Influent by Ariel Avelar

Author:Ariel Avelar
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: space ships, adventure, brother and sister, mind control, survival, super powers
Publisher: Ariel Avelar
Published: 2021-02-13T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six

Jace awoke stiff and cold, though the fire still burned steadily nearby, tended through hours of darkness by a dedicated watchman. He sat up and scooted closer to the flames, hungry and aching and reluctant to move if not for the need for warmth. To the right, his sisters lay bundled together under Trissi’s blanket, and to the left, the captain sat on a nearby boulder, staring down at the forest below in the growing light of dawn.

Jace tensed as the man turned at his movements, and they held each other’s gaze for a long moment in which he hardly dared to breathe. Had his sister’s effects worn off in the night?

If he remembers the truth, he’ll blame me for making the ship crash and... and everything else. Hinsen’s accusing scowl as they stood in front of the burning wreckage came into his mind again, but he violently shoved it aside as he had repeatedly the night before. It’s not my fault! I didn’t mean for it to explode. That guy shouldn’t have been on board.

It’s not my fault. Jace dropped his gaze but forced it back to the captain’s a moment later. Somber thoughts darkened the man’s eyes without a trace of animosity, and he offered a faint smile as he stepped down from his lookout perch and came to sit by the fire.

“How did you sleep?” he asked, voice low to avoid disturbing the girls.

Even with three feet between them, Jace still inched away from him and closer to his sisters. “Fine.”

The man nodded without disputing the claim. “What happened to your shoes?” he asked after a pause as Jace held the cold, aching appendages closer to the heat.

“I lost them in the crash,” Jace replied brusquely, again berating himself for leaving them behind. Half-numbness suppressed most of the pain on his soles, but dozens of cuts still stung beneath a layer of caked dirt, and dried blood darkened two of his toes where he’d stubbed them and cracked the nails.

“Yet you kept going and didn’t complain. That shows great strength of character.”

Though the man sounded sincere, Jace still sent him a questioning look to be sure. “Thanks,” he muttered and reminded himself that compliments from a man his sister had brainwashed meant nothing.

“I made these for you last night. They’ll have to do for now.” The captain held out some folded black fabric, which Jace hesitantly accepted and opened to reveal a pair of roughly-cut pouches sewn with fishing wire in the vague shape of shoes, with a cord to tie the open end around the ankles. The fabric was a thick weave, dense and treated with water proofing, with a second layer inserted at the bottom of each pouch for extra protection. The front of the man’s military vest now hung across his chest as a rough utility belt instead of a piece of clothing.

“You destroyed your vest,” Jace blurted, dumbfounded.

“Most of it. In times like this, it’s necessary to be able to prioritize, and your feet are more important.

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