What a mess. What a goddamn mess.
At the other end of the hold, suited rriksti were working at the smaller 3D fabber, the one that printed metal parts. He couldn’t see what they were doing. Didn’t have the energy to care. He drew the carbon nanofilament saw to and fro, while Nene placed the slices of frozen flesh in a bag.
When they were done, they tossed the bones and gristle overboard and went back inside.
Nene doffed her suit to the tops of her shoulders. A cloud of fine white snow floated out. She was shaking.
Alexei pulled his goggles off and shook tears out of them. He wiped his eyes, smearing wetness over his cheeks.
Nene threw her arms around him. They held each other for dear life, floating amid hundreds of other people, cocooned in noisome heat and silence.
And in the blackness inside his head, Alexei once again saw the wreckage of the SoD lying in that crater on the far side of the moon.
Keelraiser spoke in his headset. His voice struck a brisk contrast to the lethargy in the cabin. “Alexei, Nene, if you wouldn’t mind coming to the cockpit.”
Alexei wiped his face with his hands. “Be right there.”
They flew forward. Nene distributed the frozen meat as they went. Those hungry enough to eat it would nuke it in the Cloudeater’s poky galley.
In the cockpit, Keelraiser gestured at the forward wall. “We’ll be landing shortly. Please fasten your seatbelts.” His hair danced like the limbs of a broken puppet.
Floating behind the pilot’s seat, Alexei took in the rugged lunar panorama. Bright gray mountain peaks reared out of lakes of shadow. Disorientingly, the landscape was receding before his eyes as if seen in a rearview mirror. The Cloudeater was flying backwards. Keelraiser had flipped the ship during their last plane change, so they could use the drive as a brake.
“We’re very low,” he observed.
“Yes,” Keelraiser said. “These are the mountains of the south pole. Camp Eternal Light is located on the rim of Shackleton Crater. We’ll be landing on a small plateau between Shackleton and Shoemaker.” He added, “I’ve established radio contact with them. They will send vehicles to meet us.”
“I didn’t know you were talking to them,” Nene said.
Keelraiser shrugged.
None of them had much heart for conversation. When Hriklif, seated beside Keelraiser, spoke up, Alexei wondered for a second who was talking. It seemed like a year since he’d heard the atomic engineer’s voice. “I think Alexei should have the co-pilot’s seat. They might need to hear his voice on the radio.”
Keelraiser shrugged again.
“See you on the ground, my life,” Nene whispered. She kissed Alexei and went aft to settle the passengers.
Alexei strapped into the co-pilot’s seat, while Hriklif went below to join the others in the crew cabin. Alexei glanced down through the transparent floor and saw Giles, watching the news on the wall screen. That’s all Giles had done since the crash of the SoD. Watch the news, and rant about the chaos on Earth.
“What’s our descent plan?” Alexei asked.
“Burn all the reaction mass we have left, and pray,” Keelraiser said.
“That sounds like a plan.”
The Cloudeater’s drive turbine roared throatily. Thrust gravity pitched them forward in their straps. With so little reaction mass remaining, Keelraiser had braked as late as he dared. They were descending at a steep angle. Alexei gripped the armrests, which were at the wrong height and shaped the wrong way for his arms. He tensed every muscle, aware of the mountains behind the ship looming larger and closer.
This is how Jack died.
Oh Jesus, Jack.
Alexei remembered all the good things about his friend. Jack’s unfailing cheerfulness. His willingness to make fun of himself. His ability to solve problems with duct tape and willpower, or with willpower alone when the duct tape was all gone. His dogged refusal to give up.
Those stupid movie quotes.
The rope game.
Handmade crossbows.
A sunshade made out of plastic bags and seat frames.
It’s a hard knock life.
You were my brother from another mother, Jack. I’ll never forget you as long as I fucking live.
The Cloudeater’s velocity dropped further. A barren hill drifted into view. They sank at walking pace towards the north side of the hill. “Velocity zero,” Keelraiser said. “Firing auxiliaries.”
Lunar gravity pulled the Cloudeater down, while the auxiliary thrusters pushed against it.
Alexei spotted a scattering of reflective geometrical shapes near the top of the hill. His heart clenched in his chest.
The long-unused landing gear bounced on lunar rock. Keelraiser’s hands flew over the controls. They bounced again—and settled. Gravity pulled loose items in the cockpit to the floor.
The shuttle from Proxima b had landed safely on the moon.
“That,” Alexei said, “was a nice bit of flying.”
Keelraiser sat still, his head hanging forward. “Is there a heaven?” he said.
Alexei pointed at the geometric shapes atop the ‘hill’—which, he now realized, was actually Shackleton Crater. It was smaller than he had expected. “I think that’s it right over there.”
White and orange dots trundled down the side of Shackleton Crater, kicking up dust.
The radio squelched. A strange voice crackled into Alexei’s headset. “Identify yourselves, please.”
Alexei raised his eyebrows at Keelraiser—I thought you’d established contact with them? Keelraiser gestured to him to speak.
Alexei cleared his throat. “This is Alexei Ivanov on the Cloudeater. We are the survivors of the Spirit of Destiny. Four humans and two hundred and sixty-seven rriksti. Hope you’ve got room for us.”
The voice laughed. “We got a whole moon. C’mon out. Bring anyone that urgently needs first aid or other assistance.”
“Roger that.” Alexei stood. The lunar gravity seemed to strip away his tiredness. “Let’s go.”
“Wait.” Keelraiser called out in Rristigul, and went ahead of Alexei down the ladder into the crew cabin.
Suited rriksti crowded the cabin. They were the same ones Alexei had seen at work in the cargo hold earlier. And they were holding …
Giles pushed between them. “Here, Alexei. They also made one for you.”
“Crossbows?”
Keelraiser shrugged. “Easier to make from printed parts than guns.”
Alexei handled the crossbow Giles had given him. Lightweight aluminum alloy. Those seat frames never stopped coming in handy. The crossbow was quite similar to the ones he and Jack had put together from spare parts when they were planning to board the Lightbringer.He imagined Jack looking down from heaven and laughing his head off.
“Highly advanced alien technology,” he murmured.
“We have an image to maintain,” Keelraiser said. And then he took from his backpack a pair of sunglasses. He settled them on his nose over his suit. Much repaired, and retooled with wire to fit a rriksti face, they were Jack’s old Ray-Bans.
Alexei smiled. “Lead the way.”
The small group of men and rriksti emerged from the Cloudeater into the airless lunar day. They stood with their crossbows lowered by their sides, waiting for the vehicles to arrive.
EPILOGUE
Jack’s alarm clock was ringing.
He got the feeling the insistent buzzing noise had been going on for some time.
Better get up or he’d be late for class.
This astronaut training gig felt just like going back to school. Sit at a desk and learn about fluid science and robotics and what have you. Bored him to tears, to be honest. But at the end of it all, he’d get to go into space, so it was worth getting up for.
He opened his eyes.
Telemetry alerts pulsed in the darkness of his helmet.
Oxygen reserves: critical.
His body flexed in a startle reflex, and sagged back in weak
gravity that reminded him of—
Europa—
It all flooded back.
He remembered where he’d been, and where he was now.
That he was alive seemed like the lesser miracle.
THE STORY CONTINUES IN
KILLSHOT
EARTH’S LAST GAMBIT, VOLUME 4
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THE HUMANS
Spirit of Destiny
Acting Mission Commander Jack Kildare
Mission Specialist Alexei Ivanov
Mission Specialist Giles Boisselot
Mission Specialist Skyler Taft
Lightbringer
Eskitul Hannah Ginsburg (“Shiplord”)
Victory
Mission Commander Grigory Nikolov
Mission Specialist Linda Moskowitz
Mission Specialist Koichi Masuoka
THE RRIKSTI
Cloudeater
Shuttle Pilot 1st Class Iristigut (“Keelraiser”)
Medical Specialist & Lay Cleric Nene (“Breeze”)
Atomic Engineer Hriklif (“Ditchlight”)
Medical Expert Stawrrl (“Cleanmay”)
Lance Corporal Brbb (“Pathbreaker”)
Private Difystra (“Blackbone”)
Lightbringer
Acting Commander Ripstiggr (“Godsgift”)
Weapons Specialist Gurlp (“Rocky”)
Life-Support Specialist Sokrine (“Joker”)
Food Services Specialist Figgrit (“Tearflake”)
DISCOVER THE ADVENTUROUS WORLDS
OF FELIX R. SAVAGE
An exuberant storyteller with a demented imagination, Felix R. Savage specializes in creating worlds so exciting, you’ll never want to leave.
EARTH’S LAST GAMBIT
A Quartet of Present-Day Science Fiction Technothrillers
Ripped from the headlines: an alien spaceship is orbiting Europa. Relying only on existing technology, a handful of elite astronauts must confront the threat to Earth’s future, on their own, millions of miles from home.
Can the chosen few overcome technological limitations and their own weaknesses and flaws? Will Earth’s Last Gambit win survival for the human race?
Freefall
Lifeboat
Shiplord
Killshot (forthcoming)
THE RELUCTANT ADVENTURES
OF
FLETCHER CONNOLLY
ON THE
INTERSTELLAR RAILROAD
Near-Future Non-Hard Science Fiction
An Irishman in space. Untold hoards of alien technological relics waiting to be discovered. What could possibly go wrong?
Skint Idjit
Intergalactic Bogtrotter
Banjaxed Ceili
Supermassive Blackguard
THE SOL SYSTEM RENEGADES SERIES
Near-Future Hard Science Fiction
A genocidal AI is devouring our solar system. Can a few brave men and women save humanity?
In the year 2288, humanity stands at a crossroads between space colonization and extinction. Packed with excitement, heartbreak, and unforgettable characters, the Sol System Renegades series tells a sweeping tale of struggle and deliverance.
Keep Off The Grass (short origin story)
Crapkiller (prequel novella)
1. The Galapagos Incident
2. The Vesta Conspiracy
3. The Mercury Rebellion
A Very Merry Zero-Gravity Christmas (short story)
4. The Luna Deception
5. The Phobos Maneuver
6. The Mars Shock
7. The Callisto Gambit
Shiplord: A First Contact Technothriller (Earth's Last Gambit Book 3) Page 36
