Bolt

20

“Why do you want this gem so much?” he asked.

She looked away for a moment before replying. “A lot of research has been done with pieces from that meteor. Top secret research.” Bolt wondered how she knew about top-secret stuff. A question for later. “I can’t tell you how I came across the reports, but there were a few clues that I put together, which included the folklore of the region. I believe this gem is made of cosmic material that has the potential to give off as much energy as the sun.”

His mind remained blank. “What do you mean?”

“It means that we have the endless regenerative energy of a star. Have you seen a supernova?”

“Like in the galaxy? An exploding star?” He was starting to get the idea.

“Yes, supernovas explode with so much power, the contents of the star are blown light-years away from the center. One light-year is about six trillion miles.”

“Trillion with a T?” Bolt then realized why the General was seeking this stone so aggressively. If he were to put it in the General’s hands, she could do anything with it. She was the head honcho of a Supermax prison. What would she want with something like this? Sell it to the highest bidder who would make a superweapon out of it? In the wrong hands, that could destroy mankind.

Bolt nodded, trying not to show the fear that ran through him.

“It sounds like a lot of people would want to get their hands on that,” Bolt remarked.

Kara nodded and placed her hands on the ground to stand.

“That’s why we have to make sure it doesn't fall into the wrong hands,” she said. Bolt nodded. He had some thinking to do. Betray the woman he loved or die in prison.

Bolt and Kara returned to the group, and they decided they would walk only for half an hour more. The storm was getting close, and Kara believed they could find a proper cave not too far away.

Kara was quiet as they moved through the snowy trail. Bolt wondered if she had been uncomfortable telling him about the stone, which made him feel like the s*x they had perhaps didn’t diminish her lack of trust at all.

That night, the team set up camp inside a small cave. Bolt made sure there weren’t any booby traps so they could rest easily.

“I’m going to head to sleep,” Kara announced.

She moved to the back of the cave away from the fire without another word. Bolt was disappointed.

As he sat by the fire, moping, Elle came and sat with him. She had a wide grin on her face that only a sibling could pull off.

“What are you smiling about?” Bolt asked.

Elle took a stick and poked at the fire.

“I’m not an i***t. I know you two f****d the other day,” she said.

Bolt pursed his lips.

“I guess it wasn’t like we were hiding it well, anyway,” Bolt joked.

After a few seconds of silence, Bolt turned to Elle with intentionality. She looked up at him, pretty eyes dancing with the orange flame around their pupil.

“How did you come to meet Kara anyway?” Bolt inquired.

Elle sighed, gazing into the roaring blaze.

“We went to the same college. She posted up a flyer in the hallway about ancient studies that seemed interesting to me. It was a club, so it was free, so I joined in. There were only four of us,” Elle said, laughing.

Bolt smiled, then shifted closer to the fire.

“Oftentimes, it was just her and me there. We became friends outside of the club, both searching for an identity that was outside our gender and the expectations of our families. So she told me she’d been researching the stone for some time,” Kara continued.

Bolt listened closely. They were both such brave people, and not just because they were women willing to travel alone. They wanted to find meaning within themselves in a world that usually kept them within a box of their perceived gender identities.

Bolt admired that deeply.

“We finished college and quickly got grants for the research, and when we arrived here. It’s been an odd and beautiful time in my life,” Elle said. He knew what Elle had meant by the oddness.

“I suppose coming across your long-lost brother wasn’t on your bingo card for this trip,” Bolt remarked.

Elle smiled, then looked him directly in the eyes. It was the first time she had held his gaze without a hint of rage.

“I wasn’t expecting it. But I am glad you’re here if that means anything to you,” Elle said.

Bolt could feel tears rising in his eye. He reached his hand out to touch Elle’s shoulder. She let him, which made him feel beyond content.

“It means everything to me. I appreciate you telling me about all of this,” Bolt said as he glanced back to check on the location of the others. They were not within hearing range. “Does Kara know you are a shifter?”

Elle frowned and dropped her chin to her chest. “I’m not really a shifter.”

“What,” he replied. “Of course, you are. You are born to a shifter parent.”

Elle shook her head. “I was young when you died, I mean when you left. I didn’t …” she paused, “I’m not able to shift. I just have enhanced senses, but no animal. So as far as anyone else is concerned, I’m a normal human.”

Bolt wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in for a hug. “There’s nothing wrong with being a human, you know. I happen to love humans.”

With a s**t-eating grin, Elle looked up at him. “Any human in particular?”