Page 12 of When Eden Falls

Cora started rambling again, “It’s really quite fascinating how similar Earth and Allura are. Their air is made up of near enough the same number of gases. Even the time scale is similar. The Earth day is just under twenty-four hours, Allura twenty-six. The Earth year is three hundred and sixty-five days, Allura has threehundred and thirty-seven. That, theoretically, is the exact same length of time, just made up differently.”

I smiled to myself and handed Cora her tea. She seemed far more relaxed now. The colour had returned to her cheeks, the smile of intrigue back in place.

“I’m going to ask Kobe to reconfigure our watches,” she continued, “so they sync with Earth hours. That way we’ll have more of an idea of how much time we have tomorrow before the sun sets again.”

“Any more information on the tides?” I asked. It had dawned on me that the tide would come back in at some point, which could hold us up again.

Cora shook her head. “It’s inconclusive. The tides vary day to day, area to area. And these books were written thousands of years ago. It may have changed.”

A thud resounded behind us making us both jump. From the corridor leading to the sleeping quarters, Sym appeared. He was bare foot, wearing a pair of black shorts and a loose-fitting blue T-shirt. Surprisingly, his black mohawk was perfectly in place, but his brown eyes were hooded and tired.

“Are you alright?” I asked him.

He grumbled and slumped down into one of the chairs on the opposite side of the room. “I can’t sleep. Oz is snoring.”

“Ah, just put a pillow over his big head,” was Cora’s suggestion. I glanced at her, shocked by her words.

“At least on The Orka we had separate sleeping quarters.” Sym yawned, his muscular arms stretching above his head.

“Hopefully, we’ll be back there tomorrow night,” I said.

“Uh-huh.” He yawned again, setting me and Cora off. “I’m going to get some coffee. Think I’m gonna need it.”

Thankfully, our three-hour stint passed uneventfully. Sym remained with us throughout. Sitting at a separate desk space, he sketched in his drawing pad, commenting occasionally on our conversation. When Rooke and Zamya took over the monitoring, Cora and I staggered to our sleeping quarters, leaving Sym engrossed in his artwork.

After redressing in a black vest top and a pair of black leggings, I sunk into one of the lower bunks. Cora took the one directly above. It didn’t take me long to doze off into a deep, exhausted slumber.

The sound of screaming jolted me awake. I felt disorientated at first. It hadn’t been my recurring dream that had woken me, which confused me further. Then an urgent male voice was heard. It sounded muffled, as if it was coming from outside the ship.

As my fogged consciousness cleared, movement from the bunk opposite caught my eye. Zamya forced herself up, listening attentively. She must’ve finished her watch a while ago. What time was it?

Cora stirred above as the echoless screaming and shouting came again, followed by what could only resemble laser gun fire. For a brief second, Zamya and I exchanged questioning looks before I launched myself towards the closed bedroom door, Zamya hot on my heels. I heard more shouting, more laser fire. My heart pounded in my chest. What the hell was going on?

The ship was dark, only the green emergency lights were lighting the floor. We found no one in the analysing room, the monitoring screens were flickering on and off, the blue overhead lights buzzed as if the redundant power system was trying to kick in.

A chilled draught of air hit my bare skin. It felt different to the gentle flow of air conditioning. It smelt unusual. It smelt fresh and…salty. My eyes widened and I found myself sprinting towards the airlock at the rear of the ship.

Stumbling to a halt as I entered the vast chamber, the airlock was open. Rooke, dressed in a grey T-shirt and a pair of black lounge pants, was hauling Oz’s large body in through the open doorway. Kobe was standing at the top of the extended ramp, continuously shooting lasers into the darkness. There were unusual sounds coming from outside; growls, roars, clicks, and gnawing.

Gnawing?

I cursed and lunged forward to help Rooke. Oz’s T-shirt was ripped on his left shoulder and arm, drenched in blood. His face was scrunched up, clenching his teeth in agony. Zamya crouched next to me as we placed him on the loading bay floor.

Rooke ran back to the airlock, gun in hand. “Kobe, get inside, now!”

The sound of laser shots reverberated through the air. The growls and shrieks grew louder, closer.

“Kobe!” Rooke leapt forward, firing his gun down the ramp, pulling Kobe backwards before hitting the airlock button. They fell into a heap on the chamber floor. As the doors slid together, I caught a glimpse of a monster; a wide, elongated head with a large, snarling mouth. Two rows of sharp teeth flanked by long, deadly fangs glistening with saliva. Four dark eyes were possessed with determination, hooded by a crown of scales. It roared as it slammed into the now thankfully closed doors. Another thud confirmed the large beast had fallen off the ramp, which had folded back into its redundant position under the airlock chamber.

I stared at the door for a moment wondering if I was dreaming. Captain Lewison had mentioned the terrorising creatures were like something from a nightmare. If what I had just seen was anything to go by, she wasn’t wrong. The image stained my conscience with fear.

I averted my eyes to Rooke and Kobe laying on the floor. Their heavy breathing and groans indicated the extent of their exertion and relief. I glanced down at Oz on the floor next to me, he was pale, sweat beading his forehead. Zamya was pressing down on a large wound stretching across his left shoulder. Her hands were too small to cover the full area.

I flinched, regaining my focus. Pushing down on an exposed area of tissue and blood, Oz grunted under my weight.

“Sorry Oz,” I whispered to him. A hint of a smile flashed across his lips in response as he panted.

Rooke and Kobe got to their feet and staggered into the loading bay, closing the inner airlock door as they did so.