Cartlidge: Rise of the Imperfect Flame (10 page)

“We need to go.” Sapphire was clearly unaccustomed to zero
gravity, and immediately began to flail in an attempt to move through the air.
“Just hold onto my back!” Another explosion echoed through the halls. Sapphire
pushed herself off a wall and wrapped herself around me. I then pushed us in
the direction of the exit. Tapping into the ship’s systems through my window, I
realized the nearest starboard lifeboats had been destroyed by bombers. We
would have to use the portside lifeboats to escape. The route through the port
hangar bay was completely sealed off, due to the ship’s auto repair system,
forcing us to travel through a cramped service tunnel to reach the lifeboats. I
wondered if the room had been sealed off early, since most of the lifeboats
were still docked. We quickly climbed into one and prepped it for launch.

“Ok, let’s see. Life systems are on, engines are good,
calculation system seems to be working fine,-” I swore. “-We’ll end up in the
middle of space at this trajectory.”

“What are you looking at me for? I can’t do anything about
it.”
Another, large explosion.
The ship began to
shift. I felt gravity return, forcing me to lean right in my chair, then
forward. We were in the nearby planet’s atmosphere.

“Landing calculations: complete. Launch: Ready.” I tore off
the safety cover and pulled on the ignition lever. The boat jerked,
then
blasted into the sky of the unknown planet. A screen
came to life, showing life support, hull integrity, heat shield strength, and
the calculation for when to deploy the shock engine. The boat vibrated
violently, and the air became
smotheringly
hot.

“Deploying shock engines in 5… 4… 3… 2… 1…” I felt the ship
jerk again a few seconds before hitting the ground. My body began to shake
uncontrollably and soon darkness overtook me.

Planet: Unknown. Hour 15 of 20:

I waited a minute before opening my eyes. A grueling
headache stuck me in response. I checked myself for any blood or injuries.
Aside from a few scratches and bruises, I was fine.

“Jacob?” He did not respond. He sat with his face against
the control panel, and I couldn’t tell if he was dead or just unconscious. I
quickly unfastened my safety harness and checked on him. Before I did, I
noticed a red light was flashing on the screen. I focused hard to read it.

“In…
Incom
-in-
ing
… dub-
riss
?
Incoming deb-
riss
?
…Debris!”
I hastily worked to free Jacob from his chair and struggled to get him on the
floor. I turned and opened the hatch to the outside. Pieces of metal fell like
rain, occasionally embedding
themselves
in the roof of
the pod, the ship itself descending to an inevitable crash. We needed to move.
I tore free the spare rifle and slung it around my shoulder, then looked to
Jacob. His armor made him nearly impossible to carry, and I had no clue how to
remove it. I would have to drag him. I pulled him outside and began dragging
him towards the tree line. I tried to make sure not to hurt him, but I worked fast
so that we would not get caught in the falling metal.

“Oh, you are so going to owe me for this!” By the time I was
halfway, several small pieces of metal had already buried themselves in my
shoulders and arms, and one sliced my forehead, causing blood to flow into my
mouth. The blood reminded me how hungry I was, but the pain allowed me to
ignore it. Meanwhile the raining metal bounced off of Jacob’s armor like
droplets of rain. I envied him. The pain was difficult to bear, and every
movement sent new waves of pain through my body. The ground began to shake as
we entered the tree line. The ship crashed into the ground sideways, flattened
out, and skidded forward some distance before finally stopping, just short of a
cliff. I let go of Jacob and allowed myself to collapse in exhaustion. I could
have left him there, but he seemed like a good fighter, and I needed some sort
of protection if another ship arrived. What was he anyway? I raised myself to a
sitting position and examined his helmet. Two clamps held the helmet to the
armor. I pulled on them both, and the black suit released the helmet with a
hissing sound. I then carefully pulled the helmet off. Thankfully he was still
breathing. He looked
Freylien
, but he was too
friendly, and he didn’t have the pointed ears. Perhaps he was a mutant? Or part
of an entirely new species? I would have to check when he woke up. I looked at
my arms. There were seven or eight pieces of metal stuck in them. I would have
to remove them quickly, if I wanted to keep from getting infections. I took one
arm and grasped a piece stuck in the other. Pain flowed down to my fingertips,
and I gave an involuntary whimper. After a few seconds, I jerked my arm,
pulling the shard free.

“One…” I gasped. I did the same for a piece in my upper
right arm. “T-two…” I began working on my shoulders.

“N-three… Four
!..
” I clenched my
jaw as tears began to form in my eyes. “Five
!...
s-six…
Se-v-
ven
!”
A large
piece was stuck in my back, just left of the spine. “Come on!” Tears fell
freely. I couldn’t pull it out. I steadied my breathing and looked towards the
ship. The debris had finally stopped falling, but an approaching storm
threatened to take its place. I slowly rose to my feet. We needed a shelter,
fast. There were likely supplies somewhere in the wreckage, but that meant
leaving Jacob here.

“I’ll be quick. It’ll be like I never left.” I convinced
myself. I tried to run towards the ship, but succumbed quickly to the pain and
slowed to a walk. Our pod had been crushed by a large chunk of metal, forcing
me to look elsewhere. The ship itself was surprisingly intact, and I found
another empty pod with several bags of survival gear. I took two and headed
back to Jacob. Halfway back I noticed another pod. I walked over to
investigate. The pod’s door was still shut tight. After a minute of struggling
against both the sealed hatch and the sharp pain in my back, I managed to force
the door open. Instantly a large, armless Rovanekren spilled out, covered in
blood. Letting out a panicked cry, I fell backwards, catching myself just
before the shard could touch the ground. Two more soldiers sat lifeless within;
one was impaled through the chest by a rifle, which must have gotten free
during the crash. The other, a watcher, did not bleed out like his comrades.
Instead, the soldier sat peacefully in his seat, head bent awkwardly back,
further than it should have been. I turned away, grimacing. My breathing became
irregular and I expected to throw up. I turned on my hands and knees, gagged a
few times, spat once,
then
stood back up. I had to get
back to Jacob.

I quickly examined the contents of the bags. Tools, water,
rope, and medical supplies comprised the bulk of the salvage. A quick reading
of one of the two small survival guides included in the bag gave me the
knowledge to use it all. I pulled out several small bandages for my wounds, and
a strange numbing agent that could help with the shard in my back. After
covering the wounds on my arms with bandages, I focused on my shoulders,
forcibly stretching my shirt so that I would not have to remove it. Jacob was
not likely going to wake up anytime soon, but I wasn’t about to risk another
exposure. Seeing me from a distance when we first met was bad enough. I finally
sat down and read the directions for the numbing agent. The tube contained a
gel that was designed to help clean open wounds and numb any pain coming from
the affected area. I set the tube down for a moment and tried again to remove
the shard. After surrendering to the pain, I checked Jacob to see if I could
wake him. He was breathing normally but was still completely unresponsive. I
sighed and opened the tube. The gel was cool to the touch, instantly numbing my
fingers. I began spreading the gel on my back while carefully avoiding the
shard. The wound burned, at first,
then
became almost
unnoticeable. I let out a breath of relief and began working on a shelter.
There was a small tent in each of the bags, neither of which
were
capable of withstanding the storm looming over us. I abandoned the instructions
for the tents once it began to rain, and instead tied them across two large
trees that had fallen parallel to each other. I then used one blanket to cover
the ground, and the other to keep myself warm. I positioned myself so that if I
were to roll over, the log would stop me from
laying
on the shard. I figured that Jacob’s armor would keep him warm, but as night
approached, and the storm drew on, Jacob began to shiver. Eventually guilt and
worry overtook me, and I moved closer so that the blanket would cover him. I
then carefully rolled on my stomach so that my back was to him, much like the
log before. The shard would now press into his side if I rolled over, but it
was likely better for him than freezing all night. I felt uncomfortable. I
hated having people so close to me but he seemed to have stopped shivering.
Sleep evaded me for some time.

“Be strong…”

I shifted in my armor as I woke slowly from a deep sleep,
confused by what I saw as my focus improved. Two large tarps hung over me.
Sapphire slept soundly next to me. My memories quickly returned in a rush of
near panic which caused me to frantically climb out from under the makeshift
shelter. I looked around. We were in an opening just at the edge of a deciduous
forest. Judging by the leaves, it must have been this planet’s autumn. The
ground was soaked, and the tarps were filled with water. I wondered what had
happened when I blacked out. Sapphire woke soon after, and poked her head out
of the shelter.

“Finally!”

“What happened?”

“You were knocked out. I had to drag you over here so that
the debris wouldn’t kill you. The ship crashed.” She crawled out. Bloodstains
covered her shirt and skin. “Hey, can you pull this out? I couldn’t get it
yesterday.” She turned around to reveal a large
shard
of metal stuck just below her shoulder blade. She sat on her knees and waited
for a response.

“Holy… Um, I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

“It has to come out. There’s first aid stuff in the bag
right here.”

“Fine.”
I swallowed hard and sat
behind her.

“Be quick. If you’re slow it hurts.”

“I know, I know!” I hesitantly placed one hand on her back,
and the other on the shard. I took a few deep breaths and pulled hard. Sapphire
cried out loudly and whimpered for a few seconds, before recomposing herself.

“How… How bad is it?”

“Bad.” Blood began to spill freely, dying the shirt red.

“Hey, calm down. You’re the soldier, not me. Grab the stuff
out of the bag.” I quickly reached over and pulled out a large roll of bandages,
rubbing alcohol, cotton balls, and tweezers.

“Alright, take the alcohol-”

“I know how to do first aid.”

“Didn’t seem like it before.”

“Well I’m just surprised at how much you know.”

“There’s a survival guidebook in each of the bags. I read
one while waiting to fall asleep.”

“Oh.” Sapphire raised the back of her shirt just so that the
wound was exposed. Blood dripped like melted wax down her back. A small piece
of metal was still stuck in the wound. I swore quietly.

“There’s still a piece. I’m
gonna
have to take it out with the tweezers.” Sapphire groaned in protest. I grabbed
the tweezers and carefully reached for the metal shard. Once I had a hold on
it, I carefully pulled it out. The piece slid free with ease.

“Alright.
Now for
the disinfectant.”
I drenched one of the cotton balls in the rubbing
alcohol,
then
cleaned the wound with it. Sapphire
twitched and gave a short grunt of pain before relaxing again.

“Finally, the bandage.”
I tore
several meters of bandage free from its roll, and began to wrap Sapphire in it.
A few minutes later, Sapphire’s stomach was completely hidden under the
wrappings.

“I think you used too much.”

“It’s fine.”

“Easy for you to say.”
Sapphire
readjusted her shirt,
then
turned to face me.

“So you went the whole night with this thing in your back?”
I was transfixed on the size of the shard.

“I used this,” She held up a tube of numbing gel, “but, it
took forever to fall asleep…”

“I’ll bet. Did you see any other lifeboats land?
Or any other survivors?”

“Well, aside from our-they’re called lifeboats?”

“...Yeah… What did you think they were called?” Sapphire
shrugged her shoulders.

“Pods, capsules, escape ships, I don’t know.
Anyways...
I haven’t seen anyone else… Jacob?” The
realization hit me violently. We were likely the only survivors of the crash.
Tolenva, Tek, Seb, Zen, my squad was all gone. Tolenva will never be able to
earn the respect of his father, Zen’s parents will never be able to forgive
him, Seb will never be able to save someone, Tek was once again powerless to
change his fortune, and Rockwall was killed by the very thing he always hated.
Everyone was gone. My team… was gone.

The second realization hit me just as quickly-unless a
beacon was activated, it was nearly impossible for anyone to find us. This
planet was uncharted, so unless there was an obscure, hidden colony, we were
likely the only sentient beings on the planet. Even if we could get a beacon to
work, it would take months for anyone to find the signal, and “anyone” was a
dangerously broad term.

“Jacob!” I snapped out of my trance and looked at Sapphire.
“Stop doing that, it worries me. I can’t have my only ticket off the planet go
insane, can I?”

“That’s just it. I’m not so sure we’ll ever be found.”
Sapphire paused, processing what I had told her.

“The ship’s still pretty intact; do you think we could use
something there?”

“Maybe.
Is the bridge still there?”

“No.”

“What about the front of the ship?”

“It’s hanging on the edge of a cliff, but yeah.”

“Then there might be a distress beacon there.”

“Ok, so let’s build ourselves a more permanent shelter, find
some food, and then we’ll go check the ship for your beacon thing.”

“Alright, that sounds good.” I nodded.

The first day went by rapidly. Sapphire took trips out to
the ship to find suitable supplies while I worked on a shelter. I found a large
tree at the center of a clearing. The tree was old, but had a wide, open
section of branches that was perfect for building a shelter. I spent several
minutes checking the strength of the branches by standing, hanging, and
swinging on them. The tree was perfect. I sat on a nearby rock and planned the
shelter, while waiting for Sapphire to return. I joined her on her next trip
and we carried a large metal wall panel for the floor of the shelter. We placed
it over two thick arms of the tree, with a smaller third branch between them.
Once it was nailed down, I began hunting for strong, thin branches to cut down.
The branches were used as frame for the shelter, and by midday they were either
nailed together or tied in place with rope. The shelter was a pyramid in shape,
with smaller branches splitting three of the four triangles in half. A rope
connected the top of the frame with a high branch. The tents, along with some
other scavenged canvases, were wrapped over the frame like a skin. Finally, a
few more branches were nailed to the frame to hold the various canvases in
place. Most of our supplies were put in large crates at the base of the tree,
but anything valuable was put in bags that were hung on the other side of the
tree, beyond the reach of any animals. We turned a barrel into a rain catcher,
in case we couldn’t find any other source of clean water. We were both
exhausted by sunset. Sapphire had bled profusely during her runs to the ship,
so I helped her change her bandages and gave her my share of the water. The
next day I traded my armor for more comfortable clothing that Sapphire salvaged
from the ship. After a few days we grew hungry, and our water stores were
diminished. We began searching for food.

By the end of the first week, our search became desperate.
We both grew tired easily, and our stomachs tortured us. To lighten the mood,
Sapphire began making jokes about cooking and eating me. It was funny to her,
at least. Finally I discovered a patch of bushes, covered in blackened berries.
I quickly found Sapphire, and began stuffing the berries in the small bag I was
carrying.

“Wait!” She smacked my hand, knocking several of the berries
to the ground.

“What?”

“They could be poison. Let me try one.”

“Let you try one? Why would they be any better for you?”
Sapphire ignored me and tossed one into her mouth. After a moment, she
swallowed. Instantly her markings began to glow, and she fell to the ground,
just before spitting out a large glob of saliva.

“Yeah, poison.”

“What just happened?” I asked. She rose to her feet, and
wiped her mouth off with her arm.

“I remembered what these markings are from. I have a life
gem in my chest. I’m not entirely sure what else it does, but I do know that it
allows me to eat whatever I want.”

“A life… gem?”

“Yeah.” she nodded happily. “Anyways, those berries are
toxic. We’ll have to find something else.”

“Wait, hold on. So, there’s a rock in your chest, which
allows you to eat anything?”

“Well, not literally. I still get full, and I can’t eat
indigestible stuff… and it’s not just a rock.”

“And you said it can do other things? Is that how you
learned my language instantly?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “It does a lot of stuff I don’t
understand. Can we move on now? I’m still starving.” She turned and walked off,
her tail brushing against the bush as she left.

The next day we finally salvaged another large food
container that had survived the crash. It rained the day after, giving us
enough water to match the food. Our luck continued when we traveled through our
forest and discovered fruit filled trees on the other side of a large field.
The fruit was large and yellow in color, but incredibly watery and sweet. Each
day was the same for the rest of the week. We would journey to the distant
fruit trees and fill bags full of the fruit, then carry our spoils to the camp.
While we ate I would tell Sapphire about the human world.
Its
history, its cultures, its art, its war, and the humanity itself.
She
would always listen eagerly, occasionally using her tail to brush away leaves
behind her. Every conversation would end abruptly when she got sick. The life
gem allowed her to eat fruit, but she would always eat too much. Since she was
a carnivore, her body could only take so much fruit before it started rejecting
it. Her life gem allowed her to consume a small amount of fruit, but when it
became obvious that she needed meat, I began to worry about her health. By the
third week we were well fed, but she continued to weaken. While she napped I
would search desperately for signs of animal life. I knew there had to be
some,
the berry bushes would not have an evolutionary need
to be toxic otherwise. I crossed through the field and eventually discovered a
stream. The stream led into the fruit filled forest, before emptying into a
large pond. Large amphibious creatures surrounded the area, darting into the
lake as I approached. I walked to the edge of the lake and pulled out the bread
I had been saving. Taking one last bite, I threw the bread into the water. A
large fish soon appeared, snatching the bread before disappearing again. I
laughed in excitement,
then
ran back to the camp to
get Sapphire.

The walk to the lake drained her of the little energy she
had left, so she sat idly by as I searched for a creature. After forcing a
group of vibrantly colored amphibians to scatter in her direction, she
immediately pointed out the toxicity of the strange creatures. The only
remaining food source was the fish. I tore a large stick free and fashioned it
into a three pronged spear with my knife. I then spent several minutes wading
through the water. Occasionally a fish would swim by, easily avoiding the bite
of my weapon. Each time I swore, then waited. I continued for roughly another
half hour.

“You’re doing it wrong! The fish see the spear!” Sapphire
protested, with newfound energy from a moment of rest.

“This works all the time where I’m from.” I missed again.

“Then there’s something wrong with your Earth fish.” One
fish bit into my leg in retaliation, then swam off before I could strike it.

“Move!”
Sapphire stood in the water
next to me, the legs of her pants rolled up so that they would not get wet. I
reluctantly handed her the spear and silently shuffled my feet as I returned to
the edge. The spear sliced through the air, landing several meters ahead of me.
I flinched at first,
then
turned to watch. Sapphire
bent and hung just over the surface of the water, her arms disappearing in the
murky soup. She looked as if she was trying to catch one.

“How’s that supposed to work?!” She stared harshly into the
water, ignoring my disbelief. A minute passed by.
Two.
Three.
Four.
The lake jerked,
and a roar of splashing erupted. Sapphire sprung upwards with a large fish in
her arms. The fish had many fins, two pairs of eyes, and at least six gills. It
flailed its tail around and struggled for freedom. Sapphire began shouting at
it, commanding it to be still. The fish slowly submitted, its movements faded,
until not even its gills twitched. I wondered if it could have died in her
arms. She thanked it,
then
walked towards the shore.
She watched over it, as if carrying a child, but there was no smile on her
face. Before I could say anything, Sapphire raised the head of the fish up to
her mouth, and bit down hard. There was a small crack as she broke the upper
spine.

“Wait!” It was the only word I could muster. It came out as
an awkward shout. Sapphire looked up at me, with droplets of blood flowing from
her mouth down the side of the fish.

“You… We… need to cook that first.” Without a word, she
released the fish and handed it to me, then walked away casually towards the
camp, occasionally stumbling from exhaustion. I recalled her unsettling
predatory joke from earlier and wondered if she would have really eaten me if
she was hungry enough.