by Lily Thomas
“They stay faithful, which is confusing poor Sophia over here.” Emma hitched her thumb over at Sophia.
“It’s just different from any primitive society we’ve seen. They’re like cavemen living in a rainforest, yet they are faithful to their partners. I mean faithful. I haven’t once caught them cheating or fooling around with another woman if they already have a woman.”
Olivia nodded. It was out of the norm, but it wasn’t entirely out of the question. “We’ve also only been here for a week. Give it some time, and all will become clear. Maybe we just haven’t been here long enough to see one of them cheat.”
“You should see some of the wildlife on this planet.” Sophia flipped through the holograms until she reached animal images.
“Is that a saber tooth?” Olivia’s mouth dropped, at the sight of the enormous predator right in front of her face as she leaned back in her chair. It was so lifelike. She could just imagine it jumping off the table and ripping her throat out.
“No, but it’s similar in size. It’s like a rainforest panther on steroids. They are born black and are the only true predator on the planet, other than the inhabitants we’re here studying.”
Olivia couldn’t imagine one of those prowling around the rainforest while she was living in a fur tent like these people were. It was a terrifying idea. The wildlife reminded her of the Amazon, the one forest Earth still had, amazingly enough.
As Emma cracked another joke about alien bodies, Olivia decided to call it quits for the night. She really had to get some sleep before the next workday started on the small scientific space station.
“Don’t stay up too late you two!” Olivia waved at them and then handed the bowl of popcorn to Emma, who took it eagerly, nearly spilling the popcorn on the floor.
It was time for her to go and get some rest before her work began in the morning. There was going to be a lot to learn and a lot more bonding she’d have to do with these women on her team. They’d been here a lot longer than herself so she might be the team leader but she was still an outsider of the group.
Days had passed since Olivia’s nighttime gettogether with Emma and Sophia in the mess hall, and she was still glad she’d accepted the job. It’d been a long journey all the way out here to the edge of known space, but this was her dream job. All the women she worked with were terrific, and she couldn’t have asked for a better team to be leading.
The only problem she could see as of now were the soldiers stationed here to keep them safe from any space pirates, not that she thought they were in much danger of that happening. No one would come all the way out here to rob a scientific space station when there wasn’t anything valuable and nothing else around this area of space. It would be a long trip for nothing.
Liam, who was the leader of the men stationed here, rubbed her the wrong way. She got the feeling he was a shoot first, think later type, and that didn’t go over well with her. She was all about studying life, and he was all about being ready to take a life at a moment’s notice.
Olivia walked up to the bridge where the rest of the women were studying the screens in front of them as information populated on the monitors.
“What are we up to today?” She greeted the women around her.
Aubrey swiveled in her chair and smiled. “I’m currently spying on the village shaman who appears to be healing a broken leg.”
She was a nurse, here to see how these people used the environment around them to cure their ailments, so this would, of course, be something exciting for her to witness. They were also here to see if there were any plants here that could be used as medicine for humans to cure any disease that hadn’t been cured.
“Anything interesting as of yet?” Olivia asked glad to have people around her who were just as excited about this opportunity as herself.
“Not really. They fix the broken leg as our ancestors would have by splinting the leg, and then giving the patient something to take away the pain. Then they do their best to stave off infection.” Aubrey’s face fell in a frown. “The only problem is that once they go inside a tent, it’s hard to know what else they do. All we can do is watch them with thermal imaging, but that doesn’t let me know much other than the number of people in the tent.”
“Keep at it.” Olivia gave her a thumb’s up in encouragement. “I’m sure you can make it out with some time.” She made her way over to the next console. “And what are you studying?”
Avery glanced up and removed the earbuds from her ears. “What did you say?”
“In the zone?” Olivia laughed.
“Music always helps me focus.” Avery beamed over at her.
“I was curious what you were studying down on the planet.” Olivia glanced over Avery’s shoulder at the console that was in front of her.
Avery’s brown eyes lit up making the green flecks in her irises more noticeable. “Studying the flora.”
“Anything interesting?”
“There’s a flower that only blooms at midnight.” Avery smiled. “It’s almost magical. Here, let me show you.” Avery’s fingers flew over the console in front of her, and she pulled up a couple of photos of the flower.
Olivia leaned close, and her eyes widened. “It almost seems to sparkle like it was made of crystals.”
“I know. I’d love to have it by my bedside at night, gleaming in all its glory.”
“You might not be awake to enjoy it if it only blooms close to midnight.” Olivia reasoned.
“True.” Avery nodded her head. “Perhaps I’d just stay up to enjoy its beauty before going to sleep.”
She was glad they were all finding something on the planet to intrigue them. “I’ll leave you to it then.” Olivia walked away and made her way over to her own console. She needed to review everyone’s reports and get back to them about anything they should explore further or find out a way to explore it more if they were having difficulty.
Emma’s report started with a picture of the leader of the village they were currently studying on the planet below, and Olivia rolled her eyes. Emma’s second page was dedicated to another barely dressed alien. Emma might be obsessed with these aliens, but she did her job, and Olivia had nothing to complain about, even if she had a one-track mind.
It wasn’t like they had a great selection of men all the way out here, so Olivia wasn’t going to ruin Emma’s fun. The only men on the station were Liam and his men, and she knew those men and the female scientists would never see eye to eye long enough for flirtations to occur. She wasn’t even sure why the men were here. They seemed to think the women were weird for wanting to study a primitive species.
No matter how many times she told them there was a lot to be gained by studying another species, no matter their technological state, she’d never actually convinced any of those men she was right.
“How’s it going up here on the bridge of the Amazons?”
Glancing over her shoulder, she watched Liam stride onto the bridge like he was the hottest stuff since the creation of the universe.
“Amazons?” Olivia growled not liking the way he used it.
“Yeah, you’re women, and you’re studying a primitive world. Although I guess none of you are warriors.” He laughed like it was pathetic to think any of them would be able to be warriors.
Olivia frowned. “We’re busy working. We don’t need interruptions. Is there something you need?” She swiveled around in her seat hoping to get him off the bridge as quickly as she possibly could.
Liam strode onto the bridge like he owned it, a gun strapped to each side of his waist. “Just checking on you women to make sure there isn’t anything you need from us men.”
Bile rose in the back of Olivia’s mouth. “We’ve got everything handled, thank you for your concern.” She had to be diplomatic even if he set her hackles to rising. She wasn’t fond of the way he referred to the women under her command.
“Well, you let me know.” He ambled off the bridge.
The moment the door c
losed behind him, Sophia turned and addressed them all. “We should give them a task. I think they’re growing bored, and I’d hate to see Liam when he has nothing to do but harass us.”
“They’re meant to be our protection, but they’re more of an annoyance,” Emma muttered in agreement. “I can’t get anything done with him hovering over us all the time. He’s creepy. I keep wondering when I’ll wake to see him standing over me with a gun pressed to my head.”
Olivia agreed that he was creepy and his misogynistic words were driving her insane. “I’ll see what I can do. For now, do your best to ignore them, and if anyone has any idea of what tasks to give them, let me know.”
“How about cleaning the inside of the waste disposal unit?”
All the women on the bridge laughed and nodded as they got back to their work, studying the planet below.
Liam and his men were going to be a problem. Olivia could just feel it in her bones. If only she could get them replaced with a different group of soldiers, but they were too far out there. None of her superiors would okay a transfer when it took so long to get out here, a month at least, assuming they could get a fast ship for the journey.
For now, they would have to learn to get along with Liam and his men.
Chapter 2
Olivia bolted upright in her bed clutching her covers to her chest. Something had woken her. She glanced around the dark room, but everything appeared normal. After a few minutes of nothing, she let her head fall back onto the soft pillow.
“It was probably a nightmare.” She groaned to herself, as she dug her face back into her soft pillow. All she wanted was a good night’s sleep, and it seemed like it might be impossible.
Right as she closed her eyes, the station shuddered, and she was thrown from her bed only to land in a heap on the floor. The sound of metal groaning pierced the air and sent shivers of fear running through her.
“What the hell?”
A loud metal noise shrieked through the whole station, and Olivia covered her ears with her hands. Something was not right on the station.
She dashed over to her clothing, threw them on, and then ran from her room. Every other woman came stumbling out of their cabins as the station continued to shudder around them with loud metal shrieks of protest.
“What’s going on?” A redhead asked. Her green eyes dazed with sleep as they darted around frantically. Another metal shriek went tearing through the station.
“We need to get to the bridge!” Olivia yelled at all the women standing around in the hall. “We won’t know anything until we get up there to see what the problem is.” And hopefully, fix whatever issue the station was suffering from.
Even as her heart raced away, Olivia forced her feet to move. Thankfully, the station wasn’t large, and she made it to the bridge in a matter of seconds.
The station gave another shudder, and she braced herself against a console so she wouldn’t be thrown around like a ragdoll.
“What’s going on?” She asked the moment the ship stopped shuddering.
Sophia looked up from another console. “We have a hull breach on deck three.”
“Someone shot at us?” Olivia was about to freak out. Who would shoot at a research vessel? There was nothing on here, except for scientists. And who would travel all the way out here in the first place?
“No. Something from space hit us, I think. Our hull got punctured, and we are now leaking oxygen into space, and none of the fail-safes are coming online.” Sophia slammed a hand against a console. “Come on!”
“Is there anything we can do?”
“We’ve tried everything.” Another woman addressed her from the other side of the bridge, her hazel eyes wide.
“Escape pods?”
“We have them, but where do you want us to go? The only planet in this system we can survive on is X-37625, and it already has an alien population that we showed you last night.” Sophia turned her wide eyes to Olivia.
“And the escape pods won’t keep us alive long enough for a rescue or to get us out of this system.” Olivia shook her head. Why did this have to happen to her first command?
Olivia took a deep breath calming her racing nerves. She didn’t want to land on a primitive planet with an alien species they barely knew anything about, but they had no choice in the matter. They could stay here and die or face their chances on the alien planet’s surface.
“Would you rather stay here and get blown into space?” Olivia didn’t allow them the chance to speak, as she rushed over to a panel and hit the communication system. “This is Olivia Peterson speaking. We need to abandon ship. Locate the escape pods and land at the coordinates pre-programmed.”
Olivia turned to Sophia. “Pick a spot that looks good and download it to all the escape pods, and then get down there to the pods.”
Olivia raced back through the corridors until she reached the hallway of escape pods. There were already four men standing there armed to the teeth with plasma rifles. She’d forgotten about the soldiers that had been assigned to the vessel. Liam and his men.
“Are you the one who spoke over the intercom?” Liam asked as he stepped towards her, the red scar running down his face standing out in stark contrast against his face.
“Yes.” She straightened her shoulders. She was sure he’d take offense that she had just taken charge of the escape pods without consulting him, but there wasn’t any time for him to get hurt feelings. The ship was slowly losing control, and soon there wouldn’t be any oxygen left to breathe.
“We have yet to determine if we actually need to abandon the station,” Liam informed her.
“Well, while you figure it out,” she pointed a finger at him, “I’m leaving and anyone who wants to go, may leave the ship.” She stared him down.
The ship shuddered around them and groaned as if in pain.
One of his eyes twitched in visible irritation, but then he directed incoming women into the waiting escape pods as the space station continued to groan in pain around them.
Once all the other women had been launched, Olivia stepped into her own escape pod. The door latched shut behind her, and a green button flashed in front of her face. Sucking in another calming breath, she slammed a palm down on the ever-blinking button and ejected it into space.
She punched in the programmed coordinates and then stared out the small window. Several escape pods entered the atmosphere before her, and she watched them light up in yellows, oranges, and reds in a brilliant display against the backdrop of the planet below them.
Then her escape pod punched through the atmosphere, and she watched the flames right outside her window as it ate up the stars outside. She held her breath. She wasn’t usually negative, but she kept praying her escape pod wouldn’t break into pieces or that its thrusters wouldn’t fail and she’d slam into the planet’s surface at full speed. These things were built to last through anything, but it didn’t mean accidents couldn’t happen.
Then a thought smacked her straight in the face. Had anyone activated a distress signal before leaving the station? The escape pods had distress signals, but they wouldn’t be strong enough to go past the edge of this solar system. The space station was the only one with a distress signal strong enough that could actually reach past the solar system.
Punching in a few keys on her console, she picked up the distress signal coming from the research station. Relief poured through her as she fell back against her seat. Good! It might be a while before a rescue team came for them, but at least they were putting out a distress signal. It was better than nothing.
Olivia relaxed against her seat, as her pod shook and rattled around her. It only took a few moments before it broke through the atmosphere, and then she was punched against her seat as the thrusters flared on and slowed down the shuttle.
Her heart flew into her throat as her hands clutched the sides of her seat. She never thought she’d be using an escape pod, but here she was inside the escape pod as it soared through the air.
Once she landed firmly on the ground, she flung the pod door open and watched as the last of the pods landed in the same clearing.
Olivia grabbed her emergency backpack and set out to meet with all the others thankful to be out of the claustrophobic pod. It was time for them to get settled in and wait for a rescue. As the women filed out of their escape pods, Olivia gathered them into a group.
“Don’t forget your emergency backpacks!” She announced as loudly as she could. They’d need those if they wanted to last on X-37625 while waiting for a rescue.
She gave a head count of the women. There should be twelve, including herself, but there were only ten. Two of the pods were missing! She gave another count of the women and came up with the same number.
One of the women spoke up, “Where’s Emma and Harper?” Her voice squeaked a little at the end.
“Did their pods get destroyed on entry?” Another woman asked as she looked up at the sky above them. All the other women gasped as they glanced up at the sky.
Olivia was quick to respond and quell the terror that was spreading through the women. “Their pods must have gone off course. We will find them.” She reassured them. “For now, let’s gather our supplies.” She motioned over the four guards. “Did any of you happen to notice any pods go off course?”
Liam nodded, his scar dancing over his face with the movement or perhaps it was just the sun and shadows playing games with her eyes. “A couple of pods went off course a little North East of us.”
“Then we’ll head that way, and hopefully the women will be fine when we get there.” She didn’t need anyone dying on this planet. It was her first command, and it was getting more complicated by the minute.
She eyed Liam for a second, waiting for him to try to take control of the group, but he didn’t.
“It’s a plan then.” He agreed.
Good to know he was on her side and not threatened by her taking leadership of their small group, but she was going to keep an eye on him. His eyes made her skin crawl a bit, and she knew he’d take control the moment her back was turned.