The Soulmate Curse

Fortitude - Part 2

Zhen woke up feeling like she'd been hit by a truck and then smacked by a sledgehammer after. She opened her eyes but closed them right back against the bright LEDs.

She groaned. "Moonshine on the moon is a bad idea."

What's weird was that she hadn't gone to the moonshiners after being chewed out by the Commander last night. She'd gone straight to bed. What was...

"Zhen! You're awake!" Finn cried out. Her words felt like stakes being driven into Zhen's brain. "You have to get us back!"

"Not so loud, Finn" Zhen moaned, noticing for the first time that she was floating. Zero gravity? What? She was in their room, on her bed, totally wasted. She shouldn't be floating.

"Zhen, we're going to die if you don't..."

Suddenly, the baritone voice of the Lunar Base Commander exploded around them. If Finn's voice was stakes being driven into her brain, this voice was a planetary drill. Zhen reached up to cover her ears, but her hands hit the visor of an IVA suit. What the hell was going on?

"I could not believe it when they told me that you two had appropriated a lunar supply module for a joy ride, but here we are," the commander's voice boomed. "I command you to land that unit immediately, Miss Roberts. I have just been informed of your thieving escapades on Earth, but I cannot believe you would dare bring that uncouth behaviour onto my Base!"

Zhen was fully awake now, studying her surroundings. "Finn, what's happening?"

"I think it was Darren," said Finn. "Or MechSoft... I don't... I don't know."

"How..."

"I woke up and I was here. Last thing I remember is falling asleep in my bed," Finn continued. "Then I saw you... You wouldn't wake up. And I thought..."

She took a deep breath as Zhen listened.

"We're drifting further away from the moon, Zhen," she said firmly. "You need to get us back. Or we're going to die in here."

Zhen suddenly stopped processing her words as the realisation of the situation hit her. Even as she tried to fight it, she could feel the fear snake through every vein in her body. She was frozen in place. Looking out of her visor but seeing nothing. Hearing nothing but the slow thump of her heart. Images of her past would invade her thoughts soon. Blood rushed past her ears. The numbness began in her fingers and toes, slowly crawling upwards into her limbs. Every breath was shallow. Insufficient. Torture. She couldn't move. Or think. Or...

"Zhen? Zhen!"

The shouting came from afar. Then there was a whoosh, and everything was brighter around her as her visor was lifted off her.

"Zhen! Breathe! Breathe for me, Zhen. Come on! Just breathe..."

Finn's words broke through the fog and she obeyed.

"That's it, Zhen. Just breathe."

She did.

"Slower now. Deep breaths. Like this..."

Zhen let Finn guide her out of the prison of fear. She could finally feel again. She could feel her fingers and her toes. She flexed them. She could feel Finn's breath on her cheek. It was warm. She could see the look on her face. She was concerned.

"It's okay. You're okay."

And Zhen believed her.

"I'm here, Zhen. You're not alone," said Finn. "I'll always be here."

Zhen closed her eyes for a second to ground herself and shake off the last few bits of the horrible feeling. Creeping images of shattered glass and beads of blood splashing around and on her. The look of horror plastered on her mother's face. She opened her eyes and found Finn's. The final bits of that horrible memory floated away.

"I'm okay," she said, working to orient herself.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," said Zhen, finally managing to get her bearings. She was strapped into one of the module's seats. Finn nodded and floated away to her own seat. "Now, strap in. I'm getting us out of here."

"My hero," Finn said with a smile.

Zhen smiled back and, with the base commander's voice berating them the whole way down, she landed that lunar module like she'd been born doing it.

*

"We found this in your belongings," said the Lunar Base Commander.

Zhen was sitting in his office, looking at him across his desk. He stretched his arm out to the man standing next to him, who handed over the metal piece they got from Darren, still in its box. Zhen looked at it then looked back at him.

"That was given to me," said Zhen, keeping her cool.

"And who was it that gave it to you?" said the base commander. "Because, according to the MechSoft guys, this was stolen from their lab yesterday."

Zhen took a moment to respond. She thought about outing Darren, but then decided against it. He was a creep, sure, but the only thing he'd done was to crush and fall for Finn. It wasn't that easy a malediction to overcome. If anyone knew about craving Finn's affection and not being able to get it, and how crazy that could drive you, it was Zhen. She took a deep breath. She wasn't going to drag him into this. He was already in a world of misery called Finn's Friendzone.

"You're right, I stole it," said Zhen, sitting up straight.

"How?"

"If I can steal a lunar module for a joyride, undetected," said Zhen, turning to look at that MechSoft representative standing next to the base commander. She was certain now that they were the ones responsible for the lunar module debacle. "Then the MechSoft Lab is child's play."

The base commander scoffed then suddenly hit his desk hard. The MechSoft man jumped. Zhen barely registered any emotion.

"Damnit, Miss Roberts!" he yelled. "I've read your file. You're one of the most promising astronauts of our time! You were going to be the youngest commanding officer to lead a Mars Mission! Why are you wasting that? I just don't understand why you and Miss Darrow..."

Zhen reached forward in her seat and cut him off. "Finn had nothing to do with this! This was my idea. The metal, the joyride... it was all me."

"Well, be that as it may," said the base commander, a little calmer. "You will both be facing serious disciplinary action when your capsule lands on Earth, three days from now."

Zhen sat back into her chair and tried to keep her emotions from boiling over.

"That is all, Miss Roberts. We're done here." said the base commander, adding quietly, "What a waste."

The MechSoft man spoke up. "Excuse me Sir, they want to know the details of how she was able to get the metal out of our labs."

Zhen raised an eyebrow, inwardly impressed at Darren's work. Finn was right about the resourceful bastard. He must be one of those guys who could get the spots off a jaguar without it noticing. The base commander gave a steely cold stare at the MechSoft representative. It was clear that he did not like the corporate giant and what they stood for. The MechSoft man withered at the look and Zhen took that as her cue to leave.