The Extinction Trials(30)
Had they run out of food? She hadn’t seen any. In fact, the ship had been devoid of anything resembling a last meal. Perhaps animals or insects and time had washed away that evidence. The suits likely preserved the cadavers, making it hard to tell how long they’d been dead.
Maya felt wetness beneath her nose and instinctively knew that it was blood. Without a thought, she reached up, only then realizing she couldn’t get to it while wearing the suit. It flowed across her lips and chin unabated, a savage and bizarre feeling—blood on her face that she couldn’t wipe away.
A headache began then, a low pulsing pain of pressure with nowhere to escape. The hurt brought a memory.
Maya was standing in a large room with floor-to-ceiling windows. People strode by on the sidewalk outside. She was sweaty and lightly winded in the memory. She felt the same nosebleed then—right before she collapsed. Yes, she had been sick—that’s why she had been brought to the hospital.
Was whatever had sickened her before returning? Or was she never truly healed?
She was so lost in the thought that she didn’t realize Alister had returned.
“Something wrong?” he asked over the radio, his voice urgent.
She turned to him. “No.”
“You’re bleeding.”
“It’s nothing.”
“Is your suit failing?”
“No. It’s fine. It’s just… I’m fine.”
“Well, the ship isn’t.”
“What do you mean?”
“The engine won’t turn on.” Alister motioned to the couple. “We’re as stranded here as they were.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Back at the station, Owen and Cara waited in the decontamination chamber as the nozzles above sprayed their suits down. When the process was complete, they hooked their oxygen tanks up to the replenishing alcove.
It was frigid in the main hallway and only slightly warmer inside Observation Two, where Will and Blair were sitting in the corner, wrapped in blankets. Will held up the tablet, reading aloud to the girl, who was wearing the environmental suit that was far too big for her. The helmet lay to her side, ready for her to put it on at a moment’s notice.
“You’re back,” Will said as he stood. “Is everything all right?”
“We’ll know more soon,” Owen said, hoping the meaning was clear to Will.
The younger man cut his eyes toward Blair. “Right. Well, we found a cache of books on the tablet, so that’s kept us busy.”
“Why’s it so cold in here?” Owen asked. “Power problems?”
Will shook his head. “No. Surprisingly, the power has been somewhat steady while you were gone. I just cut it back to take some pressure off the power plant.”
“That’s a good idea,” Cara said. She motioned Owen to one of the folding chairs. “Now, I need to perform that medical eval.”
Owen groaned as he took a seat.
When Cara had finished the examination—and relented that Owen was in no imminent danger of dying—Will played the Escape Hatch video they had found on the tablet.
“I don’t get it,” Owen said.
“Neither do we,” Cara said.
Owen paced the room, thinking for a moment. “Play it again.”
After the third time watching it, the dots connected in Owen’s mind. He saw it—what the video actually meant. In a strange way, it all made sense.
Why didn’t the others see it? It was the key that unlocked the tablet. It seemed obvious to him, in the same way the video did. It was just how his mind worked.
Before he could explain, the tablet lit up with a notification:
Airlock opening
Owen bound into the corridor, his bruised leg slowing him slightly. Maya and Alister were in the decontamination chamber, and they had brought two more suits with them. Amazing. That was a lucky break. Had they found the suits outside? Or on the boat?
In the small chamber, they hooked all the tanks up to the replenishing alcove, and when Maya turned back toward the window, Owen’s mouth fell open. There was blood covering her mouth and running down her neck.
She was hurt. What happened?
She seemed to sense his concern because she reached up and wiped the blood away with her shirt.
As soon as the inner airlock opened, Owen said, “What happened? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. It’s just a nosebleed.”
Owen studied her a moment, not sure what to say, wishing again he could read her expression.
Alister put his arms around himself. “Has it gotten colder in here?”
“Yes,” Will said. “Power conservation.”
“That’s great. Assuming we don’t freeze to death.”
In Observation Two, Alister and Maya quickly related what they’d found on the boat.
Maya held up the journal. “I haven’t had a chance to read it yet, but I’m hoping the answers as to why these two were stranded here and what happened to them are inside.”
“I think the bigger question,” Cara said, “is whether the boat is any use to us.”
“I can fix it,” Alister said. “But I don’t think you’re going to like the solution.”