Twenty-five one thousand, twenty—“Holy shit!”
“What’s that?Do you see her?”Dax’s voice was almost drowned out by the rush of wind.
Dammit, I wished we had better comms.
“I see her!”I yelled.“She’s on top of one of the trees!She’s got something bright yellow on.”
“Shit, we missed her,” Dax growled.“Coming about.”
Moving as fast as I dared, I grabbed additional tethers and dragged them toward me.Then I dropped to my knees and peered out the door again.
“Do you see her?”
It was hard to reorient myself with all the never-ending green, so I was thankful for that splash of yellow.“See her!Starboard side.”
I draped the tethers over the side of the cargo door.Then I lay flat on my belly, with my chest and arms hanging over the side.I focused on the yellow, since focusing on the constantly moving green threatened to upend my stomach.
“We’re getting close!”I heard Dax say.
God, I hoped I could do this.Dax would have the upper-body strength for this.
“You should have let me pilot,” I muttered under my breath.Then it was too late to do anything but reach for the fast-approaching yellow.
A hand wrapped around my forearm and suddenly I had the weight of the world on my shoulder joint.
I wrapped my fingers around the forearm and prayed I could hold on.
“Woohoo!”One of the extra tethers pulled taut beneath my belly as she crawled up and over my body.The weight on my arms lessened, then it was gone.
A shadow loomed over me.A thud followed.Then my arm was free and dangling over the side.I snatched it back into the ship.
“That was awesome,” a voice yelled by my ear.
I could barely hear it over the pounding of my pulse.
Rolling onto my back, I watched our newest crew member bounce to her feet.My stress lessened just a smidge.It wouldn’t go down all the way until that external door was closed.
She leaned over with her hand extended.I reached up and wrapped my fingers around hers.
One minute I was flat on my back, the next I was standing.It was so fast and unexpected that I stumbled.She caught me by the shoulders and held me steady.
“Easy there.”She laughed.
A gust of wind hit me.“I, uh, I need to shut that door.”
“Oh, I got it.You seem a little unsteady on your feet.”
My eyes widened as she walked toward the door—completely untethered.
“Wait, you’re not hooked in!”I lunged for her, but she was already moving.
Burn rolled her eyes.“Don’t worry about it.”She sauntered to the door like we weren’t hundreds of feet above the ground, moving at a speed that would probably leave us a smear on the surface if we fell.Slamming the button to close it, she stared out at the green planet until it disappeared, the cargo hold sealed once again.
“That was amazing!”If her daredevil moves hadn’t telegraphed her status as an adrenaline junkie, the glee in her voice would have.
I shook my head, impressed and horrified in equal measure.I loved being on ships, but preferred to at least mostly adhere to safety protocols.
Now that the door was closed, I could hear Dax yelling over the intercom.“Dammit, Lacy, answer me!Did you get her?”
