Chapter 3
The rocks providescant shelter from the snow and wind. The wind keeps shifting direction making it impossible to start a fire even when I huddle against the rock and shield the spark with my body. My fingers go numb and I drop the lighter twice before giving up. I’d cry but I think my tears would freeze on my eyeballs. When my teeth start chattering, I pull out one of the emergency heat packs, and crack it to activate the chemicals. I cup the heat pack to my chest relishing the heat seeping into me. If I survive tonight, I need to find a better place to camp come daylight.
But I need to be able to see the ship and the rescue party.
Bundled up as best I can, with the heat pack tucked into my clothes, I sit with my back against the rock. The wind and the cold sneaks through the smallest gap and I’m sure I’ll never be warm again.
I try to stay awake. If I sleep will I ever wake? Then I see the light again. My eyes snap open and I’m fully alert. There is definitely something out there and it’s near the ship.
I so desperately want the light to be someone, so I’m not alone, that I’m on my feet with the words forming on my tongue before I realize what I’ve done. I choke back my hello. If someone is out there, they may not be friendly. Is someone else here, investigating the planet? The company wouldn’t tell me if there was competition.
So I watch and wait. Hope catching every breath as I squint through the wind to track the light’s movement and try to see who’s holding it. In the darkness, the light bobs around the ship, then up and over.
I slump down to the ground, knowing I shouldn’t have let hope butt into my despair. It’s not a person carrying a light. It’s just a light. Some kind of glowing insect, or bird or something. The heat pack is cooling and will need time before I can activate it again. The cold from the ground and rock is sinking into my bones.
I should’ve stayed in the ship. While it wouldn’t have been much warmer, I’d be out of the wind which would be nice. Overhead the storm dies away, the clouds clear and the sky is filled with stars. More suns, more planets. So many places to explore. I’ve already been to more worlds than my parents even knew existed. Some of them are inhospitable and unsuitable even for mining. I’ve surveyed moons and charted oceans made of ethanol. But stick me on the ground and I freeze to death in one night.
I guess this planet is a pretty place to die.
Better than back home.
I draw in a breath and shut down those thoughts. I will not die here. I’ll stay up all night if I must. And so I don’t freeze I’ll march on the spot. But I don’t get up. My body aches and I want to rest. The light flits closer as though following my tracks. I clutch the cold heat pack tighter. Maybe I can use it as a weapon if I throw it. The light streaks past me then comes back much slower, as though trying to figure out what I am. I want to be anywhere but here.
The light doesn’t seem to be a moth or a bug. It looks like a ball of luminous pink energy that will fit in the palm of my hand. I have no idea what it is. Some weird gas creature?
There hasn’t been a wildlife study done yet. I have no doubt that the company will claim they are insignificant or won’t be damaged. I’ve seen it happen too many times and this planet is too resource rich for this opportunity to be ignored.
After a few heartbeats, the glowing orb darts off. To get others? To report on its findings? I smile. It had been nice to have a friend.
At least I hope the light was friendly and it’s not returning with a swarm to devour me. With that thought on my mind all traces of sleep melt away.
Now I’m awake, I need to pee. I’m not running back to the ship, clambering in, and using a toilet that won’t flush without the engines running. That leaves picking a rock and hoping my ass won’t freeze. I get up and stumble away from where I was sitting. It’s only then I realize I’ll have to take off both coats to get the flight suit open.
My curses are snatched away by the wind. I close my eyes and briefly consider peeing where I stand, but wet clothes will only make me colder. With my teeth gritted I take off both coats and undo the flight suit, then I put the coats back on. It’s only then I bare my butt and squat.
After three seconds I can’t feel my ass. There’s no paper, so I use my knife to cut some cloth from the cuff of Sawle’s coat. The arms were too long for me anyway. Business done I tie my flight suit around my waist, so I don’t have to strip again. But I’m colder without the extra layer on my chest.
Is the tradeoff worth it?
I guess I’ll find out. Since I’m awake I decide to eat something before I try to settle down for the night. I open a meal kit and let it self-heat for the required three minutes before basking in the warmth and the slightly mushy texture of meat-sub and rice. It’s a dinner I’ve eaten dozens of times before. The familiarity soothes me as well as warming me. I can survive until morning.
Maybe without the wind I can even get a fire going.
Then, beneath the whistling of the wind I hear the soft crunch of footsteps.
