Page 16 of When Eden Falls

With my mind ticking louder and louder as the seconds dragged by, I hadn’t realised Rooke had gone silent until I caught sight of him standing in my peripheral view, fully suited up. “Eden, talk to me,” he said compassionately.

I lowered my aching arms and slowly looked over at him. He was reaching up, leaning against the hull of the ship, peering downat me. Squeezing my eyes together, I shook my head. “There’s too much to be done. Even with everyone’s help, we won’t complete the repairs in time.”

“Yes, we will.” He ducked down, pulling me out of the awkward position I’d been crouching in for the past two hours. “We’re nearly finished.”

“It’s getting late. I still need to transfer the fuel. I still need to…”

“Okay, okay.” He placed his gloved hands on the bulbous glass of my helmet. “We have time.”

“Do we?” I pointed towards the sea. The lapping waves were growing in strength. I could hear their roar vibrating through my suit. I whimpered at the realisation. “The water’s starting to come in. The port side wheel needs to be dug out of the sand before the sea reaches the thrusters, otherwise I can’t take off. Holy souls, this isn’t going to work!”

“Eden, calm down.” Rooke took me by the shoulders, pressing the glass of his helmet gently against mine with a thud. “Breathe,” he said.

I took in a few deep breaths. The panic prickling in my veins slowly subdued. I raised my eyes, meeting his green gaze through our visors. His expression was soothing, affectionate. Nux, I loved this man.

“I’ll sort the wheel. Kobe and Zamya can sort the last few hull breaches. You need a break, Eden. The fuel transfer won’t take long. We can do this.”

I swallowed before a feeble nod replaced my concern. Rooke took the large drill from my hand and led me up the ramp, opening and closing the airlocks while I ambled absentmindedly behind.

After I ate, I took my seat on the flight deck. Thankfully, the full expanse of the dashboard illuminated to life at my command. Typing instructions into the computer to initiate the flush through of the contaminated tanks, then transferring the remaining fuel from the redundant supply, a whirling sound was evidence the routine was playing out successfully.

My eyes flicked to the sea outside, calculating how muchlonger we had until the water became an issue. We still had time.

We can do this.

On the dashboard, the fuel dials changed from red to green, confirming adequate fuel transferral. I felt my lips twitch with relief. Leaping from my seat, I headed towards the analysing room, preparing to contact Rooke outside with the good news.

I found the large, circular space empty. Movement on the monitoring screens caught my eye. Rooke, Zamya, and Kobe were scurrying up the landing ramp towards the airlock.

From behind me, Cora’s small, wavering voice announced, “They’re here already.”

My heart sank as I took in her worried expression. “You mean the creatures?”

She nodded. “The scanners picked up their imminent presence.”

“But it’s not even sunset. Please tell me we’re ready to leave.”

A look of utter turmoil flashed across her face. “The wheel is still stuck.”

I cursed inwardly, and with a despondent frustration, I dropped into the desk chair beside me.

All that work for nothing.

C h a p t e rS e v e n

Rooke’s rumble of frustration was heard from where I sat in the analysing room. Cora and I winced at the sound of the loud crashes and bangs that followed, reverberating throughout the metallic shell.

Kobe appeared, mumbling his disapproval. “As you can hear, Rooke’s throwing a tantrum.”

Zamya’s voice echoed down the corridor behind him. “Just calm down! You’ll only make things worse if you…” The sound of a door call button being slammed several times followed by another loud thud made us flinch.

Zamya marched into the room. She looked vexed. “He’s gone and broken a suit helmet.” She threw her hands in the air. “I understand he’s annoyed by the situation. Who isn’t? But he’s not permitted to go around destroying vital equipment. He needs to calm down. Seriously! Did he ever attend that anger management course?”

“Rooke?” I scoffed. “No.”

“Well, if we do make it home, I highly recommend he does.”

Another thud was heard from the direction of the captain’s study.