stranded on the surface, over the rough terrain.
The surface was dotted with rocks and craters, big and small. The big rocks
they had to detour around, the small rocks they had to avoid tripping over.
Nelson warned the others not to walk down into the bigger craters, because
loose sand and dust had collected there, and made for treacherous footing.
Walking down hills was the worst, they slid and skidded on pebbles, until they
called a halt, and began using safety lines. It was taking too long. The sun
was edging toward the horizon, and their oxygen supply was limited. Sam looked
up, as the bulging disk of the star touched the horizon. It was going to be a long
night.
“Kaylee,” Manny
said with a sniff as he wiped away tears with the sleeve of his shirt. He was
coming to his senses again, after he and his sister spent a minute holding onto
each other, screaming and crying. This is not what his parents would do in a
crisis. “I can see lights coming from the command section. See? There ’ s lights coming through those portholes. They have power, maybe
they can call us on the radio. We should go back to the cabin, maybe?”
Kaylee avoided
looking out the porthole, knowing it would make her cry again. “No. We need to
find Jen. She ’ ll know what to do. Maybe we can help.”
“Help do what? We ’ re kids.” Manny pointed out.
“Do, do anything
Jen needs us to do! All the other crew are with Mom. Or Dad. Jen ’ s
the only one here with us.
“Okay.” Manny
agreed. “Where do we look?”
Kaylee pursed her
lips and thought. She wiped away her own tears with the back of her hand. “Jen ’ s office is on the deck below us, where she keep her tools and
fixes the robots. We ’ ll look there.”
“ Wait,
let’ s leave a note for her, in case she comes looking for us.”
They went back to
the cabin, found a marker, and wrote a note on the corridor wall next to the
door. Manny then went to stuff the marker in his pocket, when he had a better
idea, and they both got their backpacks and slung them over their shoulders, in
case they needed to carry anything. The elevator between decks wasn ’ t working, so they had to crank open a door, climb down a
ladder, and open another door at the bottom. It seemed like an awfully long
way, in the empty, silent ship.
Captain Gante
returned to check on her executive officer ’ s search
progress, but the communications technician waved to her first. “I was just
about to call you, Captain, I can ’ t contact the Atlas
Challenger . I ’ ve hailed them repeatedly. No response,
Ma ’ am.”
If Gante was
startled by the freighter ’ s silence, she didn ’ t show it. She turned to the first officer. “XO?”
Ross shook his
head, and suppressed a yawn caused by the insufferable boredom of watching the
scanner. “Nothing yet. Still scanning.”
She pursed her
lips, and walked over to stand behind her XO so they could speak quietly. “No
sign there was ever a ship in distress here?” She asked.
“No sign there
was ever a ship here at all, Ma ’ am.” Something in his
captain ’ s tone of voice caught his attention. “What are
you thinking?”
“It ’ s
not-“ her voice trailed off.
He lowered his
own voice to a whisper. “ Kim, we ’ ve
worked together for almost a year now, I know when there ’ s
something going on in that head of yours.”
Gante allowed
herself a tight smile. “They say there ’ s no sound in
space, XO. There ’ s not supposed to be any smells, either,
but I smell a rat.”
“Diversion?”
“Exactly. The Isaac
Newton was never here, somebody wanted to lure us away from Ares. Somebody
who knows we are the only Navy ship patrolling this sector.”
“And lure us away
from the freighter?”
Gante raised an
eyebrow. “I hadn ’ t considered that, I thought maybe there
is something on Ares that the mining company doesn ’ t want
the Navy to see. But you may be right, the freighter could be the target,
although I can ’ t
The surface was dotted with rocks and craters, big and small. The big rocks
they had to detour around, the small rocks they had to avoid tripping over.
Nelson warned the others not to walk down into the bigger craters, because
loose sand and dust had collected there, and made for treacherous footing.
Walking down hills was the worst, they slid and skidded on pebbles, until they
called a halt, and began using safety lines. It was taking too long. The sun
was edging toward the horizon, and their oxygen supply was limited. Sam looked
up, as the bulging disk of the star touched the horizon. It was going to be a long
night.
“Kaylee,” Manny
said with a sniff as he wiped away tears with the sleeve of his shirt. He was
coming to his senses again, after he and his sister spent a minute holding onto
each other, screaming and crying. This is not what his parents would do in a
crisis. “I can see lights coming from the command section. See? There ’ s lights coming through those portholes. They have power, maybe
they can call us on the radio. We should go back to the cabin, maybe?”
Kaylee avoided
looking out the porthole, knowing it would make her cry again. “No. We need to
find Jen. She ’ ll know what to do. Maybe we can help.”
“Help do what? We ’ re kids.” Manny pointed out.
“Do, do anything
Jen needs us to do! All the other crew are with Mom. Or Dad. Jen ’ s
the only one here with us.
“Okay.” Manny
agreed. “Where do we look?”
Kaylee pursed her
lips and thought. She wiped away her own tears with the back of her hand. “Jen ’ s office is on the deck below us, where she keep her tools and
fixes the robots. We ’ ll look there.”
“ Wait,
let’ s leave a note for her, in case she comes looking for us.”
They went back to
the cabin, found a marker, and wrote a note on the corridor wall next to the
door. Manny then went to stuff the marker in his pocket, when he had a better
idea, and they both got their backpacks and slung them over their shoulders, in
case they needed to carry anything. The elevator between decks wasn ’ t working, so they had to crank open a door, climb down a
ladder, and open another door at the bottom. It seemed like an awfully long
way, in the empty, silent ship.
Captain Gante
returned to check on her executive officer ’ s search
progress, but the communications technician waved to her first. “I was just
about to call you, Captain, I can ’ t contact the Atlas
Challenger . I ’ ve hailed them repeatedly. No response,
Ma ’ am.”
If Gante was
startled by the freighter ’ s silence, she didn ’ t show it. She turned to the first officer. “XO?”
Ross shook his
head, and suppressed a yawn caused by the insufferable boredom of watching the
scanner. “Nothing yet. Still scanning.”
She pursed her
lips, and walked over to stand behind her XO so they could speak quietly. “No
sign there was ever a ship in distress here?” She asked.
“No sign there
was ever a ship here at all, Ma ’ am.” Something in his
captain ’ s tone of voice caught his attention. “What are
you thinking?”
“It ’ s
not-“ her voice trailed off.
He lowered his
own voice to a whisper. “ Kim, we ’ ve
worked together for almost a year now, I know when there ’ s
something going on in that head of yours.”
Gante allowed
herself a tight smile. “They say there ’ s no sound in
space, XO. There ’ s not supposed to be any smells, either,
but I smell a rat.”
“Diversion?”
“Exactly. The Isaac
Newton was never here, somebody wanted to lure us away from Ares. Somebody
who knows we are the only Navy ship patrolling this sector.”
“And lure us away
from the freighter?”
Gante raised an
eyebrow. “I hadn ’ t considered that, I thought maybe there
is something on Ares that the mining company doesn ’ t want
the Navy to see. But you may be right, the freighter could be the target,
although I can ’ t
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