible, and I reached out and grabbed onto it with all I had. On some level I must have known that this would be our last tangible moment.
Because when I looked back to the crowd, someone stood and it all started to happen; a domino effect that they had planned for this day.
A man had made a single star in the red sand, the even redder ocean water was inching in to carry it away. He stood just as the sentry was about to announce the winner of the contest.
He yelled over the sentry, “I am not a wondering star!” then lifted his arm, throwing it out toward him. Something shot out and the sentry went down as soon as he was hit.
Fletch hissed and whispered. “We shouldn’t be here. We need to leave.”
“Those are your people?” I asked.
“We didn’t know they were doing something like this today. We haven’t been home in a while.”
“What’s wrong?” Maxton asked hastily, but before Fletch could answer, we heard another person on the beach yell “I am not a wondering star!” and then another and another. We looked and saw them spread out down the sand, taking down a nearby sentry as they yelled.
“Is he dead?” I asked as I looked down at the man prone in the sand.
“It’s a stun gun. Like on Star Wars.”
“You mean Star Trek, bro,” Roddy jumped in.
“Right you are. I always get those mixed up.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked, no longer able to keep in my annoyance for their antics.
“Don’t tell me you don’t know what Star Trek is? First the Snoop and now this? What kind of savior are you?”
“Roddy!” Fletch scolded. “And it’s a stun dart, not a gun.”
I was beyond over it. “Why do we have to leave?” I said through clenched teeth. “You said we shouldn’t be here.”
“Oh, right. When they have an issue at a public assembly like this, they do an—”
The electromagnetic pulse powered through the crowd like a wave. It was then I knew exactly what the twins had meant. With the EMP going off, our face scramblers wouldn’t work anymore. Everyone could see our faces right now if they were looking. I quickly turned to face Maxton who leaned down into my space as the Night On Bare Mountain by Mussorgsky began to play over the speakers.
“It’s okay,” he soothed, running his hand up and down my spine, but the haunting, classical musical playing all around us was setting me on edge. Nothing about this felt right. We needed to leave. Now. “It’s okay,” he reiterated a little bit harder to make his point. “We’ll figure this out.” He moved only his eyes up to the twins. “Any ideas, guys? Now’s your big chance to show off.”
The twins looked at each other and nodded once. They said at the same time. “Flank formation.”
Roddy took up the front, then Maxton was next, taking my hand to tug me along—be still my heart—and Fletch took up the back. We began to move through the tight crowd as people sat there simmering in their worry and unrest about what had happened and what they should do.
I gripped Maxton’s hand tight as I kept my head down. He squeezed my hand back in reassurance. The people around us had stopped moving and it made for getting through them very difficult. I heard Maxton mutter, “What’s going on?”
Roddy said, “The Militia’s blocking the street. They’re checking everyone.”
Maxton tensed. “It’s mandatory. They’re using Exodus Day to flush us out.” He peeked back at me with a grim expression. “They’re checking every zone as people leave, I bet.”
“That’s why,” Fletch said with realization coloring his voice. “That’s why they planned the Wondering Star mobs today. They were trying to create a diversion for us. They knew they’d be looking for us today as we travelled home and we’d have to come here because it was mandatory. But it just wasn’t enough.”
Even now we looked to see the sentries still lying in the sand, no one tending to them.
When I looked ahead of us, all I could see was a sea of people who would turn me over to the Militia in a second, and sentries ahead who knew exactly what I looked like, ready to take me away.
Chapter Sixteen
or·bit - the curved path of a celestial object or spacecraft around a star, planet, or moon, especially a periodic elliptical revolution.
Maxton
“Soph.” I tugged a little bit harder. “Sweet, come on.” She finally looked over, a little startled from her trance. She was on the verge of a freak-out. I could see it. I understood it. Keeping her hand in mine, I inched back and put my forehead against hers. “Just hang on to my hand and don’t let go.” I wouldn’t promise her that it would all be all right, because it could very well be very not all right. But either way, I’d be there beside her, my hand in hers. We’d be not all right together if that was the case. I was going to do everything in my p
ower to get us out of this crowd in one piece, together.
I pulled back and was satisfied to see her take a deep breath to calm herself, knowing that breath of wasted oxygen wasn’t wasted at all, and turned back around to Roddy. “As inconspicuously as you can, let’s turn this train to the left and see if we can’t make for the bridge under the waves there. If we get asked where we’re going, I’ll snatch up Soph and we’ll say our friend is sick.”
“Good plan.” He looked at Soph. “You good with that, boss?” She stared at him for a few seconds before nodding. It was then he started to make his way to the bridge. It was about two stories high and the waves were being kept from spilling over the side by a holographic force field. So the waves pounded up the hill to the top of the bridge and then went back out to sea.
The crowd had begun to disperse once we got closer to the bridge. The pounding waves were so loud, it was hard to think. It looked so eerie to watch the red waves beat against the sand, like a battle was being fought where blood was spilled.
I could only pray it wasn’t a warning.
Chapter Seventeen
pa·tri·ot - a person who vigorously supports their country and is prepared to defend it against enemies or detractors at any costs. Also known as a nationalist or loyalist.
Sophelia
Just as we reached the edge of the bridge, I saw a star sand castle. I looked back to get a good look at it. That was when he saw me. The man beside the star castle came forward so quickly, all I could do was gasp, but Maxton must have heard me somehow, or felt me tense. He yanked me behind him as the man made his way to us.
“He recognized me,” I muttered miserably into the back of Maxton’s shoulder.
His fingers rubbed against mine as he asked the man in a bark, “What do you want?”
The young, burly, black-haired guy with a small beard smirked and waved him off. “Don’t worry. I’m a Wondering Star. Or.” He rolled his eyes. “I am not a wondering star. You get my drift. I’m a patriot.”
“Show us,” Fletch barked.
The man bristled and stood up straighter. “You show me yours.”
Fletch crossed his arms. “I asked first. And I ain’t the one scaring the lady.”
His eyes found me behind Maxton and searched me. He sighed as if he just realized what he was doing. He yanked up his sleeve quickly and showed his tattoo. It was scarred. It had been sliced through a few times. “It ain’t pretty anymore, but it’s still there. Sorry, Miss Sophelia. I wasn’t trying to scare you.”
“It’s fine,” I whispered.
“No, it’s not,” Maxton said and glared at him. “What do you want?”
“Just to get Miss Sophelia to the safe zone. We knew you’d be coming through one of the zones near here and that you’d need a distraction since they were going to be checking every citizen leaving the celebration.”
“Your distraction didn’t work out very well,” Maxton told him.
“What was your plan to get her out, exactly?” the guy asked and took a step forward. “Because it looks like you’re about to get her—”
“My plan,” Maxton spoke up, “isn’t over yet.” He retook my hand and pulled me along. “Come on, sweet. Let’s get you somewhere safe.”
I shook my head. Was Maxton…jealous? I think he was reading way too much into it if he thought he had anything to worry about with someone else. I mean, had he seen himself? Maxton was the sweetest man I’d ever come in contact with. But it was awfully cute to see anyway. I couldn’t help but smile a little on the inside at Maxton’s possessiveness. It was pretty adorable. I felt most safe with Maxton and I didn’t foresee that changing. It was then I noticed that my inside grin had manifested on the outside. I touched my cheek. How was it even in the grimmest of times, I was still able to find joy?
Maxton turned back to check on me and was surprised to find me smiling. He smiled back cautiously. “What is it?”
“You.”
I knew the twins and the new guy were behind us, but he stopped in the middle of the crowd, the red sand under our feet, the bridge to my right.
“What about me put that smile on your face?” he whispered, leaning in with his hands tight on my back, begging for an answer.
“The list of things about you that didn’t put a smile on my face would be shorter.”
His smile turned absolutely blinding as he looked down at me.
“That was a good answer, sweet.”
“Wasn’t it?” I grinned.
He leaned in and kissed me, just once. “You’re getting good at this,” he whispered against my lips.
“At what?” I said breathlessly.
He smiled at me as he leaned away. “Being one half of a whole. We’re a team now, you and me.”
It stunned me how accurate that statement was. I was getting good at it. In fact, thinking about going back to being just me alone made me feel so empty. I gripped his hand tightly as he tugged me along until we came to a couple vendors who were packing up. They had been selling water and juice containers to the beach-goers.
Maxton stopped and let some people go past us before turning and looking at me. “Will you stay with the twins while I go take care of something?”
I wanted to ask, like really wanted to ask, but I nodded.
He kissed my forehead. “I’ll be right back,” he muttered against my skin, causing my eyes to close. He looked at Fletch. “She’s on you now.”
“We’ve got her,” he promised.
He nodded quickly once and then sprinted over to the vendor. They began talking. I watched them, trying to figure out what Maxton’s end game was.
“Your boyfriend’s attitude is terrible.”
I shook my head with a scoff and looked back at the man who had joined our group, for only a second. “You’re only saying that because his ire was directed at you. When it’s directed at the enemy, it’s very useful. You should have announced yourself a little sooner, buddy.” When I heard nothing, I looked over to find him gaping at me. I shrugged. “What?”
“People are usually…afraid of me.”
I looked at him objectively. “It’s the muscles. You can be very intimidating, I imagine.”
“But you’re not afraid.” He said this like he was saddened by the fact he couldn’t make me shake in fear.
“Nope. That ship has sailed. Sorry.”
“Okay,” Maxton said as he came back and took my hand, “I’ve got your way out. Come on.”
He explained the vendor was out of beverages and was taking his cart back to his shop. He would be going through the sentry checkpoint just like the rest of us, but he would let me get inside his cart and hide through the checkpoint for an undetermined amount that Maxton had worked out on his own.
“Just tell me what you’re giving him to do this.”
He sighed. “It doesn’t matter.”
“It does to me.”
“It’s a favor someone owed me. I’m calling it in. That’s all. It’s part of the life I left behind. But don’t worry. They’ll both be getting what they want out of the deal.” He tugged me. “Come on.”
We reached the older vendor and he eyed me up and down. “Oh, yeah. She’ll fit.”
Maxton gave him a dull look. “I know she will. You can keep your comments to yourself.”
He raised his hands. The new guy who had joined our group gave me a look that said See! as I turned to face Maxton. “Are you okay?” I asked.
“Me?” he scoffed. “Am I okay?”
“Well, you’re biting everyone’s head off.”
He sighed long and hard. “I don’t like this. I don’t like it at all. I don’t like the fact that all these people are showing up out of nowhere, staking claim to you. I don’t like the fact that we’re blind as far as the Militia is concerned. I don’t like that fact that one misstep, it goes wrong, and they could take you and… I don’t like the fact that you’ve been on this planet this whole time and I could have known you.”
I su
cked in a startled breath. “Maxton.”
“This is not goodbye, or any other version of farewell you can come up with. That’s just me simply stating the facts. I don’t like this. But I don’t have a choice, so I’ll put you in this box and walk beside you all the way until we get beyond the sentries, and then we’ll get you out of there and begin our journey again.”
“Why do I get to go into the box? They know your face, too.”
He shook his head. “They know your face more. And I don’t have a bounty on me. I’m just wanted.”
“I’m not going to be able to stay in there and think about them snatching you while I’m safe and sound inside.” I steeled my voice. “No, Maxton.”
He smirked. He actually smirked right now. “There she is.”
“There who is?” But I knew exactly what the next words out of his mouth would be.
“The girl I met on the ship. The girl who fought a handful of men on a rooftop. The girl who’s evaded an entire planet full of people looking for her. The girl who has tried to fight me at every turn until she could no longer resist.”
A little scoff-laugh slipped through my lips causing the side of his lip to tilt up. “If I recall, it was you who tried to fight me off the first time,” I spouted back, putting my hands on my hips, remembering that first kiss and the misunderstandings that stemmed from it.
“Oh!” I heard Fletch mutter off to the side. “That’s totally hot.”
Maxton ignored him and smiled a little wider. “And what a stupid mistake that was.” He stepped toward me until our boots were touching. “I promise you it’s one I won’t make again.”
I nodded, not realizing I was shaking until Maxton’s hands rubbed my arms to soothe me. Knowing our banter was winding down and the plan was about to be put into play made my heart ache in a way it never had. I didn’t understand it, even to put a name on it. He pressed his lips to my forehead. “Shhh. I’m not the important one in this scenario. You are. People need you, are waiting for you. You have to find out what your mom’s sacrifice was all about.” A huff of pain-filled breath released from my lips. “I’ll be right outside the whole time. I won’t go anywhere.”