“Wait for specific orders,” she said with a shrug.

  “That seems real out there.”

  But as we drew closer to the line, she clearly needed more help against the smoke. “X747’s drones are needed,” she said. “Lock in.”

  “On it,” I countered. Feeling my way back down to the drones, I connected to each one and fired them up. “All green,” I said. “Lowering doors.”

  “Steady,” she said. “There’s a lot of weight under there.”

  “I know,” I replied and dropped the door really slowly.

  Within a second, all four drones were out and punching forward through the clouds of smoke.

  “Where’s Walter and our fireteam?” I asked her.

  “Looks like they’re now on the line about five hundred meters ahead of us.”

  I tapped on Niko’s direct comms. “You doing okay?” I asked.

  “No, no, we’re not.” Niko coughed. “I’ve never seen anything like this in my life. This is not going the way they think it is.”

  “I know,” I said. “Do the best you can. We’re doing the same.”

  “Message me when you can,” he said. “We need to know you’re both up there.”

  “Will do.”

  Malaki came to her yellow flashing dot, rising just a fraction because of the winds. When it changed to green, she clicked the drop control. This wasn’t a slow release. The water we carried was dropped, all at once, spreading out behind us in an arc that covered the fifteen feet we needed it to.

  It had a massive effect on the helo, and she lurched upwards. As secure as I should have been, this connection wasn’t, and I slipped out of my seat, losing connection with two of my nodes.

  “Fuck,” I said. “Careful.” I slid back in as quickly as possible, securing myself again. I had lost control of two of my drones though, which should never happen, and I wasn’t sure if they’d ditch. Moving swiftly, I reconnected with them. They hadn’t ditched; they were just in hover mode. I wrangled them back in as fast as I could.

  Malaki had the 747 under control within a second. “Oops,” she said with a cringe. “Wasn’t quite expecting that, sorry.”

  “Least we know for next time these things aren’t as secure as they should be. Maybe I need some old-fashioned seat belts.”

  “Like from a car?”

  I nodded. But then I flinched. Something wasn’t right. I got a weird stabbing pain in my lower back.

  “You okay?” she asked, worry crossing her brow.

  “No. I think I really tweaked one of my branches.”

  “Shit,” she said, her eyes widened. “I’m really sorry.”

  “How long till we get back to the waterhole again?”

  “Return time is thirty minutes.”

  I didn’t have time to do anything.

  “Self-diagnose,” she said.

  I nodded and pulled up a 3D image of my spinal system. “Running spinal TAP diagnostics.”

  Looking too, Apex said. You have damaged the bottom branch.

  I felt the trickle of liquid down the crack of my ass. “Something’s bleeding.”

  Malaki’s eyes went wide. “RTB?”

  “No.” I reached behind my back to where my lower left node connected to the helo and pulled my hand out. There was blood.

  “Rus, seriously, I’m sorry.”

  “Take a breath, Mal,” I said, wiping blood down my pants. “It won’t kill me.”

  “No, but I hurt you.”

  I put my hand on her shoulder, careful to not put any pressure on it and move the cyclic. “Concentrate on the job,” I said. “If I need medical attention, I’ll let you know.”

  “You better!” Malaki’s brows furrowed. “I’ll log it with control,” she said. “We should ret—”

  “No,” I said. “I’m not leaving them out there.” I clicked the 3D image up. Apex, is it dangerous to operate the drones as is?

  No, he said. You have damaged a small artery that supplied the node. Too many more bumps, and you might damage it permanently.

  I looked at Malaki. “Keep flying. I’m fine.”

  “Rus, we should head back.”

  “No, I’ll let you know when I’m done, okay?”

  She let out a sigh. “You promise me, if anything changes, tell me.”

  I gave her a light squeeze and let go. “Promise. Now, concentrate on flying, and fly well. I’ll pack my back out and deal. Copy?”

  “Copy,” she replied.

  ***

  I was feeling sick. We’d been at this a few hours now, and I was about to call it. “Mal,” I said. “Time t—”

  “Dizzy101, copy?” the comms blurted to life.

  “Dizzy101 receiving,” Mal answered.

  “Requesting new drop zone—”

  Malaki never gave her time to finish. “Negative FC, we’re RTB requiring medical assistance on landing.”

  “Receiving. Will have medical on standby.”

  “I was going to call it,” I said with honesty.

  “I know, ETA fifteen minutes. You okay?”

  “Tired,” I replied.

  “You and me both.”

  I landed all my drones inside the helo, and she dropped the bucket before we made our way back to our assigned landing base.

  “Doesn’t look like it’s going any easier,” I said to her, staring at the horizon. “It still looks like the sun is setting.”

  “The others are being picked up in an Osprey,” she said. “All firefighters will be following us to the base. They rotate like we do.”

  “I hope our squads are okay,” I said. “Niko didn’t message me back from earlier.”

  “He will. They’ve been stationed together on the opposite side of us. Don’t think we’ll get to meet or take them back out this next time.”

  I put my head back on the rest. Malaki leaned over and put her hand on my leg. “Hang on.”

  “I am.” I smiled at her. “Not much help flying in, though.”

  “I’ve got this,” she said. “Disconnect.”

  “Okay.” I pulled myself off the nodes, and pain spread down my lower back. I gasped. “Fuuuck.”

  Malaki shot me a glare, but I put my hand up. It didn’t stop worry spreading across her face.

  I let the lull of the helo settle me then, and the next thing I knew, we’d made a slight bump landing. My door opened, and a young man looked up at me. “Hand, please, Airman Korolyov.”

  I gave him my hand, eased over the edge, and slipped off the seat. He caught me as my knees buckled. “I got you, don’t worry, into the seat.”

  “I d—”

  “Sit,” he said. “We really need you out there. Let me look after you now, this is my job.”

  Malaki came running around the side and stepped in beside us as we ducked out the final wash of our helo. “They’re powering her off. Apparently, she’ll get a full workout through the night and be ready for us tomorrow.”

  “Yeah, just like I’m going to get now, right?”

  Malaki put her hand on my shoulder, and the next thing I knew, I was leaning over a medical DP table in a white room with my shirt off and my ass on show, again.

  “Wasn’t quite expecting to see you in here,” a familiar voice said.

  “Alba?” I said, and I tried to turn around to see her.

  She put a hand on my back. “Stay there,” she said. “Let me get a look at you.”

  “I just need to get back out there tomorrow.”

  “I’ll be the judge of that. Relax for me.” Her hands traced down my spine. “Let me know where there’s pain,” she said. “And to be honest, you won’t do yourself or your pilot any favors if you don’t.”

  I let her feel her way down, slow and steady. She was methodical in her touch; she had to be. The spinal TAP crisscrossed everywhere, and she knew if one tiny portion was busted, I could be fucked for life; that kind of mess reverberated through my whole system, not just my spine.

  She reached my left side, and I winced. “The 3D image shows slight damage, but you’ve healed some already,” she said. Even more gently, she moved her fingers around my lower left back. “How painful on a scale of one to ten?”

  Slower, she applied more pressure till she circled the node itself. “Ow,” I said, “that’s an eight.”

  “I’ll issue you some pain relief and anti-inflammatory for tonight, and through tomorrow. I’ll take another look after your shift then too.”

  “I’m cleared for flying?”

  “Yes,” she said and dangled my shirt over my face. “You can go back out tomorrow, but you’re returning to base if there’s any change. Got it?”

  I nodded. “It’s bad out there.”

  She wiped her tired eyes. “Yes, yes, it is.”

  “What’s going on? Why can’t they put out the fires?”

  “Honestly, they don’t know. They’re throwing everything they can at it. All they do know is it’s getting worse, not better.”

  I pulled my shirt on and tucked it in. It was cold here now. I’d gotten out of the heat. I shivered.

  “You’ll need a heating pad tonight, or you won’t sleep,” Alba said. She moved to a cabinet, put her wrist to it, and opened it taking out some pills and an injection gun. “Two white ones, one yellow one, when you’ve eaten, and again tomorrow, with food. This is for now. It will help fuel your nites a bit more.”

  I took the pills off her, popped them in my pocket, and waited while she injected me. “Thanks,” I said. “It is good to see you. Are you okay?”

  “There are a lot of burn victims coming in. It’s not pretty.”

  “Jim and Roe?”

  “Out in the main hospital section. We’re all running ragged.”

  “Anything you can tell me at all?”

  She thought about it and swallowed. “Lieutenant General Michaels is pulling in everyone he can, but there’s only so many. They’re trying their best to keep the main city out of the loop.”

  “Because they’re losing it?”

  She leaned on the cabinet behind her. “They are. If they lose those fields, the meat plants. Or if the fire gets near the power plants…the city won’t survive the rest of winter.”

  I knew it was that bad. You could see it out there as they all desperately fought. “Something felt wrong out there.”

  “You ever seen a wildfire?”

  “No.” I shook my head. “But it wasn’t that. I know fire. My dad trained me so much when I was younger. I didn’t think anything of it then, but the more I do out here, the more I see why he did what he did when I was younger.”

  “He was a smart man,” Alba said. “But you are smarter.”

  I wanted to say thanks, but really, all I did was want my dad back. My real one. Then guilt flooded me because Tsomak had been as attentive, in fact sometimes even more so. He’d had to put up with so much, not only a kid who had lost his dad, but a fucking shitty kid. I’d slung some terrible words at him.

  “I have to go,” she said, her eyes glazing. “Jim most likely needs me. I’ll stop by and see you tomorrow, okay?”

  She hesitated slightly, but I stood and gave her a hug. “You’re doing fab,” I said. “Hang in there. We’ll get that fire out.”

  Malaki waited outside for me, worry etched into her face. I went straight to her and pulled her into a hug.

  “I’m okay,” I insisted. “Body’s healing already.”

  “Thank the gods,” she said. “What did she give you?”

  “Some pain relief and other bits,” I said. “Some for tomorrow, too.” I started to walk out with her. “They assigned us some bunks?”

  “Yes. We’re not far from the helos. The food tent is close, too, and a shower block.”

  “That’s good. I don’t want to be crawling too far tonight.”

  “Me neither.”

  I held her closer to me. “You good?”

  “Tired,” she admitted and tugged her clothes. “Food and a shower. I need to get rid of this smell.”

  86

  That smell wasn’t going anywhere. No matter how much you scrubbed or how often, it oozed out of your pores. Your clothes also weren’t fresh smelling. Nothing got rid of it. Burnt, unpleasant, charred wood and debris, with a hint of chemicals and other pollutants. Metals and plastics, all of it. It could be sickly acrid one minute, sickly sweet the next.

  We went out, day after day, and we dropped millions of tons of water. The guys shifted and flattened a hundred miles of land. Took everything out of its path.

  Nothing was stopping this.

  Nothing.

  Today we were out all of it, and as we came in, so did depression. We moved to retire for the night, and I was tackled from the side.

  “Niko!” Malaki said. “Go easy on him.”

  “Why? What’s he done?”

  “It’s what I did,” she said. “Tweaked his nodes on day one. He’s still healing.”

  “Ahh fuck. Sorry, man.”

  “Food?” Walter asked.

  “Yeah, we’re heading that way,” Malaki said.

  “Is it any good? Been on rations out there, a bit dire.”

  “It’s good food, yes,” she replied.

  They walked ahead while Niko stepped in beside me. “Lacy?” I asked.

  “She’s working hard, as hard as any of the healers. They’re very needed.”

  “Jasmine?”

  “Well looked after.”

  “I’ve been dreaming,” I admitted.

  “Of the fire?”

  I leaned into him. “No, the spider. How is she?”

  His eyes lit up. “As far as I know, doing well, growing bigger.”

  “That’s good.”

  “Lacy still has many questions for you. She wants you back there. She can’t get any of us out of here yet.”

  “I know.” I pointed to the fiery sky in the background. “That’s taking everyone’s attention at the moment.”

  “I’m glad you’re here,” he said. “We all are.”

  “I’m glad I’m here to support you all, too.”

  Niko pulled me into an awkward side hug. “I’m starving.”

  When we all got food and sat down, I felt comfortable asking some questions. “Tell me everything,” I said. “What we’re seeing up there is not matching what you’re going through on the ground.”

  Walter shook his head. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” he said. “I’ve fought fires before. This is nothing like those. We’re not winning.”

  While Malaki and I ate, we listened to them talk. Walter and Niko argued over the day’s events. They were exhausted, like us. That much was obvious.

  “We’re going to eat and sleep,” Niko said and promptly yawned.

  “Same,” I added and copied him though I at least covered my mouth. “We all need it. I saw Jim.”

  “Lacy?”

  “No, but I know they’re all here,” I said. “So many…”

  “It’s not good out there,” Walter said. “Not at all. Those flames…”

  “There’s a lot of talk about them,” Malaki said.

  “We’ve seen the fire do odd things, too,” Ren added. “It almost jumps, like it’s alive.”

  “Same,” Malaki said. “It sees us coming, and it’s out of there. It moves.”

  We all lamented for a while about what was really going on. The news came up on the main screen, and we watched a news crew flying over the back fields in one of the larger crane styled helos. Those were made for firefighting; we just weren’t. But they were using us, and it still wasn’t making a difference. That fire was still as dangerous as it was weeks ago. It didn’t make sense.

  Niko stood. “I’m going to try to find Lacy,” he said. “You coming?”

  I looked at him and frowned. “You hardly need me to find your fiancée.” It was the way he cocked his head at me. “Okay, okay, I’m coming.”

  I put my tray away with him, and we walked out together. The base camp itself was running like clockwork, helos in and out, teams checking over those on the ground.

  We walked for some time across to where he was stationed. “What’s that?” I pointed. “The old, covered building in the distance.”

  “This place was and still is a working museum,” Niko said. “Just a place for old buckets to come and rest, apparently. This is where they station a lot of the fire crews’ tech all year. They know this happens every so often, the closest place no one can have access to but them.”

  “They know this happens every year?”

  “Not usually like this. Small fires, sure. This is way bigger than anything they’ve fought before.” His face fell.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  “We got some footage from the fire today.” He held his wrist out for me. “I want you to watch this tonight.”

  I put my wrist to his and accepted the transfer old-school style. Not passing it through Aug-World had my stomach churning. It meant this was serious shit. My HUD blinked a moment later. “I got it,” I said and frowned. “I’ll watch.”

  “When you do, message me. If I’m still occupied, I’ll comm soon as I can.”

  “No worries,” I said. “Lacy will be happy to see you.”

  “I know. She’s working as hard as she can, even not being a full healer, just a medic in training.” He sighed. “I don’t think we’re coming out of this. This is too much, you know?”

  I could only nod. We’d all seen it; nothing was changing. “It doesn’t seem to be any better. I don’t know how long everyone can hold out.”

  “Not much longer,” he admitted. “We’re on the verge of collapse out there. They keep sending us out, but it’s getting tighter and tighter. We can’t. We’re going to fall.”

  We reached the hospital unit, and Lacy wasn’t hard to spot at all, a little baby bundle cradled in her arm. “Go.”

  “Narr.” He pulled my arm. “You’re coming with me, you need to see her too.”

  “Lacy?” I was confused but still walked with him.

  “No, Jasmine!”

  We walked to them, and Niko scooped Lacy into his arms in a second, squishing Jasmine gently between the two of them and kissing Lacy. “I love you,” I heard him say.

  “Love you more,” she replied, and giggled seeing me. “Hey, Rus.”

  “Hey,” I said and stepped in closer to her, to give her a gentle hug and coo over the baby.