Page 9 of When Eden Falls

Inwardly I cursed. “No, no, no!” I began to race along the soft, resilient ground towards the peninsula. Rooke called after me, but I didn’t stop. If the sea had moved, that meant…

I turned the sharp corner at the tip of the cove, the sea almost blocking my path. There, two miles up the coastline, sat the Parvos, now partially submerged in sea water. I began to swear profusely.

Rooke’s voice was in my ear, “Eden, slow down. What’s wrong?” Then he cursed when the scene came into view. “Eden, wait up!”

He caught up with me when the ship was only a few strides away.

When we landed, I hadn’t noticed how much of an angle the floor inclined towards the ocean. Sea water now slapped against the silver and blue hull on the port side of the ship. At the rear, the lower portside thruster and main engine output were sodden. They were supposed to produce water, not sit in it. This type of natural occurrence didn’t happen quite so violently on Allura. The seas and their waters were far more stable. The tides only rose and receded by a couple of metres, not half a mile.

Standing on the dry side of the ship, I placed my gloved hands on my helmet and shook my head. “This is a disaster.”

Rooke swung round looking for Cora. The rest of the crew were scurrying along behind us.

“Cora, why has this happened?”

“I…I don’t know.” She winced.

“How does the level of sea even move this much?” Rooke sounded vexed.

“I don’t…”

“It must be the moon,” Kobe said calmly, looking up into the sky.

“Oh my Nux, yes. That’s it,” Cora exclaimed. “Of course. Earth has a moon. On Allura there is a fairly insignificant tidal effect caused by our sun. Earth’s moon dominates theirs causing a harsher effect.”

Rooke cursed again and turned to look at me. I felt as though I was in shock.

“Eden, can we take off?”

I shook my head. “I…I don’t think so, no. The thrusters are filled with water. There’ll be too much excess weight to get airborne. The ship could break apart. It’s too much of a risk.”

Rooke groaned, turning back to the scientists. “How high will thistidego?”

Cora shrugged but Kobe took the initiative to scan the rockface and the ground around our feet. “Judging by the texture of rocks and the marks on the ground, I don’t think it will rise much further.”

Rooke gave a sharp nod. “Good. Everyone, get inside the ship. Let’s hope this water recedes and the engines dry out before nightfall.”

Both Oz and Zamya’s groans of uncertainty rung through the radio. They obviously shared my doubts.

C h a p t e rF o u r

Surveying the digital instruments on the driving dashboard, I brushed several strands of dark hair from my sweaty forehead. I was stressed. The engines were laden with sea water and one of the fuel tanks had a small, albeit dangerous amount of sodium chloride present.

“Damn, the water must be full of salt,” I whispered to myself, rubbing my face with frustration. It would be too much of a risk to take off even if the engines dried out.

“I’m so sorry, Eden,” Cora’s soft voice carried over to me from behind. She was hovering in the open doorway of the flight deck, looking almost sheepish. A line of worry indented her freckled forehead.

“Hey,” I reached back for her hand, “this isn’t your fault, Cora. No one knew this would happen.”

“But…I should’ve known. It’s my job to know.” She walked forward and plopped herself in the chair next to me. “Rooke is so angry.”

“What’s new?” I said, trying the lighten the mood, but it didn’t seem to help. Cora sunk into the chair, wrapping her arms around herself. She looked so young and inexperienced. Being only twenty, she, somehow, had ended up being the last-minute, stand in astrogeologist for our previous mission. The mission we never returned from. Rooke had accepted our current, unplanned mission mid-flight.

To Cora, the whole situation must have felt overwhelming, like she’d been caught up in an unstoppable whirlwind. Yes, shewas overly excitable, but when the pressure got to her, it was obvious she was struggling. And she was struggling now. Rooke and his lack of tact could be irremissible at the best of times.

I squeezed her hand, changing the subject. “Did you get a chance to speak to Troy?”

“Yes.” She smiled sweetly. “Just before he went into blackout. I wish he was here.” She averted her gaze to the sea glistening around us, her light green eyes illuminated in the golden light. “This placeisbeautiful. Look at that sunset.”