Shock Diamonds by E R Mason

Author:E R Mason [Mason, E R]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance, adventure, action, love, space flight, spacecraft, friendship, Mystery, alien, secret, flying, space travel, martial arts, combat
ISBN: 9780615812182
Publisher: E. R. Mason
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

I do not know how long I lay crumpled up in a heap in that torn-up module. I am certain several days passed. Upon waking, bits of fragmented memory lingered at the fringe of awareness, refusing to organize. One was of a heavy rain imposing dampness within the capsule. Another fragment was of a large snout of some type trying to invade my domain.

The pod’s round hatchway had blown open. My fingers and toes worked. One eye opened just fine. The other was swollen partway closed. I was lying sideways on the seat, still strapped in. The left leg was bent back against my thigh, my foot caught behind the backrest. My right leg was sticking straight up, tangled in torn cables.

There was a brooding indulgence to just lay there for a moment. Why be in a hurry to get bad news? Beyond the open hatch was a blur of green. Gentle, warm rushes of air were drifting in. I was breathing it. Without my consent, sensation began to turn on. There were too many telegraphs of pain and damage to handle at once. Perhaps, if I could free the left leg and straighten it out, I could resolve some of them. The right hand was behind me and wasn’t busy. I wiggled the fingers again and used them to climb up my rump as a preflight test for the arm. The elbow made a cracking sound, but the arm came to life. It hurried down to the captured foot and helped it work free. The leg obeyed and straightened out, coming to rest in a pile of broken pod fare. The left arm was under me. I pushed up into a sitting position and rubbed the back of my neck. Things popped back into place.

There were sounds of life coming from outside, the buzzing of insects, punctuated by calls from other unfamiliar life. It meant I had been here for some time. My pod had become accepted as a non-predatory visitor.

Swamp. That was the smell. It was unmistakable. There was a charred smell along with it. A quick examination of torso, head and limbs came up with too many bruises to count, a few abrasions, and no real lacerations other than the one I had made myself.

There was a meager first aid kit, probably put there by the people who designed the landing system. The only human-useful items: a small signaling mirror and a bar of magnesium with a striker in a small leather case. I went to tuck these things in my ragged flight suit pockets and came across the still-bloody plastic knife along with the dead guard’s passkey badge. Inventory of my resources complete, I maneuvered around to look out the open hatch without exposing myself any more than necessary.

Primitive jungle. Leaves as huge as picture windows. Vines the size of fire hose. Tree canopy sixty feet up, patches of orange sky beyond. Rich black dirt heavily decorated with plants that looked like Jack-In-The-Pulpits except they were as tall as a man.

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