Imposition (17 page)

He plotted its trajectory in his mind. They were both headed for the depths of the jungle—at his speed he might make it, the trees might cushion the impact enough if he tried to land as broad-sided as possible, but the other pilot didn't stand a chance. Then as he watched the ground come up to meet them, he noticed a slim possibility of survival appear—a lake. Wide and blue, expanding out underneath the other unit, almost like a glove spreading to catch it; he saw the impact, the displacement of water that followed it, and felt utter relief—now he just had to make it himself.

He felt the pit of his stomach drop away as the ground rushed upwards, the smudge of green and brown resolving with terrifying speed into the recognizable shapes of tree-tops.

Less than five seconds to impact.

He tensed in the harness and screwed his eyes shut, wanting to use what could be his last moments contemplating something profound, but nothing was forthcoming amongst the panic.

The first impact forced the breath out of him, the smack of the module into the ground sending his body into numbing shock as the restraints designed to keep him safe battered and bruised his soft flesh. Sheer terror gripped him whole, convincing him the world was about to collapse in around him, making him expect every moment to be his last, awaiting the terrible pain of the module crushing in around him, snapping his bones like twigs and squashing him until he burst open.

But the vibrations settled, the shuddering slowed, and then everything was still around him. He cracked open one eye, then opened them both, gasping for air after realizing he'd been holding his breath.

Everything around him was a wreck, the screen bent and buckled in front of him, wires and tubes and electrical units detached and dangling around him like streamers, but somehow the outer structure of the module had held. He laid his head back against the harness, about ready to cry with relief.

He remembered the other unit and panic filled him up again. He desorbed and wrenched himself free of the harness. The module door hissed open but didn't go anywhere, blocked by things on the outside. He knew he was being reckless, not checking the gas composition of the atmosphere first, but right now he didn't care. It was breathable, and that was all that mattered. He needed to get to the other module.

He rammed his shoulder into the door, shoving at it in sheer desperation until whatever was on the other side finally relented and let him free, tumbling out into the churned, broken earth. He paid his surroundings little attention, clambering over them, slipping and falling and scrambling down the mess of dirt and trees and foliage towards the marker showing on his little visor.

As he neared the lake everything became sodden and squelching beneath his feet, drenched from the water displacement that had followed the module impact, branches and loose debris piled up everywhere, left dammed up against the huge protruding tree roots as the waters had receded. He broke the cover of the jungle and splashed out into the lake itself, wading in deep with frustrating slowness, then breaking into a swim, diving down in the direction of the marker.

He spotted the module, down in the depths, a crater surrounding the impact site. The air-inflated buffers had deployed and now drifted, emptied, around the ovuloid shape like ghostly apparitions. The unit looked intact, at least from the outside. Inside could be a different matter altogether.

He wriggled his way back to the surface, toward the light, as fast as possible and heaved in a huge breath, flipping over and diving again, propelling himself back down. He shoved at the massive deflated balloons, wafting them out of the way and reaching for the module's door. The door panel was broken, but that came as no surprise. Therse dug his fingers into the emergency handle holster and pulled with every ounce of strength he could muster, using his legs on the module's hull for leverage, his muscles screaming in protest until finally the seal broke. Trapped air bubbled past him out of the cavity as he swung the door fully open.

Inside, Gen was drifting peacefully in the harness.

Therse felt a surge of relief flood through him, though now wasn't the time to stop and think about why. Sure, Gen had made it down in one piece, but there was no guarantee he was even still alive. The module was twisted and buckled inside, and it was a miracle Gen hadn't been crushed entirely. He grabbed the knife from his boot and set about cutting Gen free from the wires and straps that held him in place.

And then he noticed.

Gen's leg was trapped under a part of the module that had crumpled inwards. He followed the leg down with his hand, trying to feel if there was a way to pull it out, locking his fingers under Gen's foot and pulling as hard as he dare, lungs bursting, gritting his teeth as he finally worked it free. Blood poured from a gash on Gen's leg, clouding the water with thick red. The sight stirred an uncomfortable and long repressed memory, and he felt it slither black and terrible across his consciousness.

He looked to Gen's face, eyes closed and at peace, hair haloed around his face.

Just like his mother had been, in the bath when he'd found her.

He blinked and shook himself free of it, grabbed Gen around the waist and pushed himself towards the open door, then swimming out, up, as fast as was possible, lungs screaming for air until finally he breached the surface, gasping, water streaming down over his face. He held Gen tight and kept his chin above the lake, swimming backwards with him, a growing panic in his chest that Gen needed to breathe and couldn't.

Therse hefted him onto the sandy bank of the slightly-drained lake, choking out water and gasping for air as he dragged himself out alongside. Gen just lay there, still, limp. Therse grabbed him by the shoulder and shook him desperately, searching his slack face for signs of life, not knowing what else to do. He tilted Gen's body so he was face down and patted his back vigorously. Gen awoke with a start, coughing up lake so violently he nearly vomited. Therse kept a hand at his shoulder, waiting for him to calm down, trying to ignore the flush of relief near overwhelming him.

Then he looked down. Gen's leg was a bloodied mess around the ankle.

Regaining control of his racking cough, spitting, probably to get the foul taste out of his mouth, Gen seemed to realize that he wasn't where he thought he ought to be. He noticed the grip on his shoulder and spun around, wincing as the motion sent pain shooting up his leg. Therse pulled back and they stared at one another for a moment.

"What the hell happened?” Gen said, glaring at Therse with great suspicion and wiping his mouth on the back of his hand.

"No idea. When I woke up we were already falling,” Therse told him, looking around the still lake. “We're the only ones who survived it.” Gen just stared at him. “The others must have burned up in re-entry. I...I watched one of them explode in the upper atmosphere.” He glanced down at Gen's leg and swallowed, reaching to peel back the suit around it. “We need to get that splinted or something."

Gen brushed him off. “Fuck off, I'm fine."

"Some thanks I get for saving your fucking life, bastard."

"Well, if you were doing it for thanks you needn't have bothered at all,” Gen spat, rolling himself over onto the grassy verge just above the bank and sitting up.

Therse ground his teeth. Even now Gen was determined to be an asshole. “Doesn't change the fact that we're in this situation now,” he said. “I need to check my ship, salvage what I can if it's a wreck."

"Whatever."

His ship had been in worse shape than he'd expected. Trees were felled all around the little craft, almost buried under charred foliage at the end of a long scar through the jungle. He could crack the door just wide enough to get back in and foraged through the churned insides of the vessel for anything salvageable or worth salvaging. There wasn't much. A few emergency food rations, a stub projectile pistol and an energy rifle, some basic medical supplies and whatever he had on his person were all they had between them.

When he returned to the lakeside, Gen was trying to stand. He tossed a medpack over to him. “At least fix yourself up if you're not going to let me do it."

He could feel the heat of Gen's glare on his back as he laid everything else they had out on the grass, but at least he wasn't too stubborn to use it. Therse heard him suck in breath as discretely as possible as he set about tending to the wound.

"We need to get moving,” Gen muttered. “There's no way our descent will have gone unnoticed."

Therse swung round on his haunches. “That all depends on you. Can you walk?"

Gen scowled at him, injecting a hypo of painkillers into his thigh. “I can walk.” He put a hand down to support himself and stood awkwardly, apparently embarrassed and irritated that he was in such a bad way but determined not to let Therse see the worst of it.

"Need a hand?” Therse said anyway, stepping over to him. He was shoved away again.

"Which direction?” Gen said, trying to contain the strain in his voice.

"I need to figure out where we are first."

Gen slumped back against the grassy bank as Therse returned to his salvage pile and fetched over a topography holo, unraveling it over the sand like a piece of rolled-up paper. The geography of the mission sprang into relief on the little map, drawn by horizontal greenish-pink lines stacked above one another. Their target was indicated by a flashing red blob at the center of it all. “Show current coordinates,” he told it. The map shifted, rises of mountains whizzing past as it adjusted, then stopped. They were forty kilometers from their objective. “Fuck,” Therse muttered, running a hand into his still-damp hair.

"We can still pull this off,” Gen told him.

"How? Your ship's a write-off; there's no way I can get mine airborne in time, it'll take weeks to fix."

"We walk."

"What?"

"We walk the thirty-eight-point-one klicks to this ridge here.” Gen pointed at a rise on the map, finger slipping through the holographic contours. “If we don't have the option of tactical strike from air, we'll just have to do it from the ground instead. From here we'll have a perfect view of their base, providing intel is correct. Just give me a gun; I'll shoot this fucker myself."

Therse had to admit he was a little impressed by the man's bravado, but ultimately it was a flawed idea. “That's impossible, given the state your leg's in."

"I told you,” Gen grunted, shoving himself upright again, trying to hide the pain Therse knew he must be in. “I'm fine."

It was still a bad idea. Therse shook his head. “We should find somewhere high-up, send a comms burst, and wait for re-enforcements,” he said, looking around and trying to gauge the best peak in their immediate vicinity.

Gen put his hands on his hips and leaned on his good leg. “Jetty won't be sending re-enforcements. We're not even supposed to be here, remember? This is off-record."

Therse considered that for a moment. “Why do you think that is, exactly?"

Gen shrugged. “Not our place to know."

"Look, I'm sure if they find out what's happened —"

"No one's coming, Therse. No one's going to come, no matter how loud you shout. If they were, they'd be here already. Jetty's a whole system away, SAR could have burned up in the atmosphere for all we know. We don't have the first fucking clue what's going on. We're on our own here."

Therse turned away, running his hands through his hair. He hated it, but Gen was absolutely right.

"So the only thing we can do,” Gen grunted slightly, shifting his weight and testing out his injured leg, “is complete the mission."

Therse looked back at him; tall and proud despite the hideous situation they were in. There was something about Gen's confidence that put him at ease, even though he still hated the bastard. They needed to work together if they were going to survive this. He relented. “All right."

The day was heating up, and the going was getting tougher. Therse peered back at Gen. He was trying his best not to let the pain show, but their progress had been incredibly slow even with all the pain meds pumping through his system.

"We need to make at least five-k by nightfall,” Therse announced.

"What's your point?” Gen spat, sullen and irritable, a sheen of sweat glossing his face.

Therse stopped and turned back to him. “My point is that we've still got three-k to go, and the sun's going to start setting soon."

Gen stopped moving altogether. “Well, fuck you. You try getting through this shit,” he said, whacking the thick foliage they were wading through, “with a busted leg."

"I'm just saying, this is the flaw in your plan."

Gen limped past him, using a thick stick for support. “We just need to get there; I'll blow his brains out, mission complete, sector saved, everything's fine."

Therse watched him go. “What do we do after that? If no one's coming for us."

Silence.

"We can think about that after."

Gen was in a bad way. Therse had to admire the man's grit and determination, if nothing else.

They were settling down for the night in the shelter of a huge moss-covered tree-root, Gen struggling to find a comfortable position to lie in as Therse checked their progress beside him in the near-darkness. He sighed and snapped the map away. It wasn't looking good.

He turned to Gen and considered the risks involved in offering him a hand.

Suddenly a huge burst of light filled the air, shining impossibly bright even through the dense jungle and forcing them both to cover their eyes. There was just enough time for them to exchange a dumbfounded look before the noise and the blast wave hit, buffeting the air about them as the floor shook violently, sending birds and other flying animals screaming into the night, ripping debris from the jungle canopy and dropping it to the ground. A huge branch fell right beside them, narrowly missing Gen's leg.

"What the fuck was that?” Gen said, eyes wide. Therse stood up, thinking fast. Gen said something else to him, but it was drowned out by another round of detonations.