CHAPTER 9: THE MINE

ALEX

 

 

It’s a shaky landing, as I’m thrown from the door of the escape pod, right into the heat of battle. It takes me a second to recover, and when I finally come to, I realize the horror of my surroundings.

Innocent bodies are strewn across the ground. It looks as if the battle has moved closer to the mines and they’ve left the dead here. I’m not sure what could have caused this violence. The Krillux should know they’re not supposed to attack. Unless that was another lie, concocted by my father. I wouldn’t be surprised if he told them the Ventrans were a threat.

I switch on the camera of my helmet, scanning the field.

“Hali, can you see this?” I ask.

“Oh my God,” I hear her say softly in disbelief.

“I’m sending it to you,” I tell her as I record from my visor, trying to capture the worst of it. Makeshift spears and secondhand blasters are scattered in the dirt. Broken shields reveal that the Ventran people weren’t prepared for an attack such as this. Raeden did say that they were typically a peaceful people. It hurts me to think of the horrors these people have faced, and I can only hope the others have escaped safely.

“What do I do with this?” she asks.

“Hold onto it for now, but see if you can get to a data transmission site as soon as you can.” I switch off the camera and make a run towards the battle. I need to find Raeden, and it makes my stomach churn to think he could be among these bodies.

Finally, after what feels like forever, I notice a figure leaning against a tree. Raeden! As I get closer to him, I realize he’s in pain. His skin is pale.

“It’s you,” he breathes.

I kiss him, holding him close to my chest. “I couldn’t leave you here,” I said.

“They’re getting closer to the mines,” he wheezes. “I tried to tell them of the trap but nobody believed me.”

“My father didn’t listen either, he’s still going to initiate the strike,” I tell him.

“We can’t stop the missile,” Raeden says, and my heart sinks. I realize that it’s true. We can’t stop it from all the way down here, and I doubt that Hali would even be able to organize enough people to stop them in time. “The mineral, Alex,” Raeden says. “Get to the mines. We can still stop this.”

I hook my arm around him, lifting him up. We shuffle as fast as we can towards the mines. Suddenly, a blaring flash lights up the sky. We turn to see a meteor-like streak falling through the atmosphere.

“It’s here,” I say, trying to pick up our pace. It’s difficult with Raeden’s injury, but there’s no way I can leave him here.

“Let me get that for you, Missy,” I hear a voice say. A gruff-looking alien comes by, sweeping Raeden over his shoulder. I’m about to protest, but Raeden looks relieved to see him.

“Alex, this is Rex,” he says weakly. “He’s the only one that believed our story.” I exchange a nod with Rex.

“There’s not much time,” I warn him.

“Don’t worry,” Rex says. “You run and we’ll follow.” He signals behind him, and soon we are met with a cluster of Krillux all of them made up of different species. I instinctively take off running, our own miniature army following close behind me.

 

Rex and the others have helped tremendously and we reach the mines in moments. The battle seems to have subsided as everyone has taken notice of the incoming missile.

“We’ve been tricked!” Someone screams, and soon everyone runs in a panic, as if they can escape their incoming doom. I duck into a nearby shaft, waiting for Rex and the others to catch up.

“He’s not doing good,” Rex warns as he sets Raeden down against one of the cave walls.

“What can we do?” I ask.

None of my training has prepared me for a medical emergency, which terrifies me. I don’t want to lose Raeden, especially not after all of this.

“I can keep him stable,” one of the Krillux, an insect-like species, offers as they step towards Raeden to help. He presses down on Raedens wound, asking one of the others for a makeshift wrap.

I suddenly get a call from Hali in my helmet.

“What’s going on?” I ask, walking to another corner of the cave.

“I’ve got someone from the control room, Alex!” She exclaims. “They’re giving me a live update on the strike.”

“How much time do we have?”

“Less than ten minutes until the blast. Listen… you have to get out of there! Grab your boyfriend and get back on the escape pod.”

“I’m not letting anymore people die today. Can’t anyone stop the missile from up there?” I ask her.

“It’s locked with a password. I don’t know anybody that knows it, and it takes the consent of two people to turn it off.”

“Aren’t you a hacker in your spare time?”

“Not military hacking. That’s a whole other ballpark, Honey. You think I want to go to jail?”

I roll my eyes. “Maybe you can do something else for me really quickly,” I ask her.

“Shoot,” she says. “I need you to take the footage I shot and send it directly to the Space Resource Program on Earth.” I tell her. “Also, tell me once you’ve set up a direct broadcast link to the Cordelia. I’ve got a message to send.”

“I’ll let you know when it’s connected.”

“We have less than ten minutes.” I remind her.

“I’ll do it in three.”

I glance around, waiting for Hali’s response. The walls of the cave glitter with a bright green ore. A faint humming pulses through the rocks, low enough for me to feel the vibrations under my feet. I walk over towards one of the walls, where a thick cluster of Ventran mineral ore waits to be mined. It certainly looks powerful. I place my hand over it, feeling a sudden rush of energy flowing through me like a jolt of electricity. This stuff really packs a punch. I’m surprised when I look down and see the scrapes from my landing, healing before my eyes.

I turn to see Raeden being attended to by the soldiers and Rex. He’s looking really rough, and I realize just how thin of a tightrope we’re all walking at the moment; hovering between life and death.

“Raeden,” I ask, “how do I mine this stuff?”