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

by Patrick Stutzman

  Anna pulled the binoculars from her belt and peered at the turret. From what she could tell, James’s attention was focused on something inside the ship.

  “What is he looking at?”

  * * * * *

  James counted down the seconds, his patience growing thin with thirty seconds still remaining. He gripped the fire control stick. His finger twitched over the trigger. He glanced at the time display on the panel.

  “Fuck it.” He squeezed the trigger. Nothing.

  He studied the control panel, and found the power in the turret had failed without warning.

  James’s mouth flew open, and his eyes grew wide. “What? What’s going on?”

  “Captain!”

  James looked over his shoulder to find Ahmad standing in the doorway. In his hand, Ahmad held Hiraku’s pistol, still aimed at the turret’s sputtering power cable.

  James clenched his teeth as his face grew hot. “What are you doing?”

  “Your reign of terror is over, sir.”

  Ahmad aimed his weapon at James. “Goodbye, sir.”

  “No!” James threw his hands up in front of his face.

  Ahmad moved in with his gun, took a deep breath, and fired a shot into the turret. The shot reflected off the orb and slammed into the ceiling. Staring in disbelief, he raised his weapon and fired again with the same result.

  James looked back at Ahmad, a smug smile on his face.

  Several bolts of energy slipped through the opening, some of which impacted against one of the orb’s support struts. The blast jostled the turret, alarming James. Stealing a glance at the surface, he watched Anna squeeze off another shot, which smashed through the rest of the support strut. The turret, released from one of its restraints, bounced on its remaining supports for a second before stabilizing.

  “Stop shooting!”

  Without changing her position, Anna responded with her middle finger before firing another shot. The bolt of energy penetrated the second of the turret’s two upper support beams.

  James turned his gaze back into the ship, a wide-eyed expression of horror pasted on his countenance. “Ahmad, help!”

  Ahmad nodded. “I’ll be happy to, sir.”

  James smiled, then Ahmad opened a small panel in the wall near the doorway. With only a second’s hesitation to glance back at his commander, Ahmad pressed the large, red eject button.

  The spherical turret launched away from the ship, carrying the screaming pirate captain in a large arc toward the ground meters below.

  * * * * *

  Anna straightened her posture and watched the orb descend to the ground near the far edge of the clearing. Certain the captain could not survive the fall, she wanted to breathe a sigh of relief and return inside her home, but she knew she couldn’t afford to take any chances. With the spaceship above making no hostile moves, she returned the binoculars to her belt and climbed out of the airlock. She sprinted toward the fallen turret, slowing down to cross the last several meters with caution.

  Anna looked at the shattered sphere, shards of metal and plastic peppering the area around the point of impact. James lay in the middle of the wreckage, his bloodied and broken body twisted into an unnatural position.

  She drew her pistol and stepped through the wreckage, making her way to him.

  James stirred and blinked his eyes open. He cringed and groaned as he attempted to move. He paused, slowly turned his head toward Anna, his eyes bloodied. He raised a trembling hand a couple of centimeters. “Help me.” Anna barely understood his whisper over the roar of the engines overhead.

  She looked down upon him and aimed her weapon at his face. “Death first.”

  Anna pulled the trigger, and his body jerked one final time.

  Chapter 32

  An explosion from the sky above her grabbed Anna’s attention. Looking skyward, she caught the sight of a fireball dissipating from the front of the Resolute. Deciding not to take any chances, she sprinted back to her ship.

  * * * * *

  Ahmad, despite the exhaustion threatening to overtake his body, breathed a sigh of relief and stared at the empty space where the turret had been a moment before. He snapped his gaze through the doorway behind him as a deafening roar assaulted his ears. He mustered his strength and ran into the hallway to see the bridge engulfed in flames.

  “Gotta set the ship down.” Adrenaline fueled his legs as he sprinted to Engineering.

  Reaching the engine room, he quickly glanced at the internal systems analysis to see the guidance systems offline. He rushed to the auxiliary controls to find the entire backup system offline as well. As panic set in, the floor tilted, and he grabbed the console to keep from sliding away.

  * * * * *

  On the ground, Anna reached the nose of her ship and paused long enough to look at the other vessel. The airborne ship listed to starboard and slowly veered away from her as flames licked at the hull above the bridge. She scrambled across her ship’s hull and climbed into the airlock far enough to be able to drop to safety in case something catastrophic happened to the other craft.

  Inside, Kate called to her through the airlock hatch. “Anna, I’m picking up an energy spike coming from the other ship.”

  A second fireball erupted from the bridge, followed by another from the stern several seconds later.

  Anna kept her gaze fixed on the Resolute. “How bad is it, Kate?”

  “The guidance systems are offline, and I detect multiple fires aboard, particularly around the bridge and within Engineering. I am also picking up one life form aboard.”

  “One?” Anna dropped her gaze to the airlock floor, frowning. “What happened to the others?” she whispered.

  Another explosion pulled Anna’s attention back to the sky. A new fireball ripped through the Resolute’s hull above the engines. Seconds later, its exterior lights flickered and went out. The pirate ship hung for a brief moment, as if suspended in the air. Anna held her breath. The engines on the underside gave one last burst before dying, and the Resolute dropped like a rock. The doomed craft hit the ground, creating a cloud of dust and splintered wood. The ship and the earth beneath it shuddered from the impact, and Anna gripped the top rung of the access ladder to keep from falling. As the rumbling ceased, the sounds of small particles raining onto the hull reached her ears.

  Anna poked her head through the airlock and studied the plumes of smoke rising from the trees. “Kate, scan the ship. I want to see how well it stayed intact.”

  “What do you have in mind?”

  “I’m hoping I can salvage parts and repair our ship to get us off the ground again. There might even be some fuel left.”

  “Anna, I am detecting another energy spike above the crash site.”

  Before Anna could respond, a large hexagonal spacecraft faded into view over the trees. It dominated the sky, casting a dark shadow over the area. Its grayish-white hull framed a circular aperture, its center glowed with a soft, blue light. A deep hum emanated from within it, filling the air with its resonance.

  A bluish-purple beam shot from the underside of the hexagon toward the Resolute, and as Anna watched, the flaming wreckage rose into the air, engulfed by the light produced by the huge vessel.

  Anna’s eyes remained glued to the scene unfolding between the giant ship and the Resolute. “Kate, scan the other ship.”

  “I am trying to, but the sensors are not able to penetrate its hull. I sense that it is there, but I get nothing more.”

  A couple of seconds later, the vessel lifted skyward, taking the pirates’ ship in tow. Awed, Anna could do nothing more than watch.

  The light intensified just as the pirate vessel exploded. Nonplussed, the other ship ascended out of sight along with the fiery debris, leaving the area as quiet as before, with only the sound of the wind blowing through the trees.

  Anna stared dumbfounded at the sky, trying to process what had just happened. The reality of the events washed over her. What just happened? Who was that? Was that…c
ould that have been…?

  She clambered out of the airlock and rushed to the starboard edge of the ship, waving her arms frantically. “Hey! Wait! I’m still here!”

  Kate waited several seconds. “Anna, they’re gone.”

  Anna paused and waved her arms again. “Are you sure?”

  “My sensor range allows me to scan the areas of the upper atmosphere directly above us, and I am not detecting the other vessel anymore.”

  After glancing toward where the Resolute had crashed, Anna dropped her arms to her sides. “What about the crash site? Maybe the one person got out?”

  “No, Anna. I’m sorry.”

  Anna fought back the tears that came with the knowledge of being left alone once more. “I know.”

  “I’m sorry?”

  Anna sniffed. “I know, Kate. They’re gone.”

  “There is a bit of good news. Do you remember the sensors problem I kept asking you to fix? It’s gone. It was focused on where the larger ship used to be.”

  “Yeah, that’s good.” Anna wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

  The two fell silent for a moment. Anna stood at the top of the ladder, her mind playing back through the last few days. She climbed into the airlock and pressed her back against the wall opposite the door. With one last glance skyward, the memories of her recent experience filled her mind and overwhelmed her. Unable to hold them back, she sobbed uncontrollably. Her legs gave way, and she slid down the wall to sit on the floor.

  Seconds later, the hiss of the airlock door opening reached Anna’s ears. She opened her eyes and found Kate standing on the opposite side. Anna curled into a fetal position, saying nothing.

  Several minutes passed, the only sound Anna’s weeping, until Kate cleared her virtual throat. “Anna, I am so sorry. I wish I could comfort you. I wish there was something I could do for you.”

  Anna’s crying subsided a short while later, and she wiped away her tears with the back of her hand before sitting up. “It’s okay, Kate. There isn’t anything to say. I can’t talk about it, not yet. But when I’m ready, do you think…”

  “Anna, it would be my honor.” Kate’s smile reassured her.

  “Thanks, Kate.” The tears returned.

  Several minutes passed before Anna breathed slowly as she stopped crying, and brushed her hand across her tear-stained cheeks.

  Kate, now sitting on the floor on the other side of the airlock hatch, leaned toward her. “Are you going to be okay?”

  “Okay?” Anna’s voice cracked. “Maybe, one day. But, things have to be done. Call the drones back as soon as the shield around the pyramid is down.”

  “What are you going to do, Anna?”

  Anna stood and climbed the ladder to the top of the ship. Looking around the clearing, her gaze fell upon the aftermath of her long, tortuous encounter with the pirates: the damaged and destroyed mining drones, the blasted security keypad next to the top hatch of the ship, a fully-functional skycycle low on fuel, and the remains of the turret from the cargo vessel that carried them to the moon: her moon, her Paradise.

  Taking a deep breath, Anna exhaled through puckered lips, trying to release the stress and grief. She pulled the hand scanner from her tool belt. “Kate, we’re going to start by repairing the damaged drones, since it looks like you and I are going to be here a while longer.”