“You won’t make it out of the blast zone in time. You’ll be burnt and I don’t have anything here but antibiotic ointment to treat those types of injuries.” Tammy looked green. Under her rough exterior laid a heart that cared about our well-being.
“The suit will protect her to some extent.” Jerry crossed his arms. “You can’t take a direct blast and expect to live, but it will reflect some of the heat away. You’re going to have to hustle and get your ass out of the way as much as possible.”
So he seemed behind my plan. Part of me was waiting for someone to reveal something better. A plan that didn’t require me leaving to combat a monster.
“Killing that thing won’t get us home.” Tammy sat in the chair next to me as if her legs had given out. The bruises on her face were more vivid against her paling skin.
“Yeah.” My gaze slid over to where Angie was huddled in a corner, the investor stroking her hair. She had quieted now, no more screaming. Her fist was stuffed against her mouth. She bit down on it as tears streamed down her face. I would get my little sister home. Somehow. “We need to call for help and let them know where we are. It’s the only way we’re getting off this planet.”
“Darren said the array was smashed to bits. I can’t fix that,” Jerry said.
“The emergency beacon is our only hope.” Leah pointed to an unlit area of the communication’s board. “But it never turned on after we crashed.”
“Why not?” The beacon was supposed to send a repetitive distress call when the ship was compromised.
“I assume it’s because the beacon is on the back half of the ship.”
I rolled my neck, trying to relieve the growing tension nesting on my shoulders. “Even if it was working, the signal will take years to reach Earth.” The engine we tested was built to fly faster than light speed. Our communications system was still in the Stone Age in comparison.
“If we can figure out our position with the star charts and if the beacon is in working order, I can manually send a direct pulsed signal to home instead of broadcasting in slow waves.” Leah’s eyes twinkled with newfound hope. “It will still take time to reach Earth, but not as long as a regular distress call.”
I guarded my heart from this infectious wave. It couldn’t take another failure. “Darren said he spotted smoke in the distance. That he thought the back half of the ship wasn’t too far from here.” Hope was a dangerous thing. I wanted to keep it in a cage at arm’s length until I was sure it wouldn’t bite me in the ass. “That means someone else needs to leave the ship and hike into the jungle to make repairs.”
“Leave? Did you say leave? I’m not going anywhere,” shouted Cancy, who huddled with her boss and my sister.
“Not helping.” I looked back on Jerry and Leah, both of them grim faced and thinking hard.
“What about that thing outside? I doubt it’s the only one in the jungle. I don’t want to be some creature’s next meal.” Tammy crouched next to the comatose captain, dripped water into her open mouth, then rubbed her throat until she reflexively swallowed.
“We can’t stay here indefinitely,” I snapped. Surviving would take time and patience—being crammed in a metal box meant patience was running short though.
“If we kill that monster, what prevents another one from taking its place?” Jerry asked.
“What if Santa Claus is real?” Angie lifted her tear stained face. “It’s not relevant. If we stay here, we die.”
“If we go outside, we die. Radiation, remember?” Jerry loomed over the already frightened women.
I set my hand on his bulky arm. “Only one of us has to go.” I wasn’t going to take my fate sitting down. Crossing my arms tightly over my jumpsuit, I studied my crew. They stank of fear and hopelessness. “I’m going out to kill that thing. If I survive, I’ll make the journey to the wreckage and survey the damage. Hopefully, all I’ll have to do is flip the on switch for the beacon.”
I wasn’t wallowing in denial anymore. More things had to be lurking in the jungle than the one that had killed Darren. Could I fight them all? No, but it beat rotting slowly away.
“Jerry, I’m going to need a crash course on beacon repairs and a lightweight toolkit.” If I had to trek through hostile jungle in a tinfoil suit, I wanted to run when the time came.
“It’s easy stuff. Let me pull some equipment together for you.” He moved to his makeshift work area.
Angie rose and pulled me into a hug. “This scares me.”
“I don’t like it either,” I said. “What are our options?” One person’s sacrifice ensured the possible rescue of everyone on the ship.
“You’re not really much of a fighter.”
“None of us are.” Darren had been the only one combat trained.
Angie seemed to deflate in my arms.
My gaze strayed to Tammy, who was still trying to coax the captain’s swallowing reflex with small amounts of water. I wasn’t a doctor, but even I knew dehydration would kill the captain soon. I let go of Angie and knelt next to the medic.
“How is she?” I kept hoping she’d wake, call me a stupid ass, and veto my decision to leave the ship.
“She’s unconscious.” Tammy rubbed her eyes. “I can’t give you more than that.” She gestured at the captain, hands flapping. “This is beyond me. Not only don’t I have the equipment to help her, but I wouldn’t know how to use it if I did.”
I rested my arm over Tammy’s shoulders. “Just do your best. We know your hands are tied.” I stared at the captain’s pale face. I’d never seen her so at peace. I envied her. “Help me get ready?”
She nodded, her face grim yet determined.
A short time later, Tammy and I figured out how to put on the environmental suit. There were hidden buckles and fastenings with an ear piece/microphone set.
I tapped it. “Leah, can you hear me?”
“Easy. You don’t need to shout.” The communication officer sat at her station, swollen ankle propped on a chair. “That comm unit has a short range. Once you’re a mile away, it won’t work anymore. They weren’t designed for these types of missions.”
“Roger that.”
The suit was stronger than I expected. When it caught against the cabinet door, the thin fabric didn’t tear. Theoretically, I understood that the envirosuits were durable. I mean, why bother having suits to protect the engineers if they’d rip on a bolt? The logical part of my brain had taken off when we’d crashed, though. I felt like I’d been running on instinct and adrenaline and it was exhausting.
Not to mention, this suit wasn’t made for gladiator combat against saber tooth bears.
My biggest issue was size. The second suit was made for someone Jerry’s height and girth. The extra material gathered at my elbows and knees, making my movements awkward.
Tammy set the helmet over my head and clicked it in place. She held out a backpack filled with tools so I could slip my arms through the straps. It settled between my shoulder blades and weighed enough to make my injured one ache. “This isn’t light enough.”
Jerry approached me, carrying a huge pipe wrench and what looked like a makeshift spear. “Tools aren’t hollow. You don’t want to trek all the way to the beacon to discover you need a different screw driver to fix it. Suck it up, buttercup.” He held out the things in his hands. “These are the best weapons I could find.” He eyed my oversized gloves. “Maybe we should duct tape them to your hands so you don’t drop them. You are hurt after all.”
“I don’t plan on fighting the thing.” I’d die if I had to. “All I have to do is run fast enough to lure it to the thrusters’ engine.” I pointed at Angie. “Listen for my signal. Don’t let your finger get itchy and hit the button too soon. I don’t want to be barbequed.” I gave her a silly grin. If the flames hit me, I’d never feel a thing. I’d be ash before my brain could register it.
She didn’t return my smile. Instead, she hugged me tight. “Don’t do this.”
That was the last thing I needed to he
ar. It echoed my own thoughts and I didn’t need more cowardly guidance. I needed reckless encouragement. Somebody to pat me on the back and tell me I had this.
Tammy pulled Angie from my hold and shoved her toward the pilot’s seat. My seat. The medic shoved the pipe wrench in my left hand. My strong uninjured hand.
I gripped it before it dropped to the ground.
She duct-taped it to my glove. “Aim for its head. Use it like a hammer and smash its brains out if it catches you.”
It weighed a ton. “How am I supposed to hike with this attached to my arm?”
“Honey, one obstacle at a time. Focus on killing that thing first then we’ll worry about the beacon.” Tammy thrust the spear made from a pointy metal bar that Jerry must have wrenched free from the guts of the ship. “Stab it in the eye if you get close enough. Don’t throw it like an idiot. You’re not Jane of the Jungle.” She thumped my shoulders, sending a sharp jolt of pain down my arm that cleared my head. “You ready?” She shouted, almost deafening me via my helmet speakers.
I nodded, unable to speak. If I opened my mouth, I feared the word no would slip out.
The crew lined the corridor as I marched toward the airlock, legs heavy with dread. The others averted their gazes and moved aside to give me room to pass in my bulky suit. I steeled my spine, head held high, pipe wrench in one hand and the homemade spear in the other.
I sucked in a deep breath. “After we kill this thing, I’m going to the tail end of the ship. No matter how far away and I’ll turn the beacon on. This might take some time, but I’ll be back. If I’m not, don’t come looking for me. Work toward your survival instead.”
“Don’t say shit like that,” Angie said from the pilot’s seat. “God, I wish you didn’t have to go alone.”
It was like déjà vu. Instead, she was saying my parts and I was repeating what Darren had said before he’d died. Way to go, me.
“Yeah, me too.” I squeezed the pipe wrench. “I’ll be fine. I know what’s out there. Darren hadn’t.” I stepped toward the airlock, weapons held high. “Man your stations.”
The airlock door closed behind me. It hissed as it adjusted the atmosphere to match outside.
Sweat trickled down my spine. I braced my legs as I had a sudden vision of an alien charging inside. My brain was so not helpful.
The door slid open.
I took one dragging step after another. Heart pounding so hard my chest hurt. Why had I volunteered? I didn’t know anything about animals. They were as alien to me as this creature that had eaten Darren. I was going to die a horrible death no matter what I did. In the ship or out here.
We were stranded on an alien planet far from home and everyone on Earth probably thought we’d died on the test flight. That the engine hadn’t worked. That we had failed. I didn’t know which stung worse. They all were an equal torment.
I released the breath I’d been holding and jumped to the ground, the airlock not being level to the planet’s surface. I stared around me.
The good news was that it looked pretty. Green leaves of every shade colored the jungle forest lining the dirt scar the ship had carved into the land. Twin suns shone in the purple sky with a huge gas giant visible to the naked eye in the distance.
My knees turned to water and I sank to the alien earth.
Two freaking suns. Big ass gas giant. Purple sky. We weren’t in Kansas and no amount of clicking my heels would take me home.
I brushed my fingertips over the dirt. “Not Earth.” My first planet side trip and it wasn’t even my home world.
“Wendy, we know this isn’t home.” Leah came through my earpiece. Her sarcasm cleared my head.
With a weary smile on my face, I rose to my feet and peered into the wild. “I don’t see it.”
I probably wouldn’t until I was inside its stomach.
The suns caught my attention again. So strange to see them this close. A big yellow sun like Sol with a distant white dwarf companion that almost outshone the first.
I blinked. White spots blinded me. Staring at them had been stupid.
Between blinks, I spotted something dark move behind the leaves. My heart stopped. Well, actually, everything in my body froze as I watched for movement.
“Get ready,” I whispered. “It’s here.”
Chapter Four
In an explosion of claws and teeth, the creature parted the foliage. It ran with such speed that I had time only to spin and run a few steps. Before I knew it, I was rolling across the churned dirt, head over heels until I landed against the roots of an upturned tree. All the air whooshed from my lungs upon impact and the entire world spun off axis. I’d lost the spear but the duct tape kept the wrench in my grasp.
Climbing to my feet, I blinked to clear my vision and swung the heavy tool blindly. The creature had to be close to have knocked me clean off my feet and it wouldn’t give me time to clear my head.
The sudden impact of the wrench hitting a solid body shocked me enough to shout in surprise and tear the duct tape loose.
I didn’t stop. Heart hammering, I hit the creature again and again with all the skills of a toddler in full blown tantrum. Each strike driving me backward toward my goal but loosening my grip on the tool. By some miracle, I blocked its attacks. Or maybe the animal was playing with its food. Either way, I still lived.
The creature roared, spittle splattering my visor.
I recoiled from the sound, staring at the maw filled with teeth the length of my forearm. I was going to die a worse death than Darren. Without a moment to waste, I shoved the wrench inside the monster’s mouth as far as it could fit, ripped the last thread holding it to my glove, and ran.
The thruster was only ten feet away, but if I shouted for the crew to turn it on too soon I’d be fried chicken. I bit my bottom lip to keep my mouth shut as I ran the race of my life.
The wrench flew past my head as the creature flung it loose. I could sense it closing the distance between us without looking over my shoulder. Three more strides and I reached the thruster. “Now!” I shouted, passing under the metal tube of the tiny engines used to maneuver the ship in space. They weren’t powerful, but when it came to flesh, rocket fuel was rocket fuel. I hadn’t cleared the area when I heard the click of the ignition.
Oh crap, this suit wouldn’t protect me.
Sharp claws hooked my pant leg, tearing the material. With a cry, I tumbled forward, somersaulting down into a deep trench dug from the fin on the belly of the ship.
The flame roared over my head, moving too fast to fill the trench. The noise masked the death cries of the nightmare that would haunt me for the rest of my days. The flames sputtered, the silence between blasts deafening, until at last they died. I sat up and stared at the dirt walls, trying to catch my breath.
“I’m alive,” I informed the crew and fingered the huge tear in my suit.
“You did it!” shouted Leah via my headset.
I climbed out of the trench that had almost become my grave and stared at the creature, or what was left of it. There was nothing but charred remains. I pulled off my helmet and threw up. On hands and knees, I crawled toward my spear.
“You did it,” repeated Leah as if she couldn’t believe I’d survived. “You’re fucking Xena Warrior Princess, Wendy.”
I didn’t feel like a warrior as I wiped my chin clean of vomit.
“Put your helmet on.” Angie ordered through my earpiece. “The radiation will kill you.”
“You can see me?” I sat with my back against the uprooted tree the creature had thrown me against a few minutes earlier and waved. The planet’s air felt different in my lungs than canned air from the ships and stations. More humid and cool. I closed my eyes and savored the taste.
Nobody had ever told me fresh air—planet air—had a flavor.
“Wendy!” Angie’s voice held an edge of panic. “Are you hurt?”
“Nothing serious. Got my clock rung pretty good. Let me catch my breath.” I clutched the spear to my ch
est and watched the jungle for any other predators. Even if there had been more monsters, I didn’t have the energy to fight back. I was a sitting buffet.
“Your helmet.” Tammy came on the headset. Were they playing musical mic?
“Am I on speaker?” I pulled off a glove and traced the edge of the rip in my enviro suit, assessing the damage more thoroughly. The tear went from hip to knee. The creature’s claws had even torn my flight suit, but not my skin.
“Not anymore.” Tammy spoke quietly. “What’s going on?”
“The suit is shredded. Wearing the helmet won’t prevent me from getting radiation poisoning.” I hated the tremor in my voice. “Don’t tell the others, especially Angie.”
“Shit,” Tammy whispered.
“You’ve got to hold them together, Tam. They need hope. My little sister needs it the most. Let her believe I’m coming back.” I got to my feet and set the useless helmet on my head for the camera. I gave them an energetic wave.
“Come back inside the ship.” Tammy was the most solid of those left on the crew. Between her and Jerry, they could take my share of food to help extend the rations and water for another week or two.
“Can’t do that. If I do, I won’t ever leave again and we need that beacon on.” I stood straight, ignoring the ache in my lower back. “Turn on the speakers.”
Tammy stayed silent.
“Hello?” I tapped my helmet.
“Thanks, Wendy.” Tammy cleared her throat. “Turning on speakers.”
“Is she going to be all right?” I heard Angie shouting in the background.
“I’ll be fine. I didn’t get exposed long enough to make a difference. Right, Tammy?” I took in the wreckage of the ship. The bridge seemed the most intact but it was far from airtight and, from those cracks in the hull, I doubted it was radiation proof. “How much exposure do you think it will take to have symptoms?”
“It’s difficult to be accurate without the proper instruments and—”
Venturi, Complete Serial Parts 1-4: Alien SciFi Romance (Crashlander) Page 3
