Unforgiven by M.R. Forbes

Author:M.R. Forbes [Forbes, M.R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-01-26T06:00:00+00:00

28

The route Bennett made them take was anything but direct, causing the ride down from orbit to last nearly two hours. The upside of the delay was that Casey was awake by the time they were nearing the surface. Doctor Shihab guided her to the cockpit, where Natalia, Bennett, and Hayden were standing behind Rico, watching the displays while she guided the ship.

“Wow,” Casey said as she entered and saw the screens.

The Tokyo was only a few hundred meters up, hugging the mountainous, barren terrain on its approach to the Pilgrim, covering a desert land nobody would want to live in, and only the most robust survivor could remain in for long. Coarse plants lined jagged rock, both of them assuming shades of brown that continued as far as Hayden could see.

He had tried to describe the Pilgrim’s location to Bennett, only to be assured that they knew where the ship’s launch site was. The reason they had never been to it was because they had always assumed it was overrun and lost, not overrun and secured.

“Casey,” Hayden said, smiling when he saw her. “How do you feel?”

“Pretty good, all things considered. I don’t have horns or anything, do I?”

“Not so far.” He felt a fresh pang of guilt that she had taken the sample instead of him. He didn’t tell her that. He knew what she would say.

“See? It isn’t all bad.” She pointed at the screen. “Trife nest.”

Hayden eyed the display. They had passed half a dozen nests and thousands of trife already. The nests were wedged in the crags of the hills, likely out of reach of the goliaths. They had passed one of them already, too, gaining altitude to travel beyond its reach, though the Tokyo’s airborne status meant the giant hardly paid any attention to it as they went by.

Seeing so many nests, and so many trife had shaken Hayden’s hope they could accomplish anything lasting and positive here. Maybe it would be enough to help the colonists of the Pilgrim escape this hellscape for the relative comfort of Proxima Centauri? Maybe Bennett was right, that he and Natalia should head there too, and leave the people of Haven, Sanisco, Lavega, and others to fend for themselves?

“Lots of trife nests, Chains,” Bennett said. “That’s the way your world is.”

“It doesn’t have to be,” she replied. “You have the resources to stop it.”

“Not alone, I don’t. Everybody’s lost hope on Earth, whether they live here or not.”

“That’s because they haven’t met Hayden yet,” Casey said. “That’s because King is running things, and he’s an asshole. I think things can change.”

Maybe not. The Space Force had abandoned them. Someone had to stick around to help.

“Rico, ETA to the drop point?” Bennett said.

“Fifteen minutes, Sarge,” she replied.

“Let’s head back down to the hold. Chains, are you in on this?”

“I’m in,” she said without hesitation.

“You’re sure you’re okay?” Natalia asked.

“I feel fine,” she replied. “I feel the same as I did before Franklin stuck me. Where is she, anyway?”

“You don’t remember?”

“No.

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