Winter World by A.G. Riddle

Author:A.G. Riddle [Riddle, A.G.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781940026206
Publisher: Legion Books
Published: 2019-02-25T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 33

Emma

I awake to the worst hangover of my life. Or what feels like it. My head swims. I’m nauseous.

My helmet has been removed. So have my gloves.

What happened?

It was a nightmare. The ship being destroyed. Just like the ISS. I tried to save them—the crew—again.

I failed. Again.

There’s a strap around my abdomen, pinning me to the wall. I reach for it, but a hand catches mine. I’m not alone.

James comes into view. His expression is blank, but I can see sadness in his eyes.

My voice comes out in a rasp, like sandpaper running over a wall. “What happened?”

He doesn’t respond. Only averts his eyes. He unfastens the strap, and I float free.

We’re in one of the auxiliary modules. There’s a small porthole window, padded walls, and a screen on the end of the barrel-shaped space.

“What is this?” My voice is scratchy but getting better.

“This, apparently, is home. For a while.”

“Home? What—”

“I’ll let Harry tell you.”

James activates the screen. Harry’s face fills it. He’s in his sleep station, speaking quietly.

“Hi, James. Hi, Emma. The crew elected me to make this video. Forced is more like it. Please don’t hate the messenger.”

He takes a deep breath.

“We’ve talked, and we think if something goes wrong during the strike on the artifact, that you two should get back to Earth.”

He pauses.

“James, there’s not another mind like yours on Earth. You’re irreplaceable. You’ve always been a step ahead of the rest of us out here. You made the big leaps. If this is going to be a war with the artifacts, it will likely be fought with robotics. The world needs you more than we do—and more than it needs us.”

He pauses again, swallowing. His discomfort is obvious.

“Emma, you have been an amazing crewmember. The best we could have ever asked for. But you didn’t sign up for this. I know you would have, but you didn’t. And your health is failing. You can’t stay out here much longer. It had to be you two—if any of us survived.”

The words break me like a stone smashed into an anvil. The hard bits of me shatter and crumble away and lie there, unmoving. Tears stream down my face. I feel hurt, deep down inside in places I never knew existed.

James is stoic. I wonder how many times he’s watched this video. I wonder if it’s the sadness or the anger possessing him now.

I take a look around the module. There’s an exercise bike, resistance bands, and food cartons. For the second time since I went into space, I have been saved by an act of unimaginable kindness.

Harry takes a deep breath. “James, I know you’re probably wondering how we did it. It wasn’t easy. You almost caught us a few times. Lina edited the cargo list from the Fornax, deleted four of the larger engines from it. Grigory and I built the escape module while you were sleeping. It’s bigger than the Pax’s standard escape modules, obviously, and has more acceleration capability. You two will be back on Earth within two months.

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