In a far future of galactic colonization, a young pilot makes a desperate crash landing on an uninhabited moon in deep space. Miraculously surviving the crash, she does whatever must be done to make it home.
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I blink my eyes slowly. My vision is fuzzy, I can't seem to comprehend what I'm looking at. A field of grey with amber rain. Some kind of hiss rings in my ears, I know the sound, but I can't place it. I breathe deeply, the air inside my helmet is thin. I move my arm up, slowly and painfully. Each motion feels like tearing skin from muscle.
I feel along the edge of my helmet, looking for the relief of the small release button. I find the button and press it firmly. The seal around my neck loosens, the familiar smell of burning plastic and dust immediately overwhelms me. I pull the helmet up and off of my head. My dark brown hair immediately spills onto the ground, providing a nice cushion against the rocky floor.
I pull my eyes open again, this time the room is more clear. I can see what looks like the cockpit of my ship hanging above me. We must have toppled on entry, as the entire roof of the craft has been sheared off and either side of the craft sits pretty snugly against what appears to be the opening of a cave. I roll my neck looking along the walls of the cave. It's dark, a gently flickering amber light is cast along the walls from a small fire burning in the wreckage of my ship.
I slowly pick myself up, leaning back on my elbows. My entire core feels like an enormous bruise. My flight suit holds loosely to my form. I don't see any major injuries- well- at least no blood.
"He- hello?" My voice is weak and scratchy. I don't know how long I've been laying here, but I need something to drink soon. "Hello- is anyone around?" My words float off into the dark cave, somehow making me feel even more alone. I push myself up farther, getting all the way to a seated position. I reach down, feeling along my legs gently and wiggling my toes as I check for further damage. No bruises on my legs. "Thank fuck" I mutter under my breath, the rhasp in my voice still a little surprising.
Slowly I roll over, pulling myself up onto my knees, then ever so gently into a standing position. I look towards the back of the cave. I can't see more than three or four meters back, the small cabin fire only giving me the dimmest glimpse into what lies around me. I turn towards the wrecked ship, walking carefully towards it and extending a hand out. My gloved hand touches the warm steel of the ship, still hot from blowing through the thin atmosphere.
I can just barely reach the cockpit, I grab for my survival kit, but find the space it should be empty. My mind immediately begins to race. It was here when we entered the atmosphere, but it's gone now- someone must have taken it? before I can spiral too much further I finally pinpoint the source of the hiss. A fist sized hole punched in the bottom of the wreck is venting any atmosphere that the life support system might have leaked into the cave after the crash. I take a step back, my hand nervously running through my hair as I begin to panic.
"Fuck fuck fuck" I mutter under my breath. "No food, no water and before long we'll be out of air."
I take another step back from the ship, feeling a sinking deep in my gut. I turn away from the wreck, peering deep into the cave. As my foot presses back against the stone I hear the characteristic crinkle of thin plastic. Moving my foot aside reveals a small empty bottle, just at the edge of the fires illumination. I crouch down, my hands beginning to probe the stone floor looking for more. I bump into a few other bottles, all empty.
"No no- please-" my voice comes out hoarse and small. I throw a bottle against the wall, slap another sending it careening into the darkness. "FUUHCK!!" my pathetic shout feels so impotent, so small and helpless. I stand straight up, spiking an empty bottle against the floor, it bounces up into the darkness. A tear welling in my eye.
Both of my hands move up to my scalp. I begin to itch nervously as I feel the air thinning in my lungs. A tear runs down my cheek. I wipe it mindlessly with the back of my glove. I close my eyes tightly, knowing I'll soon feel light headed, then tired, and before long I'll just- fall asleep. Forever.
Just as I feel the inevitability of my coming death begin to overwhelm, a whisper begins to sound from the back of my head. Like a candle in a dark field, a whisper creeps into my mind. It doesn't say anything- at least not anything I understand. It slowly grows louder and louder, the tenor and cadence of the speech changing and morphing as it speaks more and more. It overtakes my internal thoughts. I drop to my knees hands clasped over my ears in a desperate attempt to stop the voice, which now sounds like a barrage of noise and incomprehensible speech. I think I scream- but I don't even know if any noise came out. The buzzing in my skull completely overrides any perception or thought. Just as I think my brain is going to explode, just as it seems it's too much, that it'll kill me a loud *SNAP* in the back of my mind and hear a singular word
"Corinthian" the voice is loud and cold. Like a ships AI issuing commands over a loud speaker.
The noise stops.
"You - Corinthian?" the voice speaks again. I look up into the darkness of the cave. A bright blue light shines from the darkness, like a beam scanning up and down my body.
"Wha- what" my voice speaks quietly, "What is- who are you?" I can hardly string the sentence together, my mind trying to understand what it's seeing.
"You- Corinthian?" the voice asks again. I don't hear it with my ears, instead I feel it deep in my skull, down at the base. I feel it ring through my jaw and settle over my mind. I don't hear it, as much as I guess I understand it to have spoken. The blue light settles on the corporate logo on my flight suit.
"Corintian? Is you?"
"I- no no- Dana- I Dana- I'm Dana." I say, massaging my temple as I try to wrap my head around what's happening. "Am I dying?"
"Excuse I," the voice says, "Still in learned". The light glows brighter, giving me a better view of what strange beast is emitting the light. It'd be difficult to explain. It's something like a coral plant forming around a center bulbous clear sack which looked to be full of gently glowing orange balls, small flower bulbs extending form the top, and a slime mold grows and moves around the base. The mold extends its vein-like mass around the central sack, seemingly feeling the ground around itself. The light shone from a small tendril-like flower extending from the top of the plant, just above the bulbous core of it.
"I work for Corinthian Transport" I continue. My head feels lighter, though I can't tell if it's an effect of the strange conversation, or the rapidly thinning atmosphere.
"Human?" the voice says, or maybe asks? It's unclear whether it's a question or a comment. "Needs breath- needs breathe- needs air." that was definitely a question even if phrased wrong.
"It's getting thin in here- the air is." I respond cautiously, taking a step towards to mass. "I can't- I'd love to to talk more- but I'm not- I've not much air left" I say, motioning to the hole in the ship behind me. The blue beam follows my hand, expanding and focusing around the hole.
"Too dialate. Too large. Too big." the voice says, turning its focus back towards me. "Can produce. Can create. Can synthesize" the voice says quickly and calmly. I can feel the air getting thinner with each breath.
"You can- create air?" I ask, a glimmer of hope in my voice. I take another step towards the biomass. The edge of the slimy, vein-ey base layer of slime only a foot or so beyond my toes. "Can you do that?"
"Only small, only little, only some" the voice says. The slimy base layer begins to retract into the plant. It churns for a moment beneath the central membrane bulb full of orange balls, then extends back towards me in a singular stalk. The slime slithers like a snake crossing closing in on a shrew.It stops a few feet from me, now extended in a singular column. I take another step towards the mass.
"Not enough for room. for ship. for cave" the voice says completely devoid of intonation or feeling. "only for girl. only for human. only for Dana"
The tendril tilts upwards, the tip closest to me opens for a moment, and the audible hiss of air can be heard leaking from the tendril for just a moment. "In lips. in mouth" I slowly and carefully proceed to the tendril. It wavers slightly, hovering at chest height in front of me.
"I- have- have to put this in my mouth?" I ask hesitantly. Some small bits of gooey slime drip down and splash on the stone floor. As soon as the drops land, they begin to slowly inch back towards the central biomass.
"If girl. If Dana- wants to live" the plant whispers into my mind. Images of me gasping for air on the surface flash through my mind. Images of my helmet smashed open, my face bloodied and bruised. I shake them off and reach down, wrapping a gloved hand around the surprisingly firm gooey mass. I don't allow myself time to think. I drop down to my knees and let out whatever breath is left in my lungs. I part my lips and guide the tendril into my mouth.
It tastes awful, like stale bread and oil. the tendril expands to fill my mouth, keeping me from biting down or spitting it out. The tendril thins and launches itself down my throat. I immediately gag, my body convulsing over and over trying to get the foreign object back out, but with my mouth filled, the tiny tendrils have nowhere to go but in. I can feel them covering the inside of my throat as I begin to panic. I grab the tendril just in front of my lips and start to pull desperately. It doesn't budge. I can feel the gooey tendril hit my lungs. I cough instinctively, it feels like I've sucked a mouth full of water down the wrong pipe, but no matter how I cough the mass doesn't budge.
"Rest Dana. Comfort Dana.Calm Dana." the voice calls from the back of my mind. "will be better soon." I pull desperately, trying to rid my body of the invader. My lungs feel like they're underwater, they begin to collapse in on themselves, as if they were being sucked out. I try to scream, without air it's just a spasm of muscle.
"This is the end" I think to myself.
