CJ
With every step she took down the ladder, CJ’s heart sank further and further. It just didn’t feel right to leave someone behind. Who was she kidding? It didn’t feel right leaving Domik behind. Her stomach rolled at the thought of him being stranded on the damaged shuttle. What if the upper pods were damaged, and they left him behind? How could she ever live with herself?
I should have stayed with him!
Her foot slipped on the rung, her hands burning as they slid down the metal of the ladder before she stopped with a jerk as her feet hit the next rung. A jolt of pain shot through her legs, and she gasped hot air, the mask she wore thankfully keeping her from breathing in smoke.
He said he would meet you on the Zataras. He keeps his promises.
She clung to the ladder, her heart racing as she tried to calm her breathing. She could do this. Everything would be OK when she got to the escape pod.
The smoke was thick down here, and she struggled to see through the haze. She made her way down the last few rungs before her feet reached the sturdy metal grid of the floor.
Through the crisscrossed grid, she could see the lower part of the ship where the engines were housed. Sparks flew and smoke choked the air, and she quickly dropped to her knees to escape the worst of it.
She whipped around, looking for anyone in the gloom, and spotted a shape as the smoke shifted around her. The smoke cleared to show T’arq gesturing at her to hurry.
CJ crawled toward him, the torn skin of her hands smarting on the hot metal of the floor. She gritted her teeth and tried to breathe shallowly behind her mask, but couldn’t prevent a gasp of pain when a sharp edge dug into her palm.
Her heartbeat pounded in her ears, the sound of the ship tearing apart and the klaxon wailing making her head pound. Slowly, one hand in front of the other, she made her way to the escape pods.
I can do this. I can do this.
She ran the thought like a mantra through her head, trying not to think about the small escape pod that was her only hope of getting off the shuttle alive. They were like metal coffins, an image that CJ had fought to clear from her mind the first time she had seen them, but it persisted. In training, they had practiced using the pods to escape, but training and an actual emergency were very different.
She should know.
This is nothing like that.
She fought back the intrusive thoughts, pushing them aside and focusing on putting one foot—or one hand—in front of the other and slowly making it closer to safety.
A loud bang and a shudder had CJ flinching and sliding across the floor as the ship titled ominously. A scream rent the air, and a sudden gap in the smoke gave CJ a view of a prone form, blood spilling in a pool beneath them.
“No!” she shouted, staggering to her feet and taking an unsteady step toward the body. She doubled over as a cough wracked her chest. Eyes streaming from the smoke, she could barely make out what was happening.
This couldn’t be happening. Not again. Never again.
A loud screech had her frozen, eyes wide in fright, gasping for air that wasn’t there.
That noise. No, it couldn’t be…?
There was another screech, followed by a crash. As the shuttle shook, CJ fell to her knees once more and fought for breath.
There are no Xakul here. It’s just the shuttle breaking apart.
CJ laughed, knowing she was bordering on hysterical. To her, the idea of a space shuttle breaking up was better than there being Xakul soldiers on the ship. And then the smoke cleared a little, and she rubbed at her eyes. The body was… sitting up?
The tension in CJ’s chest eased as she watched Zac bend to say something to Laila. CJ crawled forward, belatedly remembering that it was she, as the medic, who should take care of any injured.
“Laila? Are you OK?” she asked as she approached, pushing back her fright and focusing on the dazed woman in front of her. Her training kicking in, CJ ran through the series of checks to see how badly her friend was hurt.
“Yeah, I think so. I must have hit my head,” the older woman said, rubbing her temple. She smiled wryly and CJ chuckled, relieved that she was simply dazed and not seriously hurt.
“Can you get her into the escape pod?” CJ asked, turning to Zac.
“Yes.” He scooped her up into his arms and slid her gently into the waiting pod. It was shaped like an egg, if a little stretched out to accommodate the taller stature of the Taurean warriors. There was a seat that, when she had first seen an escape pod, had reminded CJ of a dentist’s chair, as well as a series of controls built into the walls of the pod. The door was like a hatch, but one that slid into a recess in the pod itself, and in the door was a small window. It was through the opening of the pod that Laila now peered at Zac.
“You’ll be there? When we make it back to the Zataras?” Laila asked, clinging to Zac’s hand.
