#alran

“Come on!” Kanter yelled, already running away from the Imperial complex. They had gotten the intel they needed, now they just needed to get out.

“I’m coming!”

Glancing over his shoulder, Kanter grinned at Arlan – his friend, and his brother-in-law. He may not have originally liked the kid. In fact, there was a time when he thought no one was good enough for his sister. But Arlan had proven himself. And not only that, he had also become a good friend.

Arlan grinned back at Kanter. Nervous excitement shone on his face, the only kind of thrill you could get from doing something dangerous for the greater good. It wasn’t something that came easily for most, but Arlan had learned and now he was quite capable in the rebellion.

Kanter pushed aside his thoughts and refocused his mind on this mission at hand and his gaze on where he was running.

Then the missile struck.

The force of it sent Kanter flying. Heat scorched his back and the ground slammed into him. Ringing filled his ears. Everything seemed disoriented and out of place. Debris fell from the sky and smoke rose from the impact. Kanter’s chest restricted as he tried to breath, but his body wasn’t complying. Fear tried to engulf him, but he forced his muscles to relax. After a few more seconds, he was able to draw in a breath of the gritty air. One breath, then two. After five, he could breathe regularly again.

“That was a close one,” he said, laughing a bit to try and shake off the shock of it all. Arlan would need something to calm his nerves after what just happened.

There was silence for a few seconds and worry slowly found its way into Kanter’s chest.

“Arlan?” he called out as he forced himself to sit up, ignoring the pain in his back. Narrowing his eyes, he searched through the smoke, looking for his brother. But he couldn’t spot him.

“Arlan!” he called out again, biting his lip he took a breath then stood before making his way towards the center of the explosion. Maybe Arlen was unconscious, he would need Kanter’s help. That had to be the reason he wasn’t answering. And that’s what Kanter kept telling himself. Even after he found Arlan’s jacket burned and charred, even after he had walked through all of the impact zone. He had to be okay, he must have lost his jacket along the way. That had to be it, he had to be okay. He just had to…

“Kanter!”

Only the sound of Petro’s voice broke Kanter out of his insistent searching. He looked up and saw the mission’s leader narrowing his eyes at Kanter.

“What are you doing? Where have you been? There are troopers heading this way, we have to go now!” Petro said, glancing over his shoulder as he spoke.

“I can’t leave without Arlan,” Kanter growled, not caring that he could be in danger, not willing to admit what his heart already knew.

“Well where is he?” Petro said, irritation growing in his voice.

“I don’t know! I’ve been looking for him!” Kanter snapped, fighting the truth even as Petro looked around and took in the crater, the debris.

“Kanter…we have to go,” Petro said, his voice losing some of its edge.

“No, not without-” Kanter’s voice cracked, he couldn’t give up, not yet. Arlan couldn’t be gone…

“He’s gone Kanter, we can’t stay here any longer.” Petro walked over to him and grabbed his sleeve, as if threatening to drag him along. Kanter knew he would if he had to.

Pain and guilt gripped Kanter’s heart as the words settled over him. The words he knew where true, but that he didn’t want to believe. He didn’t want to leave, he wanted to keep looking, but when Petro pulled on his sleeve he let himself be lead away.

On board the ship someone tended to Kanter’s back, but he barely felt the pain. He didn’t feel anything. This couldn’t be happening. Arlan still had a whole life ahead of him. He was going to be a father. He needed to see his son grow up, he still had so much to do. But he was gone…

Because I couldn’t protect him. The words ran around in Kanter’s head again and again. All the way back to base, all the way home. It was his fault, his fault that his brother was gone. The thought occupied his mind, only his body kept going, walking on autopilot. But then he walked through the door and saw Kotep.

She greeted him with a smile, as she always did. But then her eyes flitted to the door and her smile disappeared. “Where’s Arlan?”

Opening his mouth, Kanter tried to speak, tried to say the words he knew she needed to hear. The words that he didn’t want to believe. But they wouldn’t come.

Realization slowly grew on Kotep’s face, and as it did, tears built in her eyes and her legs gave way underneath her. Purely out of instinct, Kanter slid to the ground and wrapped his arms around her.

Her sobs drown out all of the sounds of the night. They tore into Kanter’s heart and he held her tighter, wishing that it was him that had been caught in the explosion instead of Arlan. He had always promised himself that he would do anything to keep Kotep safe, and he had extended that promise to Arlan. But he had failed.