Phoenix perched on the upper branch, giving Striver space. His voice was patient, kind. “Thrift gave his life to protect us. Tonight, we gather to honor him.”
Striver clenched his fist. “I should destroy the ship, Phoenix. Then we’d all have peace.”
“And erase our two people’s histories?” Phoenix cooed softly like a parent warning a child against playing with fire. “How can we ever hope to live a better life on Refuge without learning from our mistakes of the past?”
“Sometimes I think it’s better to start with a clean slate.”
“Is it? Or will we fall prey to the same demons that led your ancestors to Old Earth’s end?”
“Sometimes I think it’s inevitable. The rise and fall of civilizations. Man’s never-ending search for knowledge and power.”
Phoenix shifted on the branch, his feathered wings rustling. “Such is the weight carried by the leader. Always thinking about the best interests for his people, always striving for the better course. You are true to your name.”
Striver sighed, expectations burdening his shoulders.
“Sometimes you have to let your worries go. Only then will you see the right path.” Phoenix dropped beside him and placed long fingers like twigs on his shoulder. His eyes shone the unchanging color of twilight. He squeezed lightly and fluttered off, joining the other Guardians in the sky. They flew in formation, uniform in appearance, attitude, and purpose.
Striver shook his head and tried to empty the riddles from his mind. The Guardians had no interest in leading themselves, but boy did they have a load of complicated advice. Still, he had to be thankful for their cohabitation. Without them, the entire colony may have fallen to Lawlessness, or used the knowledge on the S.P. Nautilus for their own ends. The Guardians were a constant voice of reason that echoed throughout centuries, providing their colony with a single vision in an otherwise wild land. Thank goodness Aries and Striker had hatched the eggs on the S.P. Nautilus, giving this remarkable species another chance at life. The videos on the Guardians’ ship had shown their planet’s sun was dying. It was possible the Guardians on Refuge were all that were left of their kind.
The music lulled and people congregated around the roasting boar as Carven began to cut a piece. “As per custom, the first serving of this feast is given to the hunter who felled the beast.”
Applause and hoots erupted as Striver jogged to greet them. He’d rather someone else take the credit, but he also didn’t want to seem ungrateful for their offering. Carven handed him a plate with steaming boar meat.
“A meal for a true hero, and our fearless leader!”
A chorus of approval rang out. Children chanted his name.
Striver took the wooden plate and bowed to them. A pang of remorse shot through him. He wondered if it were these moments where he shined that had caused Weaver to leave. If so, he’d rather have his brother back and be a nobody than lead a colony without him. Stifling his feelings, he pushed through the crowd, wanting to be left alone.
A young boy pulled on his sleeve. “Is it true the boar almost ran you over?”
Striver sighed, reminding himself that he had once been young. “You could say that.”
“I heard you cut a rope with only two arrows.” Another boy, this one with fuzz growing on his chin, gave Striver a hard look of respect.
“Luck, nothing more, my friend.”
“Can you promise me the next dance?” The alto voice sang over the crowd. Striver whirled around, facing a young woman with hair, black as night and thick as the dense forest, trailing to her ankles.
“No, Riptide. Not tonight.”
She traced her fingertip down his arm, stone rings glittering in the firelight. “Some other time, then?”
“Maybe so.”
“Though a true hero deserves more than just a dance.”
He looked away. “Tonight, I’ll settle for boar.”
It took him several minutes to work his way through the crowd to the rope ladders. He climbed, balancing the wood plate, hoping the meat hadn’t gone cold in the chilled twilit air. Circling the tree hut, he pushed through thick vines, revealing a woven fern door. He opened the door to a small room, lit by the embers of a flickering torch.
“Mother, how are you feeling?”
A wispy-haired woman moved under the covers of a thatch bed. “I appreciate the visit, but you should be with your people.” Her dark eyes sparkled as she took in the sight of him. “They need a strong leader like you in a time like this.”
He handed her the plate. “Here, have some boar meat.”
His mother pulled off a slender piece and chewed. She placed the plate aside. “It is good.”
“Then why don’t you try some more?”
Her thin fingers pulled the blanket up to her chin. “Maybe later. Tell me about the battle.”
He sighed until his lungs emptied, summoned courage, and then took in another breath. “I saw him.”
His mother shot upright, and her thin fingers grasped his arm so hard his skin turned white underneath her grip. The eagerness in the twitch of her mouth hurt him more than the sight of his brother had. He wanted to tell her Weaver was coming back, that he’d had enough of life in the Lawless lands. But that was a dream for another day. “He led the attack.”
Either his mother didn’t care or didn’t hear him. “Is he all right?”
“As far as I could see. He didn’t look very happy.”
She shrugged. “He was never happy.”
“Yes, but he looked downright miserable.”
“Then maybe he’ll come back to us.”
“Let’s keep hoping.” He spread his hands, thinking of Phoenix’s earlier speech. “We can’t make him. If there’s one thing our founders believed in, it was free will.”
The shouting outside escalated, turning from celebratory hollers to screams of alarm. Striver stood, apprehension bubbling in his veins. Not another attack. He couldn’t take seeing Weaver’s miserable expression again.
“I have to go.”
His mother squeezed his hand. “Don’t try to save the world all by yourself.”
Outside, the hollering died down. Everyone stood still as trees, all heads turned to a clearing in the center of the village. Striver slid down the rope ladder and ran to join them. As the clearing came into view, an object eclipsed half the second moon, casting a shadow over the gathering.
His heart stopped and his stomach sank to the ground. A ship. Not just any ship, but a mother boar of a ship, a hundred times larger than the S.P. Nautilus, hovered in the sky. An object shot from its belly, trailing flames as it cut through the atmosphere.
Oh, no. A bomb.
A thousand images flashed through his mind. His mother on her bed. Catching a trotter in the river with Weaver. His dad saying good-bye before his last mission. Was this the end? A current of anger and injustice flowed through him. So many things were still unresolved.
The projectile hurled through the air, leaving a streak of orange and gray behind it. As it neared, wings spread from the hull, steering from right to left. Its descent slowed.
That’s not a bomb. It’s a scout ship.
Striver ran his hands through his hair. Holy Refuge.
The scout ship dove straight into the Lawless lands.
Chapter Five
Plunge
Every molecule in Eri’s body vibrated like she sat in a giant food congealizer turning into vegetable sludge. Anxiety rode through her in tidal waves as she grasped her seat restraints and held on until her fingers numbe
d.
How did I ever go from being an archival linguist to an interpreter and a spy on an exploratory team?
She wondered if she was more of a ticking time bomb than a friendly diplomat. The more she stewed over the training session, the more she suspected Litus had orders to eliminate these creatures on Haven at any sign of threat.
She studied him from across the circular drop chamber. What did the commander tell you that she didn’t tell me?
He saluted her in response as if she’d just given him the next mission coordinates. Eri shook her head and sighed, closing her eyes.
Aquaria had said this was her destiny, but she felt more like a case of mistaken identity than any star-crossed heroine. Lathos, the Greeks would say. Major, megalos lathos.
The pilot’s voice came on the speakers. “Prepare for landing.”
Eri opened her eyes, the screeching sound of the landing gear scarier in the complete darkness. She’d rather focus on her boots.
Mars hollered a primal scream from deep within her throat. Her beady eyes teased Eri as she grinned beside her. Eri looked away, avoiding further eye contact. Why Litus situated her between the two hulking bodies of Mars and Tank, she had no idea.
Mars threw her head back, and her slender brown braid whipped in the breeze of the ventilators. “Bring it on!”
Tank snored on Eri’s other side. Was the entire trip too boring for him to pay attention? Eri swallowed down bile, trying not to lose the remnants of her dinner all over his boots. She’d already gotten on Mars’s bad side, and she didn’t need any more enemies.
The other five members of the exploratory team checked weapons, slept, or typed messages on their wrist locators. Eri wondered what their messages said.
Send my love to…
Landing right now…
It was good knowing you…
She suppressed the urge to send a good-bye message to Aquaria. It would just heighten her sister’s nerves. Later, when they’d landed and established base camp, she’d send her a reassuring note. If we made it.
Roaring wind turned into a screeching as the landing gear engaged, slowing their descent. The ship pitched sideways, and her stomach flipped. Real gravity pulled on her arms and legs, not the weak force simulated by the gravity rings. She thought her muscles would rip apart.
Real gravity meant a hard landing.
“Wishing you hadn’t eaten that extra serving, heh?” Mars laughed.
Eri winced and looked away. “I feel fine.” Just because she was small, with less than optimal genes, didn’t mean she wasn’t tough. Now do something to prove it, macho woman.
“Sure, you’re just green as a cucumber every day.”
“Green or not, at least no one mistakes me for a man.”
Mars’s face tightened and her arm muscles bunched in her restraints. Good thing the restraints held.
“Enough, you two. Can’t a man get some shut-eye?” Tank shifted in his seat and pulled his newly camouflaged hat over his bristly face.
Eri closed her eyes, still smelling the reek of laser paint on her uniform. No one had thought they’d need camouflaged clothes for Haven 6. They had to scramble to dye their pristine white clothing with blotches of different shades of browns and greens. She felt like she wore one of those abstract paintings from Old Earth.
Better to be unfashionable than dead. She pushed away the thought of the gray humanoids and those arrows that had impaled the scout droid. High-pitched wheezing roared in her ears as the drop ship slowed. Her seat vibrated underneath her, chattering her teeth. Alarms sounded, and smoke choked her throat.
“Emergency fire in supply bay,” a computerized voice warned on the intercom.
“Everyone stay in your seats. I’ll tend to it.” Litus undid his seat restraints and stood. He stumbled sideways as the ship pitched but regained balance and pulled the fire extinguisher from the wall. He pressed the portal panel and slipped into the corridor, following the trail of smoke.
“What’s wrong?” Eri shouted over the din to Tank, whose hat fell and rolled across the floor.
“It’s an old ship, been sitting in bay twenty-one for a long time,” Tank explained. “Commander Grier didn’t think we’d have to use it.”
Eri quieted and held tight. The commander hadn’t thought about a lot of things. Eri wondered if living in a tub of embryonic fluid drove a woman crazy. But she’d never voice her doubts out loud. Two of the commander’s bodyguards sat across from them, and Eri didn’t want the team to label her a rebel. She’d fought that prejudice her whole life.
Alarms beeped as the roaring of wind increased. Eri expected Litus to walk through the portal, but the particles had rematerialized. He’d left her alone with the grunts. If anything happened to him, she’d be the one in charge.
Like they’d ever listen to me. Eri stared at the portal as if her mind alone would bring him back. Please don’t die.
The ship shuddered, and oxygen masks popped from the ceiling. Mars hollered as she slapped hers on. Eri’s fingers shook as she fumbled with the plastic ties. Big hands pulled the elastics around her head and she whirled around. Tank had already secured his straps, and he tightened the sides of her mask.
The lights went out as they hit the tree line. The shaking turned into giant bumps, like they rode the back of an angry bull, as the ship skidded across the ground. Eri held her breath and squeezed her eyes shut. Someone screamed like they were all going to die.
Branches scraped against the hull until Eri thought the terrain would rip the ship to pieces and they’d have nothing to fly back on.
Her throat tightened. Going back wasn’t the point. Soon, they’d all abandon the Heritage for a new life on this jungle world. She’d looked forward to their arrival for so long, and now she dreaded the moment they opened the hatch.
The ship screeched to a halt and her restraints pulled against her chest as she flung forward with the momentum. Curls from her head fell in her face.
The alarms trailed off and silence fell. Eri blew back her hair to see the damage. The smoke cleared to reveal a wary-eyed team. No one was hurt. The pilot’s voice came on the intercom. “Landing sequence successful. Preparing for deboarding procedures.”
A wave of relief flooded through Eri, and then she remembered Litus and the fire. Anxiety zapped her heart.
Tank pulled off his mask. “That was one hell of a ride.”
“That was nothing.” Mars slipped off her mask. “Ever sat on the flux injectors during central ignition?”
Ignoring the fact that it was against the rules to go anywhere near the flux injectors, Eri tugged off her mask, the elastic straps pulling her hair. The air reeked of burned circuits and smoke. “Where’s Litus?”
“Haven’t seen him since the fire.” Tank shrugged, shedding his seat restraints.
“What if something happened to him?”
Mars jumped to her feet, her thick boots pounding into the floor. “Nonsense. Litus is indestructible.”
As if to prove her point, the portal dematerialized and Litus stepped through, a smudge of soot across his forehead. “The fire’s out. Prepare to deboard and set up base camp.”
He stooped and picked up Tank’s hat, dusting off the top.
Tank raised his hand. “That’s mine, sir.”
“Quite the ride, huh?” Litus threw the hat over to him and nodded to Eri. He scanned the team. “No one leaves the perimeter for any reason. If you see anything that can talk, you let me and Ms. Smith know.”
Eri slipped out of her seat restraints, eager to st
and on solid ground. She followed the team toward the back of the ship. This was it. She’d walk on a real planet, an alien world, for the first time in her life.
Mars cuffed Tank’s shoulder and whispered under her breath. “Let’s kick some alien ass.”
Tank laughed and patted his gun. “Any day. Any time.”
Their boasts fell silent as Litus pressed the panel for the back hatch. Eri held her breath, hiding in Mars’s shadow but standing back enough to peer around her tree trunk of an arm.
The hatch opened slowly, humid air wafting in. A sliver of green peeked through, turning into a primordial sprawl of wild, tangled growth as the hatch lifted. Eri released her breath and took another, soaking in the dank reek of moss and stagnant water, reminding her of the compost heap in the biodome. The velvety air choked her, and she sucked in each breath like breathing through a tube filled with mold. How would she ever adapt to the higher oxygen levels? Litus gestured over his shoulder for them to follow and stepped down the ramp. The commander’s bodyguards flanked him, pointing lasers into the savage wilderness.
A furry black animal shrieked and fluttered off, leaves falling in its wake. The guards pointed their lasers toward the commotion, and Litus held up his finger to stall them. Nothing else moved. Eri thought back to pictures of jungles from her history studies, but this chaotic, cornucopian paradise looked more aggressive than anything she’d imagined.
Litus whispered over his shoulder. “Press on. Tank, set up the perimeter fence.”
“Yes, sir.” Tank disappeared back into the ship.
The gravity pulled on Eri’s feet and her boots stuck to the metal ramp. She strained to lift each leg, wondering how she’d ever get used to a force that made her feel twenty pounds heavier. A speck of black moved beside her cheek and she leaned back, watching a fuzzy ball the size of a pinhead with a slender tail land on her arm. The tail twitched, feeling the smooth texture of her uniform before it flew off into the forest.
Not like the flies in the biodome. Haven 6 was an entirely different world than the one they’d left. The original scout ships had discovered three hundred distinct species while researching the planet. None of them intelligent. But after seeing those thatched huts, Eri realized they could have overlooked any number of strange species. Species she had to establish contact with and pretend to befriend.
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