The Voice let the silence build for a while, allowing Keryn to cry herself dry, before speaking. We need to go, it said comfortingly. We can’t stay here.
In her mind, Keryn could feel the Voice tugging, wanting to say more. “Just say it,” she said, feeling defeated.
We need her pants and bag, it said, devoid of the emotions that Keryn felt welling inside of her. It was true that she and the Voice were two very different people. Keryn wished she could stare introspectively, letting the Voice see her displeasure.
Your own pants are still soaked from the trip through the sewers, it said, explaining. Hers are treated, which means that they’re relatively waterproof and a lot warmer than your thin pants. And if she has any food in her bag, you’ll need it to keep up your strength.
Keryn sat, unhappy with the advice but knowing the truth of the Voice’s words. Still, she couldn’t escape a simple realization: if Cerise was dead, what hope was there that the Cair Ilmun was still intact?
Reaching forward, she unhooked the bag from Cerise’s hip. She twisted the latch, which was resistant after being frozen for so long. Peering inside, Keryn’s heart leapt in her chest. She pulled free a grain bar and, unwrapping it, reveling in the nutty flavors as she took a bite. The first bit of real food in two weeks protested in her empty stomach, but didn’t stop her from ravenously finishing the food. Shifting aside the remaining grain bars, Keryn discovered the first aid kit that all members of the team traditionally carried. Near the bottom of the bag, Keryn paused as her fingertips brushed against a filmy material, its thick mesh feeling too good to be true. Turning the bag upside down, she dumped out the contents. The food and first aid kit tumbled into the snow, followed by a flowing silver cloth, which floated to the ground. Grabbing it before it could reach the snowy surface, Keryn pulled the deep space blanket to her chest in elation, her concerns and mourning temporarily forgotten as her basic need for survival overrode her worries. Used for deep space travel where temperatures inside cabins would plummet while crews attempted to conserve fuel, the blankets were thin and lithe, easily packet into most any container, but capable of keeping crewmen warm in almost any temperatures. To Keryn, it was her personal savior.
I think it’s time we went to sleep, the Voice said, echoing her own sentiments.
Solemnly removing Cerise’s hide pants, Keryn pushed the snow back over her teammate so that she wouldn’t be found by any Terran patrols. Turning toward the waterfall, Keryn skirted around the outside of the pond, cautiously moving across the slippery stones, until she was able to climb into the exposed cavern behind the falls. She stripped free of her pants, donning the warmer hide pair, and collapsed into the warm blanket. With it enveloping her like a glove, Keryn hardly noticed the discomfort of lying on the hard, stone ground before she was sound asleep.
Keryn awoke more refreshed than what she had in many months, but unsure of how long she slept or whether the darkness around her was day or night. Stretching, she felt the stiffness that had settled over her body from sleeping on the hard rocks. Her neck ached and her shoulders were sore, but she reveled in the pain, knowing how much better her body felt as a whole. Donning the waterproof boots once more, she packed her supplies back into the pack and slung it over her head and shoulder, letting it droop at her waist. Eating a quick breakfast consisting of a grain bar, she stepped out of the overhead cover, feeling more confident than she had since the Terran arrival. Still, she couldn’t shake the inevitable feeling that continuing her quest was a waste of time.
“Why even keep searching for the ship?” Keryn asked to the empty air, knowing that the Voice was listening. As she took another bite of food, the weight of her mission weighed heavily on her shoulders. “Cerise is dead, which means McLaughlin was left alone. He wouldn’t have survived without treatments. So can I expect the Cair Ilmun to still be intact as well?”
Would you be able to return to Miller’s Glen without knowing, the Voice asked, sounding as though it were standing beside her. The question struck a chord within Keryn. Your own doubts would tear you apart if you don’t finish here with definitive proof one way or the other.
Satisfied and refreshed, Keryn set off through the snow, heading toward the answer to her burning question: did they still have a way off this planet? The trek through the snow seemed easier today, her body stronger and warmer, making her strides more powerful. After only a half hour of walking, Keryn started to recognize landmarks. A jutting stone that she had passed upon their arrival protruded from the snow on her left. A twisted tree that was full of leave two weeks ago still drooped over the trail, its now barren fingers reaching toward her hair. Keryn slowed her pace and pulled out her pistol, knowing that the grotto lay not much further ahead. Crouched and moving cautiously, she moved up to the edge of the clearing and peered through the darkness.
Crestfallen, Keryn looked around at the debris that littered the grotto. Shards of metal lay strewn throughout the area, some having been blown apart with enough force to be lodged into the trees around the grotto. The ground itself was pot marked with small craters, the type that would have been caused by repeated explosions of fuel cells igniting under intense heat. Looking across the clearing, she frowned at what remained of the Cair Ilmun: a skeletal ship and shredded engines melted and fused to one another in an unflattering orgy of metal.
Keryn leaned against the nearest tree and lowered her pistol as she drank in the sight. Her one hope for escape had been taken from her and her mind whirled at the ordered effects from the ship’s destruction. The trio no longer had a clear plan for escape and would now have to rely on a new plan, one that she struggled even now to formulate. The only ships that remained on the planet were under tight control of the Terrans, who would never relinquish one of their ships without a grueling and deadly fight. The trio just didn’t have the firepower to stand against the Terrans, not without help from the other survivors of Miller’s Glen. But even the survivors were hesitant to help; their spirits had been crushed with the loss of so many friends and family during the bombing and their bodies, after two weeks of hard manual labor, were a reflection of their spirits. Somewhere there was an answer, but Keryn was pretty sure she wouldn’t have it until she had a chance to meet with the others.
Turning back toward town, Keryn took a hesitant step away from the wreckage when a booming voice erupted from the darkness behind her.
“There she is,” it roared, the voice’s words were slurred and hard to understand. “I told you they’d come back for their ship!”
Keryn glanced fervently over her shoulder. Behind her, green eyes flared to life in the darkness; pinpoints of light glowing like savage creatures hunting their startled prey. Stepping into the grotto, Keryn saw the sleek black uniforms and assault rifles of the Terrans, their eyes glowing brightly from behind their masks.
Night vision goggles, the Voice said, as they both cursed themselves for not realizing the Terran patrols would be so well equipped.
Stepping up beside the Terrans and dwarfing them with his sheer size, Keryn stood in disbelief at the disfigured Oterian who cried out in fury. “Recognize me, you bitch?” Cardax screamed over the short distance. “Take a good look at what you did to me. Look at me one last time before I kill you, you whore!”