Birthright

CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

Kray was in a daze as Instructor Masso ushered them to the jet and gave Alex coordinates to the nearest Mainland watchtower. He kept his low voice, and if Kray hadn't heard him talk so many times over the past week, he might not have recognized him. Alex certainly didn't.

"Who are you?" Alex said as she and Kray climbed into the jet and strapped themselves in. "You're Sansers, obviously, but what faction do you belong to?"

"Just think of me as a helper," Masso said jovially before he pressed a button that slide the glass door down over their heads.

Kray craned his head to look back at the trio, surprised they weren't going with them. They were in the middle of enemy territory. How the hell did they expect to get out on their own? Then again, they had managed to show up without an army on their heels, so they were clearly good at sneaking in and out of places.

This was unreal. Instructor Masso was the last person he thought would be running around the Wasteland, fighting bad guys and rescuing helpless students.

Alex was doing a flight check in the cockpit, taking in the hundreds of buttons and knobs and gauges around her. There was a loud thump on the wing of the jet and she glanced to the side to see Masso slamming his hand down on the surface, urging her to get a move on. Here goes nothing, she muttered under breath as she twisted some knobs and then reached for the throttle.

The aircraft hummed to life and began to lift into the air. Kray gripped the edge of his seat, feeling a sudden rush of uneasiness. He hadn't thought until this very moment about the fact that he'd never been in an aircraft. Alex, as universally talented as she was, probably wasn't the best experience for a first timer. Every jerk and shudder of the aircraft as they flew off into the clouds felt like a mistake. Like they were seconds away from plunging out of the sky.

It wasn't until five minutes into the flight, when she switched to autopilot, that he began to relax. So did she. She leaned back in her seat and let out a long and audible breath. That was when it began to sank in that they might actually be safe. And now that he was out of danger, his body felt it was a good time to start voicing all of its complaints.

"Any chance there's water in here?" he asked. "And maybe an AC?"

A sheen of sweat covered her face and neck, and strands of black hair clung to her skin. It was intensely hot in the aircraft. She made a feeble effort to swipe her forehead and then turned around in her seat, rummaging through a closed compartment behind their seats. She made a satisfied sound and yanked out a small cooler.

Water bottles. Kray almost wept as he snatched one for himself. The water felt like a mouthful of heaven, quenching the fires that had been scorching his body. He could practically feel the Sen inside him rejoicing with him. His Sanser strength was returning with each gulp of precious liquid. And then it was soon gone.

"Another one," Kray growled at Alex.

She stopped drinking from her half-finished bottle to give him a onceover, taking in his wet shirt and greedy eyes. "Slow down," she said with a laugh as she reached back to toss him another bottle. "You'll make yourself sick."

"It's a risk I'll take," he retorted, but he took his time with the second bottle. And the third.

"Who were those people anyway?" Alex asked.

He shrugged. "Don't know."

Something in his flat tone alerted her. He felt the heat of her gaze on his face as she fiddled with her bottle cap. "You don't know, or you don't want to tell me?"

"Doesn't matter. Either way, it's not your problem."

"Not my problem?" she said incredulously. "That man and his companions are an unknown factor. They could be trouble for all we know."