by E. M. Peters
“No, Patrick…”
“I bet it was him,” the co-pilot raised a dirt-encrusted finger towards Marcus. The man was unchanged. The sight of the unfeeling bastard made Patrick rage inside – rage at everything had been through, at being deceived, at being abandoned, at being alone and isolated, at the loss of his one friend and colleague. His hand was closed around the handle of the flair gun before he knew what he was doing and the muzzle was leveled at Marcus in an instant.
He heard the noises of the crowd – their surprise – but Alexa’s voice was loud and distinct as she screamed “No!”
He felt her grip on his wrist. He wasn’t expecting it. Before he could resist, his finger was already squeezed around the trigger, and his aim was skyward as Alexa wrenched his arm up with both her hands. The flair sailed skyward and exploded in a red burst.
It took a fraction of a second to hear the hum of engines rocketing towards them, a sound that caused an instant animalistic panic among the Colony One passengers. They knew the sound. It meant death.
“Patrick, what have you done?” Alexa hissed in the man’s ear as the crowd began to scatter collectively.
“They sent us here to die!” Patrick shouted. Those who heard him hesitated in their retreat. “We were never meant to survive this! They are among us, they’ll see us all underground,” he spouted with wide eyes and rabid belief in his tone.
“Patrick, stop it!” Alexa chided. “Skylar stopped the ship from leaving. We’re all in this together.”
Her name made something in him snap to the surface. He jerked his attention back to Alexa, “It was her who shut down the automated sequence?”
Alexa’s eyes narrowed in confusion – how could he know about that? The sound of the Runners was instantly in the forefront of her mind. There were others, others like them. “Listen to me,” she gripped his arms tightly. “We cannot weather another attack.”
“Another?” Patrick asked, his eyes darting around the chaos.
“Yes, we were attacked after you and your team left. Many died. Do you know who they are? Can you help us talk to them?” She asked the questions in rapid fire succession.
“They lied to me,” Patrick said in a far-away voice. The woman watched him retreat into himself at a time she couldn’t let that happen. The Runners were close. She didn’t take her eyes off Patrick but she knew they were within view. Passengers who stayed to hear the exchange between Patrick and Alexa were breaking in their resolve and ran back to the ship. Distantly, Alexa heard the hydraulics of the ramp engage. Marcus was shouting orders, but it was all secondary to her attempt to break through to Patrick.
She shook him, hard. “Focus!” She insisted. “Can you talk to them?” She asked again, this time more forcefully.
His eyes cleared somewhat and he nodded at her words.
“Good,” she said and whipped around to face the Runners that were landing and raised her hands high above her head in an ‘I’m not armed’ gesture. All of her training had prepared her for high-anxiety situations, and she had even been in many in the past, but her hands still shook slightly at the uncharted territory before her. She didn’t know the motivations of the outsiders, or the full context of the conflict. What she did know was that they could not afford to lose one more person. She had a brief moment of wondering what she was doing – why her? Did she even know what she was doing?
Patrick followed suit but his hands were held slightly in front of him in a stop or wait gesture. People poured from the Runners, but instead of charging like before, they evaluated the situation warily from the safety of their vehicles. Something about their behavior told Alexa they were not expecting what they’d arrived to find.
Alexa leaned closer to Patrick, “Who are these people?”
“It’s a long story,” he answered. “They’re like us. Another Colony mission gone wrong.”
The woman’s head snapped to look at him in a moment of shock, but she forced her attention back to the threat at hand. She had so many questions she wanted to ask, but it was neither the place nor the time.
“Hold this line!” Marcus shouted from behind Patrick and Alexa. His voice made the woman cringe. She glanced back to see that he had a handful of people with pipes and sharpened poles in front of the loading ramp, which was partially raised to make entry difficult. It looked like everyone else was able to successfully make it onboard before the Runners settled. “What are you doing?” he barked at the duo. “We will not surrender to the savages!”
“Shut up, Marcus.” Alexa shouted back. “They are not our enemies.”
The man marched forward and joined the two. “You’ve already risked this ship’s safety enough.” He reached up and tried to pull one of Alexa’s arms down. She yanked it away from him.
“Marcus, look at them,” She lifted her chin in their direction. For the first time, she could see them for what they were – something she’d seen far too often in her life. They were hungry, desperate and hurt people. “There’s already been too much bloodshed,” she asserted and walked forward before he could protest. “We’re peaceful!” She called out.
The clutch of outsiders cast glances at one another.
“Government lies!” Someone finally exclaimed.
Patrick recognized the voice as his original tormenter in the Colony Three camp.
“We’re civilians,” Alexa countered as she continued her carefully measured steps towards the outsiders. “Who is your leader?”
“Fuck off, government scum!” The same voice answered venomously.
“Don’t you think if we were government we’d have better weapons than repurposed plumbing?” Alexa reasoned. Some within their group actually laughed.
“We know you have guns.” The man answered.
“John,” Patrick finally spoke. He stepped forward to join Alexa. “John, we need to talk.”
“You disappoint me,” John stepped through a line of outsiders, his left leg dragging as it always did.
“You lied to me,” Patrick said instantly upon seeing him. His hands dropped slightly.
“I omitted,” John corrected. “It changes nothing. Many were dead before we even arrived last time.”
“Casualties of the automated launch sequence,” Alexa put in and finally lowered her arms. “Our captain was able to stop it, destroying the cockpit controls in the process.”
John tilted his head as he took in the new information.
Behind her, Marcus bristled with anger – it was the first time he was hearing any of this.
“They’ll kill us the first chance they get,” the dissenter in the Colony Three group spoke up.
“Enough, Rafiq!” John said and suddenly looked weary. He lifted his eyes to the pair and after a sigh and an extra beat of silence he asked, “Do you have food?”
“We have the capacity to grow it,” Alexa answered.
“What does that mean?”
Alexa contemplated how much she should share. After a beat, she settled on the truth, “We need water.”
John’s expression shifted and a slight smirk tugged at his lips. Patrick understood why – the man had leverage now. “Are you the leader?” He wanted to know.
She shook her head, “No. If you agree to stand down, I can get him.” She watched his expression – it was hesitant but she could tell he was too weak to hold his aggressive resolve. She didn’t know how long he and the others had been struggling on this planet – only that she could relate to the feeling of constant hunger and dark rings around his eyes.
“Go get fetch your leader.” He offered. “We may be able to come to an arrangement.”
It didn’t take long to summon Ndale, who had been at the edge of the ramp, watching to see what would happen. He was not surprised that Alexa had completely ignored Marcus, but was glad she had. Alexa’s intervention had allowed him to size up the leader of the outsiders. The man walked with a limp and looked every bit as tired and hungry as he was. And yet, he stood straight with shoulders back
in a kind of quiet defiance.
As the ramp was being lowered to allow Ndale to exit the ship, he ordered Demetri to retrieve two crates and accompany him. Marcus and his people made a gap for them as they crossed over to the middle distance between Colony One and the bank of Runners. Demetri placed a crate next to John, and another next to Ndale.
John watched the elected leader of Colony One with an evaluative look and glanced down at the crate when it was put beside him.
After an introduction, Ndale offered; “Please, have a seat. It’s hot. Demetri, get us some water.” He instructed and took a seat himself.
John watched as the very obvious bodyguard left Ndale’s side. It was a clear gesture of peace, so after a beat of contemplation, John lowered himself slowly to sit on the edge of the crate, one hand propped up on his knee while the other rest on his injured leg. “That really isn’t necessary. If there is anything we have the most of, it’s water.”
Ndale’s eyebrow rose at his words. He glanced up at Alexa and Patrick. Patrick nodded to confirm. “Most interesting. That implies you have very little of anything else.”
John’s jaw clenched, “What is your mission?”
“Same as yours as far as I can tell.” Ndale answered. The two maintained eye contact, neither wanting to give away more than strictly necessary. “A patriotic mission to save humanity. Only we missed the memo where that meant we needed to die.”
“Indeed,” John grumbled and finally broke eye contact as Demetri returned with water. He took the container but did not bring it to his lips. His eyes moved over the quiet masses of Colony One, evaluating their skinny frames and dirty complexions. “It is clearer to me now that we may not be so dissimilar.”
“It would seem to make the most sense to combine resources,” Ndale cut right to it. “And to share information.”
Footsteps sounded behind Ndale. It was Marcus, and he bent at the waist to whisper harshly into Ndale’s ear, “These are the people who attacked us. Who killed our own. How can you think of trusting them?”
Ndale smiled awkwardly at John and turned his head slightly to address Marcus, “Not now.”
“I will not let our security be threatened by these savages!” Marcus said louder.
His words made the outsiders stir angrily. John held up a hand to calm them, “If you do not want our cooperation, we’ll be happy to take our Runners,” he paused and leveled his gaze on Ndale, “All of the Runners on this wretched planet, and go.”
“We outnumber them,” Marcus spoke to Ndale. “Give me the word and we can overrun them and take back what they stole.”
“Marcus,” Ndale finally snapped. “Hold your tongue or I’ll have Demetri hold it for you.”
Demetri smiled tightly at the military commander. For a moment, Marcus sized him up – Demetri was a full six inches taller than him with a longer reach. After a tense beat, Marcus folded his arms over his chest, clenched his jaw shut and fixed his stare on John, who finally raised the container of water to his lips and took a sip with the faintest of smiles decorating his face.
“If we’re going to cooperate, I am going to need to know you can keep your men under control.” John commented.
“Let me worry about that.” Ndale leaned forward and spoke plainly, “Let’s cut the shit, John. We both have something the other needs. None of us are in fighting shape. If you agree to take some of my people to verify your claims regarding access to water, I can promise a share of the food, and the shelter and protection of the ship for as long as we can all get along.”
John’s eyebrows rose at the frankness. Then, he delivered his terms; “We want to maintain full autonomy.”
“No can do,” Ndale shook his head and leaned back. “You report to me, they report to you. That’s the only way this is going to work, and you know it.”
The man’s jaw clenched – he knew Ndale was right. Having two leaders was a recipe for civil war among the two groups. Though they had the Runners and water, they were at a disadvantage in almost every other aspect. After a long moment of contemplation, John stood and straightened his tattered clothes, “We’ll have a Runner return in two hours. Have your people ready.”
“Deal,” Ndale said as he stood. John nodded once, and with that turned to melt back into the clutch of outsiders. They were in their Runners and speeding into the distance in remarkable time.
Alexa let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. Beside her, Patrick’s shoulders slumped and she realized the man had been using all the energy he had left to maintain his appearance of strength. “Come on,” she told him. “You need water, food and a bunk – stat.” She pulled his arm over her shoulder without protest and helped him walk up the ramp and into the safety of Colony One. Alexa straightened defiantly as they walked passed a bitter looking Marcus.
She reflected on the near-disaster they had just narrowly avoided and with increasing incredulity, she realized that she was steadily becoming one of Ndale’s biggest fans.
24
Day 17 on Colony Alpha, Water Expedition
“What is it about ‘no’ that you don’t understand?” Ndale asked after rubbing his face. He held his hands out in way of a pleading gesture.
“What is it about ‘major scientific discovery’ don’t you understand?” Jia asked with crossed arms. She was standing in the threshold of the Captain’s quarters and was resolved not to move until she had her way. News of the mission to verify Colony Three’s water source had made its way through the ship, and eventually to her. She went to Ndale immediately to demand that she be assigned to the mission. Learning about life beyond Earth was something she dedicated a large part of her life to. Even given the circumstances of their placement on Colony Alpha, the opportunity to explore the conditions of the planet woke something up inside of her that she thought she had lost forever.
Ndale crossed the gap between them and cupped her arms with his hands, “Jia, we cannot possibly risk losing you if something went wrong – or their intentions turn out to be false. You’re the only one who has any hope of restoring power to this ship.”
Jia met his gaze with a kind of fire in her eyes the man had never before witnessed, “I have been through my fair share of hardship in my life. I can handle a day trip to an underground spring.”
Ndale sighed and threw his hands in the air before turning to pace away from her. He was not used to having to negotiate, or listen to people in general. It was exhausting. “Fine!” he finally exclaimed. He turned and pointed at her, “But I’m sending Demetri with you and you better not even think of leaving his side.”
A large smile overtook Jia’s face – in a way she hadn’t experience in a long time. She uncrossed her arms and embraced Ndale in a tight hug. “I’ll pack some things!” She said in a hurry and nearly skipped out of the compartment.
Ndale watched her go in stunned silence. He was sure the Jia he had just seen was not the same he had traveled with for nine months.
Alexa and Demetri sat with Jia at the base of the ramp, waiting for their pickup. There was a rosy color to Jia’s cheeks and a constant half-smile tugging at her lips. Alexa and Demetri shared looks when they noticed and could do nothing but shrug. They both knew water was a big deal – but no one was more excited than the former scientist. As they waited, Alexa checked her bag and the medical supplies in it again. Ndale had asked her to join the others for two reasons; one – she had already achieved some level of peace between they and the Colony Three survivors, and two – because she could offer her medical services as an added incentive to cooperate. She wasn’t thrilled about being outnumbered in a former enemy’s camp, but she was hoping Ndale’s message about neither side being in fighting shape hit home with the others.
The distinct sound of Bob’s sandals flopping on the decking of the ramp sounded behind the trio and they all turned to look up at the Monk. He smiled at them in a comforting way and waved two plastic containers at them, “Greetings.”
“What’s up
, Bob?” Demetri asked.
“I was hoping you’d be so kind as to bring back some samples – if they’ll allow it, of course.”
“Way ahead of you, Bob,” Jia grinned and pulled back the flap on her messenger bag. It was lined with similar plastic containers.
“She’s prepared,” Alexa commented. Bob circled to stand on the rocky ground, his back to the sun. She squinted up at him and asked, “Any luck recruiting plumbers?”
Bob nodded, “Some. One of Marcus’ son’s is a hobbyist that likes to put things together. He’s also been able to get into small places to dismantle what I hope are non-essential parts of the ship,” he smiled and tilted his head from side to side, laughing at his own joke.
Alexa laughed and put her chin in her hand, feeling a genuine smile linger. Things were actually starting to look up and it both excited and terrified her. She had not been born a pessimist, but a hard life made her wary of having nice things that could be taken away at any moment.
At the sound of a lone, distant Runner, the three stood and dusted themselves off. Bob turned and put a hand over his brow to block the duel suns from his eyes.
“Curb side service,” Demetri commented.
“Right on time,” Alexa observed.
They watched as the Runner grew as it got closer. The pilot ran the small craft at full throttle until just a few dozen meters out. All four colonists took tiny half steps backward, worried the craft would not have enough space to stop without crashing into the ramp they stood on.
Amazingly, the Runner came to a halt mere meters away from Colony One. The bubbled windscreen popped open and a young woman stood to greet them with a wide smile, “Hi. I’m Maria. I’ll be your driver this afternoon. Hop in!”
The trio departing all shared looks of trepidation.
“How old are you?” Demetri asked.
“Why does everyone keep asking me that?” Maria wondered.