CHAPTER IV

I thought our quarrel would pass soon. And our life will return to its former course. But my eyes did not see the saving light at the end of the tunnel. Instead, impenetrable darkness came from all sides, making my life joyless and meaningless. My soul could not forget that first kiss, given to me by my sister's pure heart, and instead of accepting it, I rejected it. I had no forgiveness for what I had done, so I wanted to fix everything, turn back the clock, and shut my fucking mouth at that moment. But I needed a miracle…

Time passed, and with it, the Yusha's condition worsened every day. She coughed a lot, there were attacks of suffocation. Her skin paled, became dry and lifeless, like a dead man's. In her eyes, I no longer saw the joyful sparkle that could restore hope to any desperate person. Our peers started pestering her again, teasing her. They looked like a flock of vultures that lived on distant planets in deserts with golden sand. I tried to protect Yusha, but instead of gratitude from her, I received an angry look from her. One day, Yusha gave me a real slap in the face in front of the entire class, causing a storm of applause.

"Finally, our Yusha Iridium has shown that she can stand up for herself!" the peers were delighted.

"It's alright that you smacked your upstart sister!" I heard words from my friends.

"Wait," I didn't understand anything. "Why did you molest Yusha then?"

"We liked to make you angry, daughter of the vaunted hero! For so many years, everyone is tired of listening to your nonsense about how you will save the colony from disasters!" the head of the class explained. "Your only vulnerable spot was your sister."

"What?!" I wondered.

"If I was given a choice of whom to follow, then I would have followed Yusha without hesitation. She is always open to people and would never leave me in trouble. You're still that laudatory bitch! You use the fact that you are stronger than your sister and therefore you are a favorite with your parents. And our poor Yusha lives in your shadow and suffers. She even had to choose the profession of a biologist because of you, and she definitely wants to follow in her father's footsteps."

"So everything you've been doing these years was because of me?"

"Oh, you got it," she chuckled. "We wanted to make Yusha independent. And the problem was just the stupid rings. If I knew, I should have gotten rid of them long ago."

"So you did it!" I clenched my hands into fists and prepared to attack the head of the class.

"Your sister helped too. What are you going to do to us? Tear it to pieces? You are not our leader and you never will be!" she laughed. "Guys, let's prove to her that she's an empty place!"

"Yes!" they supported.

Of course, in this situation, I could not overcome them in any way. I was thoroughly beaten, and then they tore up my uniform and threw me out of the study room like unnecessary garbage. I never would have thought that it would hurt me so much, but it was worse to admit the fact that my friends from yesterday had become enemies. This is our world, and there's nothing you can do about it. When I was able to get up, the first thing I did was go to the locker with my personal belongings. I changed into a spare uniform and went to the infirmary, where I had to say that I fell down the stairs. Our nurse was a wise woman and never asked unnecessary questions. After treating the wounds, she allowed me to skip classes and lie down in the infirmary.

When I returned to the study room, Yusha had already gone home, and my textbooks and notebooks were lying in different corners of the room. The usual bullying in society. I knew that people could be cruel because I was not particularly different from them. Only now I have become a victim of this collective and, it seems, many more dirty tricks were waiting for me ahead. Well, I'll have to wait until the exams, and then I'll go to specialization. Soon I will have to study at the workplace among adults. And let my dear friends all be torn apart in a vacuum.

Later in the evening, when I was preparing for classes at home, Yusha decided to break the silence:

"Maya... I'm really sorry. I didn't want this to happen... Therefore... I'm sorry, please."

"What are you apologizing for?" I grinned.

"Because you had to..." her voice was shaking.

"You don't have to play hard to get," I made a haughty face. "Now I get it. Your words about clearing the room, about protection, about feelings. Don't worry, I won't bother you anymore."

"You won't bother me," she said, surprised.

"What are you apologizing for? I grinned.

I put down my pen and looked sternly at my sister:

"Do you want to come out of the shadows? Excellent. It was me who had to prove to my parents all these years that they have me. After all, to get flattering and kind words from them, I had to work, study and jump above my head. It was enough for you to get a good grade on the test and that's it! How much joy I heard in their voice when they praised you."

I kept dark feelings inside me and tried not to show them to her so that she wouldn't think I was terrible. But today it dawned on me that Yusha had been at one with everyone all this time. That's why she didn't say the names of those who drowned the ring and tore her form. And I hated traitors more than anything in the world!

"Yes, I was jealous of you, but now it's over. I don't want to save this piece of stone inhabited by people I hate. I will not tear my butt off, as my father does. Now I understand our grandfather, who does not get out of his spaceship at all. He's disgusted with Ferrum Three! Therefore, I will become a scout and live in a clean and free space. If fate permits, I will join the pirates and get out of this solar system far away from you all."

"But .." the sister was sad again.

"So you won't have to vacate this room. And you can kiss your friends' asses because they are your relatives. Hmm, they'll follow you to the ends of the earth. Good luck!"

Getting up from the table and throwing aside my notebook, I smirked:

"There is no point in teaching higher matters if only experience and practice are needed for a scout. Let this study burn in the blue flame of our sun and suffocate from the red dust."

"It hurts to hear you say these words," salty drops of sadness glistened on her snow-white cheeks.

"Do you think it doesn't hurt me? Your betrayal is worse than any bullying at school," I said dryly. "Good night, Yusha. I wish you good luck in saving this piece of sh…"

I think after these words I finally put an end to our relationship. We will no longer be sisters, soulmates, or even acquaintances. Fate played a cruel joke on us. We had to be born into different families, and even better on other planets. So that we never meet each other…

That sleepless night, Yusha could not calm down and continued to cry. Sometimes she was interrupted by coughing fits that almost choked her. There's nothing to be done, the truth always cuts the ear and strikes its point right into the heart. Did I do something wrong? I don't know. I made my choice in favor of my sister's freedom. Let her now follow in our father's footsteps and lead a crowd of chameleons. (I read about these creatures in the encyclopedia, rare creatures that can disguise themselves as the world around them. And they attacked when no one saw or felt them. The exact definition for my peers led by my sister). I will no longer envy her and interfere with her.

But no matter how the rage of resentment boiled in me, for some reason I still felt an unbearable heaviness in my soul. Was it my sister's pain? Or were we both suffering from the mental wounds we received? I rolled over and began counting the underground worms. They deftly climbed out of one hole in the ground and disappeared from sight in another. Thus, I managed to fall into a dreamless world.

In the morning I woke up earlier than Yusha and didn't wake her up, because she hadn't slept all night anyway. After washing and changing clothes, I put some synthetic food left for us by my mother in my mouth and went to the academy. My parents tried not to get involved in our showdowns, as they considered us to be adults and independent.

"I hope you didn't do anything to your sister?" the head of the class met me at the entrance to the study room.

"Don't worry, she's safe and sound," I replied calmly.

"Great," the "leader" smiled. "Otherwise I would have to do another educational work with you."

"You can do as many nasty things as you want. I can handle everything."

"Do you think you can pass a physical exam with a broken leg?" she began to threaten me.

"The pilot doesn't really need legs," I shook my head.

"What kind of pilot are you talking about?" she was surprised.

"I'm not going to die with you on this planet. I'll ask my grandfather to take me on a ship and become a scout," I told the good news for her.

"As if your parents would let you?" she didn't believe it.

"They will allow it," an insidious smile appeared on my face. "I'm Iridium, not some Сopperborn."

"Do you have something against Сopperborn?!"

I pushed her aside and went to take my place.

The class was supposed to start soon, but Yusha never showed up. Most likely, she was sleeping without hind legs at home and had dreams. And during the lunch break, I began to feel pain inside me, my heart ached and groaned. All my senses told me that something had happened to my sister. Suddenly, a dust storm was reported on the radio approaching our colony.

What if Yusha is not at home at all, but somewhere on the street? She fell, broke her leg, or got stuck in some crevice, gap, ravine, or hole.

I warned the supervisor that I was going to look for her. A quarrel is a quarrel, but her life is priceless.

"Are you insane? You can't go outside, because they recently reported about an impending dust storm!" Martha Ironstone tried to stop me.

"I feel the pain of Yusha! I have to find her," my instinct rarely failed me.

When I got to the locker room, I changed into chemical protection clothes and, just in case, grabbed a spare air tank. When I went outside, I saw the first harbingers of the storm. The red sand was picked up by gusts of wind and rose high into the sky, and then fell again and covered the surrounding buildings. That meant I didn't have much time to look for my sister. Sirens sounded from all sides, and the robot's metallic voice reported an impending natural disaster and recommended taking shelter in nearby houses.

I tried to rely on my inner senses to determine the location of Yusha. At some point, I managed to hear her ghostly call for help. This feeling came from somewhere in the foothills. There was one place where my sister and I liked to go together to watch the sunrise and sunset. No wonder she went there because it was always quiet and peaceful there.

Unfortunately, from that direction, a black haze was coming at us, consisting of the smallest particles of dust and sand, continuously moving under the influence of the wind. I never liked dust storms, as they clogged the ventilation, and because of this, the reactor that gives heat and light could fail.

And what should I do? It was a real suicide for me to trust my inner instinct and go towards a dust storm. But I believed in myself and went on a deadly mission to save my sister.

The dust flying to meet me made it difficult to navigate in space. Several times I tripped over a rock and fell face down, but I always got to my feet and continued on my way. The wind was getting stronger by the minute, and the darkness coming from the horizon scared me a little. At some point, I wanted to turn around and run to the nearest house, but I had to get to Yusha. No one but me could find her. She may hate me, but I won't let her die! And if she's not there, then it's for the best…

Soon I saw in the distance the outline of a human figure, which was crawling toward me on all fours. My heart squeezed with joy because it could have been Yusha. By clicking on the communicator button, I tried to contact the person:

"Yusha! Is it you?"

My transmitter was old, so it operated at a short distance.

"Maya?" the static made the words unintelligible.

"Yusha! I'm so glad you're alive! Are you all right?!"

"You're a fool! Get out of here," her voice was interrupted by coughing fits. "Leave me."

"I'll never do that!" I shouted into the communicator. "We were born together, we will die together!"

But it was too late to do anything because at any moment we were going to be engulfed by a storm…