Transmission Lost (4 page)

Confused, Jack straightened himself as well as he could. “Find your ship? What do you mean, find your ship? You came from your ship to find mine, didn't you?”

Aria shook her head. Finally, she pulled her flight suit back up around her body, zipping it up. “No. I eject during crash. Escape pod take me away from ship. Far away, I think.” She nodded her head towards the edge of the clearing, a different direction than the one she'd come from. “All I know, somewhere that direction. Not know how far...Not even know if ship in one piece. But only chance to survive is go and see if radio works, call for help.”

“And so...what, you just leave me here to die?” Jack asked bitterly. “Tie me up and wait for some predator to finish me off? If you're gonna do that, just shoot me and be done with it.”

“No, not do that,” Aria said. She strode over to Jack, kneeling down in front of him. She looked into his face, an unreadable expression on hers. “You come with me. Help me find ship.”

******

Jack just looked at her, definitely not sure that he'd heard her correctly. Because there wasn't any way that she just said what he thought she'd said. She couldn't be serious.

“You're gonna have to repeat that one for me,” he said slowly.

“You help me find ship,” Aria said. She leaned back from him, sitting on her haunches with her hands on her knees. “I need working radio to call for rescue. You help me do it.”

“Uh...huh...,” Jack said slowly. He looked up, as though deep in thought. “Yeah, I'm gonna go ahead and say I'm not gonna do that.”

“Oh?” Aria said. She peered at him, tilting her head to one side. “Why not?”

“Why not?” Jack asked, incredulous. “Why not? I'll tell you why not! Because you've spent literally the entire time I've had the misfortune of being acquainted with you trying to blow me out of space, trying to shoot me down on an uninhabited planet, threatening to shoot me with a rifle, or tying me up. Because you've been talking to me like I'm some sort of servant or something. And because I just plain don't want to.” Jack looked away from her. “Give me one good reason why I should help you.”

Aria stood back up. “You want a reason?”

Jack rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I want a reason.”

“Alright.” Aria returned to her spot on the other side of the fire. “If we go alone, nobody to watch our backs. Predators, environmental hazards, nobody to help us through. Neither of us know this planet. Only way to survive is if we go together.” She raised a hand. “Easier.”

Jack rolled his eyes again. “Yeah, whatever.” But she made a good point.

“Sleep on it,” Aria suggested. She stood up, walking to his tent. “Plenty of time to decide in morning. I ready for answer then.” She pushed aside the entrance flap.

“Wait a minute!” Jack called, struggling against his bonds again. “You just want me to sleep out here? I got no way to defend myself! What if some animal comes along and tries to make me its next meal.”

The Ailian looked back at him. “You still prisoner, remember?” She shrugged. “If anything come, you yell. I wake up, probably.” She pushed her way into the tent, zipping it up behind her.

“Probably? Bitch...” Jack sighed, looking around at his campsite, and the now-dying fire. “Not the way to convince me to partner up...” He settled in as best he could with his arms and legs tied behind him, and tried to sleep.

******

When Jack woke up, the planet's sun was shining down on him. Sometime during the night he'd slumped over, and he was lying on his side. He blinked, feeling a tremendous itch on his head. As his eyes opened wider, he realized that a ten-legged bug creature about the size of a drink coaster was crawling across his face, spiny legs pricking his skin.

“Gah, motherfucker!” he screamed, jerking upright and shaking his head back and forth wildly, trying to dislodge the bug. With every shake, its legs dug in tighter, stubbornly resisting. In desperation, Jack bit at the creature, and his teeth crunched it in half. The thing trembled, its legs tightening again before relaxing, and both halves fell down onto the ground.

Jack spat, trying to get the bitter taste out of his mouth and hoping to God that whatever he'd just bitten wasn't poisonous. His heart still pounding, he leaned back, trying not to look at the thing he'd basically started to eat for breakfast. His jaw clenched as that familiar headache starting to throb again.

Just once...I mean, it's not that much to ask, is it?
he thought to himself.
Can I wake up
one
time without being in pain?

He took a few deep breaths, looking around the clearing. Everything seemed just as it had been the night before, except the fire was nothing but a pile of ashes. Just as he was considering yelling again, to try to wake up Aria, the tent opened up and she emerged. As Jack watched, she settled down on all fours, arching her back just like a cat would do after waking up. She stretched herself in this fashion for several minutes before standing and walking over to him.

“'You yell, I wake up'!” Jack snapped at her. He was feeling justifiably grumpy this particular morning. “Remember? You said that. Glad I wasn't dying out here. Some fucking help you are.”

Aria shrugged, looking vaguely apologetic. “Tired,” she said simply. She sat down next to him. “Sleep well?”

Jack glared at her, his mouth opening and closing several times as he tried to think of something angry to say to her. When he thought about it, though, as tired as he had been he had slept pretty good, even considering the uncomfortable position he'd been in. “Yeah, I guess so.”

“Good. Need your rest. Healthy.” Aria produced a can of preserved food. “Hungry?”

“I could eat.” Jack twisted his head around, trying to look at the ropes tied behind his back. “So, you gonna spoon feed me, or what?”

“Not your mother,” Aria said, her expression souring. “Feed yourself.” She came around to his other side, and Jack felt her tugging on the bonds around his hands. After a few moments his hands were free, and he flexed his muscles, trying to work the stiffness out of his wrists. “Now. You eat, and then-...!”

Her voice was cut off with a startled shriek as Jack grabbed the front of her flight suit behind his back, jerking her forward against himself. With his hands no longer bound to his feet, Jack could move his legs, and he drew them underneath his body and pushed back as hard as he could. Caught off guard, Aria tumbled backward with Jack coming down on top of her. She snarled, shooting a hand around his body and slamming a closed fist into his stomach.

“Sika na po'krai!”
Aria hissed, as she struck him a second and then a third time. “Bastard!”

Jack coughed, fighting the urge to puke as she continued striking him in the stomach. He threw his head back and felt his skull smash into her muzzle. A guttural noise issued from Aria's throat, and her hand stopped striking his stomach as she clutched her nose. Jack spun around, sitting on her stomach, and his hands reached for her throat.

“Ka'a'lai!”

Aria's hands found his throat first, and she tossed him off of her. Jack landed on his back ten feet away, the air whooshing out of his lungs as he hit hard. Before he could catch his breath again, Aria was on him, straddling his chest. She bent down, laying her forearm across his throat, pressing down none too gently.

“You have spirit,” she growled at him, shooting daggers with her eyes. The Ailian rubbed her free hand across her face, looking at her fingers. She flicked her tongue out, licking the blood that was slowly trickling from her nose. “That hurt.”

Jack tried to swallow. He was finding breathing difficult at the moment. “Yeah, well...you tied me up...and made me sleep outside...”

“Po'krai!”
Aria spat the word at him. “Baby! In military training, I sleep outside for month! You sleep outside one night!”

She pressed her arm down harder, and Jack felt his airway close completely. He looked up at Aria, fighting as hard as he could just to draw a breath. His hands grabbed her arm, but she was a whole lot stronger than him and as hard as he pulled he wasn't making any headway. Jack could start to hear a rushing sound, and could feel his heartbeat thudding in his ears. His vision started growing fuzzy and his eyes rolled back. Just as he felt like he was about to pass out, Aria released the pressure on his neck and got up from his chest.

Jack sat up, clutching his throat and coughing, gasping for breath. For a long moment he couldn't do anything except breathe, grateful to feel the oxygen flooding into his lungs. He was vaguely aware of Aria going back to the tent, and she emerged shortly thereafter, tossing a spoon at him. It hit his chest and bounced into his lap.

“Eat,” she snarled at him, gesturing to the can of food which had been forgotten on the ground. “I gather supplies.” The Ailian stood there for several minutes, breathing hard, her tail swishing back and forth angrily. “You do that again, I kill you.” She turned her back to him, going to the wreckage of the
Star's Eye
.

Feeling beaten, Jack picked up the spoon and the can of food. He pried the top off, looking inside at the unappetizing mix of compressed meat and vegetables. Not the breakfast he would have chosen for himself, but it would have to do. Feeling slightly relieved that she hadn't just killed him outright for his escape attempt, he forced himself to eat.

******

A short while later, Jack was finished with his breakfast, and Aria was still gathering up supplies from his camp and from the
Star's Eye
. She'd taken apart the tent, bundling it back up and setting it with the rest of what she'd gathered. Jack had watched her warily the entire time, but she didn't take her eyes off him for more than a few minutes at a stretch. If he'd had a desire to make another escape attempt, he doubted he would have gotten very far. And in any case, he wasn't entirely sure that he wanted to escape anymore.

Jack had been considering Aria's little proposal since the previous evening, and he had to admit that she'd had a point. If his own ship couldn't be used as a means to get off this planet, at least not without considerable repairs, then their best chance would be to find her ship and try to call for help. By Aria's own admission, she had no idea where exactly the crash site of her ship was, other than a vague notion of the direction in which it lay. Therefore, it stood to reason that the distance to cover might be fairly lengthy.

He looked off in the direction Aria had indicated the previous night. The forest beyond was thick, as far as he could see. The entire time Jack had been here, he'd heard the noises of creatures unknown moving through the trees. On an uninhabited planet, the wildlife was sure to be unlike anything either of them had seen before. There was no telling what kinds of predators might be out there, and it wasn't just predators one had to worry about. Even the prey species might be dangerous in their own ways.

And,
Jack thought, looking down at the crumbled remnants of the massive bug that had so rudely awakened him,
if this little fellow is any indication, the fauna here is likely to be large.

What that boiled down to, Jack was realizing, was that going it alone would be tantamount to suicide. If Aria was reluctant to do the same, considering how much more formidable she seemed to be than he, that just increased his own reluctance. While he certainly wasn't much of a fan of the way Aria was treating him so far, she was a fighter. If it meant survival, Jack supposed he could deal with the attitude.

Breaking himself out of his quiet consideration, Jack looked to Aria. She seemed to have finished with her gathering of supplies. The Ailian had packed up two large backpacks with various items. In one pack she'd collected medical supplies, ammunition, batteries, and a small portable solar generator. The other pack was stuffed with preserved food, military rations, and toiletries. Strapped onto the top of each pack was a bedroll, and the smaller pack also had the tent attached to it.

Noticing that he had finished eating, Aria slowly re-approached Jack. He sat up straight, keeping a close eye on her, readying himself in case she had any ideas of starting their fight back up. But she seemed to have calmed herself down, and she just went down to a seated position in front of him. A cool, pleasant breeze blew through the crash site, and Jack smoothed down his blonde hair as the wind mussed it up somewhat. At the same time, Aria raised a hand to her head to smooth down the fur between her ears. She caught herself, lowered her hand, and grinned at him.

“So,” she said simply.

Jack raised his eyebrows, waiting for her to say something else. She was just staring at him with those piercing yellow eyes of hers. Impatient, he cleared his throat. “So, what?”

“So, you think of what I say, yes?” Aria asked him. The tip of her tail twitched. “About finding my ship. You will come with me?”

Jack rubbed his chin. “Well...ah...that depends.”

“On?”

“What are you planning to do with me once we get to where we're going?” Jack pressed her. “You say you want to use the radio to call for help. I'm assuming that means you're going to call the Ascendancy and tell them where you are so a rescue ship can pick you up.” Aria nodded. “So, then, what happens to me? I don't much fancy becoming a prisoner of war.”