Deliverance by Joe Vasicek

Author:Joe Vasicek [Vasicek, Joe]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: adventure, colonization, galactic empire, short story, space exploration, pirates, romantic, novella, science fiction romance, accidental marriage, polyamory, space opera, space adventure
Publisher: Joe Vasicek
Published: 2014-05-10T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter 6

Mariya’s heart fluttered as she climbed out the hatchway onto the top of the ship. The vertigo still gripped her as she scanned the skies for any sign of the giant raptor-beasts, but it wasn’t as bad as it had been when they’d landed. The cloud-covered skies were empty, so she tossed the bag of supplies down to the ground and prepared to descend the ladder.

Strange, to think how difficult the climb had been just a few days ago. Now, it wasn’t the vertigo that terrified her so much as the raptor-beasts. Yesterday, she’d watched the sky from the underbrush for nearly an hour, until they had started to come out in the afternoon. This early in the day, there was no sign of them. She climbed down the ladder as quickly as she could, and dragged the bags to the safety of the underbrush.

After waiting for her heart to calm down somewhat, she took a deep breath through the oxygen mask and prepared to set out for the camp. Lucca was getting better, but he was in no shape to come outside yet, and she needed to stay with him as much as possible. Besides, he was horrible at preparing food, and she didn’t want him to attempt to make lunch before she had a chance to rescue it.

Some luck, she thought as she walked though the broad, leafy ferns. In spite of all that had happened to them, Lucca was in remarkably good spirits. It was almost as if the universe had a big cosmic joke, and he was one of the only ones in on it. If he ever took anything seriously, she couldn’t tell.

And yet, in spite of all that, things really did seem to be working out for them. At least, they were doing all right so far. If she were by herself here, she probably would be dead by now. But with Lucca, everything seemed to work out somehow. It was crazy, because he never made any plans for the future, or seemed to even think about it. But even though they were stranded on an uninhabited planet in the Far Outworlds with a poisonous atmosphere, with no way off and the pirates in orbit cutting off their only hope of rescue, she somehow felt that they were going to be all right. Certainly Lucca felt that way, and because he was so confident about it, she couldn’t help but feel the same.

I wonder if he’ll settle down with us when all of this is over, Mariya thought to herself. It was a crazy, wishful thought, but one that she couldn’t put out of her mind. She liked the way she felt when she was with him—the confidence that he helped her to feel. As crazy as his philosophies on luck were, she’d never met a man who made her feel so secure.

The thought made her laugh. “I must be going crazy,” she said aloud, then laughed some more. She’d never been in so much danger—how could one man possibly make her feel this way? Yet it was true.

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