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19

ROSI

The world turned upside down,literally. We were in free fall, and somehow Austin had a hold of me. I opened my mouth to scream again, and his tongue swept inside—hot, desperate, and savage. The kiss left me dizzier than the plummeting hellipod. Everything he’d been trying to say went into the physical act. I felt his passion, despair, and anguish as completely as I’d ever felt my own. And I kissed him back, sucking, biting, and sloppy as tears ran down my face. Then he pulled back, held my head and looked at me, eyes searching for forgiveness.

I needed to know who he’d hurt that made him so afraid of getting close but realized I might never have that chance. Before I could tell him I forgave him, we crashed.

Blinding white burst over the entire surface of the interior as airbags exploded around us. The pain was everywhere at once as our bodies bounced around the spherical pod like we’d been shoved in a clothes dryer and put on speed dry. Austin’s body held tightly to mine, taking the brunt of the force each time we smashed into surprisingly hard surfaces. His hands protected my head, yet the jarring was still so intense my vision shook along with my brain. When it finally stopped, I was sobbing on top of him, clawing at his chest, and he’d released his hold.

After a minute of not moving, I raised my head to assess the damage. Austin lay spread out beneath me, unmoving, pale, and unconscious. I shook his jacket, screamed his name, but he didn’t respond.

“No. No, no, no, no, no.” I climbed over him, yanking the glove from my hand despite the cold air coming in from some leak or another. I shoved my fingers against his pulse point. Please be okay, I silently begged him.

It took a moment to find it, but it was there, a slow thump that pressed back against my fingers. He was alive.

I shoved my glove back on and scrambled around the space, now resembling more of a padded cell in which someone had set off a bomb. I located our balaclavas, dark against the white background. His backpack was trapped beneath an inflated bag and a portion of what had been the bench. I yanked mine loose from where it had caught on the ragged remains of shredded white material covering the snack bin. It was salvageable. We might need those snacks now, so I took the remains of material aside and pulled out as many hydropods as possible before shoving them in my sack.

“Computer,” I called as I worked. “Can you get us back to the resort?”

A high-pitched screech made me wince before the soft female voice came from all around. “Negative. The engine is damaged. Calling for emergency backup.”

“Thank heaven,” I said, sitting back on my knees. “Tell them someone is injured. Maybe badly.” I bit back the tears as I chewed on a stray curl sticking out of my hastily replaced mask.

“Unable to contact resort. Communications function no longer accessible.”

“There has to be something you can do in case of emergency,” I said, checking Austin over for obvious injuries. When I rolled him over to his side, I found the beginnings of a goose-egg on the back of his skull. What was it with me and my friends getting head injuries?

“Medical supply cabinet open,” said the computer. “Emergency backup systems unavailabbbbbbllllle.”

Great.I scavenged for bandages and cleansing supplies and soon had Austin’s head wrapped up like he was part mummy. I swept all the pressure injectors available into my bag except for one stimulant. At least I’d have all the pain meds and anti-inflammatories I could ever want. The sun was low on the horizon, and I needed Austin’s expertise if we were going to survive in the arctic.

“Sorry,” I told him before depressing the button of the stimulant into his neck. The hiss of the meds deploying filled the pod, and I waited, holding my breath until his head lolled to one side then the other.

Wincing, he sat up too fast and cupped the back of his head with his hand. “Ow.”

“Take it easy,” I said. “We crashed, and you’ve been hurt.”

“I can tell,” he said with another gasp as he righted himself completely. “Are you okay?”

Was I? I took stock and nodded.

He leaned toward me and immediately winced.

“What can I do?” I asked, stopping short of grabbing his arm for fear of making it worse.

“Any RR injectors by chance?” he asked, rolling his shoulder and grimacing. “It’s not broken, but I need to be able to move and carry supplies if need be.”

I dug in my bag and handed one of the Rapid Recovery pressure injectors to him with trembling hands. I should’ve done that first. Judging by the tension around his eyes, he was hiding quite a bit of pain. I was terrible at this.

“Hey, it’s okay,” he said, taking it from me. He injected himself with a cringe and held my shaking hand. “We’re alive. We made it through the most dangerous part. The rest will be easy.”

But his grin was the one he used on the news vids, and not the real one. Still, I wanted to believe him, and it wouldn’t do either of us any good if I freaked out.

“You did great, Rosi. Thank you.” He squeezed my hand and got to his knees.

“Thanks. The computer said no engine, no communication, no emergency backup system,” I reported.

“Normally, next step would be to scavenge for supplies,” he said, eyeing his pack.