Shards 02 by Peter W. Prellwitz

Author:Peter W. Prellwitz
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: sci-fi, e-books
Published: 2011-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

* * * *

There is nothing as soothing as a desert rainstorm at night. The heat is captured in the cool drops, then channeled away into the arroyos-dry riverbeds-to be quietly sucked up by the endless sands. The mesquite, as though waiting for the rains, flood the crisp air with their earthy, spicy scents until it is the

only thing you can smell and breathe. And the dust. The dust is the thing most changed by the falling rain. Dust is most often viewed as a symbol of death. But it isn't really death; it is life that has fallen asleep. And the nourishment of the cloudburst as it sweeps across the wide, sleeping desert rouses that slumbering life, and the dust is there to mix with it, feed it, and celebrate, if only for moments, the excitement of being.

It was to the smell of the dust and mesquite that I awoke. All my life I had thrilled to the promise of the dust. I had run outside and put my face to the onrushing storm clouds even when I was just a little girl.

No, a little boy. For whatever reason, I could only picture myself as a little girl. I ran outside not to greet the rain, but to smell the promise of the dust. The promise of awakening life in the cool of the desert. A promise that now called to me to wake up.

"Come on, girl! We've got to go. Wake up, Abigail! Time to bug out!"

The call to return home made me open my eyes. My head was resting on the sand and I could see the branches of a palo verde tree spread over me. A dark shape leaned over me. Susie. I could only just make out her form in the backwash of Glendale 's lights off the still cloudy skies.

"How ... how long have-Ow!” I sharply inhaled as pain lanced through my spine. My whole back was one huge throb.

"Easy. Try not to move. At least, not for a few minutes yet. I gave you a quick-acting painkiller, but the bruising is pretty massive, so it will take a little time for you to feel the effects.” She moved her head, and I had the impression she was looking off in the direction she expected the search parties-hostile search parties-to appear.

"You've been out for about ten minutes,” she continued. “I managed to carry you about a half kilometer from the crash site."

"How is it?"

"The hov? Gone. We lost all power when we cleared the earth, and Mike shoved all remaining power to the antigrav to soften our impact and force the collapse. He knew somehow that there was a good chance I wouldn't be able to manually shut down the EFP and we would continue into the other bank. He's a smart little program. Too bad he's a jerk.

"You're also in better shape than you have any right to be. Between Mike's cushioning us, your twisting on impact, and the extra give in the sand, you avoided serious injury.

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