She clenched her teeth together as Skinner wolf-whistled. He clearly wasn’t too discouraged by Murphy’s warning. She shot him a glare and put her middle finger up at him as she went to hang her suit up. She already knew which team member she hated the most in the crew, and she desperately hoped she would one day get to show him just how much.
Murphy offered Sloane a protein bar as she walked over to sit at the table beside him. She gratefully took it and tore the wrapper open, eating half the bar in a mouthful. It felt like forever since she had last eaten, and she was known for getting a little grumpy if she went too long between meals. The protein bars weren’t anything special and tasted a bit like chewy cardboard, but at least it filled her up.
‘When will we be setting out for the other pod?’ one of the men asked Murphy. Sloane glanced up from her bar, intrigued to hear his answer.
‘We still need to find a way to test for oxygen in the air. The meter to measure the atmosphere composition was in the pod when it exploded.’
Sloane groaned, dropping her wrapper down on the table. ‘Seriously? You guys keep talking about testing the air, when it’s probably fine.’
She pushed herself out from the chair and walked towards the airlock.
‘Sloane, what are you doing?’ Murphy asked.
‘Putting an end to the debate.’ She slammed her hand against the button to open the airlock.
Murphy leapt to his feet. ‘Sloane, as your Commander, I order you to stop.’
She walked into the airlock and turned to him, crossing her arms. ‘You know this is the quickest way.’
Murphy swore loudly as the door shut, and Sloane turned to open the airlock to go outside.
She didn’t bother looking back through the door’s clear plastic window to the rest of the crew. She already knew they’d be in a flurry of action, trying to get someone in a space suit out there to rescue her. That’s if anyone cared enough to come.
She’d be fine though. Trees needed air to breathe; fire needed oxygen to burn. There had to be oxygen on this planet.
The airlock opened, and Sloane took a determined step outside. She only spared a short moment to worry before she took a breath, but then went for it. She almost laughed as she breathed in the cool air. It was fine. Totally fine.
She turned back to the airlock to see a panicked Dean waiting for the door to open.
‘It’s fine,’ she yelled out to him, though she doubted he could hear her from inside the airlock. She opened her arms and spun around, taking in another glorious breath. She’d been aboard the Explorer for months now, and standing in this strange planet’s sunshine and breathing in the fresh air was incredible.
It was cooler than she had anticipated, and the air had a strange metallic smell to it that she didn’t expect. It wasn’t unpleasant though. It was sweet and fragrant and, as Sloane spun herself around, a crisp breeze whipped her blonde hair across her face.
A movement flashed in the corner of her eye, and she immediately stopped spinning and dropped into a fighter’s stance. Her gaze swept the tall trees that bordered the clearing they’d set the habitat up in. The hairs on the back of her arms stood on end, and she felt a chill down her spine. She’d seen something move between the trees.
Looking at the trees though, she couldn’t see anything now. Had she imagined it? She couldn’t be certain. All she knew was that she felt like she was being watched.
Dean stumbled out of the airlock and raced over to her with an oxygen tank and a mask. His face looked so worried that she would’ve laughed if he hadn’t appeared so serious about it.
‘The air is fine,’ she told him.
‘Are you sure?’
‘Do I look like I’m about to pass out?’
He analysed her face closely, then shook his head. ‘No. You’re right.’
He took his own helmet off and smiled as he took in his first breath of air.
‘Good, huh?’ she said.
‘Yes, very good. You could’ve really hurt yourself coming out here like that though!’
‘Yeah, yeah, I’m unhinged, I get it.’
He shook his head and smiled. ‘Come on; you’ve proved your point. Let’s go back inside. The Commander won’t be happy you disobeyed a direct order.’
Sloane followed him back to the airlock, but before she went back inside she took a moment to glance back at the trees where she’d felt she’d seen something. As she stepped through the airlock she turned to Dean. ‘This planet is uninhabited, right?’
‘Yeah, it’s supposed to be,’ he responded.
She glanced back out the window as the door slid shut. Supposed—there was that word again.
CHAPTER FIVE
The crew spent the day sorting through the equipment they’d salvaged from the pod, setting up experiments and getting the habitat fully functional. They wouldn’t send a search party for the other team until they finished setting up. Their pod had crashed a long way from where they had planned to land, and the other pod was several hours walk. Sloane was also keenly aware that the search for Ash and his team was only part of the first response team’s mission to Aeris.
Sloane, for the most part, stayed out of everyone’s way. She spent her time with Wilson, who was constantly falling in and out of consciousness and, as such, was unable to tell her to leave. There was a chance he would never walk again, but at least he was alive.
She struggled with her role in the group or lack there of. Being stuck babysitting the sleeping man made her feel useless, and her fingers itched for a task. There was nothing she could do to help him, and she’d be of much better use assisting the others in setting up the camp. No one was talking to her though. Even if they were, she doubted they’d trust her to do anything. If she weren’t the Captain’s daughter they probably would have tied her up somewhere for what she’d done. At least she still had some semblance of freedom.
She sat and watched the others on the team closely, her feet tapping restlessly all the while. Her gut told her that Ash was still alive, and it had never misled her before. She wanted to set out and search for him already, but there was no way Murphy would let her go. She’d happily leave without his approval, but she needed a map, weapons and some supplies. Getting those things would take time; especially given the way the crew watched her.
She glanced down at her hands, which were clenched in tight fists, and took in several deep breaths to calm herself. She needed to relax if she was to have any hope of gaining the crew’s trust. So far she was doing a really bad job in that department. Murphy had outlined a whole list of rules for her that morning. There were a lot, most of which made sense, but she hated them all the same.
She was forced to stay near the habitat, and it was also made clear that she was not allowed a weapon under any circumstances. She had expected the latter, but it still really ruined her day. She probably didn’t help her case when she explained, quite simply to Murphy, that she could just as easily kill them all with her bare hands.
She definitely wasn’t allowed a weapon after that.
It wasn’t that she minded being left unarmed. But since she wasn’t certain of what she had seen moving in the trees earlier, she would’ve felt safer knowing she had a weapon close at hand.
Sloane woke the following morning before either of the suns rose and spent the first few hours of her day doing a series of resistance training exercises. By the time anyone else was up and wandering out of the habitat, she had already finished her exercises and was just getting started on breakfast.
Instead of staying with the others, Sloane took her food and moved to sit by one of the leaf-covered trees. It was in sight of the habitat, but far enough away that she no longer felt like she was a prisoner in their camp. Plus, she preferred to avoid the cold looks the other crewmembers gave her.
Her stomach dropped every time she thought of the Commander’s death. She couldn’t quite believe that it was her fault though. The blame some of the others placed on her was unjustified and
she knew that. It hurt all the same.
She heard a commotion by the habitat and glanced over to see Dean and Skinner carefully carrying Wilson out of the airlock. When Wilson’s eyes locked onto her, he nodded in Sloane’s direction.
‘Take me there,’ he said.
‘You really should be resting…’ Dean responded.
‘Just take me to the girl.’
Sloane swallowed uncomfortably at his approach. Wilson shouldn’t be out of bed, but she highly doubted Dean would bring him outside if there were any chance it would make him worse. He’d been given so many drugs yesterday that he hadn’t been lucid when she sat with him, but his eyes were alert today.
Wilson sucked in a rushed breath through his teeth as they lowered him down onto the ground. Sloane didn’t bother asking if he was okay. She was already well aware how much pain he was still in, and she didn’t want to draw attention to it in front of Skinner, who helped carry him. She could see the way Skinner already looked down on Wilson because of his injuries. There was no sympathy in his eyes. Rather it was like Skinner saw a dead weight slowly dragging the rest of the team down.
As soon as Skinner and Dean left, Sloane turned to Wilson. ‘How are you managing?’ she asked.
‘As well as can be expected,’ he replied. His voice sounded so tired, and there was a hint of bitterness there. He wasn’t trying to be rude, but he was clearly struggling with what had happened to him.
He closed his eyes and allowed the sun to warm his skin. ‘It’s a lot hotter here than I expected.’ He opened his eyes again and stared up at the sky. ‘I used to live in the mountains back home and it was always so cool in the forest that surrounded my house. Without branches these trees don’t really provide a canopy like you’d expect in the woods.’
He laughed under his breath and, for a moment, Sloane saw a glimpse of the man he was before the crash. ‘My wife and daughter loved it there. Down the hill from our house was a beautiful lake. The two of them would often race to see who could swim out to the pontoon in the centre of it the fastest. Marie always let Lilly win, but you should’ve seen the smile on her little face when she did.’
Sloane tried to imagine what the woods around Wilson’s house looked like. She’d spent her childhood moving from one small town to the next, and then years in the Academy. None of those places had dense woods like Wilson was describing. She’d actually thought this place was refreshing rather than hot.
‘How old is your daughter?’ she asked.
‘She would have been ten in two weeks.’
Sloane swallowed tightly, staring out into the trees. She didn’t miss how his voice went quiet or how he stumbled over the words. She daren’t ask him about his wife. The beautiful image of the house in the woods she had constructed in her mind vanished. There would be no laughter in those trees by the lake anymore. That’s if the trees were still there.
She didn’t want to think about the current state of the world they’d left behind. It had become massively overpopulated and resources were scarce. As they departed several months ago, the world had been engulfed by war once again, and the people there were becoming desperate. The Explorer had been sent to find a new home for humans, and Aeris was the first viable planet they had discovered. Even if Earth survived the war they wouldn’t be returning there; that she knew for sure.
Wilson paused for a moment before clearing his throat. ‘The others told me what you did.’
Sloane continued looking at the trees, not certain what he was getting at.
‘And I wanted to thank you.’ She glanced at him; unsure she’d heard correctly. ‘You saved my life.’
She eyed him closely. ‘The others would say you wouldn’t have needed saving if not for me.’
He shrugged. ‘You risked your life by running into that pod to get my sorry ass out of there. You saved me.’
Sloane felt uncomfortable with his gratitude, so she merely nodded and turned back to look at the trees. She and Wilson both fell quiet. It was peaceful there. There was no wind in the trees, no sounds of birds or other animals. Most people would have found the lack of sound eerie, but Sloane liked it. She rarely had time to enjoy any sort of peace and quiet.
‘So, the Captain had you enrolled in the Academy?’ Wilson asked, breaking the silence.
‘Yeah. I’ve been there for the last ten years.’
Wilson whistled appreciatively. ‘I didn’t know they took them that young.’
‘They don’t.’ Sloane didn’t want to explain how she got in so young, and she definitely didn’t want to talk about what had prompted her enrolment at such an early age.
‘You must be pretty lethal then…’
‘Yes.’ Sloane wasn’t boasting when she accepted his praise. She was completely lethal. She’d been training for combat since she was eight and had become a killing machine. Anyone who had seen her progress through the Academy would have said the same thing. But it wasn’t just fighting she was good at. She excelled at everything the Academy taught: intelligence, strategic studies, foreign languages, history and technology. She had dedicated her existence to them all, and it showed.
Graduates from the elite Academy with half her experience would’ve been sent straight into battle. But instead, the Captain had Ash, Rowe and herself shipped with him to the outer reaches of the galaxy, as far away from any fighting as possible.
‘Will I get to see some of your moves? I’d challenge you to a fight, but, you know…’ He glanced down at his legs.
‘They’ll be able to fix you as soon as you’re back aboard the Explorer,’ she said.
He looked up at the sky as if he could see the Explorer up there, just out of reach. ‘Maybe. It sucks all the same. You don’t know what it’s like to train every day of your life, then wake up one morning and not be able to leave the bed that you’re in.’
Sloane had never been injured in such a way, but she could imagine how she’d feel if she couldn’t train every day and felt sorry for him. She was just glad he was going to be okay.
‘Sloane, Wilson, I’m gathering everyone inside,’ Murphy said, as he walked up to them.
‘What’s happening?’ Wilson asked.
‘We need to plan the trek to the other drop pod.’
Sloane’s heart leapt. It took all of her will to keep her face straight and to stop the hope she felt inside from shining through in her eyes. They were finally going after her brother.
Murphy had everyone assemble in the habitat. The place felt crowded when they were all inside, and Sloane kept glancing at the airlock. She couldn’t wait to get back outside again.
‘As you have all been briefed, the Explorer has lost contact with the alpha team,’ Murphy began. ‘They received the initial report from the team detailing their landing and the set up of their camp, so we know they arrived on Aeris safely. The Explorer has been unable to contact them for the last three days though.’
Sloane’s stomach tightened at his words. Three days was a long time to be completely out of contact and anything could have happened in that time.
‘We’ve attempted to contact the other team using the two-way radios in our emergency kit,’ Murphy continued. ‘The other pod is well within range of these things, but there’s been no answer. So I’m sending four people to go to the other landing pod and find out what is going on there. We will also need supplies brought back here.’ Sloane’s hand shot up in the air before he’d even finished his sentence. Murphy ignored her hand and continued. ‘Looking at the maps, it’s a five hour trek to the pod. It’s fairly easy terrain and you should have no problems making the full journey within a day.’
The others in the group nodded as they listened.
‘Skinner, Kerrigan, Gates and Lee; I’d like the four of you to go,’ Murphy said, his eyes skimming past Sloane, and her raised hand, to gauge the men’s acceptance of their task.
‘I’d like to go with them,’ she said to Murphy, calling his attention to her hand, which was still stretched up into
the air.
‘No. I don’t think that’s a good idea.’
‘C’mon Murphy, you know I can help.’
‘No. You’re staying here.’ His tone was curt and left no room for discussion. He started talking to the others before she could issue another word of complaint.
Sloane slowly lowered her hand. She desperately wanted to help, and she actually cared about the other team being found. Why else would she have risked everything to come along? She’d have to find another way.
‘This is such a waste of time,’ she heard Skinner mutter to Lee, who was standing next to him. ‘We’ve got enough going on here to keep us busy; we don’t need to spend a day trekking to the other pod. Ash is bloody useless. The only reason he’s leading that team is because he’s Captain Avery’s son. I bet he’s gone and got his whole team killed. Good riddance to him, I say.’
Lee snorted, while Sloane suddenly saw red. She turned on Skinner who merely raised one eyebrow, almost daring her to react. In a flash, she snatched his arm and twisted it behind his back, causing him to gasp in pain. Before he could try to wriggle free, Sloane grabbed the back of his head and slammed him face-first into the table in front of him.
‘That’s my brother you’re talking about you arrogant, son of a—’
‘Sloane!’ Murphy yelled, as someone grabbed her from behind, tugging her away from Skinner.
She struggled in the strong arms that held her. ‘He doesn’t even care that Ash is missing! He could not give a crap what has happened to them!’
Skinner slowly lifted his head to look at her. He was grinning widely as he slowly wiped the blood from his nose. Sloane’s fist twitched, eager to smash his face into the hard surface of the table again. She wanted to wipe that filthy smirk from his face and make him regret having ever mentioned Ash’s name.
Murphy came over and grabbed her by the shoulders, forcing her to look him in the eyes. ‘Sit. Down. Now,’ he growled. ‘Or I will tie you up and you won’t be fed again until I’m feeling generous.’
In Ice We Burn (The Liftsal Guardians Book 1) Page 4