Dani, and Cruz quickly fastened their safety harnesses, then Sylvine did the same.
“Glad to hear you guys are on your way back,” Zadria said over the comms. “We were a little worried there.”
“You, missy, need to take another lesson on reading life signs. There was a little more than fish in those lakes.” Jag laughed.
“Yeah, sorry,” Zadria mumbled back. Dani could almost hear the embarrassment in her voice.
“Just have some medical supplies ready when we get there. Cruz and this lady did an alright patch job, but I wouldn’t mind trading the spit for some actual bandages.”
“Uh, okay,” Zadria responded after a brief hesitation.
“Dani, I’m not feeling so great. Can you take over?” Jag asked.
She turned to him, noticing that much of the color had left his face, and quickly switched the controls over to her console. “You gonna be alright?”
“Oh, sure.” Jag closed his eyes and leaned back in his seat. “I’ll get patched up back on Osirion and be good as new.”
Dani nodded, but bit the inside of her cheek, trying not to let the worry show. She was thankful the small craft piloted almost exactly like other GC spacecraft. It was easy flying back to Osirion. At one point, she carefully reached down to reassess the damage to her side. It felt like the wound had ripped open again in the commotion, but it didn’t appear to be much worse.
On their approach to Osirion, she continued to glance at Jag to assess his state. Tiny beads of sweat were beginning to form on his forehead.
“Hanging in there, Jag?” she asked as she began the docking procedure.
He responded with a simple grunt.
As soon as the cruiser was locked in, Dani, Sylvine, and Cruz got up to help Jag through the hatch. The rest of the crew waited in the unloading area. They all paused to stare at the redheaded woman as she stepped out of the cruiser and took in her surroundings.
“Introductions later, people.” Dani clapped her hands together, causing the crew to burst into action. Cassia passed Cruz the medical supplies, and Zadria offered water to each of them. Howard climbed into the cruiser and retrieved the egniorium.
“I’m going to get to work refining this. Shouldn’t take too long, but I want to get us headed back as soon as possible.” Howard stared at Jag’s wound as he spoke; once more, the blood had started seeping out of several holes where the creature’s teeth had pierced his flesh.
Cruz quickly wrapped Jag’s wound and helped him to his feet. “I’m not sure how long that will hold. We might need more of Sylvine’s medicine to stop the bleeding again.”
“Oh, I don’t think that’s necessary, guys,” Jag said as he stepped forward, crumpling into Dani and slowly sinking toward the ground in pain.
Dani did her best to hold him up. “You sure about that?”
“Well, maybe it’s not such a bad idea,” Jag grunted as Cruz hooked Jag’s arm over his shoulders.
Dani frowned at Jag. He looked to be failing fast and hung limply from Cruz’s shoulder. “We need to get him into bed.”
Cruz nodded and scooped Jag up over his shoulder despite Jag’s grunts of protest. Cruz began the climb up to the main level with Zadria in tow.
“Cassia, this is Sylvine. Please get her a translation chip.”
“Already thought of that.” Cassia smiled and placed the translation chip on Sylvine’s lapel. “Although, I don’t believe her language is in our database. The few words I picked up over the comm didn’t have any hits on my translation software. I’ll probably have to program her language in manually.”
“Great. Get started on that as soon as you can. But first, I’d like to take her to Jag’s room to see if she can do anything to help him like she did on the planet.”
Cassia led the way up to the main level with Sylvine behind. Dani started up the ladder, but as she climbed, she was overcome with horrible nausea. She continued up the ladder and attempted to push the feeling aside, but it only grew in intensity, bringing lightheadedness with it. She stopped and hooked her arms around the ladder, squeezing her eyes shut in an effort to stop the ship from spinning and swaying around her, but to no avail.
Dani’s grip failed and she felt herself falling toward the metal walkway below. Her head collided with the interior wall, and pain shot through her skull and down her neck. She looked up at Cassia and Sylvine peering down the ladder at her and tried to reach her hand toward them, but lacked the strength. Darkness started creeping in from the edges of her vision, spreading until it was all she could see, and she found herself floating in space once more.
Chapter 8
It didn’t take long for Dani to pinpoint her location as she floated through space. The star system that she fell into was as familiar to her as her childhood home. She was at the same coordinates that kept haunting her: the place where her father was killed.
Her consciousness seemed suspended without her body, the same way it had been when she’d experienced the execution at the prison. Oh man, am I dead? Dani willed herself to move and managed to float through the night sky, only this time something was different. There was a new planet in the system, and it bore an uncanny resemblance to the same blue planet they’d just visited.
Dani tried to put a stop to her drifting, but no amount of thought could contend with her momentum. The planet was coming, and it was coming fast. She braced herself for impact, but instead of feeling her body slam into the earth below, she merely stopped falling as soon as she neared the ground. The tall grass around her moved as though there was wind, but Dani felt none. She didn’t seem to exist in any special form that she could imagine; instead, she seemed to just be a floating consciousness.
“Hey, kiddo, ready to head out?” Dani’s father stepped out of the brush and approached her, rifle slung over his shoulder, hand extended.
Dani caught a glimpse of her adolescent self in his sunglasses and looked down at her hands before reaching to take his. The warm, rough grip of her father’s hand was incredibly reassuring and familiar as he led her back into the brush.
“The beasts are ahead; they just got a kill and are feeding. We should be able to limit their numbers,” Dani’s father explained as though nothing had ever happened.
Dani stared at him in awe, knowing this had to be a dream. There was no way he could be here right now, unless she was dead after all.
The pair stopped, and her father parted the grass to show a ring of the beasts hunched over, pushing raw flesh into their maws with their hands, tails in the air for balance. That was when Dani noticed the prey. The floral dress being trampled beneath their feet was her mother’s favorite.
“Dad,” Dani gasped, grabbing onto his arm. “They’ve got Mom.”
Suddenly, her dad’s arm wasn’t his arm at all, but instead the branch of a lifeless tree. The bark crumbled away at her touch.
“Dad?” Dani questioned as she stepped back from the tree slowly.
A roar erupted from the dining creatures with more to follow. The grass crunched around her, but the creatures remained out of sight. She spun in a circle, trying to see which direction they were coming from as she went to grab her firearm, which was absent.
Dani groped her body for a weapon, anything she could use to defend herself, but came up empty-handed. The first creature leapt through the tall grass and landed on her, the two of them tumbling to the ground as another jumped on her, and another.
“Dani!”
Their teeth tore at her flesh on her side, causing it to burn and gush the violet-colored ooze.
“Dani!” Howard’s voice pulled her out of the dream as he shook her. “Wake up!”
Dani clawed and thrashed, attempting to escape the perceived attack until Cruz pinned her to her bed. His strong grip held her down while Howard ran a cool cloth over her head and said something she couldn’t quite understand to Cruz before the darkness came again.
Her mind continued to dance between consciousness and sleep as flashes of the
planet, the creatures, her parents, and her crew came in random intervals. The intervals slowly grew longer and longer until she was able to wrap her mind around what was happening.
Various images started staying with her for longer periods of time. Howard and Jag arguing at the foot of her bed, Sylvine checking her wound and applying the concoction, Cruz with his arms around Cassia as she cried at Dani’s bedside. Each vision was fleeting, and no matter how desperate Dani was to interact, she couldn’t quite manage to do so.
The next time Dani woke up, she was nose-to-nose with a black, furry, vibrating weight on her chest. As her eyes fluttered open, Carl cocked his head and rubbed his face on hers. Dani sputtered and spit out the bits of cat fur that found their way into her mouth.
“Are you really awake?” Cassia sat up from her slouched position in the chair next to Dani’s bed.
“Ugh, I think so. What happened?” She squinted in the dim lighting, her head pounding.
“You were injured. Best Cruz could figure was that it happened when Jag landed on you. We found some blood on his knife along with a little bit of that purple stuff.”
Dani pushed herself up into a seated position, wincing and grabbing her side as Carl curled up on her lap. “Yeah, but that was nothing. How’d it turn into this?”
She lifted her shirt, her eyes widening at the vibrant purple markings that snaked like tendrils across her abdomen from beneath the fresh bandage.
“We think it was some kind of venom or virus from the creatures. It was pretty touch and go there for a while. Sylvine did something with some weird sap and flowers, and that’s what finally helped pull you out of it.”
“How long was I out?” Dani pushed herself up into a seated position. “Wait, how’s Jag?”
Cassia smiled and nodded toward the door. “Ask him yourself.”
Dani turned to see Jag leaning in the doorway. “You look like you’re feeling better,” he said as he approached her bed, limping, and sat on the foot of it.
“Yeah.” Dani breathed a sigh of relief. “You too.”
“Sylvine can work wonders with random plant bits and some spit.” Jag chuckled. “As gross as that may be.”
“So, wait, what’s going on? Was I out long? Did we figure out where we are?” Dani raised a hand to where she’d hit her head. There was a tender bump, but no open wound.
“Slow down there.” Jag got up and got Dani some water. “You’ve been in and out for the past three days.”
“Three days? You’re kidding me. Why so long?”
“Well, when you get poisoned and don’t tell anyone about it, then it takes a bit to make you better.” Jag glared as he spoke.
Dani cleared her throat. “Right, so update me on what’s going on, please.”
“Z’s been keeping everyone in line. Cruz has spent all his time either looking after us or trying to figure out where we are. Sylvine is quite the medic, and Cassia’s been taking care of everyone.”
“So we’re still lost.” Dani sighed, sinking back against her headboard.
“For now, but we’ll figure something out. We always do.” Jag patted Dani’s hand.
Cassia perked up. “I have made some progress logging Sylvine’s language. I’m working on updating the translation programming so we can communicate more effectively.”
“Okay, well, that’s good news. Do we know anything about her yet?”
“She hates Carl,” Jag said with a chuckle.
“She doesn’t hate Carl.” Cassia rolled her eyes with a huff. “She just doesn’t know Carl.”
Just then, Sylvine walked into Dani’s room, looking down at a tray of medical supplies. The second she laid eyes on Carl, she gasped and turned around and left the room.
“What’d I tell ya?” Jag asked, folding his arms across his chest.
“That doesn’t prove anything.” Cassia dismissed his question with a wave of her hand.
A moment later Cruz returned with the tray and shooed Carl from the bed, handing the tray to Jag.
Carl hissed at Cruz before jumping down and winding his way around Cassia’s legs.
“Oh, yeah, who couldn’t love Carl?” Jag’s voice dripped with sarcasm.
Cassia glared at him before scooping Carl up and leaving the room.
“You guys need to lighten up. Carl’s not so bad,” Dani interjected.
“Time for your medicine,” Cruz signed before preparing his supplies.
Dani lay back and exposed the wound, allowing Cruz to clean it. At one point she winced, causing a look of concern to bloom on Jag’s face. But before anyone could say anything, Zadria poked her head into the room.
“Cruz, I think we’ve got a hit on your location program!”
“That’s great! Cruz, go. Jag can finish up here.” Dani waved at Cruz to leave.
Cruz hurried out of the room after Zadria, and Jag placed the tray on Dani’s legs, walking around the bed to take Cruz’s place.
“You sure you want me to do this?” Jag asked as he examined the wound. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
“I’ll be fine,” Dani reassured him as their eyes met. “I’m tough.”
Jag offered a crooked smile before picking up where Cruz left off. He carefully finished cleaning the wound before taking out some of the sap and flower mixture. He coated a section of gauze with the stuff and gently applied it to the wound.
Dani watched him closely, trying not to let the twinges of pain show in her expression. She didn’t want him to feel bad when he was trying so hard to be tender with her. At one point, his hand brushed against her stomach and the smallest of gasps caught in her throat as his touch caused an electrified sensation to ripple through her body.
Jag quickly withdrew his hands. “Are you okay?” he asked, his eyes brimming with concern.
“Yeah.” Dani blushed. “I’m fine. Go ahead.”
She took a deep breath and lay back, focusing her attention on the ceiling. Her own reaction caught her off guard and she wasn’t sure what to do about it, so instead she opted to pretend it didn’t happen.
“Okay, you’re all set.” Jag sat back and smiled, admiring his handiwork.
“Great, thank you.” Dani sat back up and took a deep breath, not sure what else to do in the uncomfortable growing silence. “I’d better go check in with Howard.”
Jag nodded and helped Dani to her feet. “I’ll check in with Z and Cruz to see where they are, or rather to see if they know where we are.” He forced an awkward laugh as he left.
Dani took careful steps out of her room. Her body was telling her she should stay in bed, but she knew she’d go crazy if she didn’t get up and at least try to do something. Using the wall for support, Dani eventually made it to the engine room. Howard was inside, wearing a welder’s helmet with the visor pushed up. He was bent over the jump drive with two pots from the kitchen next to him. “How’s it going in here?”
“It’s going,” Howard answered with a sigh, keeping is head down. “I was wondering when you were going to wake up. How’re you feeling?”
“I’ll manage just fine,” Dani assured him as she peeked inside one of the pots.
“I had to get the impurities out. Luckily for us, this element doesn’t require an unimaginable level of heat. Though, we’re not going to want to use these pots again.”
“Z and Cruz think they may have figured out where we are. I’m checking in on them next.”
Howard faced Dani and bit his lip. The confident mechanic didn’t look so sure. “Finding out which direction we need to go is only part of the problem.”
Dani waited for Howard to finish his sentence and raised an eyebrow when he didn’t. “So what’s the other part?”
“Well, even with all the egniorium in the universe, I don’t know that we’ll make it.”
Dani raised a hand to her throbbing head. She was starting to regret getting up. “Elaborate, please.”
“I calculated the amount of egniorium our jump drive would be able to handle witho
ut blowing the entire ship to bits. But it’s not enough to get us back to where we started.”
“We don’t need to get back to where we started,” Dani interrupted. “We just need to get back to friendly territory.”
Howard sighed audibly. “I’m not even sure that’s possible. I mean, I’ll do everything I can to get us as close as possible, but it may just not be something this ship can do with its current equipment.”
“I see. Best case scenario?”
“Best case scenario, we go as far as the modified jump drive will take us. It doesn’t explode. We end up in neutral territory and Houston picks us up.”
“And I take it worst case scenario is the opposite of all of those things?”
Howard nodded as he carefully placed the cover back over the jump drive. “It’s ready.”
Dani took a deep breath and let it out slowly, her head still reeling. “I guess we better round up the crew.”
Dani and Howard made their way to the bridge. Along the way, Howard shot Dani a few worried glances when she had to stop and lean against the wall for support.
“I’m fine, I promise,” she tried to convince Howard and herself.
“Okay.” Dani sighed as they finally entered the bridge. “Did we figure out where we are?”
Zadria was perky and excited. “We sure did! Cruz’s program finally worked.”
Cruz seemed mildly annoyed with the emphasis on ‘finally,’ but otherwise looked pleased with himself. “We backtracked to our last known location and the program ran simulations for the shift in identifying stars and planetary systems at precise increments to account for our possible direction and distance. We’re actually pretty lucky it hit so fast. With so many possibilities, it could have taken weeks, or even months.”
“It’s about time luck was on our side.” Dani grinned and approached the holographic display. “Oh, maybe I spoke too soon.”
“As you can see,” Zadria started as Jag joined them, “the reason this area is uncharted is because we’re beyond our borders. In fact, we’re even beyond the Vaerian borders. It’s probably a good thing we jumped out of that wormhole when we did because, otherwise, who knows how far out we would have ended up.”
The Complete First Season - Episodes 1-5 Page 26
