The desert is doing its best to reclaim the territory. Bri was right. This place is in rough condition. In a few more years, it might be completely buried by sand.
Across the way, a building with an intact roof and solid walls stands out like a beacon.
It takes multiple attempts at slamming my full weight against the door to get it open. The rusted metal hinges fight me every inch of the way. Cabinets line the walls of the square room. I wipe away a layerof grime from the windows, letting enough light in to see what sits in the far corner of the room.
A comms system.
I brush off a thick layer of dust and expose the flat, shiny surface of the control panel. I tap the touch screen to turn it on.
Nothing.
I run my finger along the edge of the flat panel, looking for the reboot switch. I toggle it back and forth a few times. Still nothing.
I pull the access panel loose and set it aside, then lower myself to the floor and slide under the desk. Sand trickles down as I reach up into the exposed wiring and start sorting through the mess.
This is going to take a while.
I picture Bri stepping out of the shower and finding out help is already on the way. That image alone makes me move faster. The work is tedious. Tangled up wires and fragile circuit boards, but I don't mind it. Not for her.
FIFTY
Bri
Ishouldn’t be disappointed Tai didn’t join me in the shower, but I am. I shamelessly got naked and tried my best seductive pose under the water. I ran my hands down the sides of my body. And the guy left without a second look.
How does he know I’m safe in here? I could have been attacked by a giant sand worm or taken hostage by some creepy alien. Apparently, all he cares about is getting off this planet and subsequently away from me.
I should be focused on it as well, but there will be something bittersweet about leaving this place. It’s been a crazy adventure from start to finish. And Tai and I have… Well, I don’t exactly know what has happened between us, but I’m not particularly fond of the idea of going back to how things were before.
I shake out my dress as best as I can before putting it back on and heading out to find him. Across the way, I hear banging around and cursing.
“You okay out there?” I call out to him.
“Yep. Everything’s great!” he calls back, which is followed by a grunt and a crash.
I follow the sounds. Tai’s occasional curse and clang guide me to a small building in perfect condition.
Tai’s long legs stick out from under some machinery. I spot the unmistakable hologram projector over the flat control panel.
“A comms system?! Holy fuck!”
This machine hasn’t been used in decades, but this old, reliable tech could be the miracle we have been looking for! I marvel at the serendipity of it all. My brothers rescued an old system like this from a garbage pile. We spent months getting it working again. We even got a brief signal out to the moon colony before the thing shorted out.
Tai tosses the old motherboard to the side. It lands in a pile of electrical components.
“Just a few adjustments, and we should be back in business,” he says. Another piece goes flying across the room.
“Here, let me help,” I offer and join him under the unit.
“I got this.”
“Do you even know what you’re doing? This tech was used on Earth more recently than j’Tilak. Let me take a look.” I lie on my back next to him, taking inventory of what we’ve got to work with.
A thick layer of sand is caked onto hundreds of differently colored cables. Broken wires hang limply around Tai’s hands while he works to loosen another part.
“I said, I got this,” he says and yanks hard on the green circuit board. It snaps in half with a crack. The tiny noise reverberates through me, dousing my hope for a speedy rescue.
A neat trickle of sand pours from the broken piece right onto his face. The only visible movement is the slow clench of his jaw. He lets go, seeming to accept the sand as his punishment for breaking the only piece of tech that could save us.
