by Jessica Cole
They broke the surface, but Jana’s lungs were too full of water. She felt the blast of air against her wet skin. On the shore, they put her down on her knees and held her sitting up while one of them hit her on the back. Jana vomited stomach acid and water, but was finally able to take small, choked breaths of air. Her hands trembled. She clenched her left hand a few times, but the sticky comfort of the sap was long gone.
“What the fuck happened?”
“I don’t know. She swam out, and then went under. I went out there to get her, but she had something wrapped around her ankle. I tried to pull it off, but I didn’t have anything to cut it with.” Lexi said.
Lexi? Lexi was the first one into the water after me?
“It was some sort of plant. I had a knife with me, and when I saw her struggling with it, I grabbed it and cut the weed...or whatever it was.” That was the rich, smooth coffee sound of Aeronth’s voice.
“She’ll be fine, but probably pretty shaken.”
“No kidding, Gordon! She nearly drowned!”
David ignored Lexi. “Poor kid. It’s one bad thing after another with her.”
“Get her a blanket. She’s shivering.” She couldn’t quite put her finger on the emotion present in Aeronth’s voice. Jana still kneeled on the bank, forehead pressed to the sand, letting herself feel every breath, not caring about broken ribs or internal injuries. I’m alive.
“I got it.” Not long after, Jana felt herself covered by a thick, warm blanket. She opened her eyes shortly after, wincing against the bright sunlight.
“She’s back.”
“Yeah, nice to see you too, Lexi,” Jana groaned. Before she knew what was happening, Jana felt Lexi’s arms around her in a warm hug. When the blonde pulled away, Jana was frozen with bewilderment.
“Yeah, yeah.” Lexi helped Jana to stand.
“We have to keep moving,” Jana insisted.
Lexi held up her hands. “Are you kidding me? The doc says you shouldn’t go anywhere.”
Jana wasn’t going to budge. “The faster we get going, the faster we can get gone.”
“Right.” Lexi saluted comically, and Jana actually laughed.
“Round up the troops, will ya soldier?”
“Right-O, marm!” Lexi tromped off to gather the others.
When they departed this time, they were off again. This time, everyone had gone against her and forbid her to carry anything heavier than her utility belt. No matter how much Jana tried to argue with them, they would have none of it. Finally admitting defeat, Jana led them towards their destination.
Aeronth and Lexi went in after me. Before they left the pool, Aeronth went back into the water to check things out. When he returned, he was unusually grim. When Jana asked him about it, he told her to mind her own business.
Though the day got even hotter as they progressed, Jana felt inexplicably cold. She shivered in the heat, even with the wool blanket wrapped around her tiny body. Lexi must have felt bad, because she kept trying to make conversation with Jana. She no longer came off as the brash person she’d made herself out to be—she was more like the reserved girl Jana knocked over in the hallway. That all seems so long ago...
“How can you possibly be wearing that? It’s hot as blazes out,” Lexi commented while fanning herself with a large, flat leaf. Of course, she’d ripped it straight from a nearby tree, because who would Lexi be if she didn’t go against the grain?”
“I’m cold,” said Jana simply. She pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders.
“You feeling okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” Lexi wasn’t easy to convince. Truth be told, she wasn’t feeling well at all.
“Hey, David?!” He turned around, still walking.
“Yeah?”
“Does Jana look alright to you?”
“Does she feel alright?” Jana nodded anxiously. “Well, then I guess she’s alright,” he concluded.
“Yeah, thanks Dave,” Lexi called back dryly. “You should tell the doc.”
She finally snapped. “Lexi, drop it. I’m fine.” Lexi pursed her lips. “I—I’m sorry. I don’t know what got into me.”
“It’s alright,” Lexi shrugged it off, watching Jana scratching at her own arms.
“Bugs.” Jana offered, before Lexi was able to press her on it. To demonstrate, she slapped away an imaginary insect. This seemed to satisfy Lexi; she no longer pried. She did seem to keep a more annoyingly close watch, however.
When they stopped for the night, the sky was not fully darkened. It was doubtful they would find a better spot by the time they could no longer see. Lexi volunteered herself and Gordon to find suitable firewood. Jana sat at the edge of the clearing with her blanket. Sweat dripped from her hair and nose, drenching her clothing, but she was still freezing and feeling worse by the minute. It was humid outside. Instead of the sweat evaporating, it clung to her skin like a wet film.
“Can I talk to you for a sec?”
“Sure, what’s going on, David?”
“I wanted to talk about earlier.”
“I told you, I feel fine!”
“No,” he turned scarlet, “I meant at the lagoon,” he finished quietly.
“What about it?”
“I would have gone in after you, but...“ He paused, suddenly finding the ant climbing on his trousers terribly amusing.
“David?”
“—But I can’t swim.”
“Oh, don’t worry about it! I’m fine now!”
“You almost died.”
“But I didn’t.” Jana replied evenly. “It’s okay, I promise. Go get yourself something to eat.”
“O—okay. You want anything?”
“I’m not hungry.”
“Alright.” As soon as he’d left, Aeronth appeared next to her.
“Well that was charming.”
“What?”
“Could he be any more socially dysfunctional?”
Jana glared at him through the wisps of hair in her face. “Oh, look who’s talking. If that isn’t the pot calling the kettle black...”
“Don’t confuse me with him,” Aeronth pointed to David’s back. Jana reached out and forced his arm just before David turned back around to wave at her. “I choose to be alone.”
“And what a lovely existence you’ve chosen for yourself.”
“Did—did I do that?” he asked about the dark bruise forming on her arm. Jana chose to look away instead of answering him. In his haste to get her out of the water, he’d been a bit rough. “I’m sorry.” He actually sounds it.
“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.” She had another rather nasty coughing fit. Jana wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and then shoved it back under the edge of her blanket like nothing had happened.
“There’s something you’re not telling me.”
“There’s a lot you’re not telling me,” Jana countered waspishly.
“Well you’re a bad liar.”
“And YOU are too good at it for your own good!” Their verbal sparring was commonplace in their conversations, and almost always ended with one of them stalking away angrily.
“I think this place hates me,” she said after a while, breaking the uneasy silence that engulfed them.
“What?”
“Ever since we got here, nothing but bad things have happened. I think I’m cursed.”
“I have a question.” Is this him trying to be sympathetic again?”
“I have an answer. Let’s hope they match.”
“Do you believe in one of the Old Religions?” Jana eyed him carefully. Well that came out of nowhere.
“I believe what I believe.” A few seconds of silence were cut short by another coughing fit, this one worse than the last. When it passed, she removed her hand from her mouth and wiped it on her blanket again.
Aeronth stood. “Well, if I were you, I’d start praying. By the way, you’ve got something right here,” he said, pointing to the corner of his own mouth. As he walked
away, Jana quickly brushed away the spot.
The flame of the campfire illuminated the bright drops of blood on her fingertips.
17. Poison
Across the campfire, Lexi and Gordon were deep in hushed conversation. From the looks of it, things were getting heated. Their stray glances in her direction made it pretty obvious they were talking about her. Gordon ambled casually over to Jana. Hurriedly, she wrapped the blanket more tightly around herself.
“Hey cutie, how’s it going?” Gordon hunched down in front of her.
“I’m fine,” Jana groaned, “Why does everyone keep asking me?”
“We’re not so convinced you’re fine. I’m going to ask you again—are you feeling okay?”
“Yes.”
“Damnit, you had better be telling me the truth.”
“She’s not.” Lexi appeared behind Gordon. “Show him your arms, Jana.”
“There’s noth—“
“SHOW him, or I will,” Lexi demanded.
Angrily, Jana shrugged the blanket off and held her arms out in front, looking away with a pout. Gordon took out a flashlight. It clicked on, and he began inspecting her arms.
“My god...Jana, how long have you had this?” She looked at the maroon rash that swirled up her forearms. She withdrew her arms and scratched at them distractedly.
“A few hours.”
“Was that blood on your hand?” As if on cue, another coughing fit began. Unable to cover her mouth in time, blood spattered all over her uniform and his. Jana began to shake. What is happening to me? Her eyes welled up while Gordon put a hand to her forehead. Truthfully, she hadn’t wanted to tell anyone because they would want to stop, or slow down. She’d been hoping it was just a reaction to some of the pollutants and would go away on its own.
“Goddamn it, she’s ice cold. We need to get her warmed up. Get those blankets. Anything you can find. We gotta move her next to the fire. Where the HELL are the others?” David and Aeronth had vanished. Gordon and Lexi wrapped her in anything they could find. Gordon took her temperature. “If she gets any colder, she could die.”
Jana tried to take the blankets off like a three year old throwing a tantrum. “Get it off! Let me out of here! It’s burning me!” she screamed, her words slurred.
Lexi looked bewildered. “What the hell? If her temp is so low...”
“Everything around her feels that much hotter. Like when you get a fever and you feel cold, it’s the same principle. Keep her wrapped up. I don’t care how. Gordon was digging through his medical bag. Lexi sat behind Jana, one leg on either side of her, and wrapped her in a bear hug around the pile of blankets. She locked her wrists together so when Jana tried to struggle in her weakened condition, it was completely useless.
“Do something for her!”
“I can’t!”
“Gordon...what are you talking about?”
“I don’t know what made her sick. All we can do right now is try to raise her core temperature back up. It could have been any number of things.”
“So she’s just going to die?!” Lexi shrieked at him. Gordon didn’t reply; he was pacing back and forth nervously.
“It can’t be airborne,” he said aloud to himself, “or we’d all be sick.” He smacked himself on the forehead. “But her immune system was already weakened from fighting off infection from the crash wounds.” He turned back to Lexi. “I don’t know what to do.”
“Think of something!”
“Let. Me. Out. Of. Here!” Jana growled, trying to bite Lexi. So warm. They’re trying to kill me.
“What the hell? She’s crazy!”
“I c-can’t feel—“ Coughing spasms cut the sentence short.
“Did you hear that?” Gordon ran over to Jana, kneeling in front of her. She felt his hands on her face as though he’d touched her with molten lava. He ignored the blood. “Jana, honey...what did you say?”
“I don’t remember...” Things were going fuzzy, and she couldn’t focus on his face. “You look like a catfish.” She smiled, delirious. “I can’t feel myself,” Jana mumbled. I like fishes.
“What the hell does that mean?”
“Lexi, keep her conscious. Don’t let her pass out, or we may never wake her up.” Lexi started tapping her fingers against Jana’s cheek.
“Come on, baby. You know how this is going to look on my record if you die?” Lexi attempted to joke, but her voice quivered.
“Uncover her.”
“What?! But you said she’d—“
“I know what I said. Just do it.” Jana opened her eyes and saw the needle Gordon was holding.
“NO, NO NEEDLES! NO!” she screamed, head swimming. Then, she went limp.
“She’s acting like a toddler!”
“It’s her brain. Whatever’s going on is screwing with her brain.” He jabbed her in the leg with the needle, but she didn’t move. He tried to other one. To his relief, she groaned and flinched away.
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know.”
“What do we do?”
“I don’t know!”
“We have to do something! She’s dying. Stop scratching, Jana,” she snapped, swatting Jana’s hand away from her rash-covered arms.
Faintly, Jana heard branches snapping and leaves rustling. Monkeys! With a crash, Aeronth and David appeared through the treeline, breathless. Aeronth was holding a small package in his hand, and he was soaking wet.
“The plant.”
“What? Listen, Jana’s really sick.”
“We know...the plant...from the lagoon,” David panted.
“What are you talking about?”
Aeronth spoke up, recovering much faster than David. “Check her ankle.” Without further argument, Gordon yanked off Jana’s boots and rolled up the leg of her tactical suit. Sure enough, an angry looking green welt ringed around her leg, just above the ankle.
“Poison,” Gordon groaned. “I can’t do anything unless I have a sample of the plant.” Aeronth handed him the wet piece of cloth. Gordon unfolded it and nearly cried out with joy. “David, get my bag.”
Gordon rummaged through it and finally pulled free a small black box with a display screen on it. Lifting a small flap, he cut off a piece of the slimy plant and put it in the machine, careful not to touch it. He took out a needle and drew blood from Jana’s arm. “If her blood has the same toxin readings as the plant sample, I might be able to treat her,” he explained hurriedly. He opened a second compartment and inserted a few drops of her blood. The screen flashed green. Match.
“It’s a weird toxin combination. I’ve never seen anything like it. I can give her an antihistamine for the rash, and...” he found two tiny vials; one empty, and one with a clear liquid. He threaded them into the little machine and waited. The translucent liquid drained down into the machine, and after a minute, the empty vial began filling up with some opaque purple stuff that looked like syrup. “I really hope this works.” He injected her with the serum.
“You’re not sure it’ll work?!”
“It’ll work. It’ll work. How’s her temp?”
“Still cold.”
The four of them waited, checked every two or three minutes for any sign of improvement. Two hours later, the rash had gone and Jana’s temperature had risen slightly. “I don’t know how long she’ll remain stable. We need to get her out of here and to a real medical bay.”
“We can’t leave without the objective,” Jana said weakly.
“We can’t let you die, either.”
“You guys go get it. It’s not far. You can make it back by nightfall.”
“Someone needs to stay here with you.”
“I’ll do it,” Aeronth volunteered.
“Are you sure? What if something happens to her?”
“Stop talking about me like I’m not here. I’ll be fine. Just go. The faster you go, the faster we can get out of here.” With grumbling and way too much mothering, the three of them packed up and left, promisin
g to return as soon as they could. It was still hard to move much, but Jana was able to sit up with Aeronth’s help.
“Do you want something to eat?”
“No.”
“Too bad. You need to eat something,” Aeronth replied. He pulled some sort of small beast from his bag. It was obviously dead, and had been skinned.
“You—don’t you know how to listen?!” She hissed at him.
“Not well.” He said over his shoulder. His body blocked her view of the campfire. It was dark as pitch out. No moon tonight; it was hiding behind the cloudy sky. No stars, either. Just murky blackness above them. It took a few minutes for him to finish what he was doing, but when he pulled away Jana saw the makeshift spit he’d constructed.
She looked down her nose at it, doubtful. “This obviously isn’t your first time doing this. You’ve been on-planet before?”
“I’ve been a lot of places that might surprise you.” He noted her look of disbelief.
“Okay. Well of course you know that before the Fall, space programs launched Terraforming modules to any planet they could reach that might be able to sustain human life. Some of them were destroyed by space debris, some didn’t work properly once they got there. But some actually made it. Sometimes they send us out on scouting missions to check them out. Sort of keeping a checklist of all the possibilities.”
Jana thought on this a moment and reached into the knapsack next to her. She grabbed a food bar and nibbled a bit off the end. “Mm garlic. Who tells these people that garlic and pasta flavored food bars are good?”
Aeronth actually laughed.
“I’m actually feeling a little better. Maybe I’m not cursed.” The blankets still felt too warm, but she was no longer delirious, and for the most part, things were in focus.
“Ehh...I don’t know. Right about now, I’d say you were pretty lucky.”
“Lucky you’re here.”
He shook his head. “David thought of it. He dragged me out there since he can’t swim. All I did was go out and grab it.”
“I have a question.”
“I have an answer. Let’s hope they match.”