The Star Bell (The Cendrillon Cycle Book 3) by Ricker Stephanie

Author:Ricker, Stephanie [Ricker, Stephanie]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Published: 2016-05-26T16:00:00+00:00

Elsa’s face was utterly still. Fragments of the broken faceplate were scattered in her hair.

Seeing the largest squirrel’s death, the rest of the animals had disappeared back into the trees, giving everyone a moment’s breathing space to comprehend the seriousness of the situation. Anders put a hand on Karl’s shoulder. “She’s already been exposed to the atmosphere,” he murmured. His voice was sympathetic and pitying.

Karl set his jaw. He needed neither sympathy nor pity; she was alive. He was sure. “Elsa Vogel,” he said, his worry making him sound stern, almost angry. “Wake up.”

The hand he hadn’t realized he had been holding tightened, and Elsa’s legs shifted. Elsa opened her eyes and gave him a groggy smile. “You’re bossy,” she said. She closed her eyes again.

He huffed a laugh that was suspiciously close to a sob. Beside him, Marraine made an odd, whistling sigh of relief. “Yeah,” he replied. “So I’ve been told. How do you feel?”

Her eyes snapped open this time, and she grinned. “Fine, other than a bit of a headache. Your voice sounds funny, though. My helmet commline must have been damaged.” She made as if to sit up, and Karl put a hand on her shoulder to restrain her.

“Are you sure you should be moving?” he asked carefully. “Nothing broken?” She clearly didn’t realize her faceplate had been shattered. He wondered if adrenaline or something in the alien atmosphere was dulling her to whatever physical reactions she should be experiencing as she breathed in who knew what.

“Nope,” she said, sitting up in spite of his restraining hand. “The squirrel never managed to hurt me; it was just blasted heavy. Help me up, will you? My head feels a little woozy.”

He slipped an arm beneath her shoulders, and she looked at him as if noticing his distress for the first time. “What is it? You look as though I’m going to shatter.”

He didn’t trust his voice to answer, so he hoisted her carefully to her feet, expecting to catch her any moment as her lungs ceased to work. The broken shards of the faceplate shifted as he lifted her, falling with a tinkle to the rock below. Elsa’s gaze followed the sound.

“Where did that come from?” Her expression froze, and her hand flew to her helmet. “Oh no.” She felt the faceplate opening with cautious fingers. “Please, no.” She looked at Karl, panic-stricken, and for a wild moment he was tempted to rip off his own helmet and give it to her, even knowing it would do no good at this stage.

“I’m sorry,” he said, as if it were his fault.

“How long do I have?” she asked, fingers still resting on the bottom rim of her helmet.

Anders answered gently. “We don’t know. We had collected air samples but didn’t have time to analyze them before the animals attacked.”

The panic was gone from her eyes, and the spark of determination Karl was used to was back. “So there’s a chance I’ll be okay,” she said. “This atmosphere could be human-compatible.

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