Page 3 of Stranded with the Alien

The pod bucked violently as something way, way bigger than her fist smashed into the hull. Her head ricocheted off a wall panel.

The last thing she remembered was seeing the distant stars merge into a stream of white as the pod accelerated. Then darkness closed in.

Two

The first thing she registered was pain.

Her neck and back ached. Her legs were cramping. Even her teeth hurt. She tried to gather her thoughts.

Okay. Let’s look at the upside.Pain is good. Pain means you’re alive.

The second thing she registered was warmth. Heat was beating down onto her face and body. She tried to moisten her lips but her tongue seemed to be stuck to the roof of her mouth. A breeze wafted across her, as dry and hot as a Sahara wind.

An unwelcome conclusion filtered its way into her brain. There was no way she was back on the Idaho. Clearly there’d been a snafu. The pod had taken her someplace else.

At least you’re breathing.Hooyah.

She opened her eyes.

A ridiculously blue sky filled her vision, so bright she had to squint. The reason for the heat became obvious when she saw two blazing discs above her. A twin-sol planet. But more importantly, a twin-sol planet with a survivable atmosphere.

She turned her head, wincing as she tried to take in her surroundings. The remains of the escape pod lay a few meters away, its hatch wide open. Must have busted loose on impact and thrown her out.

The pod was supposed to stay intact so it could provide shelter until the rescue party came calling but Kara could see it was dented and smashed. She groaned in frustration. The pilotshad been telling Central Command for months that the new pods weren’t robust enough. Did they listen? Did they fuck.

It dawned on her why her legs and back were aching so much. She’d obviously bounced a few times when she was thrown out and had come to rest in roughly the shape of a pretzel. Her body was twisted awkwardly, her limbs folded beneath her. Grimacing in pain, she straightened herself out and took stock.

One ankle was sprained and her ribs were hellishly sore, but as far as she could tell, she hadn’t suffered any major injuries. Nothing painkillers couldn’t handle, anyway. It must be her lucky day.

She sat up gingerly and looked round. She’d landed in what looked like parched scrubland – a vast expanse of sandy ground punctuated with patches of straggly vegetation. She tried to check the time but the chronometer on her wrist was smashed beyond repair.

Judging by the position of the suns, she estimated it was around midday. She raised an arm to shield her eyes from the glare. In the distance was a smudge of green, just visible on the horizon. Perhaps a forest or grassland? Either way it was a good sign. It meant the planet had water.

Beyond the green, a line of hills rose upwards. Not quite tall enough to be called ‘mountains’, but enough to provide a bracingly steep hike.

It wasn’t too dissimilar to Earth. She could have been in Arizona or Kenya. Except for one thing.

The colors.

They were all unnaturally vivid, as if someone had pointed a remote control at the world and turned them up to the highest setting. The sand wasn’t just dark yellow, it was a throbbingly intense terracotta orange.The sky was sapphire and cobalt, the clouds porcelain and ivory.

It wasn’t unusual to find planets where light had different wave-lengths compared to Earth. But nine times out of ten colors appeared duller and more monotone, not more… well, morereal.

She held up a hand in front of her face. Her normally mid-brown skin was now a golden amber. She pulled a strand of hair from her ponytail and squinted at it. Instead of black, it shone deep purple.

She grinned. Gold skin and indigo hair.Cool.

It also explained why the heat wasn’t more brutal than it was. Whatever atmospheric condition was causing the color filter, it was also acting as a shield against the twin suns. Otherwise this place would be an unsurvivable barren rock.

But it was still hot, and her dry mouth reminded her she was thirsty. Stumbling to her feet, she shrugged off her flight jacket and went to investigate the remains of her escape pod.

It was pretty banged up but it looked like it had managed to stay in one piece until the final landing. She’d only been thrown a short distance. The fact that she’d been unconscious had helped – she must have flopped like a rag-doll, saving herself from serious injury.

The survival backpack was still strapped to the inside wall and was thankfully intact. Kara ripped open one of the water containers and gulped down half its contents before making herself stop.Better conserve it. No telling how long before the Idaho finds me.

She checked the supply of rations. Enough food and water for seven days. Ten if she was careful. Hopefully she wouldn’t need all of it.

She found the med kit at the bottom of the bag and rooted through it, searching for painkillers. There was a box of morphine injections and a packet of paracetamol. She hesitated,then swallowed down a couple of pills. She’d have preferred something more potent but she needed her wits about her.

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