The Escape

"Nope. All in or all off," he demanded sleepily.

I let out a frustrated breath, then moved in closer, curling up against him to get warm. He closed his arms around me and went right back to sleep. I lay there thinking and trying to be still. It could have been worse. It could have been a lot worse. Still, I felt upset and my adrenaline was still running high. I was still awake when he lifted his head, flexing slightly as he woke up. I switched positions, moving to my other hip on his other side, glad that I could finally move. He said nothing as he stared out and I tried to surreptitiously watch his face. He was tan, his hair black and his eyes so dark they seemed black. There was the slightest curl to his shoulder length hair. He wasn't ugly. He was a little bit handsome if you liked large men with a dangerous and angry look.

He looked down at me and I looked away quickly, my cheeks burning with embarrassment after being caught. I sat up and slid the com-panel open to check how much time was left. 17 hours. That wasn't as bad as I had thought. I did have a headache and I was sure it was from sleeping too much, dehydration and lack of food. Still. 17 hours wasn't so bad.

I slid it shut and leaned back, staring out at the stars again as I tried to imagine what lay on the planet. Century old mining facilities that probably weren't even intact. Would it be temperate or a wasteland? Would we be able to find food? Was there enough fresh water? I had only heard what Harris had rattled off quickly as I had been scrambling to get to the core. How long before the beacon was discovered? How long would we have to survive on the planet? Once we got closer I could send out a sweep, but not until we were less than twelve hours out.

"The Winnie you keep calling out for. She dead?"

I went still, both shocked that he had spoken to me and more shocked at what he had asked. "Yeah," I answered quietly. "She... saved me. Hid me when... and they killed her after they... They would have killed me too if they had known I was there. She knew they were coming and she hid me. There wasn't enough room for both of us in the smuggler's hole. She knew what was going to happen and she hid me, told me not to make a sound no matter what."

"Did you kill them?"

"I never saw their faces. I just heard... She begged for help. Our dad... he owed them money. He wasn't there when they came to get it, he had abandoned us. Took off somewhere."

"You kill him?"

"When I came out, I went to the docks to ask for passage away, to anywhere else. I was seven. Winnie had been eleven. The mechanic asked me where my family was and I told him I didn't have one. He shaved my head and took me on as an apprentice. Said I was his nephew. I never looked for my father or those men. He is probably dead anyway, he liked to gamble and he rarely won. I just followed Uncle Ellis around on a freighter until he died. By then I knew my way around and I got a job and was able to let my hair grow. There were other women on the ship, I felt safe. I... I have talked in my sleep since Uncle Ellis took me on."

"You don't want to hunt your father down?"

"No. It wouldn't change anything. The past will have still happened. I want to move on."

"Have you been back to your home port? Where you..."

"No. No, and I don't intend to ever go back."

"Those men might still be there, hurting other people. Other girls."

I felt sick to my stomach. "I never saw their faces. I could never be certain, and... I don't know what would happen if I thought I saw them again."

"How many were there?"

"Four."

"Did they say names?"

"I was young and I have spent my life trying to forget that night."

"But you still dream about it. What were the names?"

"I don't remember!"

"What was your home port?"

"Why does it matter? I am not going back there and you are never leaving Vesta."

"Port?" he demanded angrily.

"Minerva!"

"Trash heap," he spat. "It wouldn't be hard to find a set of four debt collectors in a gambling ring on Minerva station."

"I am not going back."

He grunted sourly.

I sat up and wiped tears from my eyes and tried to banish memories. "Where are you from?" I asked, trying to think of anything else.

He didn't answer and I turned to look at him. He was scowling at me angrily.

"You think what? That I am weak for not going back there and going after them? I'm not like you, I can't just kill someone, I don't have that in me."

"We all have that in us. You'll never stop crying for your sister until they are dead."

"Killing them won't bring her back."

"It will avenge her. Give you peace."

"We are different people, I am not bloodthirsty."

"And I am a monster. Bloodthirsty and out for blood, killing all in my path."

"You HAVE killed people. I haven't. It's easy for you and I don't want to ever do it. It should be a hard thing to take someone's life, not just something you do for any slight given to you."

"Pointing a gun isn't a slight. They are threatening my life. I am done letting anyone endanger my life. You are weak."

"Then I am weak. I am fine with that."

He grunted again and I sat up, crossing my arms, looking out and ignoring him and his angry looks. My head was throbbing and I rubbed my temples and closed my eyes, wondering how bad it was going to get. I rested my head on my arms again, wishing I had shoved a nutrient tube in my pocket.

I felt him shift and he took my arms and pulled me back against him, He turned me to face him, shoving my legs wide to straddle him. At first I went tense and pulled back, but then he pulled me tight into his chest. We were both fully clothed and he was warm and it was comfortable. I was draped over his chest, my legs on either side of him and he scooted down until his knees were against the com-panel. I sighed and closed my eyes as he clasped his hands in the small of my back and held me. My head was still throbbing, but I was comfortable enough that I fell asleep.

The dreams I remembered were all like the first one, full of heat and sex and want, his hands, his mouth, his cock. I woke up with a jerk and disoriented, the pain in my head making me wince. I felt weak and nauseous as I sat up and turned to the com-panel, sliding it open.

11 hours.

"I feel awful," I whispered, leaning over the panel to send out a sweep.

"Mm. We need water. We'll make it, it's just going to suck. You won't get much on that scan yet."

"Something is better than nothing."

"Try and stay still, don't expend too much energy."

"Temperate coniferous forests, 60% water, cool right now, gets colder."

He grunted.

"Don't like cold?"

"Hope they left clothes behind."

"Oh, yeah. Food too. Lots of it."

"The others will have arrived first, they were less heavy and left first and could burn hotter. The first of them should have landed, the lighter ones."

"Yeah. I will know in about an hour, I will be able to scan for lifeforms and then structures and ship signatures, including escape pods."

"How many on the ships manifest? I saw at least twenty people."

"Thirty four of us... I guess Lakewood means thirty three. With you, thirty four. Ugh, my brain is fuzzy."

"Mmm. Try and sleep again. You expend less energy."

"I want to wait for the scans."

"They will be there when you wake up. Want me to choke you out so you sleep? Your head won't hurt any worse when you wake up."

"No thanks," I said, letting myself fall back against him. I had no energy at all. I laid there, letting him hold me and keep me warm until I drifted off again, my body exhausted and weak.

I tipped, falling and woke up flailing.

"Easy," he grumbled. "You were talking again, louder this time."

I didn't reply, I rolled and slid the com-panel open. 4 hours. I sent a sweep and laid my head on my arm to watch.

"29 landed, partial structures, 9 degrees celsius. 3 pods closer than us. We will be three hours behind. I will have to make them think the ship lasted longer than it did or they will wonder why I am so far behind. Ugh. I can hardly see, my head hurts so bad. I hope they have food ready. And water."

"Stop talking about it. Think of something else."

"It's hard."

"Where do you intend to go once you are rescued?"

"Demeter station. They always need mechanics there, it's a trade hub."

"You know people there?"

"A few." My leg cramped up and I let out a strangled yelp as I rocked back and grabbed for it, unable to move. I screamed as it locked up worse.

He grabbed my calf and started rubbing it and I screamed again, it hurt! He rubbed hard, massaging and stretching my leg out and I broke down crying. I had had muscle cramps before, but nothing like this. He worked my leg until it began easing and I lay on my back in his lap, my leg in the air as he worked on it with me panting.

"Better? Severe dehydration causes cramping like that."

"Still hurts but it's much better," I answered, my voice still strained.

"Keep stretching it."

"Don't know if I have the energy."

"You'll be surprised how much your body can take when it needs to," he said, still working my leg.

After about twenty minutes, he helped me sit up and I lay limply against him. "Are you going to be able to get out and away once we get there?" I asked.

"I am not as weak as you."

"So you said. Still. Not sure I am going to be able to move."

"Once we land, you will have enough adrenaline to get you moving. Sleep, I will wake you when we are close enough to strap in."

"I can't sleep anymore," I said, closing my eyes.

I opened them again when he shifted me, moving me to sit up as he fastened the restraints.

"I fell asleep?" I asked weakly.

"Your body is preserving energy. Brace for entering atmosphere."

His arms closed around me and I held on to his arms weakly as we entered. He was right. Once my adrenaline started climbing, I had the energy to hold on tighter as my heart pounded. The pod rattled and shook like it was going to shake itself apart. Were we too heavy? Did we have enough fuel? Were we going to crash?

We made through and I was panting as I clutched his arms. I sat up quickly, taking over the controls and pulling up the display to find the other pods. There, near the old structures. We had maybe just enough fuel. I eased us in and set us down away from the others, just outside of the little community of old buildings, near the edge of some huge trees and a vast forest. An easy place for him to hide in.

I blew the hatch as he unbuckled us.

"Remember..."

"Not a word," I said, climbing out.

He slipped out the other side and into the woods immediately, not wasting a second.

I staggered towards the buildings and the other pods and I could see people coming to meet me.

"Rafferty," I mumbled as the head of security reached me. He picked me up and I didn't complain as he carried me back to the group.

"Here, sip this, don't guzzle it," Martin said, holding a cup to my lips. The water tasted muddy, but I didn't care. I drank it slowly and gratefully.

"Here," Blaylock said, handing me a nutrient bar.

I ate it just as gratefully.

"You were very slow in coming," Captain Jacobs said, her face set in her permanent scowl.

"Yeah, I had to conserve fuel, the last pod was low. I think someone topped off their tank with the last pod, maybe not knowing I was still aboard."

"Did you see Lakewood?"

"No, all the pods were ejected by the time I reached them. Mine was the last empty pod."

"Is there any chance you ejected the beacon?" she asked coldly.

I looked up, shocked and horrified. "What?" I looked at Halifax who had the grace to blush. As second officer, he was supposed to have done that. "No! I assumed it had been done! I was still trying to stop the meltdown up till the last."

"She was," Harris said quickly. "I assumed she went up with the ship until she appeared just now."

"Not your fault," Jacobs snapped, pursing her lips at Halifax.

The bounty hunter pushed through, looking me over. "You see the prisoner? He go up with the ship?"

"I didn't look for anyone, I was going all out to the pod. I didn't stop to see if anyone was left, sorry. I assumed everyone had gotten off, there was a single pod left and I got in it."

He scowled, but gave a curt nod.

"We will have shelters set up in these buildings," Rafferty said gently. "Langston and Hubert are out trying to see if they can hunt some meat for us. Gilliford found some fruit that is edible, and some tubers. She is out foraging for more, along with Barstow. Meadows is looking for herbs and things he can use for medical and Kal is searching all the buildings for anything we can use. Julius and Burnett are getting more water. I am guessing you didn't manage to grab anything?"

"Just the tools on my belt... I guess I left it on the pod? It was digging in. Sorry, I am still so fuzzy and tired."

"It eases. Keep sipping."

I sipped, wanting to drink it down, but made myself go slow. My limbs began trembling again and I realized I was cold. Not as cold as the pod, but still cold.

Morris pulled his coat off and put it around my shoulders. I would have said no if he didn't also have a sweater on. I didn't feel bad, even though I knew he was doing it because he had a crush on me. I stood on shaky legs, looking around.

"Harris, we need to start stripping pods. Find what we need to launch a satellite and beacon," I said weakly.

"There's time for that, get your strength up first."

"You can do that?" Jacobs demanded of Harris.

He blushed. "With Cassidy's help... honestly, I couldn't do it at all without her."

"The second she feels up to it, you get on that!" Jacobs snapped.

I paced a little, trying to get feeling back in my limbs, stretching and moving as I sipped. "Can I have a couple of these?" I asked, gesturing to the pile of green fruit.

"Yeah, there's tons out there," Rafferty said.

"Can I have more water?" I asked, holding out the empty bottle.

He refilled it.

"I am going to walk back to my pod and get my belt, get feeling back."

"I will go with you!" Morris said, stepping up.

"I will be fine," I said quickly. "I can do this, I need to get my strength back."

"Don't push it," Rafferty said, still acting like a father figure. He had treated me like a daughter since his son, Kal and I had dinner together twice. He still had hopes that we would become a thing. We had gotten along great, but there were no real sparks.

I walked back to the pod slowly, trying not to favor my sore leg. Once I got there, I looked out at the forest and lifted the water bottle and fruit, then set them on the other side of the pod, hoping he was watching. I grabbed my belt and headed back, hoping no one noticed I didn't have the water bottle with me.

When I got back, Kal was also back and he gave me a grin. "Hey, brat."

"Glad you made it, moron. Surprised you aren't a splat somewhere."

He hugged me, laughing, then turned to Jacobs. "The best building is that one there, it looks like it used to be a sleeping quarters and it has separate room bays, old metal bed frames that are pretty rusted and crumble when you touch them, but they can be cleared out. We can make beds from the pine needles that are thick on the forest floor. Double and triple up for a while. If we manage to get some of those elk things, we can skin them and use the furs as blankets. Same with those large rodents, we can sew them up together I think."

"We need to make more coats first," I cut in. "It gets cold in the winter and it's the fall season now. If we are planning on being here a while, which we have to think about, we need to do this right. We can strip out the seats from the pods, use the wiring and parts. Keep one pod intact so we can continue to run sweeps, but that's all we need. We can't get them up again, may as well cannibalize them for what we need. Use the seat covers to make covers for the bedding, but we need to think about shoring up as much as we can in the building. Is there a heater in any of the rooms?"

"Old rudimentary fireplaces that burn fuel like wood."

"I might be able to rig up some heaters, but they won't be big and the power supply may not last, we can't count on it. We may have to fell some trees and do it the old way."

Jacobs cleared her throat, giving me a flat look. "Ten minutes and you think you have it all figured out?"

"No ma'am, just trying to get ahead of this. Apologies."

She kept scowling, but looked away finally. "Harris, now that she seems to be doing better, start getting what you need to get a satellite and beacon up. Kal, you and Morris go and help pull seats. Hanover, take your team and start gathering pine needles. For now, make a huge pile, we sort sleeping arrangements when night falls. Hurry up, we have maybe three hours of daylight left!"

I was still weak and shaking as Harris and I began opening up the pods. I was feeling grumpy that Jacobs was being her usual surly and angry self. No one else was allowed to make a suggestion or talk about what needed to be done in front of her without her taking offense like you were trying to take something away from her. I didn't like her as a captain, but I did like Harris. He was good at what he knew and didn't have issues admitting what he didn't know and getting help. I respected that about him. He also didn't care that I was half his age and knew things he didn't. He said you were never too old to learn new things, no matter who was doing the teaching. Jacobs was not of that same opinion.

After the first pod was half stripped, I went and got more water, grabbing a new bottle to fill. No one seemed to notice. Morris kept working as close to me as he could, looking at me and blushing. He was super shy and I pretended I had no idea he had a crush on me, hoping he wouldn't get up the courage to say anything. I had no interest in the awkward, gangly young man. I liked guys who were smart and fun, who could give as good as they got. Sort of like Kal, but with more spark. He was like a brother, a best friend. We both felt the same way about that. The thought that I might be trapped here for a while with only those two close to my own age made me a little melancholy. I guess if all else failed, I could finally do something about my crush on Meadows, even if he was fifteen years older. He was hot and single, divorced four years now. I'd had a crush since the day I met him but never acted on it because of the age difference. I wondered if he had every thought of me that way?

Thinking along those lines made me think of the prisoner. I had no idea what his name was. I looked over at the bounty hunter. He was sitting in one of the stripped chairs, taking his ease while everyone else worked.

"What's his name?" I asked Kal, motioning to him.

"Umm, Russo I think?"

"Russo!" I yelled. "Why don't you come help strip wire?"

He glowered at me a moment, but when others looked at him, he got up and came over with a sour expression. I handed him the wire cutters and he snatched them away angrily.

"Where are you from?" I asked idly, as if making conversation.

"Io station."

"Heard it's cold there?"

"Mph."

"What made you become a bounty hunter?"

"Family business."

"So that guy you had on the ship? The one that died, who was he?"

"Phillippe Alvarez."

"What did he do?"

"Murdered a lot of people, why all the questions?"

"Heard everyone else's stories a hundred times. Just wanted to hear about something exciting for once."

"He was dangerous, killed every hunter who came after him until I hunted him down. Wanted on seventeen planets. Don't even know how many people he'd killed. Deserved worse than a quick death, I'll tell you that."

I nodded as I worked, listening to him spin tales that I knew weren't true just by the way he was talking. He was making it up as he went. I pretended to eat it up, though Kal kept giving me looks like he was wondering why I was listening to the obvious lies like I cared.