by Rinelle Grey
Kerit stared at her. “You… want to stay?”
Hell. This wasn’t good. At all.
Nora looked down her nose at him. “Of course we want to stay. This planet is our home. Our children were born here. Our life’s work is here.”
“Well look, the planet is big enough for all of us. I’m sure we can work something out. After it’s terraformed, there will be plenty of room for everyone.” And there would be. Wouldn’t there?
“Perhaps. But I’m not sure that allying ourselves with a bunch of rebels who have been expelled from the Colonies will suit our purposes.”
“You want to remain part of the Colonies? After they abandoned you?”
“They had no choice. There was no way they could rescue everyone. It wasn’t personal. And we need the resources the Colonies have in order to study this cave completely. There are still regions we haven’t explored, even after all these years. Who knows what amazing species or discoveries are yet to be made.”
She sounded… impassioned. Apparently, she took her job seriously. He was surprised though that she wasn’t at least a little upset at what the colonies had done. He remembered her lack of surprise at the Colonies actions. Perhaps she had been part of the decision making?
Even though he didn’t like her position, he had to feel a grudging respect at someone who remained behind, knowing that meteor was coming.
The mayor kept talking, “We would welcome you telling the Colonies we are here, but we aren’t prepared to allow you to live here if you are choosing not to abide by the laws.” Her voice was abrupt and final.
He stared. Just like that? It was over. Their home was gone.
He’d handled it badly. He should have stopped talking before it got to this stage and let his brother handle it in the morning. Ty was going to kill him.
“So you’re going to let the alien kill you all instead?” Folly demanded.
“I beg your pardon?” Nora stared at Folly.
“That alien. It hasn’t discovered the caves yet, obviously, but I’ve seen the destruction it’s caused in Tadig. It’s torn houses apart. I don’t think it knows how to open cans, so I’m betting it’s getting pretty hungry by now. Whether it eats plants or animals or both, I’m betting it’s going to be mighty happy when it finds this smorgasbord.”
Kerit bit back a sigh of relief. Of course. He’d almost forgotten about the alien. They still held an ace up their sleeve. “Our only hope to kill it is to terraform the planet. The reaction required is toxic, and nothing will survive.”
Nora stared at him. “You want to kill all the wildlife in this cave, just because of one little creature? You really are desperate, aren’t you?”
Taking a deep breath, Kerit reminded himself that they hadn’t seen the alien. They had no idea how terrifying it was. “It’s not a little creature. It’s huge, covered in armour, and can fly.”
“No matter how big it is, there are five thousand of us. Do you really think we can’t find a way to deal with it?”
“How are you going to defeat it? You don’t even have any weapons, do you?”
Perhaps they had something hidden? Something Folly didn’t know about?
Nora shrugged. “We don’t need weapons. We have plenty of rope and a cave we can confine it in. I’m sure the Colonies will be very interested in studying the creature, if it is indeed an alien.”
Kerit tried to imagine these people roping and confining the alien. Somehow, it just wouldn’t work. “Even if you could manage to capture it, it’s going to cost you in lives. The thing has claws this long.” He held his hands apart to demonstrate. “Are you really willing to let people die over the animals in this cave?”
Nora just stared at him.
Chapter 18
The noise was incredible. Folly squeezed her eyes shut as a wave of dust billowed towards them, then opened them a crack, not wanting to miss the sight of the giant ship landing in front of her. She could barely feel or hear Chicken over it all, but she knew the little skuttle would be shivering.
The dust itched her eyes, but it was worth it.
The sunlight glinted off the metal hull for a few moments before it dropped below into the shadow of the planet where the sunlight didn’t reach yet. Compared with the size of the caves, it was tiny of course. But still, the idea that these people had flown all this way in this craft looking for a new home. Well, it was amazing and terrifying at the same time.
And now they might not find it. The conversation had gone around and around in circles last night with some people saying that they should agree to the terraforming immediately if it would remove the risk of the alien finding and attacking them. Other’s said that they must be exaggerating the danger, and they had no right to risk the lives of all the creatures in the caves because they were scared of one little alien.
As far as she was concerned, it should be about whether they were going to put the lives of all those people, those babies the government had decreed shouldn’t be born, ahead of a few animals.
They didn’t see it so simply of course. She was pretty sure that they hadn’t come to any conclusions, even though she’d fallen asleep half way through the argument.
She’d woken to Kerit gently shaking her shoulder, saying the Resolution was about to land and asking if she wanted to watch it.
Silly question. Of course she did.
And she wasn’t surprised that all the others elected to remain below ground where they felt safe. She and Kerit were the only ones who left the shelter of the caves to watch the huge ship land.
Hopefully, Tyris’s brother could convince them. Otherwise, she didn’t know what would happen to Kerit and all his friends. She hadn’t been game to ask him. His tight lips and furrowed forehead had convinced her he probably didn’t want to discuss it right now.
She snuck a glance at him now, standing beside her, on the pretext of looking away from the flying dust. It coated him completely, making his sandy hair even darker. His eyes were on the Resolution, his brow still furrowed.
The temptation to smooth the worry lines from his face overcame her. If Nora hadn’t interrupted them last night, what would have happened?
She still didn’t know if she was relieved or sad they hadn’t made love.
Folly bit her lip. She should be glad that the interruption had stopped her from making a huge mistake. Kerit was a nice guy, and she hoped to get a chance to know him better. But it had to be as friends. Anything more, and she risked losing him.
She couldn’t bear that.
But was it worth giving up the possibility of having so much more?
She didn’t know, so she turned back as the giant ship touched the ground with a shudder that they could feel.
Slowly, the dust settled.
Folly squinted, staring at the Resolution. Where was the hatch? Something moved near the base of the ship. A door slid open and retractable stairs emerged.
That was all she had time to see because Kerit was tugging on her hand, pulling her towards the ship.
She let herself be pulled along by Kerit’s excitement. She tried to ignore the nervous butterflies in her stomach. She’d ‘met’ Tyris on the radio, and he didn’t seem that bad. He sounded very different to Kerit, but just as likeable. Meeting his family was nothing to be afraid of.
But as person after person emerged from the hatch, looking around before climbing down the stairs, she realised there was quite a few of them.
Each of them wore one of the strange face masks Kerit had worn when she had first seen him. At least it gave her a moment’s amusement to stave off the nervousness.
The one in front, with his short cropped brown hair, holding the hand of a very pregnant woman, must be his brother, Tyris. The older, distinguished looking couple behind them were probably his parents. The woman looked like a scientist, staring around the landscape with bright, knowledgeable eyes.
She had no idea who the half dozen people following them were. More family? How many of them were
there?
“Hey, Ker.” His brother waved.
A bright smile lit the face of the woman beside him and turning to look quickly, Folly caught an answering smile on Kerit’s face. A stab of jealousy hit her, but she shook it off. The woman was his sister-in-law. Not a threat.
And anyway, she didn’t want a relationship with Kerit. She needed to remember that.
“This is Folly.” Kerit put his arm around her shoulders.
It felt strange and weird. And a bit like a lie.
But she wasn’t going to pull back and embarrass him in front of his family. He’d gone out of his way to avoid embarrassing her, so she owed him the same courtesy.
Tyris instantly put out his hand. “Nice to finally be able to put a face to the voice, Folly. Hi.”
Folly took his hand, and he shook it, firm and decisive. He was about half a head taller than his younger brother, and she was thrown by the mixture of similar features, but such different expressions.
The woman next to him looked her up and down, as if sizing her up. She looked at Kerit, and Folly didn’t think she missed the arm around her shoulders, or what it signified.
Then she turned to Folly and gave her the same warm, welcoming smile she had given Kerit. “Hi, I’m Marlee.” She let go of her husband’s hand, and leaned forward to hug Folly.
Surprised, Folly hugged her back, somewhat awkwardly, given her large belly.
Something fluttered through her mind, almost gone before she could catch it. But before it disappeared, it hit her what it was.
Complete and total acceptance.
Kerit’s family didn’t question her. They didn’t look at her suspiciously, or doubt her motives. They just accepted that if Kerit cared about her, then they did too.
Then she looked over his sister-in-law’s shoulders and saw the frown on his mother’s face. The feeling of acceptance fled, to be replaced with a sinking sensation of being judged.
At least the feeling was familiar.
The woman turned away from Folly and strode towards Kerit. ‘Where’s your mask? I thought I told you to wear it at all times. Do you have any idea how easily you could be burnt?”
“The sun isn’t even up yet,” Kerit pointed out. “And we’ll be back inside the caves before it is.”
“I told you to wear it all the time. You can get burned in five minutes, Kerit. Five minutes!”
“I’m sorry, Mum. I lost it when we were running from the alien. I have sunscreen on though.”
His mother stared at him for a long moment, then to Folly’s complete surprise, she pulled Kerit into a rough hug. “I’m glad you’re okay,” she mumbled into his hair.
Kerit patted her back. “I’m okay, Mum. I promise.”
Tyris cleared his throat. “Well, if the hugging is done, we’d better get to those caves and out of the sun.”
Everyone turned and headed in the direction of the caves, Kerit leading the way, walking next to his brother, their heads together. Folly caught up with them.
“So, is everyone packed?” Tyris asked.
“Not exactly.”
Tyris turned to look at his brother, and Kerit heaved a sigh. “I messed up,” he admitted. “In fact, I think I convinced them we’re all outlaws. They don’t want us here, and they don’t want the planet terraformed.”
“They like living on a desert planet?”
“Well no, not as far as I know. But they’re all obsessed with the plants and animals that have survived in the cave. They’re all biologists, you see. The conservation of the species on the planet is more important to them than liveability.”
Tyris frowned. “That could pose a problem. What about the alien? Did you tell them that the terraforming is our best chance at removing the threat?”
Kerit nodded. “Yes, some of them listened to that and seemed nervous enough that they might consider it. But the majority of them are still against it.” He hesitated for a moment, then asked, “Is it still buried?”
“It was when we began the entry sequence. I don’t know after that, since the lifesigns monitor doesn’t work in the atmosphere.” It was his brother’s turn to hesitate. He looked over his shoulder, his eyes finding Marlee as she walked next to his mother, leaning heavily on her arm as she struggled through the sand. Then he looked back at Tyris. “I think it was a little stronger, though it’s hard to be sure.”
Folly’s heart thumped unsteadily in her chest. If the alien was growing stronger, it could eventually work its way out of the debris. Then it would come looking for them. With the giant spaceship parked at their door, finding the caves wouldn’t be hard.
Urgency to do something, to fix the problem, warred with the fact that she could do nothing. If the others held out against the terraforming, then how else could they defeat the alien? Kerit was right, ropes and bars weren’t going to confine it for long if it could dig its way out of that rubble. And she didn’t think sticks and stones would do anything other than bounce off its armour.
“Maybe you can convince them,” Kerit said. “You’re good at that sort of thing.”
“I can try.” Tyris inclined his head.
Folly decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. He probably didn’t intend to sound smug.
“What are we going to do if they won’t agree?” Kerit’s voice was strained. “The terraforming aside, they seem to want to remain allied with the Colonies, which means we can’t stay here.”
Tyris was silent. Was it a question he couldn’t answer?
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” he said finally. “For now, we need to do something about that alien. Then we’ll have some breathing room, and we can work something out. There must be another planet we can go to… somewhere.”
Folly’s steps slowed and she barely noticed that the two brothers moved ahead of her. If everyone wanted to stay here on Semala, and they didn’t want Kerit and the others to stay, then they would be leaving.
She had no ties to the people here. Her mother and father had never been part of their group, and it was sheer bad luck that she had been stranded here with them. It would be no hardship to leave with Kerit and his family—if they’d have her.
But was there anything more for her with them? The only reason she had for going with them was Kerit. Was it wise to make such important life decisions based on her nebulous feelings? What if he was only filling in time and as soon as this was over, he wanted nothing to do with her?
She’d be stuck on a spaceship with him in the middle of… who knew where, with no way to get back to the Colonies. That would be agony.
But could she face waving goodbye to him, knowing she’d never see him again?
“Are you worried about the alien?” Marlee’s soft voice interrupted her thoughts.
“Yeah.” It wasn’t a lie, exactly. She was worried about the alien, even if it wasn’t what she had been thinking about right at that moment.
“I’m sure Tyris will work out a way to deal with it,” Marlee said confidently. “He’s great at problem solving.”
Everyone seemed convinced that Tyris would solve the problems where his brother had failed. That was what they were all thinking. It was no wonder Kerit sold himself short and didn’t even try to solve anything. He’d never been given the opportunity.
“Kerit can solve problems too.”
The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. Before she realised how they sounded.
Marlee gave her a gentle smile. “You care about him a lot, don’t you?”
A blush stole across Folly’s cheeks. “It’s not that,” she protested, even though she knew it was useless. “I just think everyone ignores his capabilities. He deserves better than that.”
Marlee looked towards the two men, walking a few metres in front of them, her eyes narrowed. “Of course. Kerit is very resourceful. And the two of them working together are even better.”
Slightly mollified, Folly said, “I hope so. Because right now, this situation looks
like a disaster waiting to happen.”
In front of them, Kerit bent down to pull up the hatch in the rocks and show Tyris the entrance to the caves. Frowning, Tyris looked back at his wife. “I’m not sure Marlee can manage…” his voice trailed off.
Folly frowned. She should have realised. How would the heavily pregnant woman make the trip down to the floor of the caves? Abseiling really wasn’t going to work.
Her mind started to turn. They needed something for her to sit in comfortably, but secure enough that she couldn’t fall. And a way to lower her safely. “I’ve got it,” she said and pushed past the brothers to grab her harness.
Tyris raised an eyebrow at the cobbled together seat belts, and Kerit grinned at him. Tyris turned to his wife. “Perhaps you should go back to the Resolution? It’ll be safer there. I’ll be back as soon as we sort this out. It probably won’t take more than an hour or two.”
Marlee’s face fell. And strain lines appeared at the corner of her eyes. Her hand went to her belly, resting on it. “I suppose…” Her voice wavered.
Her voice evoked Folly’s protective instinct. “Look, I can make something to get you down if you really want to come. It will be safe, I promise.”
Marlee looked at the makeshift seatbelt around Folly’s waist, and Folly thought for sure she was going to decline. Kerit hadn’t trusted her harness, and Tyris certainly didn’t.
“I don’t want to be a bother,” Marlee said instead.
“It’s no bother at all.” And before Kerit or Tyris could object, Folly clamped her harness onto the rope and jumped over the edge. She could hear Marlee’s soft gasp following her.
Luckily, her rooms weren’t far from the entrance. She was in the door and rummaging around in her collection when she heard someone else hit the floor at the bottom of their abseil behind her. She ignored it.
“Look, Folly, I know you want to help…” Kerit’s voice trailed off.
Folly’s hand closed over the old hammock she had planned to hang between a couple of trees one day and turned around. “But you don’t think it will be safe?” she demanded.
