?? CHAPTER 1 ??
Macie
It’s raining in the spaceship.
I hit the release button at the center of my harness. The straps holding me inside my pod loosen and slide away. This isn’t how I’m supposed to wake up. It isn’t supposed to be cold and wet. My ears are ringing and the air smells like ozone and engine oil.
What the hell happened?
I sit up and slide right out of my pod and onto the closed lid of the one next to mine. My teeth clack when I land on the hard surface, and I freeze. The ship is sideways. Did we crash? I can’t be the only one awake.
“Hello?”
I can barely see through all of this rain. I shoulder my hair out of my eyes. “Anyone?”
“Who’s that?” A voice calls from somewhere beneath me, beyond the curtain of water.
“It’s Macie,” I say. “Where are you?” It occurs to me that I don’t know how high up I am. I could slide off of this pod and just keep sliding and falling. There’s twenty-five pods in here and I have no sense of direction right now.
“This is Tess. I can’t see you. It’s dark down here.”
“It’s wet up here.” I shift as I try to see where I am. Bad idea. The Plexiglas lid of the pod is slippery with all the water. My sneakers squeak as I regain my precarious grip.
A young male voice calls, “I’m coming to get you.” Relief washes over me. That’s either Dean or Judd or Rick. They’re the soldiers accompanying us on our mission. If anyone can get me down from here, or at least catch me without injuring themselves, it’s one of them.
I hear scuffling from below. Okay, far below. That’s not great. They’re going to need to get the ladder out of the cargo bay. If they can even reach it. For all I know, the bay could be above us.
The soldier calls up to me again. “Yeah, you’re way up there. Damn rain. I’m on a crate, but I still can’t quite reach you. Hang tight, okay?”
“Uh. Okay.”
My sneaker slips. I scrabble my hands over the surface of the pod, but it’s all rounded glass with nothing to grip, and I’m too afraid to twist around and find an edge to grab. My other sneaker slips and my hip hits the glass hard.
“Try to grab something!” Tess calls up, an edge of panic in her voice. The glass is sliding beneath me, though, and there’s nothing to hold on to. I’m not falling, the pod is opening! It’s dumping me off! I flail for something to grab. “Shit, catch her!”
Catch me?! I’m short but I am not very light, he can’t catch me! That’s my last thought as I slip right off the pod and plummet to the ground. An empty metallic echo rings through my head as I land on top of a crate. Everything goes black.
?????
My head is throbbing when I wake. I can hear the rain still, but at least I’m not directly in it.
Someone presses a towel to my temple. “Are you awake?” Tess.
“Yeah,” I say. I blink my eyes open. I’m not even in the ship anymore. We’re in one of the huge military-style tents. I stare up at the green canvas and just know that if I try to move my head, I’m going to throw up. “Did I break anything?”
“No, thank goodness. You’ve probably got a concussion, though. Hold this.” She brings my hand up to the towel. I press it harder against my head. Her voice cracks. “I think we crashed.”
“Sure seems like it,” I groan. “Weren’t we supposed to wake up before the landing?”
“That’s what I thought.”
I swallow, afraid to ask the next obvious question. “Is… is everyone okay?”
Her answer is slow to come. “We’re still sorting that out.” She pats my hand. “Don’t move too much. Just rest.” There’s dampness in her red hair - I can’t tell if it’s blood too or just wet from the rain.
How am I supposed to do rest? We’ve crashed. I groan and I sit up. I’m on the ground on a foil blanket. Someone’s set a solar lantern in the center, dim enough that it doesn’t hurt my eyes. Several other passengers sit and lie around me. Tess tends to Gwen, who’s gingerly holding her arm up. Stella is silently weeping. Skye and Kit sit huddled together. A man is on his back, either asleep or unconscious. I can’t tell who he is from here, but I really hope he’s okay.
“Where’s everyone else?” I ask.