Survivor (3 page)

"Confirmed," the ship said.

The engines whirred back into action and the
ship turned towards the Galleas System. The lights and temperature
control remained at low activity. They needed to focus on
surviving, finding the fugitives and getting the fuel cell
replaced. Then Nova could get out of these damned outer planets and
back to The Jagged Maw. Perhaps there would be enough money to give
Crusader a real overhaul.

Nova relished the idea of returning to The
Jagged Maw. She would give Aart the beating of his life for sending
her out on this fool's mission. If he'd just kept his big mouth
shut, she would never have come out here. She chided herself. The
thought of so much money was what had driven her here, not
Aart.

She took the time to walk through Crusader
and make sure there was no contraband lying around. Not that there
was much risk of that after the main cargo pod was blown to pieces.
Nova breathed a grateful sigh of relief that most of her
possessions were stored in a lockbox back at The Jagged Maw.
Without that stockpile she'd have nothing; she'd be thrown right
back to where she was five years ago when she first left
Tabryn.

The ship was a mess. At least, for the
moment, it was a legally-sound mess.

The storeroom was the largest area on the
ship. It had some basic supplies that Nova needed, and was also the
main entry point to the cargo pods.

The rest of the ship was a collection of
tightly packed pods. She went to her room and collected her clothes
from the floor. Thick trousers and dark singlets were strewn across
the pod. She shoved them into the small cupboard set into the wall
and straightened her silver blanket.

She checked her gun, looking over the charge
bar and the trigger mechanism. Catching the fugitives would be
easy. They wouldn't have been constantly in and out of prison if
they weren't easy to catch. She was much more concerned about the
Confederacy. Most of the Human Confederacy didn't take kindly to
the bounty hunters. They saw them as unruly outsiders that were
difficult to control. It made the Confederacy a nightmare to work
with.

"I've got a collection of ships up ahead,
surrounding the planet Archalon," Crusader said.

Nova hurried through the transport tunnels,
back to the pilot's pod. Crusader's front screen was filled with
the darkness of space, interspersed with unmarked ships. They were
evenly spaced around the nearby planet; their metallic hulls
glinted in the light of the duel suns.

"Three," Nova said. "The rest must be on the
surface. Can we get past these without being blown to pieces?"

"Low engine activity will make Crusader
difficult to detect," said Cal.

"Good enough."

Nova tied her hair back, threw her bag of
supplies over her shoulder, and made her way to the storage area.
She grabbed her trench-coat from where it was draped over the
engine and shoved it into her bag. She pulled up the trapdoor and
dropped into the pilot's seat. Glass rose up to surround her and
with a few button presses, the lander clicked free.

The lander was a tight fit; Nova's arms and
legs pressed against the sides of the ship and the top of her head
brushed the glass ceiling. Her hands were firm on the steering unit
as she guided the tiny craft away from the bigger ship.

The black of space was replaced with blue
sky as she entered atmosphere. Nova marvelled at the crisp, clean
air, so unlike the upper-atmosphere of most of the Confederacy
planets.

The planet below was covered in clouds. The
first few layers were thick, looking almost solid. Below that they
thinned out and left wispy trails through the air. The clouds were
mostly grey but the nearby sun reflected all the colours of the
rainbow in the small water droplets. Green, red and purple glinted
through the lander's front window.

The planet spread out in all directions.
According to the scanners it was three-quarters of a standard
planet, based on Earth, with no discernible continents. The whole
thing was covered in brown dirt and sand. Mountains rose up in
jagged peaks and smooth dunes. There was no sign of water. The
entire planet looked like one continuous desert.

"There's no record of life on this planet,"
Cal said.

"So what do the Confederacy want with it?"
Nova said. "Resources perhaps?"

"Possibly. Radar reports the Confederacy
ships are to the west."

"Then that's where I'm headed. I'll
touchdown near here and walk the rest of the way. Cal, stay in
radio contact; you never know what those crazy Confederacy bastards
are going to do."

The lander came to rest on the planet's
surface with a gentle thud. The glass bubble retracted and Nova was
slammed with heat and a harsh wind. She narrowed her eyes against
the grit and glare and climbed out of the vessel. She jumped down,
her boots landing in sand. She pulled on her thick trench-coat and
laid a hand on her pistol.

CHAPTER THREE

The wave of heat rushed over Nova's skin. Sweat sprouted on
her forehead and created a thin layer on her arms. She squinted
against the sun. The warm desert wind did nothing to stop the water
from evaporating straight off her body.

She reached into the satchel at her side and
pulled out a thin pair of sunglasses. She slipped on the shades and
sighed with relief. The smart-glass tinted according to the glare,
in this case turning practically black.

With her vision restored, Nova observed the
desert. There was sand as far as she could see. Loose powder danced
down the sides of dunes the size of mountains.

A chip inserted into her brain allowed her
to communicate with Cal and Crusader. The chip picked up on her
thoughts, although she often spoke out loud from habit.

Her mouth was already parched from the
desert air. "How far have I got?"

"Estimated two days walk," Cal said.

Nova groaned. She'd barely been standing in
the desert for two minutes and it felt like tiny hammers were being
smashed into her temples and along her forehead.

"I don't suppose our portable food-generator
is working yet?" she said.

She gazed back at the lander. She imagined
the carefully-controlled temperature, the shaded glass, wishing she
was comfortably inside. For the moment, she had forgotten that the
systems were turned off. Soon, the inside of the ship would be even
hotter than the planet's surface.

"Negative," Cal said. "Recommend conserving
water and looking for fresh sources when possible."

"Got it."

She snorted to herself. It would be just her
luck to be stranded on some distant planet with no fuel and then
die of dehydration. That would not be a glamorous way to go.

"Well the longer you stand here thinking
about it, the more likely it is that it will happen," she said to
herself.

Her chapped lips rubbed together and gave
her the motivation she needed. She put one foot in front of the
other and started off through the sand.

It was difficult. Her shoes sunk into the
soft sand and the heat of the desert encased her feet with every
step. Her dark trench-coat burned as it sucked in the heat of the
day and poured it over Nova's skin. She considered taking the
garment off, but then the sun would burn straight through her. By
the time she reached the Confederacy site, she'd be a giant
blister.

The desert looked the same in all
directions. The monotony of the sandy landscape made way for Nova's
imagination. She slipped away to thoughts of The Jagged Maw and the
coolness of space.

"You could have called for help," Cal said,
picking up on her thoughts of The Jagged Maw.

Nova sighed. He was right. She could have
called Aart or Tanguin, but she wouldn't. She'd never admit to them
that she was stranded. She certainly didn't get off of Tabryn by
asking for help.

"No, Cal," she said firmly.

The heat and desolation of the desert
landscape reminded her of Tabryn. What felt like a lead ball formed
in the bottom of her stomach when she thought about her homeworld.
She clenched her fists at her sides and her face flushed hot. Bile
rose in her throat as she thought about how she'd had to fight for
survival. She spat into the dusty ground but the foul taste
wouldn't go away.

In an instant her mind was transported from
one desolate desert to another as her thoughts were overwhelmed
with memories of Tabryn. Nova could still remember the broken
robots and machinery that dotted the sandy landscape like forgotten
statues. Outer Tabryn was a festering squalor of drugs and
violence. It was the inescapable product of Inner Tabryn, the
biggest casino district in all the human colonies.

In the haze coming off the hot sand Nova
could almost see the flashing lights of Tabryn's casinos in the
distance. She shook her head and stared hard at the ground. This
wasn't Tabryn. She dug the nail of her right index finger into her
left palm. She pushed harder until tears of pain stung the corners
of her eyes and brought reality crashing back. This was a different
planet, a different galaxy; her childhood couldn't reach her
here.

She forced herself to move forward, away
from the lander and her memories.

It felt like an eternity before the second
sun took its dive towards the horizon, delicately kissing the edge
of the desert. The giant orb lit up the sand and sky with bright
oranges and reds. It cast the clouds above into glowing halos.

The wind took on a chill which seeped
straight through Nova's skin. She was suddenly grateful for the
trench-coat clutched around her shoulders.

The sun was replaced by two full moons which
rose from opposite sides of the sky. One glowed blue and the other
was bright red, they glared at each other across the stars.

Nova admired the landscape. The
insufferable, unending sand had been replaced with a rainbow
kaleidoscope of crystals. The ground glimmered purple under the
mixed light of the moons. They created opposing paths across the
sand, like glowing bridges leading away into some other world.

Nova slugged through the thick sand. Hours
after the sun had set, her thighs ached in protest. Her eyelids
drooped lower, blurring her vision of the desert. She tripped over
a dip in the sand and sprawled onto the ground. The fall knocked
the air out of her lungs and she lay gasping for breath.

She pushed herself to a sitting position and
looked around. There was nothing but desert in all directions.

"As good a place as any," she muttered to
herself.

She used her legs to push the sand until
there was a hole in the ground, big enough for her to lie in. She
huddled into the hollow and tucked her coat tight around her
shoulders. Her eyes flickered closed. Despite the exhaustion
coursing through her arms it was hard to sleep. The sand scraped
her cheek and tickled her nose.

In her half-awake state her thoughts zoomed
to Tabryn, to the worst bed she'd ever found. The day had started
so well. She'd spent the morning playing with the other orphans.
She still remembered how light her heart had felt as they laughed
and tossed a ball made of old rags to each other. In the evening it
was time to work.

She spent the evening carrying plates of
food to the customers and Roxy's ladies. The food always smelled so
good. Nova's stomach rumbled and she licked her lips. All she'd had
to eat was a few dried biscuits. Right here in front of her was
steaming meat, and chips! All of it covered in delicious salt. She
sniffed deeply, enjoying all the smells.

She put the plate on the kitchen counter and
looked around. The other orphans were out serving food, for the
moment she was alone. She reached out a tentative hand and clutched
a warm chip. She brought it slowly to her mouth, enjoying the heat
flowing through her fingers. She could actually feel the crystals
of salt on her fingertips.

Her mouth watered. She opened her mouth and
closed her eyes.

"What do you think you're doing?" Roxy
hissed.

Nova's eyes flew open. Her hand opened and
the chip fell through the air. It fell end over end until it landed
with a soft thud on the wooden floorboards.

"I feed you, I give you shelter, and you
steal from me!" Roxy's voice was soft but laced with venom. She
moved across the kitchen towards Nova with the grace of a
cobra.

Every muscle in Nova's body clenched. Her
throat closed over and she couldn't talk.

"You've been nothing but trouble. I will
beat you bloody until you learn some respect! You little thief.
After everything I've done for you…"

Nova's heart pounded into overdrive. She did
the only thing that made sense; she ran. She sprinted around Roxy
and bolted for the door. She burst out into the dirty street and
kept running. Roxy's curses followed her all the way up the street.
She daren't stop.

Nova kept running until she was as far from
home as she'd ever been. She was at the very edge of Outer Tabryn;
it was even more derelict than the rest of the planet. The
buildings lay in broken heaps on the ground, the broken stones
blending in with the broken bodies.

She shivered. Her bare feet bled from the
shards of glass she'd stepped on in her mad escape. She wrapped her
arms around her body and looked around. She couldn't go back to
Roxy, at least not tonight. Maybe by tomorrow Roxy would be too
hung-over to punish her. Nova took a deep breath and looked around;
it would be suicide to sleep in the open.

There was a pile of rubbish bags stacked
against the side of a dilapidated building. She scurried over to
it, moving in the shadows. There were bound to be people watching
her and it was best they didn't see where she was going. She darted
in and out of patches of darkness until she reached the rubbish
heap.