A stream of curses and cries of pain poured out of his mouth, much like the streams of blood between his fingers. "You bitch! You'll never make it out alive. I'll see to it that you're a prisoner for the rest of your life."
Nova kept her pistol trained on Codon even though her arm shook with the effort. "Cal, please tell me you're on your way."
"Crusader is touching down now."
"Thank the stars," Nova said through a gasp of pain.
"Medbot, get in here!" Codon screamed.
The medbot and Cal entered the command pod at the same time. Cal hovered through the doorway with his small plasma pistol trained on Codon.
Nova's arm collapsed to the floor. She could hear Cal and Codon talking but their words were muffled by her pain.
"Nova. Nova!" Cal said.
His voice brought her back to consciousness.
"Yes?" she whispered.
"Do you want him dead?" Cal said.
Nova's head lolled to the side. Codon lay on the floor with his arms tied above his head. How long had she been out for?
"Do you want him dead?" Cal said.
"No," she said. "He's a Confederacy goon but I won't sink to his level. Let's go home."
A compartment on Cal's side opened and he held out a box of Parapem strips. Nova took four before she snatched the edge of the controls and dragged herself upright. The Parapem numbed her punctured lungs and her blistered hand but did nothing for the damage. She leaned on the bench and glared down at Codon.
He stared back at her, face red and twisted.
"Let's be very clear about something," Nova said after a long pause. "You're not to tell anyone I was here. If you do, I will personally hunt you down and destroy you."
"How dare you—"
"No!" Nova held up her hand. "How dare you! I saved your life and you turn on me like the good-for-nothing coward that you are. You will leave this planet and never bother me again."
A muscle in Codon's jaw twitched. "How am I supposed to explain what happened here?"
"I don't give a damn. That's not my problem."
"There is a fortune of alien tech down there. If the Confederacy thought that I lost it, I'd be thrown into a black-hole." Codon's voice cracked. He'd lost a lot of blood through his knee, and the pain must have been unbearable.
Nova couldn't find much sympathy for him. After everything she'd done to save them both, he betrayed her. Not that she should be surprised. That's how things always played out, in the end.
"You're a smart man, right?" she said, wobbling as a wave of dizziness washed over her.
He didn't reply.
"I'm going to blow that alien tech to the multiverse. Now, weren't there some terrorists here recently?" she said.
Codon's eyes opened wide.
"There you go," Nova said.
A part of her wanted to see him dead. She wanted to watch him pay for his betrayal. But she'd seen enough death to last a lifetime; she decided that a broken knee would be punishment enough, this time.
"Fine," Codon said, breathless.
"Good. I would suggest you stay right there until I'm off the vessel."
"I can't exactly go anywhere." Codon jerked his arms and the rope holding him rattled the controls.
Nova nodded back and hobbled away. Cal hovered behind her, gun aimed at Codon. She lurched from one desk to another until she reached the corridor and from there she used the wall to hold herself upright. She had to stop every few steps to regain her breath and to push past the pain welling inside her. She'd lost track of her injuries and knew only that if she didn't get help soon, she'd be dead.
A lifetime later, she reached the small side door out into the desert. She took a deep breath and stepped down from the ship. Her new foot landed on the sand and gave out under her weight. The rest of her body collapsed to the ground in a sprawling heap. New pain surged out of her chest and she succumbed to the darkness.
***
Nova became aware of a constant beeping and a bright light moving across her closed eyelids. She could hear something moving to her right. The last thing she remembered was falling out of Codon's ship but the surface beneath her was firm, not like sand.
Her eyes flickered open. A bright light shone above her head and Cal floated in the air to the right of her body. Tools and equipment flicked out of half a dozen open compartments in his sides.
"Cal," she said. Her throat was dry and the words stung.
"You're awake!" he said.
"What happened?"
"With a lot of trouble I managed to get your lazy body back to Crusader. I don't know how you managed to get so injured."
She didn't have the strength to smile. "Me neither. How long have I been out?"
"Five hours. The Confederacy ship left as soon as you got out."
"Five hours. We've got to get rid of all that stuff. Codon will have Confederacy soldiers swarming this place in no time."
It hurt to talk and to think, all she really wanted to do was sink back into unconsciousness but if she did that then the Confederacy would get hold of the Ancient's technology and that was almost as bad as the Ancient's still being alive.
"I'm taking care of it," Cal said.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Nova clutched her side and leaned against Crusader's wall. Cal had barely finished stitching her up but she refused to stay bedridden. A soothing gel coated her bandaged hand and Cal had reset her ribs as best he could. She carried a box of Parapem strips in her pocket and was popping them like mints.
Cal lugged a fuel canister the size of a small child through Crusader's door and stacked it against four others. Other equipment from the Confederacy ships, including computer hardware and basic weapons, were loaded into the cargo pods; they would fetch a fair price in the shipyards. Luckily the Confederacy vehicles had also been packed with medical supplies because Cal had used everything they had and then some to patch her up.
"How's the fuel-cell coming, Crusader?"
"Whilst I have an interface with the laborbot, it would be faster for you to ask him directly," Crusader replied.
Nova's face flushed hot. How had she gotten the names confused?
"Does it matter who I ask?" she snapped. "Just tell me how long."
"Fifteen minutes until completion," Cal said.
She closed her eyes and leaned against the cool wall. Her latest dose of Parapem was starting to wear off and pain seeped up from her hand and chest. She shook her head and focused on Cal reattaching a new fuel cell to take her mind off it.
She frowned as she thought about the last few days.
"Did I do the right thing?" she said.
"When?" Cal asked.
"I killed them all, the Ancients," she said. "Who's to say they deserved to die so human colonies could live?"
"That is a question for philosophers," Cal said.
"I don't think they'll ever know."
"Then it's a moot question," Cal said.
"There are still voices everywhere."
"Temporal scans reveal abnormal readings around you."
"So what? I'm at risk of falling through time for the rest of my life?"
"Perhaps," Cal said. "The Cloud has no mention of such technology and my processors cannot conceive of such a possibility."
"Great."
"Based on what we've seen, it's exacerbated by your emotions. So stay calm," Cal said.
"Thanks." Her head drooped to stare at the floor. "Is there any record of something like this happening before?"
"Some have claimed to be able to reach into time, but they've all been proved hoaxes. You're the only one."
"I don't think I can control it."
"Then one day it will probably kill you."
"Was that a joke?"
"No."
The room spun and her heart hammered.
"You really should stay calm," Cal said.
Nova grimaced. The robot was right. "Just my luck I suppose."
"There's no such t
hing as luck."
"No, I don't think there is." Nova shivered and stared at the monsters at the edge of her vision. They leered back at her. She took a deep breath and shook the shadows from her shoulders. "That fuel cell ready?"
"Affirmative."
"And you set the charges?"
"Affirmative."
"Alright, let's get out of here."
She limped to the pilot's pod and prepared for ignition. She couldn't remember ever having been so happy to leave a planet, even when she left her childhood home of T—
She still couldn't remember its damned name.
She sighed as Crusader's thrusters engaged and they shot away from the planet, leaving the relics of the Ancients far behind.
Cal detonated the charges and a plume of flames engulfed the bodies, weapons, and ships until every last remnant of the Ancients was incinerated and turned into ashes.
Nova grimaced. If her latest run-in with the Confederacy had taught her anything, it was that they couldn't be trusted. She needed to get free of their damned influence and there was only one way to do that. She had to get past the border. The invisible barrier incinerated everything that tried to cross it, everything except Confederacy approved vehicles.
She dreamed of breaking through that fence and making it into true outer space; where even the Confederacy couldn't reach her. There had to be a way to do it; some smugglers could get past, but she had no idea how.
"Cal, start digging up everything you can on the old colonization ships. They had a way to get past the Confederacy border and we have to find out how they did it."
In the meantime, she had to find a way to stop herself from falling through time every time she got mad. She knew that if she didn't take control of it, it would consume her.
Nova's Journey Continues…
After her encounter with the Ancients, Nova is more determined than ever to break free of the Confederacy.
When she arrives on a planet that's been silent for over one hundred and fifty years, she discovers that the planet is far from abandoned.
In order to survive, Nova and her companions must fight.
When a historical enemy emerges, there will be more than their lives at stake.
The Nova Chronicles continue with Book Two: Pilgrim.
Find more information at:
http://www.saffronbryant.com/books/pilgrim
http://www.saffronbryant.com/free-books
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Find all of Saffron's Books At:
www.saffronbryant.com/books
The Nova Chronicles
Survivor
Pilgrim
Hunter
Gambler
Justice
Junkie
Adventurer
Prisoner
Stranger
Hero
Transforming Darkness Series
Last Escape
Last Fight
Last Refuge
Other Science Fiction
The Descendant
The Last Martian
Skin Deep
Fantasy
Blood Mage Chronicles
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Saffron Bryant was born on the 17th December 1990 in a small town in North Queensland. In 2010 she was diagnosed with a brain tumour. After extensive, life-saving surgery she returned to her home in Queensland to recover and finish The Fallen Star. She received a Bachelor of Biomedical Science in 2011.
Saffron has been interested in fantasy and science fiction writing from a very young age, writing her first story at the age of seven. She has always been fascinated by fantasy stories and has a passion for The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. Saffron currently lives in Sydney with her partner Michael Lee where she is completing her PhD in chemistry.
Connect with Saffron:
WEBSITE: www.saffronbryant.com
EMAIL: [email protected]
TWITTER: @SaffronBryant
FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/saffron.bryant
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