The Strength of Endurance

by R. L. Blalock

  I shrugged. “Might as well see.”

  With that, I pulled myself up. The debris shifted precariously as it settled under my weight. I didn’t wait to see what would happen. I reached up and grabbed the leg of a chair, hefting myself higher. As the debris shifted again, I reached for a console. Kicking hard against the steep floor, I managed to wrap my fingertips over the edge just as the debris collapsed.

  “Incoming!” I shouted as the others scrambled out of the way below me.

  The console was welded to the floor. The room would have to be torn to shreds to move it. I heaved myself up and over the top. For a moment, I sat and listened from my sturdy perch.

  Clang…Clang.

  The noise came from higher up.

  “Hello?” Nothing stood out in the beam of my flashlight. Nothing answered my call.

  I let out a long breath. The next console was close enough that I might be able to reach it. I jumped up. My fingers brushed the edge of the console. As I landed with a resounding thud, the console shook, and I dropped down, clinging to it for dear life. I knew it was stable. I knew it could bear much more than my weight, but that didn’t stop the fear that gripped me as it trembled under my feet.

  With a deep breath, I drew myself up and jumped again. My fingers dug into the console’s edge, and I clung to it, kicking my legs against the slanted deck as I struggled to pull myself up. Perched on the next console, I sat there listening.

  Clang…clang…clang.

  The noise came from just above me, among a cluster of consoles. The sound was weaker than ever. I had to keep moving. I jumped and missed the console, almost plummeting to the door.

  Careful, Kuna warned.

  I didn’t respond. I couldn’t. I jumped again, grabbing the edge and pulling myself up to the nest of consoles that controlled the Endurance.

  I couldn’t believe my eyes.

  Before me, Commander Nash sat slumped against the inside of a console. Her eyes were closed. Her cheeks were pale and her face gaunt. Blood had crusted in her hair and across her forehead.

  Once again, she raised a small metal shard and tapped it against a tube next to her.

  Clang…clang…clang.

  “Commander Nash?”

  Her eyes flew open, and she took me in.

  “Don’t be afraid.” I held up my hands, showing her my palms. “I’ve come to help you.”

  “Are you…” The commander’s voice was raspy, and she smacked her lips together as she tried to wet them.

  I hastily detached the water tube from my belt and offered it to her.

  She drank greedily, water dribbling from the corners of her mouth as she fervently sucked at the spout. For a moment, she leaned back, her eyes closed as her tongue ran over her cracked lips, relishing the moisture on them once again. “Are you an angel?”

  For a moment, I just blinked at the commander as I tried to figure out what she was talking about. Finally, it came to me: angels. Agents of God. I shuddered. Few of the colonists were faithful to religion anymore. The Biphaits had claimed to be gods. Our gods. It was hard to believe that any such omniscient creature could exist. It was even more difficult to believe that Commander Nash was a believer.

  “No,” I finally said, realizing I had left a long silence while I pondered my own thoughts. “I’m a survivor from cycle ten.”

  “Ah.” The commander slouched back against the command desk. “I see.” She let out a long sigh. “I really thought you were real this time.”

  “I am real,” I insisted, carefully taking the commander’s hand in my own. “Can’t you feel me?”

  She had been trapped for a long time. Almost a week. Metal protruded up from the mangled console, spearing her thigh. How bad were her injuries? Surely the auto-docs could fix nerve damage.

  Commander Nash’s head moved up and down jerkily. “Oh, yes. You’re very real this time.” She squinted at me. Finally, she let out another sigh. “But everyone is dead. I’m just waiting for my turn. At least it’s nice to have some company for now.”

  “Laure!” Brinden’s voice echoed up from below. “Found anything?”

  I chanced a look down, but the drop made me dizzy. Do you think you can reach all the way up here?

  Maybe. Would you like me to get you down?

  Yes, please. I’m going to have some cargo. Can you support all that?

  The only way to know is to find out, Kuna responded flippantly.

  I balked. I’d rather not plummet to my death.

  You’ll be fine. He paused for a minute, assessing the distance. It should be fine.

  “All right, I’m going to get you out of here. We’ll get you some help. Are you ready?”

  We were going to have to move fast. Once I pulled Commander Nash’s leg off of the debris, she would begin bleeding anew. She was already weak, and she wouldn’t last long without help.

  Get ready, I told Kuna.

  Already there.

  “You really are real.” Commander Nash looked up at me with amazement. Suddenly, a frown settled on her face. “Then what are you?” She reached up, her fingertips lightly brushing against my cheek.

  I let out a long sigh. “I am human. I am from cycle ten. You’ll have a lot of catching up to do once you are feeling better.”

  “And…you said there were others? Other survivors.” Her voice was quiet—even quieter than it had been.

  “Yes, most of us survived…thanks to you.”

  Commander Nash searched my eyes, looking for the lie that wasn’t there.

  A wail escaped her lips. “I thought they were all dead.” She clung to me, desperate sobs wracking her fragile body. “I thought I had killed everyone. I thought I had killed the human race.”

  “No,” I whispered into her hair, taking just a moment to hold the commander. “Many of us survived. Most of us. You are a hero.” I gently pushed the commander away.

  She sniffed, composing herself.

  “We need to get going. You need help. Are you ready?”

  The commander straightened with a curt nod.

  “On three.” I gripped the commander’s leg with both hands. “One…Two.” I lifted early, before she could tense, pulling the commander’s leg off the shrapnel in one swift motion.

  She let out a harsh scream, her hands balling into fists.

  My spine tingled as the connection took hold. I scooped Commander Nash up into my arms, cradling her like a child. She was so light in my arms. Bones protruded from her skin. Her breathing was fast and ragged. Blood oozed from her wound, already running down my hands.

  My vision blurred as I fought to keep myself in my own body. The drop made my stomach lurch up into my throat, and I tightened my grip on the commander, afraid she’d slip through my fingers. And yet I could feel the ground beneath my feet. Kuna’s feet. My own feet hit solid ground, and Kuna pulled back.

  “Is that…” Saavi’s voice was barely a whisper. The others had crowded in.

  “Commander Nash,” Reegan finished.

  “She’s alive?” Deron asked.

  “She won’t be for long if we don’t get moving. We have to get her some help.”

  The others parted around me as I began to trot back toward the crack in the hull.

  “We can’t go back.” Reegan’s voice echoed down the hallway, barely audible over the pounding of our footsteps.

  “I have to agree,” Emerson added. “We’ll be killed if we go back to the others.”

  “So we’re going to let her die?” I didn’t stop. “I won’t do that.” My jaw worked back and forth as I thought. “Stay here. Find a way to the engines. Figure out how to escape, but I have to take Commander Nash to get help.”

  Ah, so we’re dying today then. Kuna had already resigned himself to his fate.

  “I’m not going to let you go alone,” Brinden said from just behind my shoulder. “We’re in this together.”

  It was stupid. It was a stupid sentiment. No one else needed to die. Just me. Just one person
to get Commander Nash to safety, but I couldn’t find the words to command him not to follow me.

  “I’m going with you too,” Saavi chimed in.

  “Me too,” Deron agreed.

  Reegan managed to let out an exasperated sigh, even while jogging. “I guess we’re all going to be stupid together. Let’s do this.”

  The hallways flew by much faster than I remembered. It wasn’t long before we were at the rift in the metal. I plunged into the hull, the opening so wide it didn’t touch me, but the Chroin struggled as they had to creep through slowly or risk shredding their skin. Good. Let them fall behind. Maybe they would be spared. Maybe.

  Bright light poured into the gash. I didn’t hesitate as I sprinted out into the open air. For a moment, I was blinded. My eyes had become so adjusted to the dark interior of the ship that it took a moment for them to adjust to the spotlights.

  “Halt!” Parsons’s voice blared out of a loudspeaker somewhere.

  “Medic!” I screamed the word so loud my throat immediately burned.

  “I said halt or you will be fired upon. Just give me a reason, Higgins.”

  “Medic!” I tried to hold Commander Nash a bit higher, hoping that Parsons would stop and question what he was doing. If only for a moment.

  “Take aim!”

  I could hear the call, even though he didn’t speak into the megaphone this time. The tiny tinkle of metal on metal met my ears as dozens of soldiers readied themselves. I pumped my legs harder. I had to get closer. He had to see. He had to see her.

  “Medic! Please, somebody get a medic. The commander is hurt.” My throat was raw. I had belted out as loud as I could. My insides flopped around nervously, and butterflies fluttered around in my chest. This had to work.

  A shadow moved beyond the spotlights. Parsons stepped into view, his blaster trained on me.

  “Parsons, please.” I could barely get the words out anymore. I slowed, lifting the commander just a bit more as I did so.

  Parsons’s rifle dipped as he took us in. His mouth hung open. “Med pouch!” he screamed. Someone slapped a bag into his hands, and then he was sprinting toward us.

  I let out a joyous laugh that was nothing more than a wheezing gasp. Just before Parsons and I collided, I slid to a stop, sinking to my knees in the dirt.

  “Stars!” Parsons hastily spread the med bag on the ground. I carefully laid Commander Nash inside. Her eyes were closed. Her body looked peaceful. Not the ashen color of the dead. Maybe I wasn’t too late.

  “Are you sure she is alive?” Parsons sealed the bag and slapped the button to inflate it.

  “She was a few minutes ago. Now…” I could only hope we had gotten her help in time.

  Parsons glanced behind me, and for the first time, I remembered the others. He tried to smile, but it turned out as more of a grimace. “We better get her to a real doctor. Go back to your quarters. All of you.” Parsons grabbed one of the handles. He and several other men stood together, lifting the commander and carrying her away.

  I sat on the ground and stared after them, too dumbfounded by the events of the last few minutes to move.

  “Does that mean we’ve been pardoned?” Saavi asked.

  “I guess it does.”

  “I didn't see that coming.” Brinden offered me a hand, and I accepted it, allowing him to pull me to my feet.

  Neither did I. Kuna’s voice had a hard edge as he spoke. Where is the trap?

  “Do we go back as he said? We could just be waiting for them to kill us.” Reegan fidgeted, eyeing the remaining soldiers warily.

  “If they wanted to kill us, they could have easily done it by now. I can’t imagine it would do any good to wait until later.” My legs grew shaky as the adrenaline wore off, and I leaned against Brinden for support. “Let’s just…go home and go to bed. We’ll have to see what happens in the morning.”

  CHAPTER 8

  “Commander Higgins.” The voice was quiet and easy to ignore. “Commander Higgins.”

  A timid man is at the door. He’s annoying. At least make him leave. Kuna rolled his shoulder, jostling me around.

  At the door? I bolted upright.

  The man jumped back through the doorway, his eyes wide with alarm.

  Did he just walk in? How rude! I quickly combed my fingers through my hair. It was useless, my hair tangled beyond what I could fix without a brush.

  He knocked several times, but you didn’t stir, Kuna said in amusement.

  Why in the world didn’t you wake me then?

  You were tired. I thought he might leave. I agree he was quite rude for entering. Kuna yawned to make his point.

  “Commander Higgins?” the man asked again.

  “Yes!” My mind was still foggy with sleep. I had almost entirely forgotten about the man as Kuna and I bickered. “I’m sorry. What is it?”

  “Commander Nash has asked to speak with you.” The man glanced furtively between Kuna and me.

  “Commander Nash!” I jumped up, startling the man again. “How is she doing?” I tapped my comms band to check the time. Six hours had passed. Only six.

  “The commander is recovering well,” the man replied.

  Kuna rose to follow us as we stepped through our room’s oversized door.

  “Oh, no.” The man waved his hands frantically. “The commander has only asked for you, and I am quite certain that there will be no room for the beast in the med wing.”

  Good, Kuna huffed and lay back down. I don’t want to visit that horrid place anyway.

  You are such a baby, I teased.

  Kuna simply opened one eye to glare at me before wrapping his tail around himself and pointedly snoring.

  “Right this way.” The messenger beckoned me down the hall. He moved fast as I trotted along beside him.

  “You won’t be able to speak with the commander long. She’s still weak, but she has insisted on speaking with you.” The man’s face was a mask, and I couldn’t begin to guess why I was being summoned.

  “I’m glad to hear she is recovering well.” I clasped my hands behind my back.

  The messenger relaxed a little. “It is nothing short of a miracle that you found her and she survived.” There was an odd glint in the man’s eye. “Truly amazing.”

  We stepped through the doors to the med wing—the human med wing. Dozens of beds lined the walls. Too many of them were full. So many had been injured in the Fall, and many more had been injured by the Chroin. The bay was filled with coughing and moaning. The smell of antiseptic assaulted my nose, and I tried not to breathe more than I had to. The messenger made for the back of the bay, where a few private rooms had been set up. He pushed open one of the doors, gesturing me inside.

  Commander Nash lay in a crisp, clean, white bed, her eyes closed as she rested. As I turned back toward the messenger, the door swung shut with a quiet thump. The man was gone.

  “Well, I was sure you’d look at least a little different than I remembered from earlier.”

  I whirled back around, bowing to the commander. “Commander Nash, how are you feeling?”

  “Like I crashed into a planet,” she grumbled, struggling to push herself up.

  I rushed to the commander’s side, propping her up with some pillows.

  “I feel about as helpless as a newborn babe.”

  “Well, the first half of that is almost true,” I muttered under my breath. Too late, I realized that I had said the words aloud.

  Commander Nash’s eyes crinkled in amusement. “I guess you would be right, but I don’t have to like it. You would think they could do more with the auto-docs by now.” The commander leaned back against her pillows with a heavy sigh. “I’ll have to get someone on that.”

  “You probably just need some rest, a few good meals, and some water.”

  Commander Nash cocked an eyebrow at me. “You sound like my doctor. Did he get to you before I did?” She let out a throaty laugh that sent her into a coughing fit.

  I grabbed a bottle of water
off the nightstand and offered it to her. After a few sips, she settled back against her pillows.

  “I’m sure they will be in to shoo you away at any moment, so I’ll keep this brief. I wanted to thank you for finding me.” The commander’s gaze was intense as her eyes settled on me.

  “Thank you, ma’am…but it really was more of a coincidence—”

  “Yes. Yes. I’ve been informed of the events that led to you and your squad being cornered in the ship.” A frown settled across her face as she cut me off. “I will be hearing more about it in the coming days, and I am not pleased with what I have heard so far.”

  I blinked at the commander, unsure how to respond. “Thank you.”

  “For what?” The commander’s voice was a little more clipped as she let her annoyance show.

  “For…considering us.” My hands balled into fists. “I have been trying to get the other commanders to listen for days now.”

  “I find this chain of events to be quite disturbing.” The commander’s shoulders drooped as she let out a long sigh. “I may not have the answers right away, but I will find them. I’m not afraid to stir the pot a little.” The commander fidgeted with her pillows. “As I had an ally in you when I needed it, you will have an ally in me. You gave everyone the push they needed to get here, and you’ve saved my life. I’d say it is the least I could do.”

  My mouth opened and closed. How could she remember me from the Endurance? We had only crossed paths one time.

  “Thank you, Commander. I truly appreciate that.” I extended my hand to her.

  “Call me Miya.” The commander, Miya, took my hand in hers.

  The End

  The story continues in

  The Peril of Endurance…

  A Message From R. L. Blalock

  Thank you for reading The Strength of Endurance. I hope you enjoyed it. I would greatly appreciate it if you would leave a review. Reviews are so important to the success of a book. Reviews give me a chance to see what’s working or not working. I consider all the feedback I get from readers very seriously. It’s my goal to make each book better than the last. Beyond improving my work, reviews also help other readers decide whether or not to spend their hard-earned money on my books.