by J. N. Chaney
“Did you see what was taking the survivors?” I asked, unable to keep my own curiosity at bay. “What was it?”
“I don’t know, I really don’t know, and that’s the most disturbing part,” Doctor Allbright said, pointing to the wound on her head. “I tripped at some point and hit something on the ground. When I looked up, I saw a dark shape moving through the mist away from me. Whatever it was, it moved slowly, but I can’t recall the size or any discernable details. It could have been anything.”
“I’m never walking into mist again,” Ricky said out loud. “Never again.”
“I don’t know if I’m the only one that got away,” Doctor Allbright said. “I just kept moving. I ran until you stopped me.”
The suns shifted in the time since we found the mutt and Doctor Allbright. I guessed it would probably grow dark soon, but I couldn’t say for certain.
“You think you can walk?” I asked Doctor Allbright, replacing the medical kit and water containers in my pack. “After what you said, I think we should put some distance between us and whatever is in that mist.”
“I can walk,” Doctor Allbright said, rising to her feet. She stumbled for a moment, then regained her balance. “Let’s go.”
I took the lead with Allbright behind Ricky, bringing up the rear. The mutt galloped beside me, sniffing everything in and around our path.
The forest ahead remained the same. There was no noise, foreign or familiar. The suns descended overhead in unison. We marched on.
After an hour of quiet walking, trying to find our way, Ricky decided to share what was on his mind. “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking,” he started.
“That’s never good,” I said.
“I’m being serious here,” Ricky said. “What if that mist travels and spreads overnight? What if it works on a cycle?”
“You’re thinking about this too hard,” I said. “If that’s the case, we can’t do anything else besides what we’re doing right now anyway. We head to The Orion and look for survivors. Iris or the Eternals will have a plan. Focus on the mission and put everything else out of her head.”
“I hope so,” Ricky said, looking back at Doctor Allbright and lowering his voice. “Did you see how the dog growled at her? He was excited to see us, but it wasn’t the same with her. I wonder why.”
“I don’t know, but I don’t want to hear any of your alien spores theories,” I said. “We have enough real-life issues to deal with.”
We walked on as the day turned into night. I reached into my pack for a flashlight to help guide our way. Ricky did the same. The stars were brilliant in a way I had never seen before. As I scanned the horizon for familiar constellations, I paused, realizing that I was no longer home. I was no longer on Earth. My stars were gone, never to grace my eyes again. Whatever shapes we drew in the heavens would be new and different now, given new stories and a new history to them.
That was only if we could survive the night, of course.
I had to remind myself more than a few times to keep my focus on the thinning trees around us. We had been walking for hours. My stomach reminded me that dinner had come and gone.
“Do you think we put enough distance between us and the mist?” Ricky asked after a while. “I don’t know what time it is, but it feels like we’ve been at this all night.”
“I agree,” Doctor Allbright said as she took in the area around us. “We’re out of the woods or very close to it. Perhaps some food and rest will help. We can finish the journey back to Orion tomorrow.”
I wanted to protest, but my legs were already killing me. Plus, the darkness made seeing The Orion impossible. For all we knew, we were heading in the wrong direction.
“All right,” I said, reluctantly. “Let’s find somewhere to rest and get some food in us.”
Our campsite was meager at best. We found one of the few trees that remained in the area. The landscape had transformed into open plains of grass and sloping hills. We gathered at the base of the tree, taking out the protein bars and water bottles. I frowned as Ricky opened a bar for the mutt.
“He needs to eat, too,” Ricky said, catching my eye.
Even though Ricky was the one feeding the dog, the mutt came over to consume his treat next to me.
“Ah, come on, I was the one that gave that to you,” Ricky said.
The mutt ignored Ricky. He braced the protein bar in his paws and went to town on it as if it was the most delicious thing he’d ever tasted.
I opened my own, ready to take a bite when the holo pad went off.
An unknown voice came through, saying something inaudible before ending in static.
Chapter 26
We all stopped and looked at one another. Ricky was mid-chew. Doctor Allbright put her bar down. She was the first to find her voice.
“Was that Stacy? It sounded like Stacy Wil—”
The holo pad went off again in my pack. I dug it out trying to listen to the words coming from the transmission.
“Can any—hear me? I rep—can anyone—this is—Wilson of the—Orion.”
I grabbed the holo pad a little too eagerly. It was great to hear her voice, and I was a bit surprised at myself for feeling such a sense of relief.
“Stacy, it’s Dean, I can hear you me?” I asked, pressing the button on the pad to speak to her. “Can you hear me?”
“Dean!? Dean, oh thank—where are you?”
I looked around my small group for an answer to that question.
“On an alien planet,” Ricky shrugged.
“Tell her just north of the forest where it ends,” Doctor Allbright suggested.
“We’re on our way to The Orion on the very north end of the forest,” I told her, hoping that would make sense to her. I had no idea where she had landed. “I think you might be close. The range on the holo pad, I don’t think it’s very far.”
“I can send—flare,” Stacy said on her end. “Look for it.”
There was no need to repeat her words. Ricky and Doctor Allbright were already jumping to their feet and searching the night sky.
A moment later, a red streak erupted from the canopy of trees a few kilometers to our left. The flare shot to the heavens like a beacon of hope.
“We can see you,” I said, excitedly over the holo pad. “You’re just a few klicks out. We’ll head to you.”
* * *
We followed the tree line west for no more than twenty minutes, when we saw the bright lights of the flashlights. A wave of relief hit me as I realized Stacy wasn’t alone. She had hundreds, maybe even thousands of survivors with her.
Shouts rang out from the big group as we approached in the darkness.
“It’s okay, it’s us!” Ricky yelled back to them. “Don’t shoot!”
“Ricky, is that you?” Boss Creed asked in his baritone voice. “Dean?”
Boss Creed had never been a more welcome sight than he was in that exact moment as he walked forward to meet us with a smile. “I should have known you two would be amongst the survivors.”
Ricky smiled up at the large man as we approached, wrapping him in a hug. Boss Creed looked puzzled, then melted and patted Ricky on the back.
Other survivors from the crash surrounded us, asking what happened, as Doctor Allbright walked away to talk to someone she knew.
“Dean,” Stacy said, breaking away from the group. “Dean, you made it! I was so worried you were sucked out of the ship when the hull was breached.”
We stood there for an awkward moment, just looking at one another. Then one of us—I’m not sure which one—reached in to hug the other. Every part of me was grateful she was safe, and it felt wonderful to hold her in my arms.
“Well, it’s about damn time you gave that girl a hug. It only took us being blown out of the sky,” Ricky said, and as I looked around, everyone was grinning. I gently pushed Stacy away with a cough to cover my embarrassment.
“So, uh, what happened to you? Where did you land?” I asked, trying not to seem as aw
kward as I felt.
“There’s a beach a few kilometers back,” Stacy explained, pointing with an open hand the way she had come. “I was on one of the larger escape crafts. We touched down on the beach. When we saw The Orion in the distance, we started to travel toward it, but it’s too dark now to see much. What happened to you?”
Everyone was eager to hear our story. I let Ricky tell most of it. Doctor Allbright relayed her encounter with the mist again. A thought crossed my mind that maybe the events surrounding her landing should be edited. People were already worried enough about being on an alien planet.
I decided against it. If nothing else, these people needed to know that under no circumstances were they supposed to venture into the mist.
While Doctor Allbright shared her story with those gathered, I took the time to search the area and see how many survivors Stacy had found along the way. Unlike me, she had come across multiple landing crafts and escape pods. It was dark, but I could guess the group she traveled with was near a thousand.
When Doctor Allbright finished, murmurs rippled across those gathered.
“It’s important that we understand there is no need to panic right now,” Stacy raised her voice for everyone to hear. “We’re headed toward The Orion and should be there tomorrow. Iris and the Eternals will have a plan. We’re going to get off this planet and back on track.”
“How do you know that?” Someone asked in the dark.
“What if the Eternals are dead?” A woman shouted.
“Why should we trust them again? Look what happened to us this time,” A man pointed out.
Shouts of agreement grew. If someone didn’t do something soon, the mob mentality would take over and who knew what would happen then.
“Listen up!” Boss Creed roared. “If anyone doesn’t want to go with us to The Orion, there are no chains on your feet forcing you to do so. If you want to go have an adventure in the mist or sit on your ass and play in the dirt, be my freaking guest. We’re going to The Orion tomorrow because that’s our best bet of survival and getting off this fucking rock.”
Boss Creed’s years of experience managing others, worked perfectly in this situation. He was commanding and used to being obeyed. Everyone around us hushed.
“Let’s get some rest,” Stacy said, picking up where Boss Creed left off. “We’ll start early tomorrow and hopefully reach The Orion with a few hours of hard travel.”
Those gathered nodded. The impromptu assembly meeting broke up.
“Looks like you found a new friend,” Stacy kneeled beside me and began to ruffle the mutt’s ears. “You’re a big boy. You’re a sweet boy.”
The dog loved the attention, rolling over on his belly, and his tongue fell out of the side of his mouth.
“What’s his name?” Stacy laughed before going on to stroke the underside of his fluffy belly.
“I don’t know,” I shrugged. “I’ve just been calling him Dog.”
“What? No way, he needs a name,” Stacy insisted.
“Okay,” I said with a shrug. “You name him.”
“No, he’s your dog,” Stacy insisted.
“He’s not my dog, but if it’ll make you stop, then fine.” I sunk to my knees and sat on my heels. “I guess we can just call him Mutt. He doesn’t know the difference and that’s pretty accurate.”
Stacy raised an eyebrow, but then chuckled. “Okay, Mutt it is.”
* * *
Everyone was so exhausted; the rest of the night didn’t last long. Boss Creed organized a watch of volunteers that would take shifts through the night.
“I can take a shift,” I said going up to my previous manager. “Put me in the rotation.”
“You look like hell, kid,” Boss Creed said. He craned his neck forward in the dark to get a better look at me. “Yup, like death warmed over.”
“Hey, man, cut me some slack. I’ve been nearly blown up, ripped out of a colony ship and crash-landed on an alien planet.”
“Exactly why you need rest,” Boss Creed dismissed me with a wave of his open hand.
I didn’t argue with him. I was beyond exhausted. I fell asleep against a tree using my pack as a pillow. A million stars overheard acted as my own personal nightlight.
I don’t remember much, except that it felt like I had just closed my eyes when I woke to Stacy shaking me.
“Hmmm? What? What’s wrong?” I asked, jolting awake. I wiped at a line of drool coming down the corner of my mouth.
“Nothing,” Stacy said, pointing to the sky. “Suns are coming up. Time to get to The Orion.”
“Right,” I said, stretching. Ricky and Doctor Allbright were still sound asleep across from me. All through the camp, people were talking to one another. They rose from their places of rest and prepared for the trek.
I stood, feeling every muscle in my body complain to me that they were sore and needed more sleep. I ignored them. Instead, I made my way to Ricky’s side. Mutt rose from his place beside me and followed.
I grabbed Ricky by the shoulders and shook him. “Rick. Hey, Rick, it’s time to get up.”
“But everyone will laugh at me if I wear that to the dance,” Ricky muttered in his sleep.
“Ricky,” I said with a grimace. “Snap out of it, man. You’re oversharing right now. I don’t want to hear any of this.”
I shook him harder.
Ricky finally opened his eyes, staring at me and then the sky, as if he had no idea where he was.
A look of realization hit him a moment later.
“Oh crap,” Ricky said, glancing around him and finally sitting up. He yawned and stretched. “All of this was real.”
With the appearance of the twin suns over the horizon, the half steel circle of The Orion was visible in the distance. We could cross the area in a day’s time if we pushed ourselves.
Time to get moving.
Chapter 27
We traveled all day through grassy fields and rolling hills. There was still no wildlife or insects along the way. Just the calm swaying of the breeze in the nearly beautiful landscape of the planet.
If it weren’t for the many escape pods we found on our way, it might have been nice to take a walk. The looming shell of the damaged Orion was another thing that made the walk even more ominous.
More survivors joined our number from escape pods and landing crafts. Some pods we came upon were already abandoned with no sign of the occupants. It was chilling to think these survivors were already gone.
Everything in my mind told me they were just doing what we were. They had seen The Orion and were making their way to the larger ship.
I walked towards the head of the party with Stacy and Boss Creed. The former had her blaster tucked into her pants. The latter had been given a laser rifle usually carried by a suit. I sure as hell wasn’t going to try to take it away from him. Besides, I didn’t trust anyone, and everything I knew of Boss Creed said I could do just that.
“People are already asking questions about what happened to the ship,” Stacy said in a low tone. “They’re going to ask more and more questions and rightly so.”
“We’ll wait for Arun and Elon to make that call,” I said. “I don’t do politics. They decided to keep the truth about the Disciple from everyone in the first place. Let them decide what to do now.”
“If they’re still alive,” Stacy said, nodding towards The Orion. “The ship’s almost half of what it should be. Multiple pieces of it broke apart in the crash.”
I looked up to the sky where dark smoke still reached to the heavens from the downed Orion. There was no point speculating as to who was alive and who wasn’t until we got there.
* * *
We traveled all morning, breaking only briefly for a noon snack of protein bars and water before heading forward again. We reached what was left of The Orion a few hours into the afternoon.
The damage I saw through a mechanic’s eyes was horrendous. The lower half of the craft had torn itself apart upon descent. Only the top
upper half of the moon-shaped ship remained.
Whoever was at the controls, had done one hell of a job turning the angle of the ship as it descended. They must have used whatever power the ship had left at the right moment. The Orion had come to a skidding halt on the planet as opposed to striking the ground like a meteor. Somehow, they had managed to turn the craft, so it slid on the ground and finally coming to a hard stop against a large peak.
The landing divot made in the dirt was so long, the starting point appeared lost. The groove it made in the ground had to be ten meters deep. Opened like a cracked egg, exposed wires popped and sizzled, creating fires that continued to burn, while torn steel exposed sharp edges.
There was a large group of survivors who shouted, turning to meet us. I didn’t see either the Eternals or Iris amongst the group.
Stacy recognized a suit, who jogged up to her with a report.
“Miss. Wilson, it’s so good to see you,” He said, motioning to the crowd around us. “And so many of you that made it.”
“It’s good to see you as well, Ira,” Stacy said, embracing the man quickly. “Have you searched the craft for survivors yet?”
“We just started going level by level,” Ira hesitated, looking to me and Boss Creed.
“It’s okay, you can talk freely in front of them,” Stacy told him. “We’re all in this together.”
“It doesn’t look good in there,” Ira swallowed hard. “A lot—there’s a lot of people who didn’t make it.”
We all stood quietly for a moment. It was strange to stand so still, thinking of something so horrific. In the background, we could hear shouts of joy. Multiple survivors from our group had found loved ones gathered at the base of The Orion.
For as many of the shouts of joy we heard, we also caught the concerned screams of others, shouting the names of friends and family, looking and not finding them.