Page 14

He debated disobeying orders and returning, but the odds of a lone warrior rescuing the male were slim. His tail flicked as he growled at the circumstances. An alert sounded. He cursed as two Zuvgran fighters left Millus and headed toward him. Do they see me?

Grabbing the bag of surveillance equipment, he stuffed some water pouches and snacks inside while he kept an eye on the fighters. Crek. I need to go.

He threw the bag into an escape pod and fastened the safety restraints. Tapping the console, he plotted a course toward the backside of a mid-size asteroid. Maybe I can wait them out and return to the Tenacity once they’re gone.

The pod slid silently from the ship using minimal thrusters.

Dodging asteroids, he piloted the shuttle manually when he saw one with a large indentation where he could hide.

He cut off the thrusters and drifted to remain off the fighters’ sensors.

A blast of orange light flashed behind him.

His body shook from the forces acting on the pod as it sped up from the explosion.

The asteroid approached quickly before the pod impacted the surface and Grulen saw no more.

Blaring alarms and flashing lights interrupted the darkness.

Lifting his heavy head, he groggily noticed the blood and debris on his lap.

He winced at the noises piercing his eardrums and smacked a clumsy hand to the console.

Squinting through foggy eyes, he read the reports of damage.

Crek. Gotta seal some of those hairline cracks in the hull. It’s getting cold in here.

Head aching, it took him three tries before he successfully removed the restraints and pressure on his chest. Reaching below his seat, he pulled out a spare nanosuit enhanced for space operations and drunkenly pulled it over his legs, grunting with the effort.

Standing unsteadily, he wobbled and his breath wheezed when he tugged it over his chest and arms. He pressed the control on the collar.

Gloves encased his hands and a helmet formed over his head.

Inserting his feet into oversized maglev boots, he tapped the wrist control and a hiss signified the protection against open space was complete.

He grabbed a tube from a nearby compartment and connected one end to his suit and the other to an atmospheric output in the pod which tied into a synthesizer. Inhaling the clean air, his vision cleared a little. Crek. I think I have broken ribs.

The compartment also held a laser tool. Using his helmet’s heads-up display, he found the closest damage to the hull and gingerly avoided debris in the crumpled pod as he maneuvered. He carefully sealed what he could. Sweat rolled from his forehead and mixed with the blood on his face.

His cheeks burned with pain and his muscles ached.

Plopping into the seat, he checked the console readouts.

Now that the immediate problems were contained, he realized he didn’t know what happened, where he was, or what he was doing in a damaged pod.

His head throbbed when he tried to force the memories. I don’t even know my name .

Breathing rapidly, darkness encroached on the edges of his vision, and he slumped over the console. Before he passed out, his hand bumped the oxygen mixture control, but he never saw the numbers decrease.

“The Svesti is lucky he survived.”

“He suffered a lot of injuries. I couldn’t heal the scarring on his face. Did you learn anything from his escape pod?”

“From what we can tell from the onboard telemetry, two weeks ago, the pod rocketed forward from an outside force and impacted the asteroid. Somehow, he sealed most of the fractures in the hull which kept the pod from completely freezing. Decreasing the oxygen flow gave him a longer period of air. A risky call, but it kept him alive until our scanners noticed something unusual. The power for the synthesizer was decreasing rapidly.”

“The colder temps with the lower oxygen put him a mini stasis. I’m not sure what the long-term effects may be, Captain.”

“Will he awaken soon?”

The deep voices flowed over him as he regained consciousness. Keeping his eyes closed, he conducted a mental inventory of his body while he listened to the males talk about him. Two weeks?

“I think he might be joining us now.”

Crek. I might as well figure out what’s going on.

He opened his eyes to two Ladortans looking down at him. The smaller one, who appeared to be a similar height to himself, glanced at the med bed readings before smiling. Tusks peeked out from his cream-colored fur.

“Hello. I am Healer Creet. This is Captain Ordan of the Morning Star .”

He grunted at both.

“We found you in a damaged pod on an asteroid three days ago. Can you tell us what happened?” The captain’s fur was longer and darker than the healer’s. He wore a weapons harness and long brown pants tucked into sturdy boots.

He shrugged his shoulders.

“I remember nothing except waking up to alarms in the pod and trying to repair hull fractures. I must have lost consciousness.”

“What is your name?”

“My name is…” His face scrunched and his head began to ache. “I don’t know my name.”

The Ladortans exchanged a glance. The captain’s green eyes narrowed.

“Do you remember why you were near asteroids or where you were when the crash happened?”

His breath quickened as he tried to sit up. Muted alarms sounded.

“Take deep breaths, Svesti. It’s not unusual to not remember with a head injury like yours.” The healer pressed him back onto the med bed. “You shouldn’t be moving just yet. Your body needs time to recover.”

“I don’t understand why I can’t remember. I know you are Ladortans. I know this is a med bay. I knew enough to get into a nanosuit and fix hull fractures. I feel like there’s something urgent I’m supposed to do, but I don’t remember what it is.” His voice grew louder.

“It’s okay. It sounds like you’ve retained some long-term memories. That’s promising. With time and healing, it is likely you will recall more specific memories.”

“Where am I?” His fingers gripped the sheet covering him.

“The Morning Star is a mining vessel. During our scan of some asteroids, we noticed unusual readings and investigated. That’s when we found you.” The captain crossed his arms, his fur rippling. “We’re en route to Nulorn to sell our cargo and resupply.”

His brows furrowed and the end of his tail flicked sharply.

“What if I don’t remember?”

The healer squeezed his arm.

“Let’s take your recovery one day at a time, Svesti. You just woke up, but you still need rest. Stress will only make it more difficult to remember.”

“For now, Svesti, listen to the healer. No decisions need to be made yet.” The light glinted off the captain’s dagger handle tucked in a sheath.

He recognized the iridescence as coveted pyrix bone but did not know how he knew the information.

Pulsing beat behind his eyes. This is crekkin’ frustrating. Why can’t I remember?