Raven's Children by Sabrina Chase

Author:Sabrina Chase [Chase, Sabrina]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Romance, Science Fiction, AZ, human wave, Adventure, sequoyah
Goodreads: 14288536
Publisher: World's Away Press
Published: 2015-05-09T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

Friends and Enemies

“Get down the stairs!” Moire said, jerking her head back. The door mechanism was starting to move. She pulled herself into a cross–‌corridor and took aim at the door. Maybe there was only one. Maybe she could hit it.

The door was opening. More people were behind her and in the corridor, weapons up and ready.

Something grimy and ragged emerged. Just as someone shouted “Hey, they’re human!” an energy burst flashed beside her.

The door slammed shut. A minute later it opened again, slowly, and two empty, gauntleted hands emerged from the crack. They were shaking.

Moire slung her weapon and started cycling through frequencies on her comm.

“Oh god, oh god…‌you came, after so long—‌please, don’t shoot me, just…‌please!” A man’s voice, cracked and agonized. Moire patched the frequency in with theirs, so the others could hear without changing their comms.

“Who are you?”

“I’m…‌I’m Jim. Jim Perwaty. Support systems engineer on Helios. At least I was, and what’s left of her….‌”

He sounded human, anyway. “Come out slow, and keep your hands in sight, OK? We weren’t expecting you.”

“I know, I thought nobody would ever…‌” The door opened farther, and he stepped out into the corridor. “Hey, the gravity is back!”

The man’s suit was filthy and patched in several places. He was tall and thin, and from what she could see through the faceplate, had pale eyes and light tan skin. He wasn’t carrying any weapons.

“Stay there, please.” Moire switched to her team’s frequency. “Do we have any more hull vibration readings?”

“All quiet.”

She glanced beside her. Ennis was standing there, his eyes steady on Perwaty. “What do you think?”

Ennis shrugged. “Not a crab, obviously. He was as surprised to see us as we were to see him.”

“Good point.” Moire changed the frequency back. “Sorry about the blast there,” she said. “Are you hurt?”

Perwaty shook his head. “No, not even singed. Door got most of it, I think. How did you…‌are you….‌”

“We came here to salvage. We’ll be going home soon.”

He sagged in relief, and almost fell. “I almost gave up, so many times…‌” He smiled a little. “I’ve been salvaging too. This ship showed up after mine did, and it had parts I needed.”

Gren popped his head out of the stairwell. “So that was you taking the displays!”

“Seen any sign of other survivors?” Ennis asked, lowering his weapon.

“Only from my ship, and Bethalis died soon after we got here. At least she lived long enough to get the reactor going again, or I wouldn’t be here now.”

“How long have you been here?” Moire asked.

“Oh, I think it must be around three years now. Yes, that’s right.” He nodded. “Three years. I can’t wait to see the last of this death trap.”

Moire looked over her crew, thinking. They were tired before, and now they would be tired and twitchy. “OK, everybody. We’re going back to Raven for some rest. Perwaty, you want to get anything from your ship?”

Perwaty froze, his eyes wide. He shook his head sharply. “Nah, nothing worth the trouble of getting.

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