by REM
Josh slid a finger over the trigger and fired, even though he wasn’t close to having a clean shot, and then again. Both were done out of pure rage.
The marked fighter needled through a few clusters and dove at a sharp angle before curling out of Josh’s sight.
I lost him! Damnit, where’d he go? thought Josh, scanning as best he could without running into a rock. He slowed his striker to a more reasonable speed, and sifted through the field in the direction he figured the Mercen had gone. Paranoia set in as he searched his surroundings at high alert. Radar was of little use in such an environment.
Whoosh! The marked fighter swooped down from the rear and fired a shot. Josh had caught a glimpse of it in his rearview and rolled hard right to escape. He then rose fast and swirled hazardously through closely packed asteroids, trying to shake his tail.
But the marked fighter was flawless in its pursuit.
Jesus, he won’t make a mistake! thought Josh, reckoning few pilots could’ve followed his maneuver without colliding with a fragment. He cut left to avoid an incoming asteroid and then swerved toward clear space. Enough of this minefield bullshit; let’s take this to customary battlespace.
Josh zoomed in, out, and around chunk after chunk with the shadow fighter hot on his tracks. He had made it to within a quarter mile of an exit point, when seeing red light flicker at his rear—then he felt a sudden boom as laser beams slammed into his striker. The ship shook like a powerful earthquake.
I’ve been hit! thought Josh. His force shield had absorbed a good deal of the blast, but smoke streamed from the body of his craft. Red light flashed in the cockpit with alarms blaring. Josh struggled to gain control of his plummeting striker.
Swoosh! Swoosh! He dove uncontrollably past an asteroid, and then a second, only to find himself on a collision course with another massive rock. “Turn, damnit, turn!” he shouted, trying his hardest to steer the ship away, but barely getting it to veer. Oh hell! he thought, slipping a finger over the trigger and pressing it. Successive dual beam blasts flashed out from his cannons and exploded the large rock. Fragments crashed against his ship, causing it to shake as he shot through the cloud of debris.
His striker nosedived out of the asteroid field and careened through space. Josh peered at a blinking screen with the word “DAMAGED” underlined in red. Beneath that was a list that read: “SHIELD, TRACKER, NAVIGATION, TRANSMITTER, BODY.” This doesn’t look good, he thought, checking his rear for the marked fighter, who had already written Josh off for dead.
It didn’t take long for him to notice a small, dark-brown planet in the distance ahead. He knew it was his only hope. But his striker was streaking slightly off course. Oh come on! thought Josh, trying his hardest to steer the craft in the right direction. While doing so, he punched a few buttons on a different screen and brought up a reading of the dark-brown planet from his system’s archives. Planet Skurier—ninety percent dry land, ten percent water; it’s habitable.
It took a lengthy struggle, but Josh was able to edge the striker’s flight path toward the dark planet, the entire time hoping his ship remained intact. It was smoking, but not as bad as it was initially.
After a short span, Josh plunged into Skurier’s atmosphere. All of his hopes rested on the emergency thruster button, which would fire off from the bottom of the striker for a limited time, granted he could position his ship accordingly. He knew it was a long shot, but since strikers didn’t have eject seats with parachutes, it was his only chance.
Josh waited until the time was right and then tried pulling up from his nosedive. It took a great deal of effort, but eventually the ship began to level out. It’s now or never! he thought, staring out of his cockpit at the chaotic drop. He mashed the emergency button and heard the loud roar of his sub thrusters fighting against the velocity of the fall. Additional alarms rung in his cockpit with lights flashing from the control panel.
It’s not going to be enough, he thought, bracing for impact. His ship rattled wildly—then, clunk clunk clunk, it rustled through the trees and crashed against the ground.
Josh slowly opened his eyes. I’m alive, he thought, looking himself over to make sure he wasn’t injured, which he was not, other than a scratch on his head. The treetops had provided the extra cushion needed to help break the fall, enough that his ship was entirely intact. He scanned his surroundings. Everything around him was either green, muddy, or wet. A swamp. I’ve landed in some sort of swamp.
Josh peered down at the food pouch Hoss had given him earlier and was grateful for that, but knew the first thing he needed to do was find a reliable source of food and water. He reckoned his cockpit would have to do for shelter if nothing else.
After unfastening his seat belt, Josh opened the cockpit and stepped outside. He took a deep breath and exhaled a long breath. Well, let’s see if I can make my way out of this jungle and find some sort of intelligent life forms on this planet. Then maybe I can secure a ride off of this dirt hole. He grabbed a blaster gun from a compartment in his striker, plus a small compass, and then strapped the food pouch across his back. “All right,” he said, taking another deep breath and closing the cockpit. “Time to get moving.”
The thick mud, puddles, and ponds covering the majority of the jungle surface made walking a real slog. Thank God there’s no alligators on this planet… or so I hope, thought Josh. He trudged through swamp until reaching a mound of higher ground, which as far as he could tell had about a thirty-yard perimeter.
Making it to about the center of the dry land, Josh stopped to look around. He had decided to keep straight west in order to make it easier to get back to his ship. To his right and only a few feet away was a tall tree that looked exactly like a palm tree, but had ringed ridges along its trunk, making it easier for a human to climb. Josh peered up it, and then in another direction. What if there’s no way off this rock? What if I’m stuck here forever? Maybe it’d be better if there were alligators; at least that way I’d know I’d have something to eat.
There was a crackle and a snap!
Josh twisted his neck and listened carefully. It took only a moment to hear the faint growls growing louder. Two hyena-looking creatures crept out from dense brush, rearing their fangs. Josh stepped back while drawing his gun. As soon as it was pointed, he heard a swift movement from the side. A third hyena creature lunged into the air and ripped the blaster from his hand.
Thoroughly startled, Josh reached down for a thick stick and swung it at one of the first two creatures that had started forward. The blow cracked against the side of the animal’s head. Josh kicked hard and drove the other away, then turned toward the tree and started climbing up hastily.
The third dog dropped the gun from its jaws and snapped at Josh’s foot. It caught the bottom of his pants and shook feverishly to pull him down from the tree. Josh wrapped his arms around the ribbed trunk and hugged it tight. He tried to inch his way up, before yanking his leg desperately when the second hyena snapped at it, until finally the fabric tore and his foot was free.
Josh panted his way up to the top of the tree, where he was able to sit on its crown. Nightmare, absolute nightmare, he thought. That was close. He peered down to where the hyena creatures were pacing around the base of the trunk. One tried pawing at it, but there was no way they could get up. Guess I’ll have to wait them out, he thought, gazing up to the sky to gauge how much daylight he might have left. It was hard since the light on Skurier was extremely dim compared to that of Creston.
The hyena creatures remained near the bottom of the tree for nearly thirty minutes, even lying on their stomachs for a portion of the time. Josh looked down upon hearing them get up and make whining sounds. The predators stared up the tree, and then started wandering off. One stopped at the blaster gun and sniffed at it. Then, much to Josh’s alarm, it picked up the weapon with its mouth and scampered off. No, no, no! thought Josh, his head shaking. I’m royally screwed now.
Nearly an hour had passed when Josh contemplated cli
mbing down, which he realized would be dangerous in itself. But that plan was nixed when a lone hyena creature walked up to the base of the tree. It sniffed the trunk, then looked up for a moment before jogging away. Josh couldn’t tell if it was one of the original three, but was convinced he needed to wait longer.
He moved the pouch from his back to his chest and pulled out a food bar, plus a drink. Josh only took one bite and one sip, knowing he needed to make the ration last. After putting everything back into the pouch and zipping it up, he closed his eyes and wondered if he’d ever make it out this alive. Soon, his mind drifted into what was more of a rest. Then, he flicked open his eyes and turned his head to attention.
Something was rustling through the brush. Whatever it was clearly wasn’t trying to sneak.
Swish, swish, swish, the branches shook.
Out from a cluster of tall plants walked a green, hairy, human-figured creature that was about six-foot-five inches tall and reminded Josh of a Wookie from a popular space movie. What the hell is that thing? he thought, wide-eyed, then wondering if it possibly spoke English.
The green creature walked onto the mound and searched the ground with its hand. It did so, moving in all directions, until stopping at the base of the tree. The creature peered up slowly, sending a tremor of fear trickling down Josh’s spine.
They stared quietly at each other for a good twenty or so seconds, until Josh had built up the courage to say, “Hello.”
The creature’s eyes grew suddenly wide, its stare ever more intense. “Ruuh-uh! Uuuh!” it cried, balling its large hand into a fist and pounding it against the trunk, then again, and again. “Ruuh-uh!”
The tree shook.
Josh held on tight. “I come in peace. Can you understand me?” he shouted.
“Uuuuuuuh!” The creature started whaling on the tree faster and more frantically than before. Then it stopped and stared up yet again. Its jet-black eyes were enough to give the average man a heart attack. After that it turned and left.
Nearly five silent minutes passed, at which point Josh had started to relax, when, “Ruuuh! Ruuh-uh!” The green creature charged up to the trunk and banged on it wildly.
Jesus! This thing just won’t give up, thought Josh, again holding on for dear life. Where are those damn hyenas when you need them?
The second round of tree thumping lasted almost as long as the first. When that ceased, the creature departed once more.
More than an hour passed before Josh climbed down from the tree. The stretch had given him time to narrow his choices down to two: continue his search for intelligent life and risk being shelter-less when night fell, or head back to his striker and stay the night in the ship, in hopes that the green creature, or anything else, didn’t come smashing their way into the cockpit in the middle of the night. The latter choice, if it went well, would give him a full day to scout the planet, instead of the unknown duration of time he currently had. Nevertheless, he decided to go with the first option.
Josh planted his foot on the mound, then the other, while scanning cautiously. He was happy to be back on solid ground, yet scared at the same time. The area was clear as far as he could see. Okay, keep heading west, he thought, setting off.
“RUUUH!” The green creature burst out from the brush.
Josh turned at alert and caught a sweeping backhand to the chest that knocked him right off his feet. He scrambled to get up, but instead rolled right to escape the monster’s huge foot crashing down. Josh made it to standing, only to have to duck a looping fist, which he felt certain would have taken off his head if it connected. He punched the creature instinctively in the face—but the monster didn’t even flinch. It was like punching the Man of Steel.
At that instant Josh heard, and caught a glimpse of, an aircraft flying low overhead. Then he jerked back with his arms in front of his chest to block an incoming blow, which still sent him soaring rearward to the dirt.
This time Josh spun up from his tumble and took off running. The creature barreled after him.
Thump! Thump! Thump was all Josh could hear in his panic before tripping to the ground and rolling onto his back. Something had caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. He glanced that way and couldn’t believe what he saw. It was his blaster gun, resting about five feet from where he lay.
Josh crawled for the weapon, but had to dive left to avoid an incoming kick. “Ruuh-uh!” The creature charged again. This time Josh feinted right and dove between the monster’s legs, into a somersault, and rolled to his feet. He grabbed the gun and twisted around. Thoot! His first shot struck the creature to the side of its chest. It cried out in pain before, Thoot! The second blast zapped the monster dead-center in its forehead.
The green creature let out a sudden grunt, then collapsed dead to the ground. Josh eyed it for a moment until hearing rustling from the brush to his rear. He twisted around, but before he could raise his blaster, two men appeared from the brambles with their guns aimed at his chest. “Drop it!” said the older man with the beard and glasses.
Josh stared for a second, then did as told.
Chapter 7
“My ship crashed into this jungle from outer space,” said Josh, to the two men with their guns aimed at him.
“We picked you up on radar entering the planet. Where are you from?” snapped the older man.
“I’m a Creston pilot. My ship was shot down by a Mercen shadow fighter.”
The smaller man snickered. “Looks like you need to work on your flying,” he said.
The older man seemed to have gotten a kick out of the remark.
“I would’ve dusted him in open space, but he suckered me into an asteroid field,” said Josh.
“All is fair in combat, son,” said the older man.
“True,” Josh uttered. “It was a high ranking, marked-wing fighter, if that makes any difference to you. Just need to find a way off of this planet and back to the northern Void Zone.”
“Where’d you crash?” asked the older man.
“Little over half a mile east.”
“What type of condition is your ship in?”
“It’s still together, but is significantly damaged.”
The older man lowered his gun. “Let’s go have a look.”
“It appears you were having quite the fun before we got here,” said the shorter man, upon arriving at Josh’s side and glancing over at the green monster. He reached down to pick up Josh’s blaster and shoved it down his waist.
“I’m Pax, and this Skirm,” said the older man.
“Josh,” Josh replied, offering a hand that neither accepted.
Pax extended an arm toward the east. “Lead the way.”
Josh did as instructed. “There’s some hyena-creatures running around in this jungle,” he warned.
“Oh, we don’t worry about those anymore,” said Skirm, pulling out a cylinder whistle and giving it a blow. “Most of the dangerous creatures in this jungle have been trained to fear that sound.”
Now isn’t that something, thought Josh, wishing he had one of those earlier.
A short while later they arrived at the site of Josh’s crash.
“Whoa,” said Skirm. “It looks dead-on the model you have sitting on your desk in your office.”
Pax adjusted his glasses and began inspecting the ship. He mumbled a few words and then said, “Hit you right here,” pointing to the spot. “Your shield must’ve been up or it would’ve been a lot worse. What did your damage reading say when you went down?”
“‘Body, transmitter, tracking, navigation, and shield.’”
“Mind if I sit inside?” asked Pax.
“No, it’s fine,” said Josh, thinking, Not like I’m in any position to stop you.
Pax opened the cockpit and climbed inside. Then he powered it up and began pressing buttons and flipping switches. After about a minute he turned it off and climbed back out. “Well… I should be able to repair it and have you flying within a few days.”
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nbsp; Josh was surprised. “You can really fix it?”
Pax nodded. “Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve worked on a void striker, son.”
Josh felt confused. “If you don’t mind me asking, how were you able to work on a striker in the past?”
“That’s a story for another time. Come, you’ll stay with us at the factory. We’ll have the ship towed there at first light tomorrow morning.”
Josh peered at both men, assessing how much he trusted them. Not sensing any major red flags, and having little other choice, he said, “Thank you. I don’t have any money to pay you for the repairs though.”
Pax moved his jaw around and looked as if he was forming an opinion of Josh. “For a Creston pilot, I guess I’d be willing to write off the cost—if you can promise me you’ll shoot down as many of those Mercen tyrants as you can.”
Josh perked his lips into his ever cocky smirk and nodded.
Skirm smiled, and the three of them set off for Pax’s ship.
Once aboard, and after being in the air for a while, Josh peered out of the shuttle window at the rocky terrain and facility they were approaching. Pax landed the craft in a circular courtyard, which Josh saw was also a garden upon setting foot on the ground. He thought the place looked much nicer than he’d expected.
Instead of going straight to the dormitory, Pax led the way in through the factory. There wasn’t any production going on, but Josh gazed around at the many transport ships and processing lines. The men made their way across the building into a wide corridor that had a couple rooms on each side.
“I need to grab him a key from my office,” said Pax. He strutted to one of the doors on the left and went inside.
Josh peered in from the doorway with Skirm right beside him. He saw the model void striker Skirm had mentioned earlier sitting on a desk.
“I’ll leave your blaster here until it’s time for you to go,” said Pax, placing it into a closet. He pulled out a pair of keys from a drawer and walked back out into the hall. “This way,” he said, continuing on.