CHAPTER V

At the last moment, before my sister and I were to be swallowed up by a black veil, I noticed a small groove in the rocky slope. There was enough room for the two of us, and only there could we find salvation from the gusts of wind carrying tons of red sand. Gathering my remaining strength, I tried to overcome my fear. This feeling bound my body, not allowing me to move from my place. Gritting my teeth, I hugged Yusha with one hand, and with the other, I began to grab the rocky ledges to somehow resist the air currents.

It seemed to me that this deafening whistle would never end. It pressed on my eardrums and prevented me from even thinking. I didn't see anything, as the dust completely covered my breathing mask. It was good that the filters were still functioning and allowed me to breathe. It looks like I managed to get to the shelter after all, because after a while the whistling subsided, and my back stopped feeling cold. This meant only one thing — that our shelter outside was completely covered with sand.

Wiping the mask with my hand and turning on the LED flashlight on it, I looked around. Yusha was lying next to me, and judging by the quiet pounding of her heart, which was felt by my chest, she was alive. I saved my only sister in the world, and I don't care that she hated me, and considered me a heartless person. And I'm sorry, my Yusha, but I can't be your "soulmate". Perhaps fate will give us a new chance in the next life, where it will be accepted as the norm, and not as a perversion or disease.

"Maya… It's hard for me to breathe," a weak voice came from the communicator.

"Are you having trouble breathing?" I wondered aloud. "How long have you been outside?"

"Since," she coughed, "this morning."

"You're running out of air for recycling!" I exclaimed. "Why did you come here at all?! Are you tired of living?!"

"Yes..." Yusha answered honestly and started coughing again. "There is no way… to live without you…"

"Be patient a little. I have a spare tank," I told her. "Try to calm down... "

Carefully removing it from my back, I screwed the air-carrying tube of Yusha to it. Oxygen began to flow to her, so she stopped experiencing suffocation. We had plenty of air, so we could easily wait out the storm and return home without any problems. However, I had no idea how much we would have to dig to the surface because the only way out was filled up with sand.

"Yusha, how are you?" I asked about my sister's condition.

"I'm still alive," she answered with difficulty. "Unfortunately..."

"Just a little more and we can get out of here. Storms don't last long."

"I know," Yusha was breathing heavily. "It would be better if it lasted forever..."

"I've always wanted to ask you," I decided to distract her from her pessimistic thoughts. "Will your illness ever go away? After all, our parents and you have never told me anything about this disease."

The sister chose to answer the question in silence.

"Well, that's fine. You don't want to tell, and you don't have to," I was a little offended.

"I'm sorry..." came an unintelligible hiss from the communicator. "I don't have the strength to tell you everything... Sorry..."

I had to wait in silence for the end of the storm, as Yusha did not want to communicate with me anymore, and what was there to talk about with her? She had nothing but secrets as if she was involved in some kind of secret operation. And I don't know how much time passed, but when the whistling stopped completely, I began to dig a way to freedom. Soon my eyes saw through the lenses of the breathing mask a beautiful clear sky. So calm, so pure, the sight of it made me want to live again. Having gotten out to freedom, I helped Yusha to get to her feet. My sister's condition worsened with every passing moment, as the coughing attacks only intensified.

We set off in the direction of the colony, carefully stepping on new piles of sand that the dust storm had left behind. The sandstorm quickly left our region and went to travel around the planet further. This year, many disasters have fallen on our heads: endless rains, earthquakes, and now a storm. That's just not enough tornado for a complete picture and volcanic eruptions, which, by the way, sometimes woke up and poured real lava rivers to the surface.

"Leave me here," Yusha moaned halfway through. "I can't take it anymore."

"Hold on! We're not far from the nearest house," I encouraged her.

"You have no idea how tired I am... I'm so tired..." there were the last words of my sister, after which she fell face down.

"Yusha!" I panicked. "Can you hear me?! Get up! Please do this for our parents! Think how bad it will be for them without you! And me too… What will I do without you?"

She continued to lie on the ground like a sack of ore, waiting for its miner.

"Yusha, come on, get up! Don't leave me here alone..."

Realizing that Yusha would no longer be able to get up, I had to drag her all the way to the colony on my back. I talked to her about abstract topics. Probably, from the outside, it looked like madness, because my sister lost consciousness and could not talk to me. But I continued to communicate with her, thus helping myself to overcome the fatigue in my legs and the insane thirst tormenting my body.

With my last breath, I got to the nearest house and pressed the call button, and then my consciousness gave up under the yoke of weakness. My eyes closed, all my senses shut off, and I went into the icy abyss…

* * *

I was kept in the hospital until my analysis completely returned to normal. After that, I was able to return home, where a serious conversation with my parents was waiting for me, and all because of Yusha. She was in critical condition and could die at any moment. I was the only witness to what happened, so Mom and Dad wanted to get answers to questions.

After a delicious dinner, I was called to my parent's bedroom, where I appeared before my gloomy father. Mom stood next to me and put her hand on my shoulder to relieve the tension from me. Dad sometimes lost his temper, but he never used physical abuse of me and my sister, so I had nothing to be afraid of. His stern gaze began to pierce through me, and a rough voice asked:

"Maya, what happened between you and your sister?"

"Nothing," I said dryly.

"You're lying because your mother heard your quarrel," he shook his head.

" It's all because of my sister's choice."

"Biologist is a good profession," my father said calmly. "What's the problem?"

"The fact that our school group considers me the culprit of this choice. Like, because of me, Yusha had to…"

"I see," Dad interrupted me. "I thought there would be problems with this. A nurse informed me about a fight at school."

"It's not true, I fell down the stairs."

"Of course," he smiled. "I also had to fight with our reality. People suffer, that's why they become angry. To get rid of bad feelings, they are always looking for scapegoats. You study well and are physically superior to many of your peers. They probably call you the hero's daughter or something."

"Yes," I nodded.

"Don't pay attention to them. I'm not a hero at all, but I went to that act for you and Yusha."

"You shouldn't have," I blurted out. "I'm not worthy…"

"You are still worthy," smiled the father. "Not everyone will go to save a person, knowing that he will be destined to face deadly danger. You were not afraid of the dust storm and found the strength to save Yusha. Your mother and I are proud of you, so keep moving towards your intended goal, no matter what it is."

"Thanks."

"That's a smart girl," mom joined the conversation. "We love you and please be careful. And try to make peace with your sister."

When I finally got to my room, I looked at my sister's empty bed. How many times she was in the hospital, and my heart was always calm. But this time I had the feeling that I would never see her again. I wanted to sort out my feelings and understand what the problem was. After all, before that I didn't pay much attention to my sister, I wasn't even interested in her personal world. I was just protecting Yusha, thinking that this was what an older sister should have done. Thoughts were running at supersonic speed in my head and stopped at the moment when Yusha gave me our first kiss.

With this kiss, my inner world began to collapse. My mind tried to protect me, but at some point, the seven locks behind which my feelings for Yusha were hidden began to open one by one. I wanted to feel that tender taste of my sister again, from which my soul was filled with happiness. I wonder what thoughts Iya was experiencing at the same time? And the answer to this question I could only find in her diary.

My sister usually hid the cherished little book either in the closet or on the nightstand, so it was not difficult for me to find the hidden diary. This time she hid it under her pillow. Oh, Yusha, you didn't even try to hide it better. Flipping through it, I tried to find new entries. On one of the pages, I found a drawing in which she depicted two identical girls. Inside each Yusha drew a kind of heart. The black one probably belonged to me and the red one to my sister. Between them, Yusha tried to draw a connection with a red line, but then crossed it out several times with a black pen. It probably meant the end of our relationship.

Then I found some interesting records for me:

"-M- stopped reading my diary. This is very good because now I can safely write about everything I think."

Yusha designated me in her diary with the letter "-M-".

"Martha Ironstone informed me that I would not be able to fly to Flora. Why?! I tried so hard! I learned their language and culture! Why can't they accept me?!"

"The class leader came up with a new plan for -M-. I hope I'll be able to stand up for myself someday."

"She threw away my ring, and then I found out that -M- is my soulmate. I don't understand anything! What should I do?"

"I need to talk to the head of the class. I don't want to hurt -M- anymore!"

"I can't help myself. I want to kiss her, hug her tight, and love her with all my heart. But if she finds out the truth about me, then my dream will be shattered!"

"-M- continues to protect me! I'm not worthy of this! I am a deceiver, a traitor, and an envious girl. I need to tell her the truth before it's too late."

"I'm late… The head of the class told everything -M-, and then they beat her up!"

"-M- hates..." the entry was written in uneven handwriting, "me… I do not know what to do… We are no longer one..."

This was the last entry in the diary. And it turns out that Yusha learned the language of "Flora" and their culture with the permission of the class teacher. It looks like the parents knew about it too. Now it's clear why she decided to become a biologist. All for the sake of flying to the planet of enemies, but for what? Did she really want to get knowledge from them so that she could terraform our dead planet?

Suddenly a piece of paper folded in half fell out of the diary. Picking it up and unfolding it, I saw a message addressed to me:

[Hi, Maya. If you are reading these lines, then the plan has succeeded and my worthless life has come to an end. I ask your forgiveness for everything that you had to go through because of me. Since birth, I have envied your success, your health, strength, skills, and determination! Because of this, the stars probably cursed me with a terrible disease. But it doesn't matter anymore…

I hope you will find a worthy soulmate that you will truly love and live with him, like our mom and dad.

And, please, choose a decent profession for yourself. Become what your heart tells you to be. Because of me, there is no need to wander through the boundless cosmos and seek refuge at pirate stations, where it is very dangerous!

Forgive our peers, please. They wanted to help me because I deceived them by putting you in a bad light in their eyes. Because of all that has happened, my heart is now torn apart!

Are you going to ask why I decided to die? The answer is simple. I love you and there's nothing I can do about it. Even now, as I write these lines, tender feelings are burning inside me, wanting to get you into my arms.

But you did the right thing to fight back! If anyone found out about this, then we would be in for a painful execution. Thank you for everything, my beloved and the best sister in the world!

I will never forget you and I will remember you even on the other side of life. I hope fate will take pity on me again and allow me to be next to you in another life. Try to reassure our parents, and support them with your talents and successes.

Make this world a better place...]

Before I had finished reading the message, tears appeared on my face. They ran down my cheeks and fell on a piece of paper. I rubbed my eyes with my hand, wiped away the drops, and read the last lines:

"So my time has come. Goodbye, your sis, Yusha…"

Burning with mixed feelings, I buried my face in my pillow and began to sob like a little girl. Real people from Ferrum Three should never give up, but I couldn't help myself. I wanted to cry, moan and scream to somehow reduce my mental suffering.

Now I understand why my premonition warned me about the danger. After all, Yusha will definitely find a way to finish the job. And a cold hospital ward without home comfort will contribute to this. Which means I had to convince her not to do it!

But how am I going to do it?