Broken Episode One (8 page)

“Right ... but standard recording orbs shouldn’t be
able to scan through this much hull,” he pointed out as he helped
her stand.

“Oh, Klutzo has ... added features.” She called the
little recording orb over to her with a flick of her hand. “What
happened, Klutzo? And where are we? Have we struck a planet
outside, or an asteroid? How’s hull integrity? Are there any other
survivors?”

“Hull integrity has failed,” Klutzo informed them in
an electronic tone that sounded way too chipper, given the
circumstances.

Josh stiffened, automatically tightening his grip on
Mimi’s arm.

“We have crash landed on a planet. Accessing local
information networks,” he informed them as the lights along the
outside of his form started to blip between green and red.

Josh started to relax. If they were on a planet and
hull integrity had already failed, it meant the air outside was
breathable.

“I have ascertained we are on Omacka Four,” Klutzo
announced.

Josh immediately tensed up again. “What?”

“Where’s Omacka Four? I’ve never heard of it.” Mimi
turned to look at Josh, her expression worried.

“It’s a long way from our transport route. How the
hell did we get here?” Josh answered. “And are you sure, recording
orb?”

“Yes, I am certain,” Klutzo informed them, “but if
you do not trust my assessment, ask the Captain.”

“He’s alive?” Josh snapped forward.

“Yes, all the crew of this transport are alive. The
main deck and bridge were shielded during the crash landing. Only
this area was not.”

“Oh, that’s a relief.” Mimi let out a tense
breath.

Josh just snorted. There was every possibility that
the Captain removed the shielding from the corridor area because he
knew Josh and Mimi were there. Though Josh doubted the Captain had
any particular beef with Mimi, he could bet the guy was already
suspicious of him.

“Let’s go check it out.” He nodded at Mimi.

“Right.” She pushed her hair from her face and
smiled.

Christ, they’d crash-landed and she was smiling.

What was this girl on?

He was being ... strangely nice. Up until the crash,
Josh Cook had been one of the meanest people she’d met. Now it felt
like he was a different guy.

She was appreciating his total personality makeover,
yet she got the feeling it wouldn’t last.

Maybe he’d look out for her for the time being, but
as soon as the situation calmed down, she could bet he would become
the same rude bully she’d sat next to for the past day.

Still, she’d enjoy this while it lasted.

“Watch your step,” he pointed out as they made their
way through the corridor. “The floor is pretty weak in this
section.”

She smiled. Okay, she always smiled, but she put a
little more effort into it.

“Right, the main deck should be right around this
corner.” Josh shifted around a massive section of cables that had
spilled from the wall like guts from a split belly.

Before she could follow, she heard him sigh in
frustration. “Great, it’s blocked ahead,” he managed.

She ducked her head around the corner to see that,
indeed, there was no way through. The wall had collapsed, and
though there was a tiny gap between the massive chunks of warped
metal, she wouldn’t even be able to push her finger through it, let
alone her body.

“What do we do now?” She asked.

Josh looked at her, his eyes getting stuck on her
arm. “We need to get you some first aid.”

“Ha?” She looked down at her arm. The gash was deep
and bleeding profusely. Though it hurt a bit, she was surprised by
how much blood was trickling down her sleeve.

“Just hold tight. Technically this ship should have
a med kit in each service panel; it’s a requirement of
accreditation as a transport vessel.” Josh turned from her and
started to search along the broken corridor. “Hold that wound,” he
snapped at her as he got down on his hands and knees and tried to
pry a service panel from the wall.

She
smiled again, then
– as
instructed – grabbed her arm, pressing the fingers against her gash
and wincing as she did.

Josh grunted as he tried to yank the service panel
off, but after a few seconds it was clear the warped metal was
jammed into the walls. So, grabbing onto a broken pipe jutting from
the wall for support, he leaned back and kicked the panel instead.
The wall shook under his barrage, and soon enough the panel dropped
off and clanged to the floor.

He leaned down and stuck his head and torso into the
service duct, despite the fact she could smell it was flooded with
some foul gas and the buzz of exposed electrical circuits. He
ferreted around a bit before finally pulling out a slim flexi metal
case with a medical symbol emblazoned over the top in holographic
ink.

“Alright.” He opened the box, slamming his fist on
it when it wouldn’t unclip, then surveyed the contents.

She walked over to him just in time to watch him
swear.

“What is it?” She asked.

“Goddamn contraband.” He started to laugh.

“Sorry?”

“They’re restricted tri-phasic gun batteries.” Josh
chuckled.

“Ah, why is that funny?”

“Because I’ve been looking for these. It seems our
Captain really is a smuggler. Now if only we hadn’t crash landed in
the freaking Omacka system.”

“Ah ... is there any spray-on skin in there? Because
my arm's still kind of bleeding.” Despite the fact she pressed her
fingers hard into her wound, blood seeped between them. She was
starting to feel a little light headed, too.

“Yeah, yeah, hold on,” he muttered as he carefully
removed the gun batteries, counting them as he lay them to his
side. “Alright, here we go.” He finally uncovered the legitimate
contents of the med pack, pushing to his knees as he grabbed the
spray-on skin.

Mimi
sighed in relief, but tensed a little as Josh neared. It wasn’t
that she thought Josh was going to hurt her
– far from it. For some reason his proximity
made her skin tingle.

Without a word, he grabbed her arm with one hand,
and shook the spray with the other.

“Wait, isn’t that the wrong color?” Mimi managed
nervously.

Josh gave her a pointed look.

“Never mind. I guess I’ve always wanted a purple tan
...” she trailed off.

“Hold still,” he commanded.

With a soft touch that was very much at odds with
his character, Joshua Cook proceeded to spray her wound with the
specialized compound. As soon as it touched her arm, the whole
thing prickled. It felt like her pain had been replaced by
thousands of dancing ants. When she shifted uncomfortably, Josh
snapped at her to “stay still,” again.

When he was finished, without a word, he cupped her
chin in his hand.

“What are you doing?” She spluttered.

He gave a derisive snort. “Relax, Princess, I’m
dealing with the cuts on your face.”

“You can leave them; they’re not very serious,” she
stuttered.

“I’ll be the judge of that. Plus, they could get
infected. I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but this ain’t exactly
the cleanest transport in the galaxy,” he mumbled as he gently
applied the spray-on skin to her cheek and neck.

Though Mimi’s skin prickled as he applied the
compound, it was where his fingers held her chin that really
tingled. Her stomach too.

She couldn’t look him in the eye, and instead
concentrated way too keenly on the patch of wall over his left
shoulder.

“Okay, all done,” he said as he stepped back and
pocketed the spray-on skin.

“Thank you,” she managed, her voice way too high for
some reason.

There was an awkward moment where they looked at
each other, then Josh snorted. “Purple really suits you.”

“Wait, what?” She delicately felt her cheeks.

“That’s a stand-out statement, that is.” He chuckled
meanly to himself. “Now hurry up; we need to find a way out of this
tin can so we can have a little chat to the Captain.”

Mimi didn’t say anything as Josh led her forward
with a brief wave.

He was about to turn mean again, wasn’t he? She
could feel it. Now the immediate threat was almost over, Josh Cook
was going to become the same cruel man she’d learned to loathe.

It took him ages to find a way out of the ship. If
he’d had his armor, he could have done it in seconds. The damn
stuff was back at the Academy though. He was meant to be under
cover for this mission, and there was no good excuse to take your
battle armor on a resort cruise.

The longer they remained trapped in the belly of
that broken ship, the more irritated he got.

Mimi thankfully was silent. In fact, she was doing a
pretty darn good job of staying out of his way.

That wouldn’t last though, would it? As soon as they
got out of here, she’d go back to being the arrogant, maddening
brat he’d learned to loathe. In fact, it was a surprise she hadn’t
taken the opportunity to turn her recording orb on to document this
whole mess. It was also a surprise she hadn’t started asking him
more questions about his past.

Finally, after what felt like hours, they made their
way into the cargo bay. He had to pry apart a door with his bare
hands to make it in, but once they were inside, they saw light.

Josh swore and laughed.

At the other end of the room, there was a massive
crack in the hull. It had let in a mountain of sand. Enough sand,
in fact, to climb up.

He raced towards it. It was only when he was halfway
up that he realized Mimi wasn’t following. He turned around, his
boots skidding in the sand as he lost the purchase his momentum had
given him.

She was searching through the cargo, biting her lip
as she concentrated.

“What the heck are you doing?” He called to her.

“Looking for my luggage.”

“Are you serious? We need to get out of here.”

“Hold on, I think I’ve found it. It’s just under
this enormous chunk of metal.”

“Mimi, get your ass over here now,” he snapped at
her. “Don’t you jeopardize our lives just because you’re looking
for your precious stuff. Your dad can replace whatever you’ve
lost.”

She
blinked at him, her surprise obvious. “I’m just
—”

“I said move,” he snarled.

Still clearly shocked, she made her way up the sand
bank towards him. She kept her distance though.

“It figures someone like you would prioritize
possessions over people,” he said meanly.

“Why are you suddenly being so mean again?” She
asked quietly.

“You just reminded me why I hate you; you’re a
spoilt brat.”

“Don’t you think you’re overreacting? I just thought
having luggage would be kind of useful considering we’re stuck on a
desert planet a long way from home.”

“Yeah, right. You’ve probably got your jewelry hoard
in there or something.”

“Do I look like the kind of person to wear enough
jewelry to have a hoard of it, Josh?”

“Shut up and keep walking,” he snapped.

She fumed.

It had
finally happened; Josh had turned mean again. And she was
right
– it had happened right
when they’d reached safety. With the immediate threat over, he
could default to being a prick once more.

She crossed her arms as she followed him up the sand
drift, until finally they made it out into the light. Though there
was a considerable lip of metal she had to scramble over in order
to get out of the ship, Josh didn’t help her. He marched ahead,
slamming his hands on his hips as he stared at the landscape around
them.

Mimi eventually made it out and scrambled up the
sand dune beside him.

She stared.

They were in a desert. Though the sun was starting
to set, it was still remarkably warm.

“Oh my,” she muttered under her breath as she looked
up into the sky. There were dual suns.

This really wasn’t Earth.

Suddenly she felt something to her side. She looked
down, confusion crumpling her brow.

An object burst from the sand next to her.

She screamed and threw herself to the side.

Josh grabbed her protectively. Then they both
watched in surprise as the object turned out to be a small
subterranean drilling vehicle. It protruded from the sand, the
drilling mechanism on the nose winding down as a door was thrust
open along the body.

A massive alien who had no right fitting into such a
small vehicle pulled its way out.

Mimi held onto Josh fast.

The alien looked the both of them over, then tipped
its head back and laughed. It sounded like an engine roaring into
orbit. “More survivors,” it said, its voice a gravelly mix between
boots crunching over rock and the deepest baritone you’ve ever
heard. “The Captain said it was ready to salvage. Said all the crew
was accounted for and had already been rescued. Guess he didn’t
count you guys as rescuable. Still, you got out just in time; a few
more minutes, and we would have torn that ship to shreds.”

Mimi gripped Josh’s arm so hard it was a wonder she
didn’t break his bones.

He didn’t push her off. He did, however, shift to
the side until he was in front of her. “Where the hell is the
Captain?”

“Back in town. It’s a two-hour walk that way. Or you
could wait a bit, and I’ll give you a lift.”

“We’ll take the lift,” Josh said immediately.

“Wait, we will? No offense, sir, but how exactly are
we going to fit inside that thing?” She tried to be polite as she
pointed to the very cramped drilling vehicle.

“By squeezing in,” the alien informed her with a
chuckle.

“Oh my, okay.” Mimi bit her lip.

“Plus,
it’s preferable to walking out in these parts, ma’am
– there are sand wolves, salvagers,
and brigands.”