It was something though.
Worst case, she could gather supplies. Food, and weapons, and head for the caves.
The sun was setting.
She noticed the change in the sky. It went from bright, light blue to dark. She wasn’t sure how many hours were in a day or in a night. They never explained how fast the planet spun and had only guessed the time it took for the planet to rotate around their star.
She wasn’t afraid of the dark.
Spending a night on this planet scared her.
She couldn’t even begin to imagine the predators that came out when the dark enveloped the lands.
Parting leaves with both hands, she almost cried.
In front of her, just yards away, sat Liberation.
It was right where they’d left it.
They had been so close, if only Martin could have held on a little longer.
Ignoring the fresh tears running down her cheeks, Aria found strength and sprinted for the ship.
She ran without looking back.
She felt certain something was only inches from snatching her up in its jaws.
The memory came back without prompting.
Her father took her water skiing. They were on the ocean, close to shore. The boat had twin engines. She was fourteen and good on the skis. In fisted hands she held the rope tethered to the back of her father’s boat. He sped across the ocean, cutting over small waves. She skimmed the surface, hollering for him to go faster, always faster.
She crashed over a wake, tumbled forward, and found herself treading water.
It was a moment before her father realized she’d fallen. He had to turn the boat around and circle back to pull her out of the ocean.
While she waited, she knew—just knew—something sinister swam up from the depths and was moments away from chomping down on her kicking legs. She fully expected she’d be dragged below the surface despite her floatation jacket. Sucking water into her lungs, she’d be drowning at the same time she was devoured.
Only her father reached her, hoisted her up out of the water, and without incident. Every time she fell skiing the same fear returned. Her heart beat so fast. She remembered worrying the creatures below would hear it, be drawn to it, and come for her. They never did. It didn’t curb the anxiety.
The same feeling was back.
Stronger.
She was so tempted to look behind her. She knew if she did, she’d trip, fall, and whatever was advancing would catch her.
The ship was right there.
It was within reach.
She knew she was crying, sobbing, as she ran. And against better judgement, she turned.
Nothing.
There was nothing behind her. She almost laughed, full of relief.
She didn’t.
Her hands shot out in front of her as she reached Liberation. They clapped on steel. She used her shoulder to swipe at tears on her chin as she struggled to open the door.
Was it locked?
She pounded on the door, knowing no one was inside. No one would open it for her.
She was all alone.
A lizard roared. She had no idea where the sound came from. Did her body give off pheromones they smelled? Was her body calling out to them?
She lowered her head against the hull, feeling deflated and defeated.
The ship’s door gasped. Slowly, it lowered, opening.
Aria stumbled forward, up the stairs, and into Liberation. She was about to yell out hello. There was no need. By the door panel lay Candice. She was missing a leg. “Doppler,” she said.
“Outside, grab the torch. It’s by the fuel tank,” she said.
Aria didn’t want to go back out there. Candice must need the tool. There was no way she could deny the request. She tried not to think about it, and just turned around, and went back outside.
It terrified her.
She knew she hadn’t been any safer inside the ship, but it had felt that way. It had felt like almost being home.
She stayed close to the hull and saw the area where Candice and Braddox had been working on repairs. She snatched up the welding tool and whatever else she could get her hands on and ran back for the opened door.
Once on the ship, she said, “Close it.”
“Where’s Caldera?”
Aria shook her head. “He saved my life.”
Candice pursed her lips. “We don’t have much time. There was a relay transmission from Clandestine. We have to abort the mission.”
“Ah, you think?” Aria said. All she wanted was to leave the planet. Azure was nothing like she’d hoped. She set everything down. “Where’s the captain?”
“He saved mine,” Candice said. She was quiet for a moment. “Okay. Listen, there’s a massive meteor shower on the way. Something must have exploded, a moon, a planet, a star, who knows? Debris is headed for this planet. It could prove most devastating.” She laughed.
Aria wasn’t sure if anything was funny. “Are you okay?”
“We have to stop the bleeding. I need to get us off this planet and back to Clandestine.”
“How much time do we have?”
“Hours. Minutes. I’m not sure.”
“How do we stop the bleeding?” Aria said.
“You’re going to weld the stump,” Candice said.
This time Aria laughed. When Candice didn’t join in, she stopped. “Wait, you’re serious?”
“Dead serious. If I pass out in the captain’s chair you’ll see the autopilot switch—”
“Autopilot?”
“It will get you right back to the Clandestine,” she said, but didn’t hold eye contact.
“What else?”
“There’s nothing else,” Candice said.
Aria didn’t want protection. “I need to know the truth.”
“The sooner we take off, the better our chances. Depending on the span of that shower, autopilot is not able to maneuver at will. The course back to Clandestine is preset,” Candice said.
“So if Liberation’s headed right for an asteroid, it won’t dodge it?”
“It won’t.”
“We’d just crash into it?”
“We would.”
“And before we do anything, you want me to weld your leg closed.”
“It has to be done. I’m losing blood. I could pass out or. . .worse,” she said.
Aria bit down on her lip. “I’ve never done anything like this, like what you want me to do to your leg.”
“Grab the welder. I’ll give you a quick lesson,” she said.
Something banged into the ship’s hull. Aria screamed!
Chapter 16
The bang came again.
And again.
Aria stared at Candice. “It’s knocking.”
“Open the door,” Candice said. She lifted the blaster next to her.
Aria reached over Candice’s head. She depressed the door activation button. The door hissed. It lowered.
It was getting very dark outside.
Braddox didn’t wait for the door to open fully before climbing into the ship. “Shut the door!”
“Founding!” Candice wore a huge smile. She held her arms out, open wide.
“You made it,” he said, dropping to his knees and pulling her into his arms. “I knew you would. I knew you’d get back to the ship.”
“Are you okay?”
“I am. I’m good.”
“You have to weld her leg closed,” Aria said, anxious to delegate the assignment.
They ignored her.
“A meteor shower is headed this way.”
“How long?” Braddox said.
“Not positive, but we have to get off this planet. Now.”
“Where’s Caldera?”
“Didn’t make it,” Candice said. “It’s the three of us.”
“Okay.” Braddox stood up. He grabbed the welder and Candice’s blaster.
“What are you doing?” Aria said.
“The fuel tank�
�s not repaired. I need to finish that up. We aren’t going anywhere with a hole in the tank. It was nearly done. This won’t take long,” he said, and smiled.
He was lying.
“Can I help?”
“We’re going to fix her leg. That needs to be done first.”
“Fix it, not weld it?” Aria said.
“No. We’re welding it. That will cauterize everything and sterilize it as well. We have no idea what type of bacteria is out there, what we’re actually breathing in.”
“Thanks,” Candice said. It was half-hearted sarcasm.
“I have air samples,” Aria said.
“Analyse it later. Right now, I need your help.”
Braddox worked fast. He drew his knife along the leg of the suit up to Candice’s groin and then pulled the fabric apart. It didn’t tear easily. He kept chopping at it with the blade until her entire thigh was exposed. “We need water,” he said, “and something for her to bite down on.”
Aria ran to the small fridge. She removed a bottle of water and found a wood spoon in the cupboard. “Here,” she said.
Braddox opened the water and doused it over the stump. He used his hand and wiped away dry blood. Then, he placed a welders shield on he his head, but hadn’t lowered the mask.
Aria closed her mouth hard. She didn’t want to vomit. She felt bile speed up her throat. Swallowing it down took some doing.
“Get behind her,” Braddox said. “Put her head in your lap, and the spoon in her mouth. You’re going to have to hold her down. Press on her shoulders. Understand me? She can’t move. She’s going to fight you, but it’s your job to keep her still.”
Aria lifted Candice’s head and set it on her lap. She tried putting the spoon in Candice’s mouth as if feeding her soup.
Braddox took the spoon out of Aria’s hand, shaking his head, and placed it long ways, the handle in Candice’s mouth. “Bite down on that,” he said.
Candice’s forehead was sweating. Her eyes were wide. The woman knew what was about to happen would hurt. She was talking, despite the spoon. “Do it quick, man. Quick.”
“I will,” Braddox said, and then nodded up at Aria.
Aria leaned over Candice’s head and pressed down on her shoulders, her hands clasped on Candice’s arms.
“I mean hold her down good, you got me?” Braddox said.
Aria nodded.
“Don’t look at the arc,” he said, lowering the mask. “Either of you.”
Aria shut her eyes. She had no intention of watching the surgery anyway. She didn’t need to be instructed otherwise.
She heard the welding gun spark to life.
Even with her eyes closed, the bright white and blue light pierced her eyelids.
Candice bucked. Her body writhed. She released a muffled screamed, tongue pressed against the wood spoon in her mouth.
The pungent odor of burning flesh filled Aria’s nostrils. She again worried she was going to throw up. Her stomach lurched and rolled. She was able to hold it down. For now.
Candice thrashed. Her hips twisted. Aria opened one eye, doing her best not to look at the arc.
“Hold still,” Braddox said. He pressed one hand down on her thigh just above the stump. Smoke rose off the severed ends of torn meat and skin. “Done. I’m done.”
Aria looked down at Candice.
Her eyes were closed.
“She passed out,” Braddox said. “Keep an eye on her. I’m going out to finish the repairs on the fuel tank.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. It’s night time. There are going to be more predators out there.” Aria didn’t want to be left alone.
“If I don’t do this, we don’t get off this planet.”
Aria didn’t say anything. She couldn’t argue with that.
“I’ll be quick. There wasn’t much left,” he said. “If anything happens, by my chair is a switch that says autopilot—”
“I know about the autopilot,” she said.
“It will start the engines, take off, and fly you right back to Clandestine. You won’t have to do a thing,” he said, collecting up the gear he wanted for finishing the job.
“Then why don’t we just leave now. Fix the tank later.”
Braddox stopped what he was doing. “Truth is, if you take off before that tank’s fixed, there’s a fifty-fifty chance you’ll make it back to Clandestine. Fifty-fifty is generous. I need to rig the odds in our favor. We spilled fuel on the way down. The gage wasn’t reading properly. I have no idea how much we lost. That kills the odds, cutting them in half right there. Let me do this, okay? It won’t take long.”
It was the first time Aria felt he was honest with her. He didn’t sugarcoat the situation. She had only been fooling herself anyway. They were in trouble. She didn’t need an explanation from him. She knew it. His confirmation just made everything more real. “Be quick,” she said.
He grabbed a new helmet off a hook by the door.
“Kind of late for that now, don’t you think?”
He put it on. He pressed the comm link on the shoulder of his suit. “Test, one, two. Test.”
His voice came out from speakers on the bridge.
“This way we can keep in contact,” he said.
She smiled. “Good thinking.”
He opened the shuttle door. He checked left and right before exiting the ship.
She closed the door and tended to Candice. She used a wet cloth over her forehead and face, washing away stale perspiration and blood.
Inside the ship, she heard Braddox working. She wished it was quieter repairs. The noise would attract more giant lizards, predatory birds, dangerous rodents, and whatever else was out there that she’d not yet seen.
She cried.
There was no sense holding it in. Not anymore. Candice was still out of it, and she was alone.
Even though her father was dead, he was the one person she wanted to see most when she arrived back home. He would have been so proud of her. He’d be standing by the platform waiting for her to exit Clandestine. She’d run to him, jump in his arms, and he’d lift her off her feet and spin her around welcoming her back as his hero.
No one would be waiting for her if she ever made it home.
She had no family, no close friends.
There was no one.
Whether home or here, she was alone.
Chapter 17
Aria sat in the co-pilot seat. She stared out at the terrain. The tall trees had wonderful large green leaves. The thick grass blades were long, and thick, and sharp. The planet had one moon. She’d not noticed it when they landed. It was out now and sat like a soft white ball amid the starlit sky. The moon’s glow reached the surface and provided reflective light from the solar system’s main star.
It was a beautiful planet. She wished there’d been time to explore the mountains and caves she’d seen. Aside from crazy monsters that would try eating them, she bet the place was a wonder begging for exploration. Although the air was breathable, Braddox’s concern about foreign bacteria was something she should have thought of first. Who knew what festered inside of them. Alien beings she would hopefully shed during decontamination once back on Clandestine.
She didn’t want to dwell on it. The idea of foreign germs infecting her was frightening.
“Light?”
Braddox was on the intercom. She grabbed the headset and held the mic near her mouth. “This is Light.”
“I am finishing up. I think we’re in good shape. Over.”
That was the first good thing she’d heard all day. “Roger.”
“I’ve just got to finish up one thing, and we can say goodbye to this place forever. Over.”
“Music to my ears, captain. Out.”
She set down the headset and smiled. It didn’t seem possible. Part of her expected more to go wrong. It was more than a pessimistic outlook. It was more of an impending feeling of complete doom. Her mind often got the best of her. Her imagination ran wild. She’d maste
red keeping those feelings to herself. Without control of her emotions, she’d never have been selected for the mission, would never have passed the psychological evaluations. It wasn’t that she cheated on the tests and during the interviews as much as she twisted words and answers accordingly to accommodate what was needed in order to pass.
“Light? Go to autopilot. Now!”
Aria stood up. She placed palms on the dash. Out in front of the ship, Braddox ran toward the jungle.
“Light!” Braddox said.
“Help me over there,” Candice said.
Aria ran over and lifted Candice, getting under one arm. “Lean on me,” she said.
“Put me in Founding’s chair,” she said.
Aria and Candice hobbled forward. Aria couldn’t take her eyes off the front shield. One of the large spiked spine lizards was after him.
Candice sat in the pilot’s chair. She flipped switches and pressed buttons. Lights came on, and engines started.
The spine spiked lizard stopped, rose up tall, and roared. Maybe Braddox was no longer as interesting as a spaceship.
“Get that thing out of here,” Braddox said over the comm.
“Roger,” Candice said.
“You flying?”
“Roger, again,” Candice said. She lowered the mic. “Go to the arsenal. Grab the Laser-blast.”
“And do what with it?” Aria said.
“Go!”
Liberation lifted off the ground.
Braddox was outside waving his arms, trying to draw the lizard’s attention.
“Aria!”
“Coming!”
“Open the side door. Stand on the landing.”
“Stand on the landing?”
“And kill that thing!” Candice said.
Braddox ran at the lizard. He was trying desperately to save them.
Aria palmed the button. The door hissed as it opened slowly and then lowered. The stairs led nowhere unless she wanted to jump twenty feet. She stood in the jamb, the gun strap slung over her shoulder, and readied the weapon, taking it off stun.
Liberation had to be twenty feet in the air.
She was eye level to the spiked spine lizard. It opened its mouth and roared. Saliva shot off its tongue and sharp teeth and sprayed into the ship. Coated in lizard drool, Aria turned the weapon on the creature and fired.
Extinction Page 6
