Page 20 of Lashe
I glanced out the viewport and saw the sharp shine of metal glinting through the sand. The remnants of past doomed ships were newly exposed, as the vibrations shook up the dust outside. “It looks like others have not been so fortunate.”
He grunted. “Wewill not be so fortunate if we cannot break free of this place. Our captor is getting impatient.” He glanced up at me. “We’re not going to be able to wait for someone to answer our distress call.”
“Suggestions?” The moans and groans and creaking sounds from the ship were getting louder. The ship was beginning to shake. I gripped the back of the other chair.
“I will do a thermal burn to the ventral hull. If this is, in fact, an organism, that won’t feel good.”
“Assuming it has pain receptors.” I’d encountered plenty of unique forms of intelligent life as an ambassador, enough to not assume that other beings felt things like humanoids did.
“Yes, assuming that.” He shook his head. “It’s risky. It’s going to get hot in here real quick.”
“Just do it,” I said. “This creature is way too determined to kill us.”
“Agreed. You should sit for this.” His hands moved over the controls quickly as the shuttle listed to one side. “Hold on.”
The lights inside the cabin turned crimson, and I gasped as heat engulfed the cabin. Itwashot, suddenly. A roaring sound whooshed beneath us. Dust bellowed, obscuring the view.
“Just another moment,” he said. “This is going to leave a burn mark.”
I closed my eyes and gritted my teeth as the red light throbbed through my eyelids and alarms wailed through the cabin. “Stelis, can you turn off the noise?”
“Yes, Anna.” It immediately went quiet, except for the outside noises. “Temperature approaching thirty-nine degrees Celsius,” said Stelis in an alarmed tone. “Forty-two degrees and rising. Forty-four—”
“Stelis, stop,” I gasped.
“Almost done,” said Lashe, and he disengaged the burn. The shaking and groaning stopped. The shuttle was quiet, as if the whole structure—and us—was releasing a breath of relief. “The gravity has returned to its previous levels,” said Lashe. “I don’t think it liked that.”
“Ididn’t like that,” I said, wiping sweat off my brow. My hands were shaking. I felt a little lightheaded. That washot.
“It was far hotter out there,” he said. “As I hoped, the being that has us trapped here didn’t like that.” His eyes moved over the readout that now gave a diagnostic of the state of the ship. His brows rose. “Well, here’s one positive thing,” he said. “One of the two remaining clogged exhaust ducts has been cleared, thanks to that.”
“That’s great news.” I sat up straighter. “Does that mean we can do another burn and clear out the other one?”
“No way. If we do that again, we will lose half of our electronic systems. That was a one-time burn. As you heard, by the alarms, the ship was not pleased by that action.”
“Crap,” I said. “We have one more duct to clean out and then we might be able to get off this horrible creature.” I was done calling it an asteroid. There was nothing inert about the thing we were trapped on.
“It’s patient, but not for much longer,” he agreed. “It wants us. I don’t think it’s used to ships as fortified as this one is.”
“If we take off or try to, do you think it will increase the gravity again?”
“It’s possible,” he said. “So we will need all the power we can get.”
“Hold on.” I held up a hand. “Can we take off with one clogged exhaust duct?”
“Not without burning up,” he said. “Look. I’m going to go out there tomorrow to finish the job.” He looked at me, face determined. “It has to be done.”
Fear leapt into my chest, tightening my heart. “It will know you’re out there and will start up that wind again. I can’t risk losing you now.”
He leaned over from his seat to be closer to mine. “Anna, we are running out of water. We are running out of time. Eventually, we will also run out of air.” He reached out, took my hand, and brought my knuckles to his lips. “I will not lose you. If anything happens to me, Stelis can fly the ship. She knows what to do.”
“Yes, I do, Lashe.” Stelis’ voice sounded through the cabin. “But I am also not in favor of you risking your life, considering how much Anna’s hormone levels fluctuate when you are near her.”
He chuckled and shook his head. “That’s very illuminating, Stelis, but I’m sure Anna’s safety is your highest priority.”
“Of course,” said Stelis. “But your death would have a deeply negative impact on her well-being as well. Anna’s heart rate rises and her levels of estrogen and oxytocin increase when you are in physical contact. Since I am an adaptive AI assistant, the needs and desires of my primary owner highly impact my priority level and courses of action.”
“Oh my god, Stelis,” I moaned, my face burning. “I’m having this implant removed the moment we’re back on Earth.”