Page 118 of Bound By Stars
Next to the row of abandoned docking stations, she spins back, and I envelop her.
Tears stream down her face. “What are you doing? You should have gone. I told you to go!”
“Too late now.” I hold her wet face in my hands.
“I thought you were smart, Jupe. Why the hell would you—”
I kiss her like I almost lost her again. Like it’s the only way I can say I can’t live without her. Then, gasping for air, I touch my forehead to hers. “We’ll figure it out.”
A thunderingboomshakes the floor underneath us. Another explosion.
Over the speakers in the bay, a robotic voice, the tone dipping and crackling, announces, “Escape…escape p-pod release initiat-ted.”
I scan the row of sealed doors. All the pods have left. If those doors open, there’s only space behind them.
We stumble and run for the stairwell. I pass the threshold behind Weslie as twobeeps sound. The doors where pods are no longer attached twist open, sucking air and people out of the ship. I grip the wall. We’re pinned to either side of the door, air streaming past us. I hit the control and seal us in. On the other side, there are no screams, no more tearing, no sound at all.
I slip down the wall, hugging my knees.
They’re all dead. My parents could have saved all of those people and now they’re just gone.
My chest heaves with panting breaths.
Weslie cups my face in her cold palms.
I can’t get enough oxygen. There’s not enough oxygen.
Her voice sounds far away. “Jupiter. Breathe with me.”
I follow her lead, finally taking a full breath. The stabbing ache in my chest dulls.
“The ship is malfunctioning. And it’s only going to get worse.” She pulls me up off the floor. “We have to move. Now.”
I nod and we race up the stairs.
On the next level, the doorway is still crammed with angry people, but the platform is no longer packed. Most of the other passengers must have got through or given up. Or worse. My eyes flick toward the cavern between the stairs, the scream of the person who fell trying to follow me across echoing in my head.
We squeeze by to get to the next flight of stairs. At the back of the landing, Skye and Asha are trying to shove through.
“It’s no use.” I grab Skye’s shoulder as she hurtles toward the congestion for a second time.
We all race up the abandoned stairs. Another level above the pod bay, Curran is propped against ILSA with Tar under his free arm. He smiles at me, but his face goes even grayer when he looks at Weslie.
She pauses in front of them, staring into Curran’s face and clenching her jaw.
“What’s going on?” I look between the two.
“Nothing. Let’s keep moving.” Without dropping my hand, Weslie heads up the next set of steps, taking them two at a time.
I follow, and the rest trail behind me.
We all file out into the bottom first-class level. A little way down the hall, the main stairway is cast in shadows. Nothing like the gleaming display of polished wood it was just hours ago. I wonder if the clock is still running. Counting down to the end of the ship, the end of our lives, instead of our arrival on Mars.
Weslie stops, and I bump into her. She meets my gaze with a serious expression, trying to hide the worry in her eyes, and then scans the group. “There aren’t any escape pods left down there.”
Asha’s expression falls.
Tar and Curran lock eyes.
