Blue sky is something taken for granted. Humans are acutely tuned to the world they were meant to be born in. A dark sky means rain, a black sky means storms, and a red sky means war or worse. The sky of Terra 8 was red. At first, Kurt thought it was beautiful. Everyone thought so at first. As the months passed, the red sky and orange sun began to bother him. More and more it became a reminder of the hostile environment desperately trying to kill him and everyone else in the colony.
Kurt along with several hundred others were meant to live their whole lives on Terra 8. The planet was habitable to humans, but barely so. It was certainly not meant to be a long term colony. In only a few generations, radiation would damage enough cells on all the inhabitants and their offspring for cancer and illness to drive them to extinction. Instead, Kurt and his brethren pioneers were to spend their whole lives on the rock, turning it into a glorified gas station. The red sky only helped to remind Kurt of the hopelessness of his life as he labored on one of the exterior panels of the habitat.
Though the colony had multiple engineers, biologists, and other highly trained personnel, it also required grunts. Kurt checked the box to be one of these muscled mechanics and, should the need arise, soldier. He called out to the rest of his crew as they worked down below him. Though the sky had changed little, the sun had sunk low. "Alright, hook it back up," Kurt bellowed from the scaffolding.
A few other men started to move around a control box down at the base of the building. The signal panel in front of Kurt lit up as diagnostics for his panel started to run. He turned to give his coworkers a thumbs up when he saw it starting. On his platform twenty feet up, he could see the full side of the docking bay where fueling cells were being installed, directly over where his crew worked. A generator coil turned on while exposed. Kurt yelled at his men to move.
The coil's safety features activated, but not before an arc of pure, white energy lashed out and struck nearby crates, destabilizing the stack. The flames erupted almost immediately, and Kurt watched as fire and metal started to tumble down on his men. They noticed right as the first box crashed down in the middle of them. He leapt over his railing and started heading down two or three steps at a time. As he descended, he could hear the screams.
Kurt landed on the ground with a thud. The falling debris had stopped, but a new fire raged at the control box for the panels. He saw a few onlookers paralyzed by the sight, "You!" he shouted, "Fire suppressants in the hallways! Quickly."
Smoke billowed and plumed, caught in the small area between buildings where they worked. One of his men hobbled by, clutching his arm. Another two ran out, coughing and wheezing. Kurt dove headlong into the small inferno. The area was almost clear, except for two bodies. He recognized one as Matthew, one of his newest workers and likely one of the youngest members of the colony. Matthew was conscious, but struggling to get up. Thinking quickly, Kurt pulled off his shirt and pushed it into Matthew's hands, "Cover your mouth," he shouted. "Can you see?" Matthew nodded, but struggled to keep his eyes open. "Good, crawl that way, don't try to stand, stay below the smoke until you've caught your breath. Can you do that?" Again Matthew nodded and with a look of appreciation, started to crawl out of the smoke filled area.
Kurt turned his attention to the other person. Trying his best not to inhale too much of the smoke, he checked over the unconscious body. He didn't know the woman and wondered how she had managed to be underneath the wreckage. Her face was covered in soot and blistered from the fire. Her jumpsuit had caught fire at one point, but she or someone else had managed to smother them out. Her left leg was mangled. She must have fallen from above. Kurt grabbed the woman's arm and hoisted her over his back. His heart pumped faster and faster as adrenaline coursed though his veins. He set a heading for the clear air twenty yards away and started to move. The woman was as light as a feather, but the toxic air sapped the mechanic's strength. He managed to make the trek without faltering. As the air cleared, his lungs took in a final huge gust of the miasma, and he collapsed, using his body to cushion the fall for the woman he'd rescued.
Immediately, others swarmed around him. Men in uniforms gathered up the injured woman and put her on a board before she was carried off to the medical ward. Another pair of men attempted to do the same with Kurt, but he waved them off. When they tried again, he stood up to his full height and pushed them away by force. He was not done yet. Remy's crew was working on the loading docks. He glared up at the gawkers hanging over the ledge up above and set out to find Remy.
***
Kurt stalked through the corridors. Around him rushed the emergency workers and police, a few of whom glanced warily at the burly man, but none tried to stop him. He made his way up through the port building towards the new fueling station where he knew Remy would be. As he emerged onto the open platform, he heard the other crew chief's voice shouting orders. The fire had been contained, and they were beginning to clean up the resulting mess.
Remy was not a man of small stature, but in comparison to Kurt he looked almost boyish. He saw the other man coming towards him and dodged seconds before Kurt's fist slammed in the side of his head. "Fuck are you doing, Kurt? You gone mental?"
With surprising speed, Kurt wheeled across and landed a blow to Remy's stomach, causing him to crumple. "You're reckless! You've always been reckless! I'm tired of your fuck ups injuring my and everyone else's men!" Kurt's fist came down again, but Remy managed to roll away and spring to his feet. Kurt pivoted and planted himself as Remy struck out with a punch of his own. The smaller man's fist slammed into Kurt's shoulder with a quiet thud. In exchange, Kurt's hand lashed out and grabbed Remy by the throat. With a roar, Kurt threw the other man down like a rag doll. He followed quickly with a kick to Remy's ribs. The smaller man held up his hands and waited for the seething giant to beat him to death.
Kurt had no intention of relenting. It was not the first time that Remy's carelessness had resulted in others being injured, but if Kurt had his way it would be the last. He pulled his arm back, and as his arm came down on its way to crush Remy's skull, Kurt felt needles hit his back. An instant later, his body seized and went rigid as electricity caused his muscles to spasm. He fell straight forward onto Remy and blacked out.
***
Kurt woke in a small cell.
Detention
, he thought. He had wound up in a similar cell several nights after having too many at the canteen.
"
So you're awake then," came Remy's sniveling voice. Kurt looked over to see the other man in the opposite cell. His face was bruised and swollen, but he still managed to give a leering smile. "How was your beauty sleep, chief?"
Kurt sat up. His muscles were stiff and ached.
Move around.
Get the blood flowing.
He stood up from the cot and started to swing his arms. As his muscles warmed up, the pain faded away. "Why are you locked up?"
Remy's face soured, "I've been held responsible, albeit in a more dignified way than you'd have it. They actually want to have a trial before killing me."
"
And what's that to you," Kurt replied. "Just another day figuring out whose palm to grease."
Remy shook his head, "You've still got it wrong. The barracks fire wasn't my fault. Merrick was drunk and --"
"
Merrick never drank a day in his life!" Kurt growled. "He dies in a fire that you were suspiciously involved in. You get promoted and he gets buried on this fuckin rock!"
"
Merrick drank every day of his life!" Remy shouted back. "You didn't know him as well as you thought you did. The old fool shouldn't have been trying to fix the regulator alone anyway. The rest of the crew was lucky I was there."
"
And that woman earlier today?" Kurt hissed. "Was she lucky you were on the job?"
