Alone in Paradise (The Chronicles of Anna Foster Book 2)

by Patrick Stutzman

  “A telemetry signal.”

  She sat down again. “Have they identified themselves?”

  Kate paused for a couple of seconds. “Mining probe NRS-MS14-17.”

  “A mining drone?”

  “Yes, Anna.”

  “Wow! I didn’t think they’d still be floating around. Tell it to come here.”

  “Certainly.”

  She leaned back in the upholstered chair. “I had totally forgotten about the drones. I just assumed that they were lost when the station blew up. I wonder how many are left?”

  Anna leapt up and hustled to the airlock. “Kate, I’m going topside to wait for the drone. Let me know when it gets close.”

  “If you wish, Anna.”

  Emerging from the ship, Anna studied her surroundings. Cast entirely in shadow, the forest sent chills up her spine, as though some horrible monster watched her. The diminishing sunlight had also dropped the temperature just enough to be noticeable. She rubbed her arms to stave off the chill.

  Looking to the sky, the gas giant lent the impression of a sinister, inky blob ready to swallow the star hugging the curve of its black mass. As Anna searched the skies for any sign of the drone, she noticed pinpricks of starlight piercing the dark veil settling over the land. Turning on her heel, she looked over the familiar star patterns. As more stars appeared in the sky, she recognized one particular yellow star: home.

  Staring at the distant Sol made her melancholy. “What I wouldn’t give to see my mom and dad right now.”

  She watched the star for several seconds, longing for human contact. Tears formed in her eyes and pushed themselves to the edge of her eyelids. She tried in vain to blink and squeeze them away, but it only caused them to run down her cheeks. Unable to stop their flow, she flopped down on the hull. With arms wrapped around her knees, she hung her head and cried her lonely tears.

  Kate’s voice came through the wristcomp, interrupting her grief. “Anna, the mining drone should be within visual range now.”

  Anna wiped away her tears and sniffed. “Thank you.”

  She rose to her feet and turned, casting her gaze skyward. Far in the distance, close to the treetops, she spotted an approaching pair of red and blue blinking lights. She could not help but smile, knowing that something familiar was coming her way. And, the idea of having a drone around to help her get things done thrilled her.

  While she waited, a howl broke the silence from the woods. Anna gasped as she whipped her head around and looked over her shoulder into the dark woods. Another rough, raspy howl reached Anna’s ears and sent a new set of chills up her spine. Whatever it was seemed to be close by.

  She looked back to the approaching lights, estimating the drone to be a few minutes away. Growing impatient, she bounced on her toes and looked over her shoulder again. She stared between the trees, hoping to catch a glimpse of whatever might be the cause of the howl. Her trembling hand grasped her pistol and slowly pulled it out of its pocket. As she peered into the forest, she saw nothing to cause any alarm. All seemed at peace.

  Anna sighed. Perhaps the wind caused the howl after all. She tried to reassure herself that she was the only living being on the moon, and was only jumping at shadows.

  Out of the corner of her eye, she saw movement.

  Anna gasped again and lifted her pistol. She scanned the tree line, keeping the shaking weapon trained in the same direction as her stare. Noticing her unsteady grip on the pistol, she seized it with both hands and steadied her aim.

  Off in the distance, she heard another howl, followed by another further away and another one behind her some distance. Finally, a howl that seemed right in front of her joined the chorus, completing the circle.

  Fear took hold of Anna. Unable to believe she was alone, she looked at the approaching drone, then fled back into the airlock.

  Just as she arrived next to the hatch, a dark form emerged from the trees. The shadowy twilight of the eclipse combined with the shadow of the ship to mask the creature’s form. However, its bright yellow eyes glowed in the darkness. Frozen in place, she stared at it, praying it would walk back into the woods. It sniffed the exposed dirt under its feet, and turned its head away for a brief moment, before stepping toward the ship.

  Anna raised her pistol and pointed it at the beast. Even with both hands holding the gun, her fear overtook her strength and it shuddered in her hands. She took a deep breath and gripped the sidearm again, steadying it once more. She directed it at the creature, her sights locked on it. Her heart raced, fueled by horror. Doubt took hold. Could she fire the weapon with any sort of accuracy? Could she live with herself if she attacked a creature only trying to survive? Would it really charge at her? Her trigger finger shivered. Finally, ready to prove herself the superior being and survive, she squeezed her eyes shut and pulled the trigger.

  A split second before Anna had fully pressed the trigger, the sounds of the drone’s approach reached her ears. She opened her eyes and looked at the monster. The beast had stopped, its shining eyes looking at the drone. Although Anna knew the drone posed no threat, the creature sprinted back into the woods.

  Anna blinked, unable to believe her good fortune. After she confirmed the animal was gone, she holstered the pistol and stepped toward the drone as it landed on the hull. The drone as one she had maintained while living on the station, and she placed her hand on its shell. Through the blue light reflecting off its metal hull, she could read its embossed label: “NR Suppliers, Mining Station 14. NRS-MS14-17”.

  Anna laughed to herself. “You may not know this, but you have impeccable timing.”

  She gave the machine a cursory examination and found it to be in excellent condition, considering it had floated alone in space for over two weeks. The smile on her face grew wider as she assessed its condition, pleased that it had found its way to her after all this time.

  She pointed at it before retreating to the airlock. “Wait here. Don’t move.”

  She walked onto the bridge, and stopped halfway to the pilot station. “Kate, can you establish a link with the drone outside and download its logs over the last sixteen days.”

  “Of course.”

  “While you are at it, initiate an active scan of the area.”

  “Okay.”

  The drone’s logs appeared before her in a separate holographic window. She read the first few lines. It had registered the presence of three other drones in its vicinity, then entered a sleep cycle when it found it had no place to dock upon its return for maintenance a few hours after the station detonated. It awoke upon receiving a transmission.

  Transmission? What transmission? “Kate, did we make a transmission within the last couple of days?”

  “Transmission logs report the initiation of a distress signal yesterday at 0721 hours.”

  “Yesterday? What happened yesterday?” Anna sifted through her memories for a few seconds and snapped her fingers. “Oh, yeah! Now, I remember. I was trying to fix the computer’s memory circuits. Well, I’m glad that happened. Otherwise you wouldn’t have gotten this drone’s attention.”

  “Thank you, Anna.”

  She continued reading the logs, and learned that sixteen other drones had assembled near the debris field created by the station’s destruction. Since g Lupi’s solar wind distorted the distress signal, it could not pinpoint the exact origin, and four others had left with it to search the planetary system.

  “Sixteen others? This is amazing!” Anna beamed and danced in place.

  “Kate, please have Drone 17 return to where the other drones are and tell them to follow it here.”

  “Will do.”

  “Also, keep in contact with the drone as long as you can, and record how far it is when you lose contact.”

  “Okay.”

  Anna turned her attention to the sensors. A number of life forms were within range. She figured that the blip appearing in the woods moving away from the ship was the creature she’d seen earlier. What astonished her was the
dozens of others scattered around the area. Some moved in groups, while others were single or in pairs. As she watched, more came into being, as if the creatures were appearing out of thin air. She leaned her head closer to the display, frowning. “My god! Where are they coming from?”

  She studied their movements on the sensor display for several minutes, completely enthralled.

  “Anna?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Sunlight levels have dropped below the solar panels’ ability to collect energy from it.”

  Anna did not take her eyes off the readout. “Go ahead and close them.”

  As the sound of the hull plates sliding into place registered, Anna looked out the forward window into the darkness. With the lights on inside the bridge, she could not see the scene on the other side of the window. She glanced at the sensors again. The nearest organism was several hundred meters away. She stood and walked to the airlock, confident that the sensor array would help protect her from the unknown. “Kate, return to a passive scan and inform me if any life forms come within one hundred meters of our current location.”

  “Certainly, Anna.”

  Poking her head out the open portal, she glanced around to ensure the coast was clear. Satisfied, she climbed outside and studied the woods, which were a deep dark shadow. The sounds of at least a dozen new species filled her ears. Some sounded like animals from her homeworld, like the chirps and high-pitched cries from what she assumed were small, flying birds. Others did not sound at all familiar, but one resembled the bleating of a goat. As she listened, the thought of her possibly being the first human to be exposed to this wildlife crossed her mind and brought a smile to her face. The wind picked up and gently blew past her, whipping a lock of hair into her eyes. Brushing back her hair, she caught a glimpse of a small animal in flight near the tree line.

  Suddenly her wristcomp signaled a message. Opening the channel, Kate warned her of a fast-moving anomaly that had entered her chosen perimeter. “I saw it, Kate. I think it’s just a bird or something.”

  She turned in place and looked skyward. The diamond pinpoints of hundreds of stars filled the night sky, accented with hints of nebulae and other nearby celestial formations. The only area devoid of stars was directly overhead, where the gas giant blotted out g Lupi. The sunlight created a bright halo along the right edge of the planetary disk, giving it a luminous crown.

  Anna, keeping her eyes glued to the planetary exhibit, stretched out on the hull and stared at the stars for several minutes. With the breeze caressing her face and the sounds of nature surrounding her, she felt calm and at peace for the first time in years.

  Chapter 7

  “Anna.”

  Anna awoke with a start, sitting straight up and looking around. She was still on top of the ship, and the eclipse had not passed yet. In fact, nothing appeared to have changed.

  Embarrassed, Anna looked at her wristcomp just as Kate called her name again, a little more anxious than before.

  “Sorry, Kate. I must have fallen asleep. What’s up?”

  “I have been tracking the first creature you encountered, and it is approaching our current position from the northwest.”

  Anna looked over her shoulder, but the ambient light from the eclipse prevented her from seeing anything in clear detail. Vowing to eat more carrots, she squinted and stared into the darkness with more intensity.

  A few minutes later, a pair of glowing yellow eyes emerged from the trees. From what she could make out, the beast was stepping toward the ship at a snail’s pace, sniffing at the bare ground every few steps.

  Anna lowered herself against the deck and stretched her hand toward the dorsal hatch’s keypad, all the while keeping her eyes fixed on the native creature. Her fingertips brushed the keys, but could not reach them to enter the passcode. She dragged herself along the smooth hull, looking away only long enough to make sure she went in the right direction, and touched the first key. The resulting beep pierced the relative silence of the night, sounding like a deafening chime. Her gaze flashed back to the creature, whose eyes were now focused on her.

  Fear growing, Anna entered the remaining digits of the code and opened the airlock. The swish of the portal’s opening drowned out all other sounds. She watched the creature stare back at her as she entered the ship.

  Reaching the floor, she placed a hand on her chest and breathed a sigh of relief. She was safe. She waited until her heartbeat calmed, then stepped onto the bridge, where Kate stood staring out at the dark trees. “Kate, I’m going to grab something to eat. Do you have any kind of recreational software on file?”

  Kate thought for a second. “I have several game titles on file from which you may choose.”

  “Such as?”

  “I have adventure games, board games, card games, and strategy games available for your entertainment.”

  Anna weighed her options for a brief moment. “What do you have in card games?”

  “I have Blackjack, Bridge, Cribbage, Draw Poker, Freecell, Gin, Golf, Hearts, Klondike, Phase 10, Rummy, Spider, Strip Poker, Texas Hold ‘em . . .”

  “Hold up.” Anna held a hand between them. “You have Strip Poker?”

  “Yes.”

  Anna dropped her face into her hand. “Why am I not surprised?”

  “Surprised at what?”

  She removed her hand from her face and waved it toward Kate. “Never mind. Continue.”

  “Okay. I also have Texas Hold ‘em Poker, Tri-Peaks, and War.”

  “Okay, queue up Cribbage. I haven’t played that since middle school. Time I familiarize myself with it again.”

  “Excellent choice.”

  After making a ham sandwich and picking up one of the fruits she’d harvested, she returned to the bridge and found Kate sitting on the floor just behind the pilot seat, a holographic version of cribbage waiting. Anna took a bite of her sandwich and sat across from her companion.

  An hour passed as the two ladies had played through several games, punctuated with idle conversation and playful banter. Anna dragged the Six of Hearts to the pile atop the Nine of Spades. “Fifteen.”

  “No way. You are cheating.”

  Anna shrugged. “How can I be cheating? I’m playing against a computer.”

  “You…” Kate pointed her finger in accusation, but dropped it after a second. “Actually, you have a point.”

  The pair giggled, and Kate looked at her hand of cards, which floated before her face. She reached for her next play—

  THUMP!

  Anna flinched, and the pair looked at the forward viewscreen. A large, muscular, canine-like creature with thick, dark blue fur was on the other side of the window. It stood about a meter high at the shoulder. Two of its front paws pressed against the bottom of the window, while a third arced over its head and pushed against the reinforced glass near the top. Its bright yellow eyes, whether reflecting the ship’s light or glowing of their own accord Anna did not know, stared hungrily at the two humanoids inside. The lips on the beast’s long, triple-jawed snout peeled back, baring a row of sharp, yellowed fangs. As a thin stream of drool spilled out of its maw, its guttural growl sent chills up her spine.

  Anna backed away on her hands and feet, watching the creature as she moved. The animal growled again, then barked as it slashed two sharp claws against the window. It raked the transparent barrier again and again, to no avail. After a while it stopped, then howled into the night, the volume of its cry forcing Anna to cover her ears.

  Kate stood and walked up to stand opposite the beast, enticing it to scratch against the viewscreen more furiously. She watched it react to her proximity, growling and scraping the window.

  Anna remained on the floor against the airlock door, her heart pounding and her breathing ragged. Frozen in place, she could not tear her eyes away.

  “I do not think it can get in.” Kate turned to regard Anna in the back of the room. “You have nothing to worry about.”

  “Really?” Fear dominated her voice
. “Tell that to him.”

  Kate looked back at the creature, then walked away from the pilot station, leaving the beast to snarl and gnash its teeth at her. “The hull seems to be strong enough to keep it out. You should relax.”

  Anna watched the creature for another moment. It calmed down, but continued to stare right at her. It licked its chops with a long, thin tongue and dipped its head for a brief second. As it did, something flickered under its jaw near its neck. “I don’t know if I can.”

  Kate stopped and squatted down in front of her. “Well, I do not expect that creature to break in here anytime soon. I suggest that you find a way to face your fear and conquer it.”

  Anna glanced at her, then leaned to one side to watch their visitor. As she observed the wild animal, Anna noticed its lean frame. For a fearsome predator, it seemed like it was on the brink of starvation. That certainly explained its behavior. If it was that hungry, it would compete against her for any food in the area, and she could not allow that.

  With her eyes glued to the beast, she slid her back up the wall and slapped the switch, opening the airlock.

  “Anna, where are you going?” Kate moved to follow her into the airlock.

  “I have to take care of this.” Anna’s voice was soft, yet husky.

  “Are you sure that is wise? That creature is waiting outside, ready to attack anything that moves.”

  Anna paused and stepped backward into the airlock. “That’s why I have to take care of this.”

  “Anna, do not—”

  Anna cut off Kate’s demand by closing the door.

  The upper hatch slid open and Anna leaped through, pistol in hand. She wheeled about to face the front of the ship, almost losing her balance from spinning too fast. As she steadied herself with her free hand, the creature’s head lifted to look over the edge of the ship at her. With a single bound, it leaped onto the top of the ship. Though the darkness surrounding them did not help her see what the beast was doing, she could tell that it lowered its head and stared at her, growling with bared teeth. In response, she raised her weapon and aimed at its dark mass.