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Lisa

Day 3

“ I t’s payday, ladies!”

I could hear the grin in Allison’s voice, hidden behind her face shield as the drill’s laser finished cutting into the rock. As the machine quieted and the glow from the laser subsided, I looked over her shoulder. Allison lifted her mask, and sure enough, an enormous grin was plastered on her face. I mirrored it as I stared at the large vein of alvionite we’d found. After weeks coming up with next to nothing, certain this asteroid was empty, we’d found what the radar had promised us.

“Whoop, whoop!” Chelsea shouted, as she and Vivianna moved forward to hew the large chunk into smaller, finer pieces.

It was a breath of fresh air, this discovery. For months, all of Gragon 6 was lagging in its products. It seemed like all of a sudden the asteroids had stopped producing the ore. The belt around Gravion was an oddity enough in the cosmosphere—asteroids don’t usually continuously produce ore. Everywhere else, once it was mined, it was gone. But not here.

Generations of miners lived, breathed, and bred on Gragon 6. Tradition hit hard in our homes, and it was with pride if one could say their family went back at least five generations. Newcomers were hard sought out, but also slowly welcomed into the community. It wasn’t until they were two generations deep they’d be considered acquaintances, and not until four they were considered true Gragians.

I smiled as the excitement spread through the rest of the crew. This was huge for us. The first all-female crew in decades, we had a lot riding on our shoulders. Women were miners all the time, but some prejudices and ancient practices stood true in the colonies. Most women were kept in the home to raise the children, while the men went out to mine.

But this crew? These seven women that I oversaw, plus myself? We all came from families with only daughters. And when that fact came into play, we worked hard until we were put together as the only all-female running crew.

There was a lot to be proud of. As I glanced at each of the seven women at their post, I couldn’t help but feel a swell of honour. We were smart, capable, and strong. Allison was the best driller of our generation. Other crews sought her out, but she refused to leave her twin’s side. Katie and I had worked together as hurriers in another crew, and when I was finally promoted to foreman and could pick my own team, I snatched her right up. And Allison came with her.

Chelsea was a skilled breaker. She had a finesse in breaking out even the microbes of rock stuck to the alvionite, and it net us some of the cleanest product. The big boss was always pleased when he saw Chelsea’s name attached to a shipment.

No shaft was safer under Gabby’s hands. One of the fastest and best timbers I’d ever worked with, put her together with Delphine, the smartest engineer this side of Gravion, and I wouldn’t sweat panning in the deepest of pits.

Vivianna came from one of the oldest families on Gragon 6, and Chunhua was one of the best first aids I’d seen in years. I was damn proud of my crew, and this newest vein of discovery would finally give us the credit we were long overdue. No more would we need to work harder to prove ourselves to the co-ed or all male crews.

“What’s the plan? Should I cut more out?” Allison asked, as Chelsea and Vivianna moved a large chunk into one of the carts. Together they started to chip away at the rock with their lasers, clearing it off of the precious ore.

I glanced at my watch. Our shift was over in thirty minutes. But if we left the vein open, another crew could sweep in and take the credit. The chunk we had already was quite large—probably the equivalent of our last five hauls. But as I peered into the cut rock over Allison’s shoulder, there was no denying the shine of more waiting underneath.

“What do we think about overtime today, ladies?” I asked.

“For a score this big? Absolutely,” Chelsea grinned.

I looked over at Gabby. “How’s the holding? Do we have more time?”

Gabby tapped on the screen of the tablet in her hands. She then looked up at the red lines wavering along the seams of the cave and nodded her head. “Yup. At least four more hours before it starts to get overloaded.”

Allison laughed as she flipped her face shield back down. “Four hours? Give me one, tops, and we’ll have this baby emptied out.”

The time went by quickly as we worked seamlessly. Well-oiled cogs in an old-fashioned clock, Allison dug deeper into the vein. Chelsea extracted it, and then she and Vivianna would clean it. Once clean, Katie would bring it to the surface and mark it with our code so nobody else could try to claim it as their own. Codes were not interchangeable. To try to tamper with someone else’s score was one of Gragon’s highest offenses. We may have had to work harder to prove ourselves, but there was little doubt once our code was on something that they could try to take the achievement away.

True to her word, just over an hour later the vein was empty. A few small pieces lay deep inside, too far for Chelsea to reach, and too delicate to carve out more with the laser drill.

“Let’s pack up,” I instructed. Allison let out a loud exhale, lifting her mask up and reclining back in the chair. Sweat beaded on her forehead, but her grin hadn’t left her face. “We can check in next shift and see if we can get these pieces out with the hover, if they’re still here.”

“You know Jakeman’s crew is going to scope it out once he sees how much we were able to get here,” Chunhua muttered. She shifted the first aid bag over one shoulder and tossed her long, dark braid over the other.

“And he was the one who scoffed at the idea of checking such a small asteroid!” Gabby snickered.

I smirked. Evan Jakeman was about to eat his words, that was for sure. “Delphine, you run up this last bit while we finish. We’ll meet you up there.”

“You got it, boss!”

As Delphine disappeared up the tunnel with the cart, whistling a well-known Gragon 6 tune, the rest of us started to pack up. Spirits high, Katie started to hum the same tune, and everyone joined in. Allison carefully began to dismantle the drill and pack it away, her twin helping.

A light rumble sounded through the cavern. Immediately, I turned to Gabby, who started to tap away on her screen. The others froze, the music dying on their lips. Chunhua gripped her medical bag, and we held our breath, waiting. There hadn’t been a cave collapse in over a year, which, unfortunately, was quite a long stretch. It was proud work, mining in the Gragon colonies, but it was dangerous.

“Everything is stable,” Gabby said slowly, unease in her voice. Her hazel eyes went wide, and her head snapped up, gaze zeroing in on me. “I’m reading that someone has landed on the asteroid.”

Frowning, I pulled out my comm. A tinier version of Gabby’s tablet, I scrolled through my messages. “Maybe Vizal’s checking in since we stayed overtime... though I don’t see any messages from hi—”

A scream erupted from up the tunnel. It echoed as Delphine’s footsteps slapped down the rock back towards us, followed by what sounded like a blaster’s fire.

My head snapped back to Allison. “Quick, get the drill back together!”

Metal scraped together as Allison fumbled to put the machine back together. But even with Katie’s help, it was too late. There wasn’t enough time.

Delphine ran around the corner, tears streaming down her face. Her left leg limped behind her and her eyes were wide as they landed on me.

“Lisa, it’s—”

A series of chirps flitted through the air, and a chill ran up my spine. I’d never seen them before, but everyone knew about the Skulchers. All humans were educated on them from a young age, regardless of where they lived in the galaxy.

Chunhua rushed forward as Delphine fell to the ground, screaming as the hot laser from the blaster hit her in the back. Blood started to seep onto the ground. The smell of singed skin wafted through the air, mixing with the smell of rock and ore—of home.

“Delphine!” Chunhua cried. “Stay still, stay with me.”

I took a step forward to help, but froze as they came around the corner. Each carried a long, silver blaster in their large, three-fingered hands. Long grey faces with double-lidded eyes, and beak-like mouths, the Skulchers were some of the well-known faces in the galaxy. Public enemy number one for most species, especially humans. Their expertise was trafficking in goods, and people were their specialty.

Chunhua stood as the Skulchers approached, Delphine’s lifeless body at her feet. She whipped out her standard issue knife and swiped it at the nearest alien. He was caught off guard, the blade ripping into his skin, and dark, green blood oozed over its silver suit.

He chirped something at Chunhua, his beady black eyes narrowing. Before anyone could blink, his hands reached out and the deafening snap of Chunhua’s neck reverberated through the cave. My footsteps stuttered and halted, and one of the girls behind me let out a harrowing sob.

The Skulcher chirped something at us and raised his blaster in warning. The three behind him held theirs up as well. There was no need for a translation. We were going with them, or we’d end up dead like the other two.

“Are you fucking serious?” Allison shouted behind me. Three of the Skulchers entered the cave and surrounded us, rounding us up like cattle. Allison whipped out her own blade and turned around to face one of the them.

“Allison, stand down,” I commanded. My hands were shaking, but my voice was firm. The snap of Chunhua’s neck still echoed in my mind, and the smell of Delphine’s flesh was fresh in the air. I would not let any more of my crew be killed.

Allison’s knife clattered to the floor. Something beeped on one of the Skulchers’ comms, and they started to push us out of the cavern. Katie sobbed as she stepped over the bodies, and my breath hitched at the sight of Chunhua’s lolling neck. At the blood pooled underneath Delphine.

I had failed them.

“Lisa.”

I jerk awake, my heart beating wildly. The memory turned nightmare recedes back into the depths of my mind, where it would wait until I slept again. Every time I close my eyes, that day replays in my head. The snap of Chunhua’s neck would haunt me at every turn.

Slowly, my eyes focus on Katie and the ship around us. Outlined by the faint light of the ship and the bright snow from outside, her blond brows furrow as she searches my face. “You were whimpering in your sleep again.”

I sit up slowly, rubbing the sands of sleep out of my eyes. “Sorry,” I murmur.

“Nothing to be sorry about,” Katie whispers sadly. She glances over her shoulder to the hallway. “Melanie is still asleep.”

The last five days come flooding back as I gather our surroundings. We were kidnapped by trafficking aliens, managed to escape them, but crashed here. More than half of our group has been separated from us, and Evie has gone out for help. My heartbeat starts to calm as I take in the bridge. Snow has piled on the shuttle’s windshield overnight. It blocks some of the sunlight that tries to pour into the room. The light is comforting, despite that it comes from a foreign sun. Despite that we’re deserted on an uncharted planet, with no way to communicate for help. Despite that most of my Gragian crew is missing.

“Let her sleep,” I say as I get to my feet. “Gives us a break from her negativity.”

“I’m sure she’s just scared,” Katie says quietly. Maybe, but I doubted it. There was something about her attitude that just screams privilege, and given she was taken from Lagusta, it fits.

“Any word from Evie?” I ask. Katie shakes her head, and I sigh. My skin itches underneath the familiar black miner’s suit. The rest of my girls are out there. I failed two of them in the mines, and it haunts me every day. I glance sideways at Katie and take a deep breath. “OK. Let’s see what else we can repair in here, and hope she contacts soon.”

Katie gets to work, tapping and flicking switches on the shuttle’s dashboard. A project will keep her busy and her mind off finding Allison. If it weren’t for her, I’d have gone out to find the others. Maybe the two of us out there would have been better than one, but I think Katie would have slowed me down. It would have been ideal to leave her here in the shelter, but I know she’d be uncomfortable without me being present. Katie is a whiz when it comes to astronavigation, and she is a good tinkerer, but a soft-hearted soul. She worries about things endlessly, sometimes to perfection, and if there was something she couldn’t fix? Like finding her sisters and the others? It would destroy her.

The better option was to let Evie go. She has people to find, too. I can trust her to be earnest in her search. But as I turn back to look out the windshield, the breeze fluttering a chunk of snow off the glass, I wish it were me out there. Because this time, I knew I wouldn’t fail them.

Katie sighs. “She’s going the wrong way.”

“What?” I ask, head snapping up. I’m trying to see if I can fix another one of the mobile comms, see if I can get it to work at a longer range. Maybe we can get contact with the cargo hold, despite the bridge telling us otherwise.

“Evie,” Katie says. She gestures at the screen in front of her. “She’s here, but the cargo hold signal is coming from this way.”

As though speaking her name has summoned her, there’s a crack of static. “Lisa? Come in, Lisa.”

Evie’s voice, gravelly through the comm’s speaker, fills the bridge. My heart skips a beat as I jump up and stand by Katie’s side. “Evie! Where the hell are you? What happened, are you ok?”

“I’m fine. I walked all day, was almost attacked by a wolf and a leope, and found shelter for the night.”

Relief floods through me. At least she survived and found shelter. Maybe this would work out after all. Maybe she is more of a survivalist than I first thought...

Leope? Did she say leope? “A leope? What the hell is that?” I ask.

“Must be one of the thousands of species I scanned on the way in,” Katie murmured. “Let me see if I can catalog it...”

“It’s like a leopard—which is a big cat on Terra,” Evie says. Interesting, though there are no cats on Gragon 6 so I’m not sure what to picture. “But that’s not important, I—”

“You’re going in the wrong direction,” Melanie suddenly drawls through the system, her hand on the speaker. She joined us about an hour ago. There’s only so many places to sulk in the ship.

“You’ve gone west instead of east,” Katie says softly, always trying to make sure nobody’s upset. She’s the peacemaker, which I’m thankful for since we’re stuck here with Melanie and my patience is waning with her. “But you made quite a distance. It’s impressive.”

It is, I’ll give her that. But she’s wasted time . I eye the screen, measuring the distance in my head from the solid blue light of the bridge, to the red blinking one of Evie’s location.

“The compass doesn’t work!” Evie’s voice cracks over the comm. “Everything out here is snow and mountain. It all looks the same.”

“It’s ok,” I say quickly, needing her to calm down. There is no time to waste on hysterics. “We can get you back on the right path. Are you out trekking right now?”

“No, I’m not,” Evie says. My heart plummets, but I inhale slowly. It’s ok. She’s likely just woken up. If we can get her back here, I’m going to take her place. Broken compass or not, I know I can find the others faster. Katie will just have to deal with some separation anxiety for a few days. “But I have good news. I think I’ve found some— oh no— ”

There’s no mistaking the panic that seeps into Evie’s voice. It’s palpable even through the shoddy comm. Katie glances up at me, worry in her eyes, and even Melanie shifts uncomfortably.

“Evie? Evie, what’s wrong?” I ask.

But Evie never answers. There’s static a few times, and then the line goes silent. We collectively hold our breaths, watching as her signal continues to blink.

The light stays on, thankfully. It doesn’t disappear, but Evie’s voice doesn’t come back through the comm again. Whatever happened has taken priority. We’ll just have to keep an eye on her signal and pray it doesn’t go out.

Slowly, I sigh and let out my held breath. I turn to the others and shrug my shoulders. “Guess we get back to work here.”

“Doing what?” Melanie snarks.

It’s only been one day since Evie left, and already I want to wring Melanie’s neck. I don’t know how she dealt with this Pessimistic Penny for days on end, crammed in the same cell on the Skulchers’ ship.

“Doing whatever we can to keep busy and send a signal for help.”