The Fringe Wars

3.9

Atmo Burn

Devil Town, Spate

Throttle woke with a jolt in the middle of the night. She could've sworn she heard the door open, but she could see nothing in the darkness.

When someone touched her hand, she nearly tumbled out of bed.

"Sh," a little girl whispered. "They're always listening."

"Lily?" Throttle asked softly. "Is that you?"

The girl didn't answer, though Throttle suspected she was nodding.

"My father said your father killed my grandmother. Is that true?"

Throttle frowned, not quite sure how best to respond. The wrong answer could send running the only hope Throttle had of escape. She decided to answer simply and honestly. "Yes."

"Did you know her?"

Throttle shook her head. "No. I only heard stories about her."

"Was she like my father?"

Again, Throttle struggled for the right answer. "Yes. I suppose she was."

A long silence followed. "Then, your father can't be that bad."

Throttle nearly smiled. "No, he's not bad at all. He's a pretty good guy."

"I saw what my father did to my mother."

"What did he do?"

Silence blanketed the room for several seconds before she answered softly, "I don't want him to do that to me."

Throttle heard the little girl pad across the floor, and the door opened to a dimly lit hallway. After the door closed, Throttle lay in bed reliving their short conversation over and over. She was never quite sure what to make of it until Lily snuck into Throttle's room the next night, and the five nights after that.

* * *

Throttle walked across the room with Qelle's help. It was the sixth day in a row Axos and Qelle had stopped by Throttle's room—the sixth day Axos had turned on, and then off, her spinal implant. Each day, she opened up a little more to him. The arrogant stationmaster was so sure of his superior intelligence that he fell for Throttle's change of heart hook, line, and sinker.

Though, she had to admit, giving someone the power to walk was pretty damn persuasive.

"Excellent work. Now, try it on your own," Axos said. "Qelle, release her."

Qelle let go of Throttle's arm and stepped back.

Throttle wobbled, and nearly fell on the first step. Each step after that was slow and tentative. It took her nearly five minutes to walk the room. Once she completed a full circle, she looked up and grinned.

"You did it," Axos said.

Throttle took another step, but tripped on the rug and fell to her hands and knees. "Damn it."

Qelle rushed over to help her.

"Get away from her!" Axos stormed, knocking his chair over.

Qelle cowered in the corner.

Throttle remained on her knees, keeping a wary eye on Axos in the tense silence that followed. Qelle made herself as small as possible.

Axos reset the chair and took a seat. "Give it time, Halit," Axos said, as though he hadn't just had an outburst. "You've made great progress this week. At this rate, you could walk the station on your own within a month or two. Imagine Reyne's face if you walked up to him."