Hidden Planet by Nicky Penttila

Author:Nicky Penttila [Nicky Penttila]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Nicky Penttila
Published: 2023-08-27T00:00:00+00:00

Katla next woke in a strangely sterile bed under a soft white knitted blanket in a large room with three other beds and many, many instruments arrayed around walls painted a peaceful blue.

Hospital.

“Welcome back!” Haydee bounced into her vision. As Katla started to sit up, Haydee jammed another pillow between her and the headboard to help. Luckily, since her head started to spin, already dizzy trying to make sense of this. And throbbing.

Dehydration.

“Drink up,” Haydee said, handing her a drink-bulb of orange-flavored electrolytes. “What do you remember?”

Katla sucked the drink dry, not even tasting the sweetness, and reached out for another. Haydee took the first and slapped another gently into Katla’s palm. “We were boarding, strapping in. Seth and you were arguing about who would get the window seat.” Was the throbbing easing already?

She closed her eyes, to remember better. “I felt squished, crowded by all the stuff packed behind us.” Trying to fit Seth’s capsule into their payload, the shuttle techs had come up with a plan that involved taking down the bulkhead that divided the hold from the seating area—and taking out most of the seats. The change kept the pod intact but meant that only one row of people could make the trip this time. Not only that, but everyone had to wear spacesuits for the whole trip, so the techs wouldn’t have to figure out how to keep the gigantic hold filled and flowing with breathable air.

The capsule, still wrapped in its protective tent of material, was last in. First in was the equally bulky but squared-off medical facility. If Katla reached a hand over her head, she could touch it. If she reached down into the aisle—she’d taken the aisle seat, avoiding the argument altogether—she could touch the wrapped cables that would connect the medbay to other parts of the station.

“Then what?” Haydee waved a third drink in front of her, but Katla was still on the second.

“Liftoff. Wow! I thought we’d pushed our limits rocketing the hopper to Macadere, but this was so much more. I felt squished, but in a different way. Very fun.”

“Yes,” Haydee said. “You were cheering up a storm, and your smile almost stretched to the sides of your face, thanks to the force. Shoulda took a picture. Then what?”

“Then.” Katla frowned. “Nothing.” What had happened? Her heart stuttered. She grabbed Haydee’s arm. “Is Mom all right? Did we crash?”

“We didn’t do anything, Kay. It was all you.” Haydee sat on the edge of Katla’s bed, holding her friend’s hand. “Before we knew what was going on, your mom called it in as an emergency. You scared the whole planet! But then Arcan recognized it, and right away knew what to do.” She looked guilty, and then said, “Arcan’s with your moms right now. But nobody’s hurt!”

Katla shook her head, confused, and then regretted it. “But what did I do?” she whined.

“You’re allergic—or something—to no-G. As soon as the thrusters cut off, you started convulsing. Your eyes got so red! You were looking at me so desperate and I didn’t know what to do, because you were in the suit.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.