The ship started to lurch and leaned to the left and then to the right. We had begun the crash, I say begun because it took so long for it to finish. There was no way this ship was going to survive intact after this crash. We bumped up and then down and we even spun a bit. My stomach was not happy. It was a gurgling mess and I had never been so happy to have a mostly empty stomach before. It had to have been at least four or five hours since I ate breakfast, so not much in my stomach to worry about.
The noise was so loud and harsh that my ears started to ring. It sounded like the ship might be breaking apart. We were being jerked so harshly that I wouldn’t be surprised if it broke up in a couple of pieces. Just then the ship jumped up, the reason I knew we jumped up was because my stomach was all over the place, like in a roller coaster ride where when you get to the top of the highest point in the track and then go over the cliff and start to go down, you lose your stomach. Well, that was what it was like. We bounced up high, and then all of a sudden we dropped like a roller coaster ride.
When we hit the ground my whole body jarred and my teeth clicked together so harshly, I knew I had cracked a tooth this time. Thankfully I kept my tongue glued to the roof of my mouth so I didn’t bite it again.
My head was throbbing, not just an ache, but an actual throb. I could feel my pulse through my head and it was going a mile a minute. I couldn’t feel my body at first, and I didn’t know exactly what happened, like in a car accident, it all happens so fast. My eyes seemed to be covered with something black, but as I opened and closed them my vision started to return. However, my seat had come loose from the wall and I was on top of the bed in a very uncomfortable position with the seat on my back. I tried to roll to my side but it took me a couple of tries.
Once I was on my side I looked around the room. Even though most of the furniture was locked down, it looked like a tornado ripped through here. The dresser had come undone and was right next to the bed I was on. Anything that had been loose was spread all over the room. From my angle I couldn’t see Lisa, and I didn’t hear her either.
My hands hurt so badly from holding on so tightly to the straps that it was an effort to get my hands to open. I had to stretch them out a bit before I tried to undo the straps. Once they were undone, I fell to my stomach on the edge of the bed.
“Lisa? Lisa you ok?” I called out in a raspy voice, but got no response.
I hoped she was alright. The first thing I needed to do was get up and stretch my tightly constricted muscles. They had tightened up and some locked in place while I was being thrown about like a rag doll during the crash. I wanted nothing more than to have Venay come and get me and hold me. But that couldn’t happen anytime soon. He had the entire ship to think about. And besides, chances were pretty good that our ship had broken apart. I had no idea how long it would take him to get here, or even if he could.
After about a minute or two of stretching on the bed, everything seemed to work fine, no broken bones at least. So I stood up and I looked over towards the wall were my seat had been and Lisa’s seat was barely hanging on. She appeared to be passed out, at least that was what I was going with. Her eyes were closed, not open with a vacant stare, so I assumed she was still alive. Living on the streets you come across quite a few dead bodies. The one thing they all had in common, was the vacant stare in their eyes. Sure a few died in their sleep and their eyes were closed, but most didn’t. That stare is what you remember for the rest of your life. Not how nice or how mean that person was, just how they looked when you found them dead.
“Lisa, answer me if you can.” I climbed over a few things to make my way to her.
I felt her neck for a pulse. It was weak, but there. Then I started to feel her body for broken bones. Her arms and legs seemed alright. But there was a place on her stomach that worried me. It was where the seatbelt was digging in and I lifted her shirt to see a huge bruise already forming. I didn’t know what that meant, but pretty sure she had some internal damage.
I looked around for something soft to put below her. She was going to fall off that seat once I unlocked her restraints. I didn’t want her falling on the ground.
There really wasn’t anything to help cushion her fall, so I grabbed the bedding and pulled hard. The seat I was in was pretty heavy and still atop the bed so I had to work hard to get the sheets and blankets off. Then I found the pillows on the other side of the room and put them all below her. I slowly undid her buckles. My hands were still quite sore from holding onto my belts.
Before I undid the last buckle, I reached around her chest to try to hold her a bit before she fell like a lump to the ground. I wasn’t very strong so once I got that last belt, we both fell, but I cushioned her fall a with my own body. “Lisa, are you awake?” I asked as I move the hair from her face.
I whispered in her ear, “Lisa, Rotna is alive and he needs you. Please wake up, I can’t carry you.”
I dragged her closer to the dresser so that I could hold her head in my lap while I leaned back against it.
She wasn’t awake, but at least she was alive. I sat there thinking about what I should do when I heard a beep in my ear. It was an incoming communication! “Venay, is that you? Are you ok?”
“Yes sweetheart, I am fine. How are you? Are you hurt?” I could hear the relief in his voice as it went lower and softer.
“Oh thank the stars! I am ok, a bit sore and a few scrapes but I am fine. Lisa is another story. She is alive, but passed out and injured. I don’t know what to do for her.”
“There should be a med-kit somewhere in her quarters, most warriors keep them in their bathrooms. Check there or the kitchen, but please be careful. We have stopped but I don’t know if the ship will stay steady or not. She broke up as we crashed.”
“I figured as much, how long before you can get to me?”
“I honestly don’t know. I can’t leave the bridge yet. We are getting reports of multiple injuries as well as a few deaths. And honey, the ship broke up close to the holding cells. I don’t know how the humans are doing. We are trying to get some warriors over there, but it is slow going.”
I could hear the sadness in his voice and felt his pain. This was not going to be good. No matter who they were, it was going to be hard on the entire crew if we lost those people.
“Ok, once I get Lisa stable I will go and check on them. I am not too far away, that could be why our room is so torn up. My safety seat actually came off the wall, but I landed on the bed. Lisa’s was barely hanging on. I think she might have internal damage from the seat belt. She is badly bruised on her stomach. Do you think the medical crew could send someone here to look at her?”
“Call the Doctor and ask him to add her to the list to triage, but you might be waiting a while. Most of the ship is out of power, so the doors will have to be manually opened as you move about the ship. But don’t go too far if you can’t easily get around something, ok? I don’t want you to get stuck somewhere.”
“Ok, how do I call the doctor? Or you for that matter? I only know how to answer a call.”
“Push the spot under your ear where they put your translator and say ‘Paris to the doctor’ and if he doesn’t answer then try the comm unit on the wall to call the med-bay. If that doesn’t work call me back and I will see if I can reach any of the nurses.”
“Alright, I can do that… Venay?”
“Yes Sweetheart?”
“I… I want to see you. I know I need to be strong but at the moment I am afraid. How long before I can see you?” I took a couple of deep swallows followed by some deep breaths, and tried to not cry, but my eyes were tearing up. Not from the pain, but from the fear.
“You are strong Paris, you can do this. If you don’t want to check on the humans, then make your way to the bridge if you can. You might not make it this far. I think the ship is broken up somewhere between the bridge and the living quarters. The holding cells would be in the middle of the ship. So call me back after you check on your humans and then we w
ill see if there is a route you can take to get to me.”
“Ok, and thank you. I will be strong. I can do this.” I started to repeat in my head over and over my new mantra for the day, ‘I can do this, I am strong and independent, I don’t need Venay to rescue me.’
After he said goodbye I went looking for the emergency medical kit and kept saying my mantra over and over. I found it in the kitchen and made my way back to the bedroom. The entire place was an absolute mess. I had to crawl over a few pieces of furniture that came loose in the crash but it wasn’t too difficult.
I did make a call to the doctor and he said he would send someone soon. There were a lot of injured on this ship. So for the moment, all Lisa had was me.
Chapter 14
When I made it back to her, she was no different. I opened up the med-kit and had no clue how to use the items inside. One thing looked like it might be some sort of scanning device, based on watching sci-fi movies. So I took that out and pushed buttons. It turned on and in a language I couldn’t read, gave instructions. Great! I kept pushing buttons just in case it had audio too. It did! My universal translator told me to put the device over the injured area and then push the yellow button and hold.
Turns out I was right, she had liver damage. But the device told me what to do next. There was another gadget in the med-kit that looked like it was a tablet. I put the electronic device over her stomach and it emitted a low level blue glow around the edges. I heard a whirring sound and hoped that meant it was working.
While that was doing its thing, I cleaned my wounds with the antiseptic spray I found in the kit and some cotton balls.
What was I going to do with Lisa? I needed to check the holding cells, but there was no way Lisa was going to be able to go with me. As I sat there contemplating my next move, Lisa stirred.
“Lisa! You’re awake. How do you feel?”
She started to move and noticed the tablet on her stomach and tried to move it.
I reached out to her to stop her, “Don’t touch that, it is a medical device that his healing your injuries. Leave it there and don’t move. You are going to be fine.”
She looked up at me with a much clearer expression than the last time she was awake. “What happened? Where is Rotna?”
“We crashed on the planet and the ship is really beat up. In fact, it has split up in at least two pieces. I am not sure how bad it is yet. Last I heard Rotna was injured but fine.” I smiled at her and patted her hand. I didn’t know what to say or how to comfort her. I wanted to hug her, but she was not in any position to accept a hug yet.
“Is someone on their way to get us?”
“No, at least not yet. Since we are ok, we have been put at the bottom of the list. I need to let the doctor know you are awake and see what he wants me to do next. I also need to go and check on the holding cells, Venay thinks the ship broke up around them.” I winced as I thought about them and I truly hoped they all survived this. There would be nothing worse than being abducted by aliens and then killed in a crash just a week later.
“What? Why? You are the Commander’s mate! You should be a priority. Why isn’t he doing whatever he can to get you safely to him?” She wrinkled her forehead and pursed her lips.
“Lisa, he has everyone on board to think about. Plus, those aliens crashed too. I don’t know how far away they are, but I am sure he is working very hard on getting all of the healthy warriors together and see what they have in the way of defensive weapons that still work. He has called me a couple of times. I am healthy and strong. I can pull my own weight. And what I need to do is make sure you are ok before I go check on the rest of our people. Are you ok with that?” I looked her in the eyes and put on my best strong face. She needed to know she was in the company of someone who could take good care of her while she was healing.
“Of course, you are right. I am sorry. My life before this week was pretty ordinary. I never had to deal with anything more than a sprained ankle. My parents are upper-middle class and I grew up in a nice neighborhood, went to a good school, was a cheerleader,” She tried to make a hand gesture as she said cheerleader, but it didn’t come off too well. She must be very stiff and sore all over. Her face contorted a bit before she continued, “You know, the normal life of a happy kid. I never had to take care of myself. In fact, my parents were paying for my condo. They thought I should experience living on my own for a while before settling down and marrying. I had only graduated college a couple years ago. I could afford a cheap apartment in a not so nice area, but my dad didn’t want me anywhere near that neighborhood so they bought me a condo.” Her attempt at a smile turned into a grimace.
“Hey now, why don’t you just lay there and rest for a bit, I need to call the doctor and see what he wants next.” I got up and walked away to call the doc.
“Paris to Doctor.”
“Yes, Paris, how can I help you?”
“I found the med-kit and it’s working on Lisa, thankfully! But she is in a lot of pain. She’s awake now, which is good, but I don’t think I should move her. Can she stay here by herself for a while? Or do I need to keep an eye on her?”
“If you give her a pain injector she will sleep and you can go do what you need to. But don’t leave her alone for very long. You were right not to move her. I need you to read me the stats from the healing device on her abdomen.”
I read what I could, but some of it didn’t make any sense to me.
“Good, good. Do you see the long injector in the kit? It might look like a fat pen to you?”
“Yes, I have it.”
“Right, on the side you will see a small dial, I need you to turn it so that is reads ‘glozxhen’.”
“Is that the pain medicine?”
“Yes, do you have it?”
“Yes.”
“Ok you only need to inject it into her arm. Just one push on the button at the top once you have it level with her skin.”
“Ok, that was easy. How long before she starts…” I looked down at Lisa’s face and it was slowly calming and relaxing. The tension had melted away very quickly and she was having trouble keeping her eyes open.
“Oh, it is taking effect quickly. I think she might already be asleep.”
“Good, but don’t be gone longer than an hour. I need you to check her vitals every hour. If the display shows a beeping yellow number, then call me right away.”
“Ok, will do.”
“Paris, are you going to check on the slaves?” I cringed when he used that word.
“Yes, I know the bridge is most likely cut off from them and I am not too far away.”
“Good, you will want to stop in empty rooms along the way and pick up a few med-kits to take with you. And maybe a few sheets too. I expect you will find some dead but a lot of injured. Call me back when you get there and let me know how you find them.”
“You haven’t been able to get anyone there yet?”
“No, we are close to the bridge and cut off from the back of the ship. If there is an emergency, I will find a way to get there. But for now, you will have to be my medical assistant.”
I took a deep breath, “Alright, anything else I need to know?”
“Do your best to turn off your emotions. If you need to stop and take a moment to yourself, do so. But don’t take too long.”
“Got it, alright I am heading out now. Chat soon.”
To bolster my nerves a bit I repeated my mantra, ‘I can do this, I am strong and independent, I don’t need Venay to rescue me.’
The hallway wasn’t too bad. Some of the doors were open and items from inside the living quarters were sprawled all over the hall, but it wasn’t bad. I decided to check the open doors first for med-kits and sheets.
At first my arms were full and starting to hurt from carrying so many kits and sheets, then I got the smart idea to use the sheets as a sort of backpack, or carrying bag. I took the eight med-kits I found and wrapped them along with the extra sheets into one sheet to make a big b
ag and slung it over my shoulder. It was heavy and my shoulder hurt, but it was much better than before. I could also get over the debris easier. When I came upon some spots where I needed to climb, I took my pack and tossed it over what I needed to climb on and then had use of both hands.
The sheets acted as pretty good padding for the kits.
I made it to where the holding cells should have been, but all I found was the end of the ship. It had broken apart right outside the holding cells. That meant that either everyone was on the other side or were just gone.
There was a large gap between my side of the ship and the other side. I saw a lot of debris and what looked to be some bodies, most likely humans since they were wearing Earth clothes.
I called out, “Hello, anyone there?”
I heard a response, “Yes, there are a bunch of us still trapped in the cells!”
“Oh thank the heavens you are alive! Some got out? How? I don’t see a way to get to you.” I yelled out
“I don’t know. Some of the cell doors opened on their own and all of the people who could get out did. They left the rest of us here in the locked cells!” It was a woman’s voice I didn’t recognize.
“Did the men get out?”
“Some, but they didn’t help, they just ran.”
Another voice spoke up, “That’s not true, they went around to all of the cells and pulled on the doors, they ran after checking that they couldn’t get us out.”
“Ok, I am across the way, but I don’t see how to get to you. I am going to climb down from my side and see if I can find a way to you. Hold on.”
As I tried to find a way down, I called Venay, “Venay, I am over at the holding cells. The ship broke up on my side. But I am climbing down to see if I can find a walkway to them. There are a lot of people still locked in. Some cells unlocked, but not all of them.”
Worlds Away: Sci-fi Alien Romance (Alpha Alien Abduction Tale Book 1) Page 11