Starbounders by Adam Jay Epstein

longer on the verge of sinking.
    â€œI guess he was just feeling selfless,” Kaylee said without a hint of remorse.
    The silver vessel lurched at the whims of the storm. With no oar to propel them and no one volunteering to use their arms as paddles, they bobbed along the acid waves until the salt storm blew itself out and the sky became clear again. When the tip of the canoe ran aground on the opposite end of the lake, they got out in time to see Sirocco’s second sun dipping below the horizon. It was dark in an instant. The thin atmosphere couldn’t hold a sunset.
    Skold walked up beside Ryic and took a look at the pulsing light on his warp glove to gauge their distance from the safe haven.
    â€œWe’re still miles away,” he said. “As much as I wanted to get to the hopper ship today, I think traveling at night will be too dangerous. I’d hate to accidentally step into a sinkhole or walk into a dehydra we don’t even know is there. Let’s stop here. It seems as good a spot as any.”
    Zachary looked around. He saw nothing but salty dunes in every direction. No shelter. No caves to curl up in. They’d have to spend the night exposed to the elements. Back home, when Zachary went camping, at least he had a tent and a sleeping bag. Here they had no equipment. Sleeping under the stars would mean just that. Lying with their backs on the sand and their faces to the sky.
    Skold took a seat on a nearby rock and took out his magnetic tweezers, still intent on freeing his wrist from the shockle. Jahir pulled the loose skin hanging from his bones around him like a blanket and curled up to go to sleep.
    Zachary, Ryic, and Kaylee were left to fend for themselves. Zachary’s lips were badly cracked and he could barely conjure up enough saliva to moisten them.
    â€œI say we wait until they’re both asleep and then make a run for it,” Kaylee whispered. “We can find that hopper ship and jump to the nearest space station.”
    â€œWeaponless and on our own?” Ryic asked.
    â€œKilled by the elements or killed by them,” Kaylee said.
    Out of the corner of his eye, Zachary could see neutron bursts as Skold attempted to remove the shockle.
    â€œI think we’d be better off pretending to be on their side a little longer,” Zachary argued, his voice hoarse. “Then we seize our moment.”
    â€œI’m with him,” Ryic said.
    Kaylee might not have agreed, but she seemed to respect the fact that she was outvoted.
    No spot seemed better than any other for sleeping, so Zachary, Kaylee, and Ryic lay down on the ground where they were, side by side. They stared up at the swirl of stars dotting the greenish space clouds of the distant Stringer Nebula.
    â€œBack home, I would stargaze with my numerical predecessor, Jengi 1,174,830,” Ryic said suddenly. “I miss her very much.”
    â€œIs she like your sister or something?” Kaylee asked.
    â€œNot exactly. We do not have siblings on Klenarog, at least not in the way you do on Earth. Every member of my species is birthed from the Origin Pool, primordial waters that elders return to at the end of their lives. From their dissolved remains new Klenarogians emerge. We are all given a name and number, and our destinies are chosen at random.”
    â€œDid you grow up in a house or have a mom and dad?” Zachary asked.
    â€œI was raised in the youth barracks, under the tutelage of the planet’s finest mentors. Love and caring were doled out in equal rations, the same as meals and showers.”
    â€œWell, at least you could never be disappointed that way,” Kaylee said.
    â€œI guess I was one of the lucky ones,” Zachary said. “My family has always been there for me.”
    The three lay silently for a moment.
    â€œDo you think anyone is looking for us?” Ryic asked.
    â€œSure, they might be looking,” Kaylee said. “It’s finding us that’s