Seventeen
Vahn checked the Viper for himself, methodically searching every compartment and storage panel. The only thing he found was something that looked like a small square pouch. He tucked it into his belt.
Kara watched him work from a patch of shade. He’d removed his T-shirt to preserve it from dirt and the unique light on the planet defined every muscle and sinew as he threw rocks aside.
She noticed the wounds from the animal attack had healed well. Amazingly well, considering how they’d looked yesterday. Wow. That is one impressive recovery rate.
The Vraxian glanced over and she looked away, embarrassed he’d caught her staring.
“You’re wasting time. There’s nothing in there.”
He climbed down, having confirmed what he already suspected. Neither the emergency rations nor the rescue beacon were on board.
They should have been ejected with him but they’d gone missing. A malfunction must have blown them out of the cockpit separately.
“I was trying to locate them when I found you,” he explained. “About to be eaten by that garanesh creature.”
She had discovered not every word could be translated by the microbes. Garanesh threw up an image of a slavering beast with long antenna and hairy legs; scary, but not at all like the spider-thing that had attacked her in the trees. Maybe it was the closest thing they had to it on Vraxos.
“Can you get the ship’s radio working?”
“That was my hope. But it is beyond repair.”
“So what now?”
“Let me look at your beacon.”
She retrieved the transmitter from where she’d dropped it. He turned it over in his hands.
“Only the power source is damaged?”
“Not sure. There’s no way of telling.”
“I may have something that will activate it.”
“Unlikely. Our technologies are completely different.”
“Are you always so defeatist?”
She bristled.
“I’m a realist. There’s a difference.”
He didn’t bother answering.
He returned to the cockpit and used his laser-blade to remove some of the paneling on the dashboard. Most of it was a crushed, burned-out mess but some of the fuses looked intact. He carefully removed one from its slot, severing the wires connected to it.
He took it outside and showed it to Kara.
“You see that small transparent crystal seated in the fuse mechanism? That functions as a power source.”
She raised a skeptical eyebrow.
“ That tiny crystal can produce wattage?”
“Maybe enough to activate your transmitter.”
She watched doubtfully as he coupled the fuse to the bottom of the transmitter, deftly jerry-rigging the wiring until the two were joined. He pushed the ‘on’ button.
The crystal glowed but there was no sound from the beacon. Not even white noise.
“Is it working?” Kara asked.
“It is your device. Is the signal meant to be silent?”
“I don’t know. I mean, maybe. It would make sense to transmit silently if you had to use it in enemy territory.”
It was his turn to raise an eyebrow.
“You do not know how your own technology works?”
She flushed.
“I’ve never had to use one before, okay? You might get shot down on a regular basis but this is all new to me.”
“Fine. Let us assume it is producing a signal.” Vahn switched the transmitter off to conserve power.
“It works best on higher ground anyway so we’ll have to take it up into the hills.”
The Vraxian was silent. He turned the beacon over in his hands, looking troubled. Kara tilted her head.
“What?”
“The signal is a distress call, correct?”
“Of course. With co-ordinates of its location.”
“A Terran distress call aimed at Terran ships.”
Kara suddenly understood why he was uneasy.
“You’re worried what will happen when my people come to rescue me.”
“They are hardly likely to drop me back on Vraxos.” He gave a wry smile. “I will be a prisoner.”
“A prisoner-of-war,” she corrected. “With rights guaranteed under the rules of the Geneva Convention. We don’t torture enemy combatants.”
“How noble of you.”
“It’s better than slowly rotting on this fucking planet, isn’t it? Anyway, we agreed to have a truce. I promise I’ll make sure you’re looked after.”
He gazed at her steadily.
“And how do I know I can trust you, human?”
“Because I keep my word,” she said fiercely. “I swear to you, when we’re rescued I’ll tell them you helped me. I’ll protect you.”
He sighed. Maybe she thought she could protect him, but she was na?ve. Humans did not treat his kind gently. They were barbaric.
For a split second he considered smashing her beacon and resuming the search for his own. But their supplies were low and time was not on his side.
Better to wait for her compatriots to answer the distress call and ambush them. He would have the element of surprise, after all. They would arrive expecting to find only a stranded human. It would be a simple matter to hijack their ship.
“Let us take one step at a time. Reaching high ground will take several days. We will need to find food and water before then.”
“Agreed.” She motioned towards the green line in the distance. “There must be a water source over there. There’s vegetation and wildlife. And those sulfur pools must be fed somehow. Maybe there’s an underground source.”
“It is a sound suggestion. Let us prepare.”
They ate half the remaining food packs and finished the almost-empty canister of water. Then Kara gathered the last of the rations and put them in the bag along with the beacon and the med kit. As an afterthought, she added several empty canisters in case they found something to fill them with.
Ever the optimist.
It was a wrench leaving the cave. Not that it had been particularly comfortable. Actually, it was pretty damp and inhospitable. But it had been a shelter, of sorts.
They trudged in silence for a while. The Vraxian’s stride was far longer than Kara’s and she had to take two or three steps to keep up with every one of his. It was tiring but she didn’t say anything, determined not to appear weak.
He pretended not to notice her struggling. He would rot in the pit of Xesh before giving any quarter to a human.
But when she stumbled over some loose stones, he forced himself to stop. Nothing would be gained by causing her exhaustion or injury.
“Let us take a break,” he said brusquely.
“I don’t need a break.”
“Your face is an unattractive shade of red.”
“And yours is an unattractive shade of blue,” she retorted. “So what?”
“Fine. Have it your way.” He strode off, but less quickly this time. She caught up and fell into step.
They journeyed for another hour before she spoke.
“I never thanked you for saving me from that spider thing,” she said grudgingly. “Why did you?”
“I thought it had caught something I could eat myself. I did not realize it was a nedek human until I saw you.”
Nedek. Puny. Her jaw tightened.
“I’m not puny. I’m trained in hand-to-hand. I’ve taken down guys twice my size.”
“You have never faced a Vraxian warrior.”
“Yeah? You’re forgetting I knocked you out not so long ago.”
He was quiet for a moment and she flushed, cursing herself for bringing up that particular memory. Then a deep rumble emanated from his chest. He was laughing.
“You are right, tiny human. You did render me unconscious. In fact, I formally pay homage to your fearsome combat skill.”
He turned to her and swept into a low, exaggerated bow. She rolled her eyes but couldn’t help feeling pleased.
“So no more of this nedek shit, okay?”
“I concur. Indeed, you have bested me more than once. The first time you stayed my hand was by falsely offering shaa’baara . How did you know about that?”
“We’re taught about Vraxian culture at military academy. So we can understand what makes you tick.”
“And do you? Understand us?”
“There’s not much to understand, is there? Vraxians only care about defeating Earth and taking its resources for yourselves. All your energies are directed at war. Instead of building your own technologies, you want to strip us of ours.”
He pinned her with his yellow gaze.
“I see. And what kind of technologies would that be?”
“We have advanced nuclear fusion generators which power our space ships as well as cities, countries, and entire continents.”
He snorted.
“Our power sources are cleaner and have far greater yields than nuclear energy. What else?”
“We have medical devices that detect and cure cancer before the patient suffers any symptoms.”
“We eradicated most tumor-based illnesses decades ago.”
“We have hand-held devices capable of translating any Earth language in a matter of…”
“And I have just given you engineered microbes that allow you to understand any extraterrestrial speech in the known galaxy. Including lesser dialects.”
Kara fell silent.
The Vraxians want our resources. That was the narrative she’d grown up with. The one all humans were taught. By their parents and teachers, and by their leaders. The same narrative that had been drummed into her by her mother and her military instructors.
It was true. It had to be true. Why else would Vraxians attack Earth? Why else had there been so many years of war?
“I don’t want to talk about this any more,” she said flatly. “We’re supposed to be having a truce.”
She marched faster, putting some distance between her and Vahn. He didn’t attempt to stop her.
“As you wish, human,” he murmured.