Page 23 of When Eden Falls

“Pack up as many supplies as you can carry,” he said, placing two large, Solarfleet branded rucksacks on the floor. “We’re leaving.”

“Is Troy coming to get us?” Zamya asked, turning to face him.

“No, we’re going to get help.”

I watched Rooke move towards the bed. “What type of help?” I asked.

“We’re going to find that human colony.”

“What human colony?” Zamya asked, glancing at me.

“We think we’ve discovered a form of intelligent life. Human life,” I replied.

“What? No!” Zamya’s eyes flew wide, looking back at Rooke. “Are you crazy? They may be as hostile as those horror beetles.”

“They may know how to treat Oz’s infection. It’s a risk I’m willing to take.” He looked down at Oz. “Can you bandage him up again? We’ll have to move him.”

Zamya gaped at Rooke. Her expression matching my own.

“Rooke,” I stood up, grabbing his arm, “are you sure about this?”

“Absolutely. If we get Troy to bring the dropship down, Oz will still die.”

“He maynotdie,” Zamya whimpered.

“He’s dying, Zam. You know that better than I do. If I send for the dropship, Troy may die attempting the manoeuvre and then the five of us remaining will be stranded here. If we find the humans, there’s a chance we can save Ozandkeep Troy safe. And I have no intention of splitting us up. We stay together.”

“But…but,” I stammered, completely taken aback by his decision. “How far is the colony?”

“Eleven miles.”

“Eleven miles? And you want us to carry Oz eleven miles? Have you seen the size of him?”

“Yes. That’s why we’re taking the life raft.”

“Holy souls,” Zamya mumbled behind us.

Rooke shot her a pointed look and began to walk through the door into the corridor. I followed him closely. “Rooke, we haven’t studied the intensity of the sea. The currents could throw us off course. It could be treacherous. We don’t know what type of life forms reside in the water. We may get attacked. And Zamya’sright. The humans shot the drone down. How can you be certain they won’t do the same to us as soon as they see us?”

Rooke halted before we entered the analysing room. Turning, he placed his hands on my shoulders and peered into my eyes. “We’re doing this, Eden. We can’t stay here, we’ll all die, starting with Oz.”

Silently staring at him, I mentally dissected his words.

“Please, Eden. Please give me your backing; your support. I need you.”

I swallowed down the rational objections jumping around my head, and somehow nodded my acceptance. A brief, appreciative smile twitched across his lips before he stepped into the analysing room, leaving me standing in the shadows of the corridor, fighting the doubts and anxiety.

An hour later, I stood with Cora at the water’s edge, holding the oval shaped life raft afloat. With both Oz’s tattooed arms draped about their necks, we watched Rooke and Kobe stagger towards us with him wedged between them—his feet dragging along the sand, his head slumped forward.

Stepping backwards onto the small, makeshift boat, they hauled Oz over the side and laid him down along one of the edges, avoiding the two large canisters of water dominating the centre. Zamya climbed in after them, covering Oz with a hoard of blankets. He was still shivering feverishly.

Rooke returned to the ship to seal the airlock. I watched the ramp retract as he marched back towards us. He was wearing a comms earpiece with a connecting wire running down his jumpsuit into his chest pocket. Kobe and I wore the same, connecting us to Troy on The Orka. The ship was in a prime position to navigate us towards the human colony, using a signal Kobe had wired up barely an hour ago.

“Troy, we’re all set,” Rooke’s voice echoed in my earpiece, and from directly in front of me.

“Roger that,” Troy’s voice crackled through. “The sea’scurrent is still moving in your favour. You just need to get across the wave break.”

“I can see it, it’s not far.” Rooke glanced at me, noticing my tight expression. It must have given away my doubts. He tapped my shoulder trying to reassure me before he gripped the same piece of rope Cora was holding. Letting go, Cora scrambled onto the boat and together, Rooke and I pushed the raft into the sea.