HELIUM-3

Chapter 04

POV: Danny

The pain came before consciousness. A throbbing stab in my temples that made me groan even before opening my eyes. 

The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth, mixing with the acidic taste of dried vomit at the corner of my lips.

"Finally."

Lena's voice came from somewhere to my right. Instinctively, I turned my head, which was also extremely painful. I tried to focus on her, but my vision was still filled with pulsating red spots.

"How long?" My voice came out weak and hoarse, causing Lena to frown.

"Eighteen hours, forty-three minutes." She leaned forward, her cold fingers touching my wrist. "You had three seizures. The team wanted to induce a coma, but I..."

"You stopped them."

She didn’t respond, just pressed her fingers a little harder against my skin. Her touch was firm, professional, but there was something else there—a hesitation that had never been there before.

"You're not wearing PPE."

Lena smiled, a small, slightly sarcastic gesture.

"Observant as always, Commander."

"It’s suicide. If it’s contagious—"

"We're all exposed, Danny." She looked at the watch on my wrist, where the hands remained frozen at 4:23. "Since day one."

The silence that followed was broken by the sound of the door sliding open. Raj appeared at the threshold, his pale face under the fluorescent lights.

"Lena, the air filters—" He froze when he saw us, his eyes bouncing between us. "Oh... Sorry. I can... come back later."

"Stop being pathetic, Raj." Lena didn't take her hand off my wrist. "Report."

Raj swallowed, his fingers tapping on the datapad.

"The filters are compromised. Crystals are forming in the pipes. The same patterns we saw in the Helium-3 samples."

"I see. So apparently Jun was right about—"

"Jun's crazy!" Raj exploded, his usual composure breaking. "He's in the infirmary talking about music and worms and..."

He didn’t finish the sentence. Instead, he let out a long sigh of regret.

"And what else, Raj?" I forced myself to sit up, ignoring the wave of nausea. "What else is he saying?"

Raj looked at Lena, seeking permission. She gave a small nod.

"He... he talks about you, Commander. He says you can hear it too. That Kovac chose him because of it."

"I have synesthesia."

Lena didn’t react as if it were news. Raj raised an eyebrow.

"Really? Well, Jun doesn’t. So that doesn’t make sense. What did he mean, Danny?"

. . .

THREE YEARS AGO

Kovac’s apartment was an organized chaos—piles of yellowed books, equipment parts scattered across the tables, a permanent smell of burnt coffee and cheap tobacco. Nothing like the luxurious quarters offered to him as a national hero.

"Do you know why you're here, kid?" Kovac poured two fingers of vodka into dirty glasses, pushing one toward me.

"Because I see what others don’t."

He laughed, a harsh sound that ended in a cough.

"Because you’re the only idiot stupid enough to admit it." His blue eyes fixed on me. "The last Great Hero found me scavenging for scraps in trash heaps. I was twelve, thin as a pole, and had more lice than hair."

He spun the glass, the light reflecting off the cheap liquid.

"Do you know what he told me?"

I shook my head.

"You’re going to die here, kid. Or you can come die with me, but in a way that’s worth it." Kovac took a sip, making a face. "He gave me a choice. I’m giving you one now."

I reached out, covering his hand with mine.

"I’ll never disappoint you."

He turned his palm up, holding my hand the way a father would hold a child before letting them go.

"I know."

. . .

The lab door slid open again.

And this time, it was Jun himself standing in the doorway.

He had changed. His hair, once carefully combed, was now disheveled. His eyes, once a normal brown, now gleamed with a familiar blue, the same shade as Helium-3 under the moonlight.

"You hear it too, don’t you, Commander?" His voice was very calm. "The music is getting louder."

Lena moved in front of me, her slender body blocking my view of Jun.

"You should be resting."

"I have been." Jun laughed, and the sound made my teeth hurt. "Now I understand. Piotr tried to warn us. The kid appears in my dreams every night." His gaze fixed on me over Lena’s shoulder. "But you already know, don’t you, Danny? You’ve always known."

The watch on my wrist seemed to pulse and...

This time, I heard it.

A distorted melody, notes that shouldn’t exist, harmonies that hurt the ears. The same music I had heard when Kovac gave me the watch.

"What is that?" Raj asked, his face pale. "What is he talking about?"

But I already knew.

And by the seriousness in her eyes, Lena knew too.

Helium-3 wasn’t just a mineral.

It was something alive.

And it was calling us.