Terradox by Craig A. Falconer

Author:Craig A. Falconer [Falconer, Craig A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2017-03-20T06:00:00+00:00

thirty-eight

“Extension,” Holly barked at Dante. “Open the door and get the lights on.”

She then left the lander as quickly as she could and joined Viola and Grav in sprinting towards Robert. In his arms, Bo lay like an infant; a horribly pained expression was etched on his face.

The boy wore only one shoe.

“What happened?” Viola asked, almost hysterical.

Grav lifted Bo from Robert’s exhausted arms and rushed the boy towards the extension’s open door.

“Something stung him,” Robert yelled.

Grav stopped dead on the spot. “Animal?”

“Plant.”

Grav continued forward.

Robert was now panting, doubled over in exhaustion after carrying the boy for so long. He inhaled huge breaths between his words to Holly and Viola. “A thorn… a huge, huge, thorn. More like… a talon. I think… it might be… toxic.”

Holly carefully took the thorn from Robert’s hand as he lifted it from his pocket. Without doubt, talon was a fitting word.

Viola ran after Grav to join Dante in the extension, which had already been chosen as the best and obvious choice of where to treat Bo.

“We were playing with his ball,” Robert said, his voice etched with guilt. “He thought he saw footsteps heading in a direction no one is supposed to have walked yet, and it did look like there were some under the fresh dust. We followed them for longer than I realised and we came to an area with a patch of ground completely covered in plants. The ball had rolled to the edge of the patch. Bo picked it up but tripped, and that’s when the thorn pierced his skin — right through his trouser leg.”

“What were the immediate symptoms?” Holly asked. She took care to sound as relaxed as she could but put a firm hand on Robert’s back and guided him towards the extension, where Grav would have to hear all of this if he was to have any chance of helping Bo through it.

“His whole leg seized up,” Robert said. “Instantly, like a switch had been flipped. Fortunately his body fell away from the plants, at least. He was screaming like I’ve never heard. He lost consciousness through the pain and he’s been coming and going since. He didn’t feel too hot or too cold. His pulse felt fine. Holly… just tell me he’s going to be okay.”

“He’s going to be okay,” Holly said. It was the only thing she could say.

In the seconds before Holly and Robert reached the extension, Viola had already run back out.

“Where are you going?” Robert asked weakly.

“Grav asked me to get the painkillers and antiseptic stuff,” the girl yelled on her way past.

Rusev then passed Viola in the opposite direction, following Robert and Holly into the extension.

Inside, Grav and Dante stood over Grav’s bed, where Bo was lying with his eyes tightly closed and his cheeks flinching in pain. If he was conscious, his lungs had given up on screaming. Dante carefully removed his wristband and placed it around Bo’s wrist to reliably measure the boy’s vital signs. Though far from ideal, the stats were at least stable.

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