Runner is walking ahead of me. I told him I can walk just fine. He knows I’m lying, but he lets me be. I don’t know what’s going on with me. Nothing makes sense anymore. Everything is jumbled.
He stops and extracts the SatPad from the side pocket of his pants, again. Every few minutes, he tries to contact Kat. She never answers. He pretends to wait for her reply, but in truth, he waits for me to catch up. My injured leg annoys the heck out of me.
About an hour ago, he climbed a tall tree and scanned the coast, checking to see if the BSA had dropped anchor at Gonggang, but the harbour was empty. We have no idea where everyone is.
‘—get the railgun back in position!’ screeches from somewhere. Stunned, I lift my head. Runner is rooted to the spot. Commands echo from his SatPad.
‘Kat? Kat! What’s going on?’
‘Runner? What the hell—’
The noise of a nearby detonation cuts her off. Swaying, she comes back into view. Behind her, people are flitting in and out of focus, shouting, hammering on keypads.
‘Where are you?’ Runner asks.
‘Southern tip, right at the bay. The BSA has three destroyers — we sunk only one of them — the rusty one they let us see days ago. Shit, Runner, we stepped right into their trap. Our ships are all down. This one is sinking. We’re losing the battle.’
Ask her about the temperature of the reactor, trails across the screen.
Runner’s face loses colour. He sits down heavily. ‘Kat? What’s the temperature of the reactor?’
‘What?’ she shouts.
The nuclear power plant, not the ship’s reactor.
‘What the fuck?’ I whisper. No one hears me.
‘Kat, listen to me. Check the temperature of the nuclear power plant with an IR sensor. Now!’
Kat doesn’t ask why, she just turns away and yells a command at someone, then says, ‘We thought you were dead. Micka sent a text message…’
‘What? When was that? I didn’t send anything.’
She has no time to answer. The ship tilts and groans, metal screeches, and Kat is ripped from view.
‘Kat?’ Runner and I shout simultaneously.
No one replies. Runner points to one of the large windows where the deep blue ocean is gushing through.
A stranger’s face pushes into view, he squints at us. Blood is trickling from a cut above his eyebrow. ‘Did you ask us to check the temperature of the reactor?’
‘Yes, I did,’ Runner answers. ‘Anything out of the—’
‘All reactors are in meltdown. The walls are hot and about to blow. Did you do this?’
‘What? No!’ I shout. ‘We have—’
The live-stream is cut off, the screen turns black. Runner makes a noise as if someone kicked his chest.
It is time, Mickaela, crawls across the SatPad.
‘For what?’ I ask, and Runner raises his hand to type it for me.
But Erik is faster. ‘I can hear you.’
‘W-why?’ is all I manage.
Because I can.
I open my mouth, but Runner grabs my hand and tugs at it. I look at him. He shakes his head no, then says, ‘You said it’s time. For what?’
I’ll not speak with you, Arab.
‘Fuck you,’ I growl, bend down and whisper in Runner’s ear, ‘What does Arab mean?’
He looks up at me; his eyes are warm as his palm brushes my cheek. ‘It is a reference to my home country. Ask him what he wants, Micka.’
‘What do you want, shitstick?’
The reply comes quickly. It’s not so much about what I want. Despite your lack of respect, I’ll be generous and give you two options. One: you stay with your comrade and die a rather gruesome death. As you know already, the nuclear power plant is in meltdown. The hydrogen buildup will cause a detonation that’ll contaminate the entire southern part of Taiwan and the northern half of the Philippines. It’ll happen any moment now. Neither of our forces has enough time to leave the shore. For now, you are protected by the mountains. The shockwave can’t reach you, but the fallout will. Highly radioactive dust will rise up into the atmosphere and precipitate as black rain. It’ll coat your skin and your lungs. Your body will die. You will watch it falling apart and there’ll be nothing you can do about it. No cure. Am I making myself clear enough?
‘Clear,’ Runner says.
Nothing happens until I repeat, ‘Clear.’
Perfect. Now, about that second option.
The earth trembles. A keening sounds from afar, then a deep groan and the sound of an entire forest being ripped from the soil. Runner stands and we look south, but see nothing. Trees and mountains are blocking our view. I slip my hand into his and he answers by curling his arm around my waist. ‘Can you see it?’ he asks.
‘No.’
‘There.’ He points. I strain my eyes and there it is — a ball of fire rising up, as massive as a mountain, swallowing clouds where it touches them, pushing a ring of smoke and steam aside and rolling it around, rising higher and spreading farther and wider. It’s terrible and beautiful — the fist of an angry god.
And then the fury takes control. ‘You killed my friends!’ I cry at the small machine. ‘You killed all my friends!’
Not quite yet.
I shut my mouth. My hands are sweaty and cold.
My apologies, we were interrupted. This is option number two: You come to me.
I can’t help but grin. Of course, I’ll do him the favour!
If you would now, step out into the small clearing west of you, so I can see you better.
‘Why did you do this?’ Runner asks. I repeat the question for him.
The balance needed to be restored. Many good men have perished. But now, information, force, and technologies are in the hands of both sides. The final battle can begin.
None of this makes any sense to me.
You have only two hours left, Mickaela. I recommend you stop talking and start walking.
‘I’ll not leave Runner here to die.’
Your decision.
Runner shakes his head, eyebrows drawn low, lips a compressed line.
Step out into the clearing, now.
I look at Runner. He says nothing, just nods at the clearing as we both pick up our rucks and walk the few paces, gazing up at the ripped open sky. The word “slaughtered” comes to my mind. It tastes of metal, blood, and guts.
Very good. Three kilometres north of you is an airstrip. My helicopter will wait for precisely 115 minutes more. You come alone. You walk where I can see you. The Arab stays where he is, in full view. If he moves, the helicopter will leave the island without you and you’ll both die. Should you consider attempting an assault, you had better commit suicide now and spare yourself the walk.
‘I will kill you,’ I growl.
You will not, because you want to survive.
‘Never heard anything so stupid. “Run to the BSA to survive.” Sure. What do you want?’
What every father wants with his daughter: to shape her to his liking.
‘Fuck you! You don’t know me!’ I snap at the machine.
‘We will consider it,’ Runner says and switches the machine off.
A weak, ‘What?’ escapes my lips.
He stuffs the SatPat deep into his ruck, stands, and dips his head at me.
‘Hey Micka,’ he says softly and takes my face into his hands. He runs his thumbs over my temples and smiles. My heart contracts and I could die right this moment. His gaze slips down to my lips, his index finger follows. ‘You could end this, now.’ He lowers his head, and kisses me and I wonder if I should do it — crack the pearl and let us die together. I brush my tongue against his, let the pearl click against his teeth, and I know I can’t kill him. Softly, I bite his lower lip and lay my forehead against his chest.
‘I have this one chance,’ I hear myself say. My voice sounds as if it comes from far away. This is my call, not his. I’m surprised I can see so many possibilities where other people might only see their own ends.
‘There’s the easy way out,’ I begin. ‘Crack the pearl, die here and show Erik my middle finger because I know he’s watching.’
‘There’s the stupid way out,’ Runner says. ‘We hide, hope that Erik wants you badly enough to search for you, then we take him down and capture the helicopter.’
‘Yeah, that sounds like it’ll work.’
We chuckle. That would be an idiotic mission.
‘Or…’ he begins and I finish, ‘…I deliver my payload.’
‘Yes,’ he whispers.
‘Under one condition.’
He breathes into my hair, his calloused hand resting warm against my neck. ‘Okay,’ he says, and pulls back to look at me.
‘Promise me.’
‘I promise.’
‘You don’t even know what it is!’
‘I don’t see a reason to refuse you, whatever it is you want from me.’
‘I want you to survive.’
He shakes his head, about to reply. I raise my hand to his mouth. ‘Ssshhh. Listen, please. The observatory is not far from here, you can make it before the rain.’ I nod at the storm rolling in from the west. ‘The amplifier we hid there — use it. Call for help, get out of here. Tell them what’s happened.’
He laughs. It’s a bitter sound. ‘The detonation must have created an electromagnetic pulse that fries all electronic equipment out in the open.’
‘The SatPad is still working,’ I point out. ‘The observatory is more than sixty kilometres from the power plant and there is a lot of rock in between. Mountains! Fuck, Runner, don’t give up now. If you give up, why would I keep fighting? What for? What about your daughter? She needs you.’ I’m so frustrated, I could kick his shin.
‘And you, Micka? You can get direct access to the man who controls the BSA, their communications, and intelligence. Will you poison yourself and him when you step into his machine and make a quick end of it, or will you try to make the best of the opportunities you get?’
I wonder what opportunities I could possibly get from a man who sends his own men to certain death.
‘I don’t give a shit about my own life. But dammit, Runner, if you dare sacrifice yourself…’ I swallow and press my fist to his heart. ‘If you don’t run really fast up that damn hill and hole yourself up in the observatory and call for an airlift, I’ll crush that toxic implant as soon as Erik and I are in the air. I swear.’
‘Are we holding each other hostage?’
I uncurl my fist and lay my palm flat against his chest. ‘Yes. As long as you stay alive, I will, too. Promise me.’
He places his hand over mine. His heartbeat is a deep rumble. Inside rages a silent war between power and weakness, despair and hope.
I squeeze my eyes shut and memorise the flavours of his names. A tear skids down my cheek. He curls his arms around me. How painfully short time can be when one wishes for an eternity. All too soon, he steps away from me.
‘Micka, with the sunset hair and the desert skin,’ he whispers. ‘You have to hurry.’
‘When you hear the helicopter taking off, you run.’
He gives me a single nod.
I squeeze his hand and turn away.