Contents
Title Page
Copyright
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CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
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About The Author
SURVIVOR
S.J. Bryant
SURVIVOR
S.J. Bryant
Copyright © 2014 by Saffron Bryant. All rights reserved. This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, businesses, events or locales is purely coincidental. Reproduction in whole or part of this publication without express written consent is strictly prohibited.
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CHAPTER ONE
A shock-wave rocked the bounty hunter vessel, Crusader, and sent shudders through the metal hull.
Nova grabbed the nearest railing and clung tight as the engine sputtered. Red lights flashed above her head and a low siren wailed. Her black hair created a pool of darkness in the bright lights and flashing emergency warnings.
The ship lurched sideways and she clung to the railing. "What was that?"
Cal, the Class Four Laborbot, hovered in mid-air near her head, unaffected by the quaking ship. A single camera lens protruded from his spherical, metal body and roved around the control board, taking in the dials and readings.
"Fuel cell explosion detected," Cal said.
"What do you mean the fuel cell exploded?"
Nova's white knuckles clutched tighter as another shock-wave battered the ship. Her body whipped sideways, and her hip slammed into the nearest wall. She winced as tendrils of pain shot through her leg. Tears stung the corners of her eyes.
"Dammit!" Her thick boots thumped on the metal as she pulled herself up off the floor.
"The last collection we made must have been sabotaged. Explosives have blown a hole through the fuel cell."
Nova glared at the robot. Red warning lights flashed through the room and lit up Cal's panels. Pressure gages, heat gages, fuel gages, all of them pushed into the red zone, making the alarms wail louder. If they didn't sort it out soon, the ship was going to blow.
"Cal, can you fix it? At least well enough to get us home?"
"I can patch it up but it would never last all the way to The Jagged Maw."
"At least tell me we've got enough credits left to pay for repairs."
"Negative. The ship's maintenance scan reveals that the explosion cut a hole in the side of the cargo pod. Whatever we had is now in a trail behind us."
"So we've got nothing?"
"Affirmative."
"Please tell me that wasn't the same cargo pod that had my weapons in it."
"I'm afraid it was."
"Grishnak!"
"Swearing won't help our situation," Cal said.
Nova clenched her teeth and glared around the control pod for any kind of solution.
"Why the hell would someone do that?"
"My scenario simulators suggest they plan to follow behind us and collect it."
"Why can't the bastards find their own damn jobs?"
"Human behavior continues to baffle me."
Nova scowled. If she ever got hold of whoever had done this…
Another shudder forced her to latch on to the railing.
"Get back there and fix the fuel cells. And make sure the airlock holds!"
Cal hovered away.
"Crusader!" Nova said. "Stop that alarm!"
The alarms cut short, replaced with the rumbling and rattling of the old ship.
"This is Aart's fault," she said.
It had all been going so smoothly. Aart's info on a good haul proved better than expected. The drop had been easy; the goods had practically fallen into their laps. Even Aart couldn't have predicted how good the take would be. Now here she was, stranded, with nothing to show for it.
Crusader's smooth voice cut through Nova's thoughts. "The laborbot is damaged."
Nova's head whipped up. "What?"
She didn't wait for a response. She let go of the railing and sprinted out of the command pod. The ship jolted and her body banged against the wall. Pain encased her shoulder and grazed dribbled blood down her arm.
She braced one hand against the wall and limped forward. Agony zapped up her side with each step.
In the engine room pipes and wires crowded close to her head. Panels and drawers covered each wall and opened into storage holds and cargo pods. The air stunk of oil and burning plastic. Dripping echoed through the close confines.
Nova's heart fluttered as she ducked under the machinery and hurried to the back. The busted fuel cells leaked acrid puddles of black liquid over the floor that shimmered in the dim light and gave of pungent fumes.
Cal lay on the floor, surrounded by fuel. Black burns charred his panels and all of his lights were off.
"Dammit!" Nova said.
She fell to her knees by the robot's side and pulled him away from the leaking fuel. Heat seared her fingertips and her hand jerked, so that Cal dropped to the floor with a loud thud that echoed around the confined room.
Nova reached out for him.
"Systems critical. The fuel cells must be repaired," Crusader said. "Sealant from compartment four-b will be sufficient."
Nova's hand stopped just short of Cal. She looked between him and the fuel cells. As much as she loved the robot, if she didn't fix the fuel cells they'd all die anyway.
She opened the small drawer labeled four-b and rummaged inside. Her hand brushed over glue sticks and a welding gun. Something sharp caught her finger and slashed it open.
She yanked her hand out of the drawer. A deep cut poured blood out of her middle finger and loose flesh hung on either side of the wound. Pain coursed through Nova's hand, worse with every beat of her heart.
She wrapped her other hand over the cut and winced. Blood seeped out around her palm.
"Shit. Shit. Shit."
She cast around for anything to stop the bleeding.
"Cal! Can you-" Her eye caught the motionless robot. "Oh dammit!"
"Compartment three," Crusader said.
Nova tucked her injured hand to her chest and wrenched open compartment three. First aid supplies. She yanked out a bandage.
She used her good hand and her teeth to wrap the bandage around her injured finger. The fabric turned bright red but she kept wrapping until a ball of cloth surrounded her finger. She slammed compartment three closed.
She ground her teeth together and stomped to compartment four-a. This time she pulled the knives out of the way before shoving her hand deep into the drawer. She found the sealant wedged at the very back.
Stains hid most of the label but at least the lid came free when she tore at it with her teeth. She squeezed the gray gel over the spurting hole in the fuel cell. It absorbed and hardened, forming a coat over the leak.
It would buy them some time.
It wasn't the first time Nova had repaired a ship. She'd grown up fixing the rusted machinery sh
e found lying around the dirty streets of her home world, Tabryn. Things were always breaking down on Tabryn and children were cheap labor.
She knew Crusader better than anyone; she was the one who had fixed the beaten up wreck and turned it into a functional ship. She'd picked it up cheap, battered, and broken after a drunk-driver crashed it into Tabryn's desert. It had taken a long time, but with Cal's help, she'd put the ship together again, and it was her ticket away from her hated home planet. Crusader and Cal were the reason she was still alive. They'd given her her freedom.
"The laborbot's backup systems will fail soon," Crusader said. "Immediate action is recommended."
Nova turned back to the burnt robot. She carried him to a workbench and swiped everything on it out of the way.
She held her injured finger out of the way and lifted Cal's outer panels away to reveal the inner workings. Tiny chips and wires fit around the motor with metal tools, including a gun, tucked up around it which Cal could deploy at any time.
A gear clicked over in an uneven rhythm as it strained to keep the robot's core functions going while smoke hissed out from the motor and created fumes that stung Nova's eyes.
Nova craned her neck forward. Blood rushed to her head and her neck ached. She swatted at the smoke but couldn't stop tears blurring her vision.
She wanted nothing more than to slump down into her chair with a hard drink, but she couldn't do that to Cal.
Nova plucked out a singed wire and fished around inside Cal's compartment for the other half. When she found it she twisted the two ends together and tucked them out of the way so she could get to work on the next one. Nova's hands trembled.
Every now and again she ripped her eyes away from Cal to check the fuel cells. For the moment they were holding together, but how much longer would they last?
"Crusader, how are those cells?"
"Probability analysis suggests they will fail."
"Yes, but when?"
"Between one hour and three days."
"You can't give me anything better than that?"
Nova bit her lip and took a deep breath. The worst thing she could do right now was lose her cool. Staying in control was the only way to save Cal and she couldn't let him down; he'd been her faithful companion from the start, right from that first journey into the unknown.
"Negative," Crusader said.
Nova went back to work. With every passing moment, more of Cal's systems shut down. His motor whirred and slowed. It wouldn't be long before it stopped completely and his systems would go into total shutdown. She could always reprogram him, but it wouldn't really be Cal anymore.
His quirky personality would be replaced with the factory presets. The boring monotone voices would be no replacement for Cal's brand of personality. Sure, he was a robot, but at least he understood her. Their connection had been formed over years of living together. No factory preset could do that.
Soot and grime covered Nova's fingers. Streaks of oil traced up her arms, all the way to her elbows. Sweat dripped into Nova's eyes, she wiped her forehead on her sleeve and noted the blood spatters.
The metal rod she was trying to reattach dropped out of her slippery hands. She cursed and swiped them on her long pants before returning her attention to Cal.
Her bandaged finger bumped into a collection of wires and knocked them free. They fell deep into his machinery. Cal's warning alarm flared.
Nova resisted the urge to punch the table and used her little finger to grip the cables whilst keeping the rest of her hand out of the way.
A quiet hiss snapped her attention from Cal's charred wires to the fuel cells. A new leak, smaller than the other one, spurted fuel and created a new pool on the floor.
"No, no, no!" she said.
She eased Cal's wires onto the bench and dashed to the fuel cell. She'd left the tube of sealant lying on top but when she snatched it, the gray gel spurted out of the top and landed on the floor with a splat. It hardened into solid lumps.
"Shit!"
She squeezed the tube but nothing came out.
Nova's voice trembled as she looked from the empty sealant tube to the spurting fuel cell. "Do we have any more sealant?"
"Negative," Crusader said.
"Can we make some?"
"According to the Cloud, the formula is hidden by confidential patent."
"Of course it is."
Nova glared around the engine room for anything that could stop the leaking fuel.
"Could really use some help, Crusader."
"Scanning all inventory."
Nova kicked the lumps of sealant on the floor. No chance of salvaging any from that. She gripped the work bench until the edge cut into her palms; why did everything have to go wrong at once?
"Compartment twelve has rubber putty," Crusader said.
Nova ran for the cupboard. "Will that be enough?"
"It is the only possible solution."
Nova yanked open the compartment door. She grabbed the putty and massaged it as she moved around the engine to the fuel cells. She stretched the putty as far as she could and wrapped it over the leak.
The leak slowed.
"It won't hold for long," Crusader said.
"I know."
Nova dashed back to Cal's side and picked up the wires she'd knocked loose. She reattached them and tried to ignore Cal's wailing alarm which had gotten louder.
His motor sputtered.
"Just a little longer, Cal."
She scrambled for the last of the wires and mashed them together just as Cal's motor choked.
She held her breath, eyes locked on Cal's engine.
Nothing.
"Come on."
Nothing.
"Dammit, Cal! I didn't drag you off Tabryn just so you could give up here—"
His engine whirred and his alarm eased some.
"Laborbot's systems stable but he suffered a lot of damage," said Crusader.
"It's okay, I've got this."
Nova's shoulders sagged. At least for the moment, he wasn't getting worse but the next part worried her the most. One wrong connection and she'd fry all of his internal circuits.
She drew a deep breath to steady her quaking hands and pushed her fear to the very back of her mind. She imagined a solid crate into which she shoved her emotions and then threw away the key.
Piece by piece, she reattached his intricate components. With every new connection, another system came back online. There were three wires left. She reached in for the red cable. As her hand brushed past the inner workings, her bandaged finger caught on the stabilization switch.
She watched in horror as the fabric tugged the switch loose. It clicked off. Lights flared up through Cal's inner machinery and the motor shot into overdrive, spinning at ten times the normal speed. Wind whirred across the workbench and lifted sweaty wisps of Nova's hair away from her face.
"No!" Nova whipped her hand back. Threads of bandage stayed caught on the metal and waved in the flowing air.
Each intricate part of Cal's machinery pumped faster, as if racing to fail first.
Nova plunged her other hand into Cal's body. She fumbled with the loose switch. It took all of her coordination to put it back in place with a single hand. She shoved the switch home and turned it on.
Cal's systems powered down to normal speed. The gears clicked into a steady rhythm and his motor stopped smoking.
Nova leaned against the bench with a sigh.
Ten painstaking minutes later, she attached the last wire and lowered the charred panel back into place. She held down the red restart button, squeezed her eyes closed, and held her breath.
After what felt like hours, Cal beeped. His motor whirred inside his metal casing and he lifted out of her hands. He hovered in-line with Nova's eyes.
"There was a bright white light!" he said.
Nova sighed and smile spread across her face. Before she bought Crusader, both the ship and Cal had been badly damaged. His fried circuits interfered wi
th his artificial intelligence which meant that he could be uncomfortably human sometimes.
"Don't be melodramatic. You're a robot, remember?"
"My whole life flashed before my eyes!"
"It wasn't that bad."
"I thought I died!"
"Cal, be serious," Nova said. "I fixed the fuel cell for now, but it won't last long."
Cal turned in mid-air to face the fuel cells.
"How are your systems?" she said.
"Diagnostic scan reveals no major faults," Cal said, his voice returning to the flat monotone of his artificial intelligence. "However, long-distance travel is unadvised."
"Can you fix the cells?"
"Temporarily."
Cal hovered to the fuel cells.
"Alright."
The dull, nagging pain inside Nova's left temple disappeared but her hands ached with the strain of fixing Cal. She stumbled to the pilot's pod and collapsed into her chair with a sigh.
The adrenalin faded from her veins and pain poured in to replace it. Her entire left side ached from where she'd smashed into the side of the ship and her slashed finger stung.
She stood on aching legs and stumbled to the first aid kit. She pulled out a Parapem strip and laid the painkiller on her tongue. Tendrils of cool relief flooded through her; over her head, down her arms, and into her legs.
She sagged back into her chair, ignoring the dried blood that glued her shirt to her body, and stared up at the ceiling.
They'd gone from having the biggest haul she'd ever seen, to having nothing. Worse than nothing, in fact, because now Crusader was broken. She needed to get the fuel cells repaired or she'd be stranded in the outer reaches of space for the rest of her life.
CHAPTER TWO
Cal hovered into view. "The fuel cell has another leak."
Nova groaned and held her head in her hands. "How can it keep leaking?"
A thruster fired and the ship jerked left. Nova snatched for the controls.
"In addition to the explosion, the cells were due for replacement five years ago."
Nova waved her hand at Cal. The last thing she needed was another lecture about replacing parts. If she'd had the credits, she would have done it months ago, but she didn't, so that was that.
Survivor Page 1