CHAPTER NINE
REBECCA
Rebecca peered out of a porthole, trying to see as much of the landscape as she could from her awkward angle. Green. Green, some more green, and a splash of vivid orange which might’ve been flowers. She couldn’t really tell through the warped plastic.
The stool beneath her feet teetered, so she hopped down. Sitting, she huffed. “So close, yet so far.”
She was bored. Bored by waiting. Bored of drinking countless cups of tea and waiting for Verdan to return. She should tell Verdan she intended to stay on R-333. After being cooped up for the past few years, spending some time on a lush, tropical planet sounded like heaven.
“I bet there are birds,” she muttered. “And butterflies.”
And blood-sucking bugs that could rip off my face and chomp on my bones.
Peering up at the window, she felt it might almost be worth the risk to feel the breeze on her face.
With a sigh, she carried the stool back to the kitchen. Farrah was off sulking with Min, which left Rebecca with a whole lot of time in which to do nothing. She scowled at the tea cups, but they didn’t react.
She was pulling faces at her reflection when she heard a thrumming sound.
“What in the world?”
She peeked around the corner. Farrah stood beside an open panel on the wall.
“Farrah?”
The girl started guiltily. Her eyes flicked to the exposed wiring.
Rebecca leaned against the wall. “What’re you doing?”
Farrah bit her lip. “Nothing.”
“Really? Because if I didn’t know better, I’d say you were trying to leave the ship.”
The girl’s mouth twisted. “No, I really am doing nothing.” She smacked the panel door. “Papa locked us in. We can’t leave.”
“What!” Rebecca strode up to the panel and glared at it. “That rat-faced… Who does he think…” She paused, tapping her foot as she weighed her options.
Farrah cleared her throat. “I may be able to override it. If I had some time.”
Rebecca’s eyes narrowed. She shouldn’t be encouraging Farrah. Her father wanted her to be safe. But Rebecca didn’t relish the idea of being locked away at the whim of some overbearing ogre.
Verdan doesn’t get to make my choices for me.
“Do it. I think I’d very much like to go for a walk.”
Rebecca didn’t understand whatever technological wizardry Farrah employed, but the door opened with a satisfying whoosh. As the ramp extended down, Rebecca hesitated. She should call this adventure off. It was wrong to sneak around behind Verdan’s back.
When she looked at Farrah’s glowing face, she couldn’t resist. The girl’s eyes were bright and she bounced on her heels as she waited to leave the ship. Once the ramp touched down on the grass below, Farrah placed her foot on the metal. She snatched her foot back, and shot a questioning look at Rebecca.
“C’mon,” Rebecca said. “Let’s go stretch our legs.”
With a whoop, Farrah raced into the sunshine. Rebecca squinted against the bright light, raising her hand to shield her face. She’d been on so many dimly lit ships that her eyes took a moment to adjust. The gravity here was slightly stronger than her muscles expected. She’d grow tired if they went far.
Across the landing pad, a wide, paved road curved into the trees. Probably the way Verdan went. Rich plant life lined the pad, teeming with small insects. Bright flowers the size of dinner plates bobbed in the breeze. Their scent brought to mind cream cheese rather than any flowers she knew. Remembering how violently she’d reacted to the food on New Trades, Rebecca refrained from touching them.
I should warn Farrah about eating strange plants.
“Farrah?” Rebecca turned a circle. No sign of the girl. “Farrah!”
To her relief, Farrah’s dark head popped out from around a bush to the side of the pad. Her coloring blended in with the vegetation surrounding her.
“Here!” Farrah called. “I found a trail!”
Rebecca peered down the cleared path. A small furry animal scurried away when Rebecca moved a branch to get a closer look. She’d watched enough Discovery Channel to know animals created the worn path as they cut through the jungle.
“Let’s follow it!” Farrah said. She didn’t wait for a response. She dove into the narrow space, giggling.
“Farrah!” With a groan, Rebecca hunched over and followed. It was one thing to leave the ship, but another matter entirely to wander away into the wilderness. “Farrah! Get back here!”
By the time Rebecca emerged at the other end of the trail, her back ached from crouching. The path led to a clearing in the jungle. She worked the kinks from her spine while enjoying the scenery. Vivid blue water lay in front of her. A low waterfall fed the pool, falling from a ridge of rocks with a gentle splashing. Animal calls echoed in the distance.
Farrah lay on her belly on the highest rock, peering down at the water below. Colorful insects fluttered around her head, attracted to the flowers she’d woven into a crown.
When she saw Rebecca, Farrah waved, and scrambled back down. “Isn’t it beautiful? It’s like a holovid!”
Rebecca walked to the edge of the pool. The crystal clear water contained shimmering aquatic creatures darting between rocks. At the very bottom sat multicolored gemstones.
Farrah pointed. “Those are lumi.”
“Like that little computer you carry around?”
“The lumis are named after the lumi stones. Some of them are really valuable, but those ones don’t look precious. If they were, people would have taken them away.”
“They are pretty though.”
Sighing, Farrah nodded wistfully at the gems. “Yeah, they’re lovely.”
Rebecca studied the girl’s face. “Want one?”
“Oh, yes!” Farrah replied. “But I can’t swim.”
“I figured. You can’t really fit a pool on a spaceship.” Rebecca pulled off her boots and flight suit. “But I can.”
The water chilled her when she jumped in, and she gasped.
Please, oh, please, don’t let any of the fish be carnivorous, she thought, as the creatures darted away.
She had to wonder at her sanity. It wasn’t healthy to frolic in unknown waters. What if she got sick? Or, worse yet, caught a parasite that burrowed into her brain to lay eggs?
On the shore, Farrah chewed her lip. Rebecca sighed. A band tightened around her chest. What if she left Farrah without a way to remember her?
Rebecca dove. Kicking her feet, she worked her way down. It was deeper than the community pool she’d frequented as a teenager back on Earth, but she made it to the bottom without trouble. She grabbed a handful of the bright pebbles, and made for the surface.
Her fist broke the water first as she held up her treasure. “Ta-dah!”
“Yay!” Farrah grabbed her arm and hauled her out.
They rinsed algae and dirt off the stones, and Farrah crowed with delight at the colors and patterns.
“Oh, Rebecca! They’re perfect! Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, Farrah.” Rebecca shook out her hair, and rubbed her hands over her chilled skin. The expression on Farrah’s faced warmed her almost as much as the sun.
“You were amazing,” Farrah said, clutching the stones to her chest. “I wish I could swim.”
Rebecca responded without thinking. “I’ll teach you sometime.”
Farrah’s glee faded. She crouched down and let her hair fall over her face.
Well, crud.
“I-I mean, I’ll talk to Verdan. Maybe he can get you lessons some time.” Rebecca pulled on her clothes.
Farrah sniffed. “I don’t want you to leave.”
A lump formed in her throat. “I know, Farrah. But-”
“But you belong on Earth. Not here.”
Here? Here was heaven. Better than the rotting-fish stench of the ferry terminal where she’d worked. Better than the reek of cigarette smoke from the apartment next door. Better than her empty bed, and her boring days. How could she go back to all that after seeing all this?
Maybe when I get back to Earth, I’ll visit Thailand.
But she knew it wasn’t the sun and sparkling water that made this moment special.
She cleared her throat. “We better head back. Before your dad knows we’re gone.”
They took a wrong turn on the way back. They emerged at another clearing, but this one held the remains of an old house. Time had left nothing but a hollow framework, propped up by crumbling bricks. Plants grew from the empty window frames, and through the cracked cobblestones underfoot. A slow-moving reptile blinked at them before slipping under a rock.
“Huh, I guess people lived here?” Rebecca kicked at a stone, and it skittered away into the darkness of the door.
“R-333 used to be an Ennoi mining settlement,” Farrah said. “Guess people left when the war came.”
“You learn that when you researched the place?”
Farrah nodded. “Maybe we can find some artifacts. Come on!”
Rebecca grabbed her arm. “No way, kid. That wreck looks like it’ll fall down with a breeze. Besides, if we’re lost, we need to find the way back.”
“We’re not lost,” Farrah replied. “You took the wrong path at the mossy stone.”
“Why didn’t you say so?”
Farrah shrugged. “I wanted to explore. I knew we wouldn’t get lost.”
“Now how do you know that?”
Farrah held up a small red cylinder and drew a squiggle on a tree. “I marked the path.”
“You’re a genius, you know? Show me the way back.”
Now that she knew of the marks, Rebecca led them back to the ship. It was closer than she’d expected. She stood and stretched her back, then froze. Farrah bumped into her.
“Wh-”
“Shhh,” Rebecca hissed. She pointed.
A pair of Dorians stood outside the ship’s ramp. Their attention remained fixed on the open hatch.
Rebecca’s heart thundered, and her body seemed locked in position. She flinched as a box flew out of the open door with a clang. The Dorians were raiding the ship. The Dorians outside scrambled for the box. A third stepped down onto the ramp. He looked up, squinting, and raised a hand to his eyes. Dorians lived in low light habitats. The sun was blinding him, but that wouldn’t last.
Gotta move now.
“Back,” whispered Rebecca. She fluttered her hand behind her until it made contact with Farrah. Then she nudged the girl. “Get back. To the pool.”
Rebecca wanted to dive back into the bushes, but her body alone shielded Farrah. The Dorian would notice her, yes, but maybe she could buy Farrah some time.
The Dorian froze. His body tensed.
“Run,” hissed Rebecca. She heard Farrah scurry away into the bushes, the sound of her movement fading rapidly.
The Dorian on the ramp shouted, pointing at Rebecca, and the other two Dorians turned in her direction.
For a second, Rebecca wanted run, but she had to stall them. Protect Farrah! Rebecca crouched and grabbed a stone. With a flick of her wrist, she sent it flying at the Dorians. Her aim was terrible, but the stone hit the side of the ship with a clang, and the Dorians ducked instinctively.
A second stone followed the first, but by the time she reached for the third, the Dorians had rallied. They strode toward her, leering.
“That’s a boring game, little Human,” said one in a sing-song voice. “Come play a better game with us.”
Rebecca hurled the third stone, and to her glee, it struck the Dorian directly in the face.
“Hah!” she yelled. “You wanna play? Come find me!”
She spun around and crawled back into the trail. At a sharp bend, she stopped and waited. The first Dorian made the turn and met her booted foot. The sound of his nose cracking made Rebecca grin. Falling back, he filled the air with curses.
Rebecca kept going, following Farrah’s red marks. When she reached the mossy rock, she paused long enough to grab a fallen log. Heaving it onto the trail, she blocked the path to the pool. She prayed it would be enough to conceal Farrah. Then, she continued on down the path that led to the ruins.
Bursting into the abandoned homestead, Rebecca froze. She needed a hiding spot. She needed to keep running.
She needed-
She screamed as a Dorian grabbed her shoulder, digging his sharp claws into her skin. The sound echoed through the jungle, and for a moment, she swore she heard someone yell her name.
“Got you!” The Dorian shook her. “You’re trouble!”
Rebecca jabbed the Dorian in the throat with the heel of her hand. He gasped for air, and she yanked her arm away. With a snap of her foot, she kicked him in the knee, making him drop to the ground.
“You don’t know the half of it!”
The other two Dorians emerged from the trees, and Rebecca felt grim satisfaction at the blood coating one’s face. The Dorian by her feet lurched for her ankle, but she dodged him.
Rebecca searched for an exit. Only one way. She fled into the darkness of the forgotten house.