Page 31 of Soliv Four
From the broken foliage on the other side, she guessed that was the point where the other men started their trail. Although it was still early, the jungle was already hot and humid. So Tomak opened his across-the-body bag and handed Angie one of the water bottles he’d packed.
Tomak then took the lead along the trail marked out for them. Although it was a hot and sweaty trek, Angie was able to keep up because of all the physical training she’d done in the moon spans since coming to Soliv. She was also grateful for the insect repellant patches that kept away the multitude of biting insects rampant in the jungle.
It took almost two spans, which were equal to roughly three hours Earth time, for them to reach the crash site and the rest of Tomak’s unit. They had used the time to pull away enough vegetation covering it to identify the insignia on the ship.
“It’s one of ours, commander, a Galaxy Class Evac Carrier,” said Praxus. “They did come for us.”
“The pilot?” Tomak asked, surveying the vessel with his hands resting over his hipbones.”
“Dead. He made it out, but what’s left of him is over there.” Lazko said. “I couldn’t tell what happened to him. From the amount of cover on the ship, it’s been moon spans since it crashed.”
“It seems to be intact, but the plant cover could be hiding damage.”
“Can we get inside?” asked Tomak.
“No power to the ID pad. The manual override is jammed,” Praxus said. “Emon is working on it now.”
A low grinding sound drew their attention to the ship where their colleague was forcing the manual lever to crank open the entrance they’d uncovered. Once it slid open far enough,D’aktangripped the door and pull while Emon cranked.
They managed to get the door opened far enough so they could squeeze their big bodies inside. It was pitch dark, and they didn’t have a solar light between them.
They were in prison; they had no need for solar-powered lights to see in the dark. The ship probably had auxiliary lighting inside somewhere, but they needed light to find where to switch them on.
“Can we make a torch out of something?” Angie asked.
“If we had a fire starter, we still need something that isn’t too damp to light,” said Tomak.
“Why don’t I go in and feel around for the switch. These carriers usually have a switch at the entrance,” Emon suggested.
“Yes, give it a try, Emon,” Tomak agreed.
Emon went inside and ran his hands over the wall beside the doorway. The regular motion sensor switch didn’t work, but a manual control higher on the wall did. The interior was dimly lit, though enough to allow them to navigate the interior of the ship.
“D’aktan, stand watch out here with our women, while I go inside with Emon and have a look around.”
“Yes, Boss.”
As Tomak joined Emon inside the ship, Angie greeted the other two females in their group. None of them trusted the security of their flats in the residence to leave their mates behind. Angie was glad because she wouldn’t have wanted to be left there alone.
NINETEEN
As a military spaceship, the evac carrier was compact, with twelve berths a little bigger than utility closets. They consisted of a single wide bed with storage underneath. The occupant entered from the end of the bed and closed the privacy door with a switch at the bed's head.
It was a strictly utilitarian craft with stealth technology that allowed them to extract their operatives from dangerous situations. Every passenger got the same accommodations in the interest of streamlining the vessel.
There was a single lounge that doubled as the mess hall with seating for twelve. The ship only carried survival rations and packaged drinks enough for twenty rotations. That was generally enough time for them to get back to the mothership that dispatched them.
Tomak and Emon started at the bridge, where Emon found the switch to turn on the main power. From there, they worked their way through the ship to the propulsion compartment. There they saw a computer readout flashing a warning that one of the primary drive crystals was damaged.
“That most likely happened in the crash. They don’t usually crack otherwise.”
“Aren’t those the same crystals we dug in the mines?” Tomak asked.
“They are except these are refined and cut to exact specs. We might find spares in the engineer’s tool cabinet,” Emon suggested.
“Go ahead and check, then we will check the weapon stores.”
Emon went to the tool cabinet and opened it. “No, sir. The crystals in the unit must be the replacement set. Now that we have the power turned back on, we can run a complete diagnostic to see what other damage this ship has sustained.”
