Page 3 of The Death Striker's Partner
“I need to find out where my sister is. You go on ahead.” Charlie nodded and we walked down the stairs to the ground floor. He continued to the exit but lingered to make sure I was alright. I cleared my throat to get our orientation presenter’s attention. She smiled at me and I shoved my hands into my sleeping trouser pockets.
“My name is Hannah Blac and I travelled here with my sister, Billie Blac.” She politely nodded for me to continue. At least she didn’t intend to be snobby withme.A good job too, because I let most things go, unless my sister is involved. “Shewasn’t in the same group as me as we came out of Cryo? When will she be thawed out?”
“I’m sure if she hasn’t been reanimated already, she will be soon.” She cooed, and I raised a brow and felt my blood pressure start to rise. AI Barbie wasn’t a snob with me, but she was condescending.
“You don’t understand.” Hannah cleared her throat and tried to channel her inner calm and not our outer bitch. “My sister Billie is a top analyst so I know she’s important to the mission-”
“Everyone here is important to our mission to colonise-”
“No.” I raised a finger and was so close to pointing it in her face. “As I wastryingto say, my sister is important to the mission,but-”I emphasised, and at least she shut her mouth now to listen to me. “-she also has aspergers. High functioning, but she still needs support sometimes. It was agreed before we left that we were either to be ‘reanimate’ together, or I was brought out first and would be there when she was. There is a whole plan agreed with how to help her to acclimatise to all ofthis.”I waved my raised hand around the room, but I clearly meant the whole waking up and there are actual aliens to interact with now. “So if it isn’tyou, whodo I ask where to find my sister?”
AI Barbie gulped and tapped her own blue communication gem and waited patiently to be connected. It beeped and she relaxed.
“This is operator Lilly Ellis. Can I please ask for a personal location check on Billie Blac. I have her next of kin here to give authorisation.”
“Yeah I’m Hannah and I authorise the search.” I added just to save time.
“One moment please…………operator Billie Blac is being transported from cryostorage to Medbay 4 to be reanimated. Would you like me to connect you to-”
“Yes, and while you’re at it? Take me there right now.”
“Bossy, I like it.” Charlie chuckled from behind me and made me nearly jump out of my skin. “Well come on?” He raised a blonde brow down at Operator Lilly Ellis and urged her into action. “You heard the lady. Medbay 4. Let’s go.”
Chapter 4
Bumblebee
Billie.
I groaned and felt heavily medicated. Groggy and slow. I’m not used to having a lag between my thoughts and my body. I didn’t drink last night, and I’m not on any medication, so why am I so-
My stomach lurched and I rolled onto my side to vomit. I’m cold and I’m scared. The room smells of chemicals and this isn’t my bed. Where is my bed? Why am I sick? Why isn’t my alarm going off? Why does it smell like a hospital in here? I whimper from the shock of it all and feel my vision start to narrow as I panic.
“It’s okay Bumblebee.” I catch my breath. That’s Hannah. She’s using her pet name for me. Only Hannah calls me Bumblebee. Her hand rubs my back and she tells me over and over that I’m okay. She always does whenever I’m sick or triggered. She tells me I’m okay until I believe it and stop shaking. I close my eyes against the bright lights and cringe at the pinging of machines around me. I don’t realise I’m tapping my thumb and middle finger on my right hand in clusters of three taps, until I feel the strain of the repetition on my wrist and down my forearm. “You’re okay Billie.” She strokes my back and is always so gentle with me. Everyone else gets the harsh edge of my sister, but never me. She’s never harsh with me. I love herfor that. “Turn down the lights. They’re too bright.” She barks at someone, but I don’t know or care who.
“They don’t turn down.”
“Then turn them off.” She counters. My Hannah is so brave. I wouldn’t dare give out orders like that. With a click the lights turn off and I sigh. She’s right. It was too much. Now I just have the cold, the smell and the sounds to deal with. It’s still too much, but Hannah is helping me. Focusing on tapping my thumb to my middle finger is helping me. “Bumblebee, you take as long as you need. I’m not going anywhere. We don’t need to rush.” God I love her. Even when our parents were alive, Hannah was my rock. She could have been the kind of sister who didn’t want to be dragged down by her younger sister. It wasn’t her fault I had Aspergers and sometimes found it hard to even be outside the house. It wasn’t her fault that her friends didn’t like to be around me because I might say something they didn’t like. Something ‘insensitive’, they’d say. I didn’t have friends as that requires the ability to connect, and so far, the only person who was able to understand me was my sister. Hannah never once chose her friends over me. So many times she chose me over them. When the world is too much for me, too stimulating, I try to get away. If I can’t I shut down and go into myself instead. People don’t tend to notice. They expect me to scream and ball, rock back and forth and hurl furniture, but that’s not how I react. I’ve met other people with Aspergers and some of them react that way. We’re not a one size fits all kind of person. Autism is called a spectrum for a reason, and Aspergers has a spectrum within that too. Many times people simply ignore me when too much stimulus triggers me. I’m quiet, so they leave me to it. Or they try and take hold of me and shake me out of it, which terrifies me.
Not Hannah.
My sister is gentle, she’s patient, and she has learned my cues. She knows when it’s okay to touch me, and when it isn’t. She is my rock. I’m her bumblebee.
Slowly I feel calm enough to deal with the smell of my vomit and the chemicals in the room, but I want to wash myself clean of both. I sit up in the dark and turn to look through the dark of the room at my smiling sister. Her eyes are dark brown, almost black, unlike my light brown eyes. It’s why she calls me bumblebee because my eyes are the shade of honey, she says. That’s ridiculous as honey comes in different colours and shades depending on the species of bee and the species of plant the nectar came from. Hannah only laughs when I tell her this.
“…Hannah.”
“Billie.” She smiles brightly at me and offers me my glasses. I recognise them and feel so much better once I have them on. They are round with thin black frames. I like how light they feel on the bridge of my nose. I made sure to buy ten pairs before we left Earth so I would have plenty in the event of an accident.
That’s right. We’re not on Earth. I did it. I managed to do something incredible and leave not just the house, but the planet. I smile only with my eyes, but Hannah sees it even before I make my lips curve afterward. I turn on the medical bed and lower my legs over the side. I notice there is a man in the doorway to the private medical room and he seems to be standing guard. He is out of reach, and he’s being quiet. He looks at me and smiles, but still doesn’t speak. I look to Hannah and see she gives the man a thumbs-up as encouragement. She knows this blonde man. She’s told him what to do so he doesn’t startle me.
“I am Billie Blac.” I address the man, who smiles wider and has bright blue eyes. “Who are you?”
“I am Charlie O’Hara.” He has a warm voice that seems to curve with his smile.
“Why are you here?” I ask and Hannah chuckles beside me on the bed.
“I have become fast friends with Hannah here and I’ve accompanied her to come and make sure you are okay.”
