The Extinction Trials(54)

Even now, as the thoughts swirled in his head, he knew he was over-thinking it, beating himself up because he was scared and disappointed.

Beside him, Maya was scanning the horizon. Owen would’ve given anything to have been able to read her face at that moment. Was she as scared as he was? Did she blame him?

“I have an idea,” Maya said.

“Good, it’s fair to say my ideas aren’t as great as I think they are.”

“Don’t do that. We all voted to come here. It was your idea, but it was our decision. And we made it together.”

For Owen, the words were like a balm on an open wound.

Maya descended the staircase, and Owen fell in behind her. At the door to the bedroom Owen shared with Will, Maya turned the handle and pushed it open slightly.

“Will,” she called into the darkness.

“Yes?” he said, his voice placid. He didn’t seem groggy. Owen wondered if he had been awake as well.

“Do you have that monocular?”

Owen heard him rise from the bed and join them in the small hallway. He handed the device to Maya, who charged up the stairs and held it to her eye on the main deck.

“Anything?” Owen asked.

“No.”

“It was worth a try,” Owen said.

It was clear to him what they had to do now. The Colony was the only other location they had. But time was not on their side. They needed to set a new course and begin moving in that direction as soon as possible.

“Should we wake the others?” he asked.

Maya was nodding, but Will shook his head vehemently. “No. Let’s wait.”

“Why?” Owen asked.

“You two have been up the entire night, correct?”

“We have,” Maya said. Owen saw a small tinge of redness blossom on her cheeks. She was blushing. Owen figured he was too, but Will didn’t seem to notice.

“As have I,” Will said. “We are all tired. And we face another decision. One that may seem easy but one that I feel we should face with clear heads and well-rested bodies.”

It was a good plan, one that Owen agreed to, but as he laid in the narrow bed, sleep eluded him.

He didn’t know how long he tossed and turned, but at some point, he finally drifted off to sleep, probably in the early hours before dawn.





Owen woke to the feeling of hands gripping his shoulders.

He opened his eyes to find Maya staring down at him.

“What happened?” he whispered.

“Come and see.”

They raced up the narrow staircase to the main deck where Will was waiting.

“Look,” he said, pointing.

Owen spun around and instantly saw it on the horizon: a ship.





Chapter Forty-Three





Soon, the entire group was standing on the main deck, staring at the massive ship floating in the distance.

“It’s a container ship,” Will said.

“It’s a trap,” Alister said.

Maya shook her head. “We don’t know that. But I think it is safe to assume that this ship is what the Escape Hatch message was leading us to. It’s within the GPS sector. It may have simply drifted off course.”

“Which implies,” Owen said, “that it is perhaps not crewed—or not anymore. It’s adrift.”

“True,” Maya agreed. “Which either bodes well or badly for us. If there’s no one there, it’s likely not a threat.”

“Seemingly abandoned places can be very dangerous,” Alister grumbled. “I remind you of what happened to those poor fools from the journal who were speared through with an arrow when they reached that hatch—which appeared to be abandoned and unguarded. This is our own version of that hatch.”

“This is pointless,” Cara said, frustration seeping into her voice. “We’re out of food, and that ship is our best chance of survival out here. We’re going aboard.”

“I agree,” Owen said. “I’ll go.”

“No,” Maya said. “I’ll go.”

Alister shrugged. “You can both go. As long as I don’t have to go.”

“I have something that I think might help you,” Will said before turning and going below decks and returning with what looked like an earpiece. “This is part of the radio from the helmet. I’ve extracted and programmed it to work with the ship’s comms.”

He handed it to Maya, who placed it in her ear, then he walked over to the cockpit and tapped the panel. “Can you hear me?” he asked.

Alister let his head drift up to the sky. “Programmers… Of course she can hear you! You’re standing right there.”

“Through the earpiece, I mean.”

Maya smiled. “Yes, Will, I can hear you. This is great work. This will really help us on the ship.”

Cara paced the deck, arms crossed, deep in thought. “Maybe you should just wear the suits over there.”

“They’re out of oxygen,” Owen said. “Well, practically out.”

“Still, wouldn’t it be safer that way? In case there is some pathogen or something you might encounter there?”

Owen thought for a moment. “It’s an interesting idea, but the reality is, it’s harder to move in the suits. I think we’re better off having more agility.”