Seven
As they emerged from the cave she saw it was just one of several dotted about a stony area. As far as she could tell, the copse of trees where she’d been captured was several miles to the east, with the hills beyond. She wondered why the alien hadn’t headed for high ground. If he was stranded here too, surely he’d want to set up an emergency rescue beacon?
The thought chilled her. Maybe he already had. Maybe even now, an entire fleet of Vraxians was on its way. If they found out who she was, whose daughter she was, she would become a very valuable hostage. A bargaining chip in a war where right now, no side held the advantage.
The thought was untenable. She’d kill herself before she became a prisoner-of-war.
“Alekt!”
“All right already. Keep your hair on.”
She stumbled after him. The smell of rotten eggs wafted to her nostrils and when they walked round a corner she saw why. Dozens of steaming pools of water were bubbling among the rocks, releasing clouds of sulfurous steam into the air.
Kara looked towards them enviously. Despite the smell, the water looked inviting. What she wouldn’t give to bathe in a hot spring right now.
But the Vraxian ignored them. Instead, he strode past to a pile of rocks and stopped. He gestured at her and said something indecipherable.
Puzzled, Kara came closer. It was a rockfall, she saw now. Something had hit the rock-face and caused a collapse. It must have been going at a heck of a speed.
She caught a glint of metal among the boulders and suddenly, like an optical illusion, she saw what was buried there.
“Is that a Viper?”
She walked round the rockfall and saw part of the tailfin through a gap. The stabilizers had been ripped off and the metal was scarred and blackened by missile fire.
Kara recognized it in an instant.
This was the Viper she’d been shooting at just before she was bulldozed by the asteroids. She’d watched it spiral out of control, its systems badly damaged. The Vraxian must have managed to head for this planet, but without guidance systems or a working escape pod he’d been forced to crash-land.
He must have ejected before his ship smashed into the ground. But his supplies were still on board, buried under tons of rock.
She let a gleeful smile break across her face.
“No-one’s coming for you, are they? You don’t have a rescue beacon, you don’t even have any rations. They’re all still on board that piece of junk you call a ship.” She laughed out loud. “Sucks to be you, snake-boy.”
The alien looked at her impassively. Then he pointed to the buried craft.
“Skraat.”
“Huh?”
“Skraat!”
He picked up one of the rocks and threw it to one side, then looked at her expectantly. Her jaw dropped.
“You want to dig the ship out? You have got to be kidding me.” The alien waved the yashak control at her and she held up her hands. “All right, okay. I get the message. Let’s dig.”