Page 38 of Rescuing Mara

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Today isthe fourth day of our journey. We are flying through a region of space that is subject to exploding stars and black holes. These objects seem to cluster together, and we should navigate them carefully.

“It feels like flying through a fucking minefield,” D’Var complains. The men have teamed up, working together to get us home safely. Lauren and I are strapped into the couch so we don’t lose our footing when the ship executes sudden movements - no more autopilot at this point. O’Rec holds onto the controls while T’Rak shouts commands and D’Var obsesses over scans. Even Lauren is quiet, and she seems unsure, so I grab her hand and squeeze it.

From this position, we have a top view, which is as scary as it is reassuring. We see every flare and every drifting asteroid, but we also know the calm with which our men maneuver us through.

We are nearly at the end of the solar system when a large tremor moves through the ship. D’Var curses out loud, but the conversation the men undoubtedly have is silent.

“What’s happening?” I ask Lauren, who must know; D’Var must have told her.

“Don’t know yet,” she clips out. “We should hold on to something.”

The words barely leave her mouth, or the ship shoots upward. I yelp, but my straps keep me safely tethered to the couch. Furniture crashes, and I hear Lauren cry out. I grab her hand.

“We will be alright, we will be alright.” We chant the words together, but even though I started our chorus, I’m not sure I believe the words myself. The men are working like crazy, still stuck on their silent communication, which is totally giving me an eerie feeling right now. So I do the only thing I can think of: I hold on to Lauren and pray to the stars we will survive.

The ship must have been shaking for minutes, and when the shaking stops, I almost think we’ve made it, but that’s when we suddenly make a dive for the left. I see the screens flicker; the data keeps changing, and when the ship spins, I see the atmosphere of a big, ugly brown planet coming at us at breakneck speed. It looks like this planet is somehow pulling us in, pulling us onto the surface. With a terrifying shudder, the ship shoots through the atmosphere. Alarms are blasting through the ship, and the lights pop, leaving us with minimal lighting.

I feel the ship plummet towards the planet’s surface, which is getting closer and closer. The brown sand and mountains, with what appear to be storms swirling across the barren land, are not a pretty sight. My stomach drops, and an uneasy feeling creeps up in my body. We are going to crash.

Panic overflows my nerves as I look at O’Rec. He turns to look at me and says something, but the alarms are still blaring in my ears, and I can’t hear him.

The ship starts shaking uncontrollably, and I close my eyes and hold on to Lauren as the ship inevitably meets the planet’s surface.

I feel the impact before I hear it. I am frozen and watch it all play out before me. Somehow, O’Rec manages to pull up the front of the ship, and we sail across the sand until we brutally skid to a halt against a rock formation sticking out from the dunes.

Someone is shouting, and I hear crying. The ship shudders and trembles until it’s still.

* * *

The entire floorof Command is covered with equipment. The ship's walls are still sleek and smooth, but every cabinet has emptied its contents on the floor where scanners lay shattered next to tools. Screams and cries surround me, but there’s a ringing in my ears that makes it hard to tell where the sounds are coming from. I’m afraid the crying comes from me.

I look next to me, where Lauren is slumped on the couch, a nasty gash on her head that’s bleeding profusely. I barely register it when something big and gray shoots past me and unbuckles her, cradling her limp body. Somebody touches my shoulder, and my head snaps back, looking into O’Rec’s worried eyes.

He still tries to speak to me, so I yell back. “I CAN’T HEAR YOU!!!” I see realization hitting its mark. He unbuckles me and takes me to the med bay, where D’Var gently lies Lauren down on the gurney.

“I’M OKAY!” I shout, then point to a chair lying sideways on the ground. I walk towards it and pick it up. The med bay is a mess; packages of different sizes and substances lay strewn across the ground, but I can’t find any energy to do something about it.

I close my eyes, hoping it will shut the ringing out. It only dims the noise a bit, but I take all I can get at this point. I try to focus on breathing, but there is too much turmoil, and I miss O’Rec’s presence to center me. I feel worry and panic clouding my brain, but I push them back. I might not be brave or strong, but I can damn well try to be.

He touches my shoulder, startling me and pulling me out of my thoughts. He mouths something and holds up something that looks like a syringe. It must be the nanos he gave me on my first day. I nod at him, holding out my arm. Healing and nanos for the win. It would make this experience a lot less terrifying if I could only hear him again.

The sting feels nonexistent compared to what we just endured, and when it’s over, I let O’Rec pull me into his arms without resistance. I breathe in his scent and instantly feel calm and centered. The ringing in my ears lessens with every heartbeat, and it barely takes a minute for me to regain hearing.

I hear D’Var talking to Lauren, he’s speaking way too soft for me to make out any words, but I know they’re words of encouragement by the timbre of his voice.

“O’Rec?” I test my voice. “Are you okay?”

“I am okay, my Zarra. You had me worried for a bit.”

“How’s Lauren?”

He strokes my knuckles. “She will be fine. She hit her head pretty hard, and it was bleeding a lot. Luckily, the injections are very well secured, so none of our essential medical supplies were damaged.”

“Essential medical supplies?” That sounds rather… dire.

“Yes, things that can be life-saving, like the nanos. We have some antidotes and things that will speed up the healing even faster. These injections are secured in an anti-gravity safe. So, no matter what happens, they will remain undamaged.”

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