Emergence: Chapter 16

The city of Sutib was very similar to Tapal in its north/south divide, as well its skyline and structure. However, it was a much smaller city and many Raanians probably wondered why Raan needed such a city so close to Tapal, as if it was acting like a little brother. Right now, no-one cared about that.

Ilisa watched Strom's eyes close as she cradled his head. She felt her face fall and her shoulders droop backwards as she collapsed to her knees. Her red eyes tingled, but she could not cry; her tears had all been spent on her brother. Instead, she buried her head in Strom's chest with her eyes closed, desperate to be close to him for the last time.

A crowd was forming a circle around them now, keeping back at a respectful distance. Ilisa paid them no mind; she couldn't care less whether they were Raanian or Xaosian. Her hand found his and she held it tight. She opened her eyes suddenly.

There was a pulse.

Disengaging herself from him, she tore his shirt off and placed her hand on his heart; a slow, but definite beat. “Please, I need a doctor!” She called to the crowd, relieved to see that they were Raanians rather than the enemy.

One man came running forward and took Strom's pulse. “He's alive, but only just; he's gone into a comatose state; his body is near enough dead, but his mind is very much alive.”

“Is there anything you can do?” Ilisa feared the worst.

The doctor took a deep breath, before hesitantly saying, “I'm sorry my dear, but the hospital is full to bursting point; we literally cannot help him.”

Ilisa stood, slowly and deliberately until she looked into the doctor's eyes. “You cannot help him?” The doctor shook his head, brow furrowing in confusion. “He helped you! All of you!” She gestured to the crowd with one hand as her voice grew louder and more shrill. “My brother died for you! I fought for you! And now Strom here has to die too?” Many members of the crowd began to look uncomfortable. “I didn't have to fight today! They did, but I didn't; I, as a woman, fought in the air and in space, alongside my male comrades to try and save you all! And now you damn him?”

The doctor backed away from Ilisa slowly. “We're not damning him, but we're not damning anyone else either. Especially with the quakes.”

“Quakes?”

The doctor briefly looked down, before looking back up at Ilisa. “Yes, the quakes. There have been a bout twenty earthquakes across the continent in random areas; we could be next. Tapal has been hit pretty badly; the North at least has been levelled.”

The doctor continued talking, but Ilisa heard none of it. The North was where Strom had lived; his family and friends were likely dead. Ilisa's friends, mainly in the South, may be okay, but she wasn't going to head back to Tapal just to see them. She looked down at Strom at her feet and, with a tugging feeling in her chest, realised that he was all she truly had anymore.

She turned to the doctor. “Are there any interplanetary ships I can use here?”

The doctor shook his head. “I'm sorry, but we're using all that we've got to evacuate the coasts.”

Ilisa had almost forgotten about the burning Sea of Oil. “Damn it...” She clenched and unclenched her fists in frustration; she had never felt so helpless.

There was a bustle in the crowd. “Excuse me”, “hey”, “watch it, you”. One man stepped to the front of the crowd and approached Ilisa. “You looking for an interplanetary craft?” He asked Ilisa.

Her heart began to beat faster again. “Yes, I am.”

“They got some ancient ones up on Viran. We don't use them because apparently they're structurally unsafe,” Ilisa heard the implied quotation marks around the words, “but they still fly. I reckon you could get as far as New Orbus if you're a good pilot.”

The Viran; Raan's moon. The Stinger could take her that far, or she hoped so anyway. “Are you sure about these ships?” Her heart was still racing.

“Certain, yeah.” The man nodded.

Ilisa picked up Strom and carried him to her Stinger, where Olaf's corpse was waiting. She placed her hand to her mouth at the sight; she had forgotten how disfigured it was. Setting Strom down, she opened the cockpit and pulled Olaf out, placing him gently next to Strom. She turned to the doctor. “Do you have a morgue nearby?”

The doctor nodded. “Is that your brother?”

Ilisa looked down at Olaf's thin and once-tan features. Now they were gaunt and pale, a ghastly incarnation of her brother. “He was my brother. Olaf Cahdun.” She looked up again. “Please keep him in the morgue until I return.” Her voice took a more pleading tone, and it wavered as if she was going to break down. But she had to be strong; for Strom's sake.

The doctor nodded. “We will, don't worry.”

“Thank you.”

Without looking at the crowd, who were slowly backing away, she carefully placed Strom's body into the back of the Stinger, bending him into a slouched seating position. She climbed into the pilot's seat and closed the cockpit, signalling to the crowd to back away.

And with a throaty roar, the Stinger lifted off and shot into the night sky. Her heart raced; there was still a chance of saving her lover.