Chapter 7
I sit up,clutching the fur to my chest, which I immediately regret as everything hurts. But Indiz isn’t in the room. I’m tempted to call out…but I’m safe and warm and I’m sure he’ll be back. I peel the fur away and glance down. There are livid red and purple bruises where the harness cut into me. My bra strap has slid off my shoulder during the night and my neat bun is a thing of the past. I pull out the rest of the pins and the elastic and run my fingernails over my scalp.
For several seconds I sit and stare at the walls, wondering what I will do today. I don’t need to go searching for shelter, and I have days until rescue arrives. My stomach grumbles, and my mouth is dry. While I have somewhere to stay, I still need to eat. I wait a couple more heartbeats before getting up.
When I do, the floor is like ice beneath my feet, and even though the fire is still burning the room is cold. I want to dive back under the furs but now I’m up I should dress and get ready to face the day.
Though what exactly I’m preparing to face, I don’t know.
There’s no one here but me and Indiz. And I don’t see any point in returning to the ship until day six. Today is day two. Someone will come. I hold on to that thought, as I slip on my flight suit and socks. After a moment of hesitation, I pull on my boots too. My knife is missing.Shit.It isn’t much of a weapon, but it’s all I have, and I need it. I scan the room, and while I see my bag, I don’t see my knife. A scowl forms because I don’t remember bringing my bag.
I’m sure it was left at my camp site in the rush.
Maybe I’m remembering wrong. With the attack and then the rescue there was a lot of adrenaline in my system. Add in some shock… I shake my head. I should be grateful he went back to get it as now I have food and water. I rummage through the bag, hoping my knife is in there. It’s not. But I grab a bottle and take a long drink. As I do, I wander around the room, making a closer inspection than I had last night. There is nowhere for Indiz to hide. There are no hidden nooks or bathrooms. Just the bed, the fireplace, and a wooden chest of clothes.
No knives hide in there either.
I finish the water, and the need to pee twists in my belly.
He never mentioned a toilet. And I never asked. That was an oversight. What if there isn’t one anywhere?
The more I think about it, the more I need to go.
I weave my way out of the room and stand on the walkway, my gaze lifts to stare at the bridges, and walkways and the black shadows of the other doorways. There must be hundreds of rooms. People had taken the time to carve out this city. Who were they? And why had they left? Nothing I had read about the planet suggested there’d ever been people here, but if the mining company had buried that I wouldn’t be surprised.
The company need to learn about this and do a proper investigation. History should be protected. I’ll have time to explore, to stand on the bridges and look down. Indiz’s warning about not going into other peoples’ rooms echoes in my mind. All those dark openings can’t be bedrooms. Can they? Will I have to check each one to find a bathroom?
I don’t have time to check each room.
A little part of me feels sad that he’s abandoned me. Was it because I wouldn’t let him hold me? That’s all he’d done. And he had been nice and warm.
The rest of me is annoyed that he’s left me in this place with no directions. What did he think I would do, sit in bed all day and watch the fire?
My gaze skims over the architecture, then lands on the central foyer and across to the opening where we slid in last night. There’s nothing else I can do. I will have to leave the city and pee outside, again.
After adjusting my flight suit and putting on both coats, I jog down the stairs and across the ground floor. I don’t want to leave the safety of the city, but I don’t have another choice.
“You could’ve told me where the bathroom is before taking off,” I mutter.
Where did he have to be that was so important, anyway?
The crevice in the rock is plenty wide enough for just me. Before I’m even outside the wind bites at my clothing, trying to find warm flesh to feed on. I shiver, and vow to not drink much until I find the bathroom.
I brace myself for a storm or an icy blast as I step out, but the sky is clear and blue. It’s the view that steals my breath. Below the snow, the mountains are draped in forest. More trees than I have ever seen in my life. I know from the scans and footage; they are huge and each one is worth a small fortune. The forest stretches on for as far as I can see. There’s more mountains to the left, to the right a wide lake.
Dizziness rushes over me, and I put my hand on the cold rock to steady myself. It’s one thing to fly over all of this, but another to have my feet on the ground and to understand the scale. If I tried to explain this to my parents and people back home, they wouldn’t be able to understand. There are no trees, only scrub and rocks and algae. My home world is sparse. This place is lush.
I don’t want it to be ripped apart and mined until only the worthless rocks and bones of the animals are left. But there’s nothing I can do to stop it besides making sure people learn about the city. I need a drone so I can record footage.
I shudder at the memory of sliding down the narrow trail. The only reason I’m alive is because of Indiz. I’m not brave enough to tackle the trail on my own. When he comes back, I’ll ask him.
I move away from the crevice as far as I dare to do what I need. I tear a little more fabric off the sleeve—which is harder without my knife. Even though I’m cold, I don’t go in right away. I want to soak up the view.
I’m the only human here. Maybe the first.
I close my eyes and breathe in the sharp, snowy air then open my eyes. I won’t be the last. And for a heartbeat I almost want to be forgotten about. If no one finds me, this world is safe from destruction. In the next heartbeat I want to be found so badly it hurts. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life peeing in snow drifts and hiding in an abandoned city.
For the moment that’s exactly what I do.
