Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 108211 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 541(@200wpm)___ 433(@250wpm)___ 361(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108211 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 541(@200wpm)___ 433(@250wpm)___ 361(@300wpm)
But Zo’rath Two doesn’t have any towns—it’s supposed to be completely uninhabited, she thought to herself. So how can there be a town?
Indeed, the planet they were going to was supposed to be something of a tropical paradise, which was one reason she’d worn a dress instead of her more practical work clothes.
Admit it—you wore a dress to impress Cade—to get his attention, whispered a little voice in her head. And now you’re crash-landed on an unknown planet and you’re hardly dressed for a walk in the wild.
But the scene outside didn’t look wild—quite the opposite. She was pretty sure they’d landed in some kind of crop field. That was what it looked like, anyway.
She became aware of the fresh strawberry smell again—where was that coming from?
Getting to her feet was difficult—she still felt wobbly. But she needed to find Cade. Gripping the back of her seat, she stood and made her way to the living area of the ship.
There was a huge, gaping hole in the top of the shuttle and an even bigger one in the floor. Looking through it, Andi could see dirt and some kind of vegetation—the ship had really plowed a deep furrow in this field!
Sniffing, she thought that the fresh strawberry smell was coming in through the two holes. There was a brisk breeze blowing into the ship that felt quite chilly—Andi wished she’d thought to bring a sweater.
She frowned at both holes again—it looked like the ship was a goner. But hadn’t she heard that the newer long-range shuttles were being built with self-healing technology? It was fascinating actually—the Smart Metal the ship was made of was laced with nanites which could actually rebuild any kind of injury. But she had no idea if their shuttle had that kind of tech or not.
Cade would know, she told herself. I just have to find him.
Maybe he had gone outside to assess the ship’s damage?
Then she heard it—a shuffling, snuffling sound followed by a muted clatter coming from the small kitchen located in the rear of the ship—the food prep area as the Kindred called it.
Andi froze. Was someone in the shuttle with her? Or was it some thing? It made her think of the time a black bear had gotten into their cabin in Main. That had been another vacation—her father had been a big believer in being well traveled. Plus, he got a lot of frequent flier miles through his work so he was always taking her and her mom to new places…
Stop it, Andi—concentrate! she told herself fiercely. Find some kind of a weapon—you might not be alone in the ship!
She looked around but didn’t see anything she could use. Cade usually had a blaster strapped to his hip, but her Protector was nowhere in sight. Where had he gone, Andi wondered again? And why would he leave her wounded and alone, in such a vulnerable state?
At last she found something in the living area she thought she could use. It was Cade’s weight bar, which he used to keep fit during long term assignments. It was simply a long metal bar, a little longer than a baseball bat, which could be configured for different weights.
Andi reached for it and found she couldn’t even lift it off the floor. Why was it so heavy? Then she realized it must still be configured for Cade’s last exercise session.
Crouching down while still trying to keep an eye on the back of the ship, Andi fiddled with the gravity meter dial at the end of the bar. Sure enough, it was set to the heaviest setting—the same kind of gravity you might find on a planet as big as Jupiter. No wonder she couldn’t lift it!
She dialed the gravity setting back until the bar was light enough for her to lift, but still heavy enough to pack a punch. Then she picked it up and held it like a baseball bat.
The snuffling, shuffling, crackling sound came from the kitchen again and Andi braced herself. She couldn’t lose her nerve now—she needed to find out what was going on!
Stealthily, she sneaked towards the door at the end of the living area. Whatever was in there had left it ajar a few inches, but not enough for Andi to make out who or what was in the kitchen and what they were doing. She hoped it wasn’t a wild alien animal that had somehow crawled in through the hole in the ship’s floor. But it might be worse if it was a person.
She’d had the Translation Bacteria that the Kindred gave to everyone who came to work aboard the Mother Ship, but she didn’t know what she would say to someone she found rummaging in her ship—“Hi there, it’s nice to meet you but could you please leave?” Andi doubted that would work.