Marooned on Giri Minor
It would be incorrect to describe what you're doing as "rest." Your body may be prone in your makeshift bed, but your mind is racing from one fitful dream to another. You are no longer falling, but the world is now spiraling around you. People are screaming but you can't see them, or reach out to them. They are moving around with handlights, shining the beams in all directions.
Or that's what you thought you saw, because when you do open your eyes the cargo bay is dark and silent. You don't hear or see anything now. Is everyone asleep?
Your eyes close again, and once more you are certain people are approaching the spot where you are lying, shining handlight beams around as if they are unaware you are trying to sleep. You understand this is probably another dream, but you wonder who the people are.
When next you awake it is daylight again, but the cargo bay is still silent. Dr. Munro is nowhere to be seen, and you hear no conversations. The only sound is that of a piece of metal flapping lazily in the breeze. You are in the shade, but even here it is uncomfortably warm. Your lips are parched; you could really use some water.
Where is everyone? You try to lift your head up again to see what the situation is, and since there is no one around now to tell you not to, you manage to ignore the pain for a moment and scan your surroundings.
It turns out there is not much you can see. From where you are lying, you can at least tell no one else is stirring inside the cargo bay, nor is there anyone out in the open. It appears that this part of the ship broke apart from the main hull, and someone was using it as a shelter from the sun. You can see a narrow swath of the Girian desert beyond the ragged maw of the cave-like cargo bay, but no people.
Where is Dr. Munro? Where are the people she was talking to, and where are the people with the handlights?
You succumb to the pain in your skull, letting out a loud moan. You hear a faint gasp, then the sound of small footsteps coming your way. It's Easa, the young girl for whom you once thought you were the babysitter. She seems surprised to see you stirring.
That night you think you are having the handlight dream again; even with your eyes closed you are convinced you can sense the bright lights through your eyelids. It is not real, just a byproduct of your feverish condition, and you know there will be no lights if you open your eyes.
But this time is different. There are voices accompanying the lights--distinct voices, saying recognizable words. Completely undream-like. "Over here sir, three human life readings. One severely injured, two children." Multiple people are stepping into the cargo bay, and you can feel it rocking slightly from all the sudden footsteps. "Get Dr. Wildon over here!" someone standing over you shouts, and then another voice says, "It's OK honey, you're safe now. Your parents have been looking for you!" This must be directed at Easa; you hope Yiggy is safe too.
You're enjoying this dream, so this time you don't dare open your eyes. It would be devastating to learn that none of this is real.
But it is real, though. A doctor assesses your condition, injects you with something that makes the pain disappear almost instantly, and then you and the two Belson children are whisked away to safety.
Or that's what you thought you saw, because when you do open your eyes the cargo bay is dark and silent. You don't hear or see anything now. Is everyone asleep?
Your eyes close again, and once more you are certain people are approaching the spot where you are lying, shining handlight beams around as if they are unaware you are trying to sleep. You understand this is probably another dream, but you wonder who the people are.
When next you awake it is daylight again, but the cargo bay is still silent. Dr. Munro is nowhere to be seen, and you hear no conversations. The only sound is that of a piece of metal flapping lazily in the breeze. You are in the shade, but even here it is uncomfortably warm. Your lips are parched; you could really use some water.
Where is everyone? You try to lift your head up again to see what the situation is, and since there is no one around now to tell you not to, you manage to ignore the pain for a moment and scan your surroundings.
It turns out there is not much you can see. From where you are lying, you can at least tell no one else is stirring inside the cargo bay, nor is there anyone out in the open. It appears that this part of the ship broke apart from the main hull, and someone was using it as a shelter from the sun. You can see a narrow swath of the Girian desert beyond the ragged maw of the cave-like cargo bay, but no people.
Where is Dr. Munro? Where are the people she was talking to, and where are the people with the handlights?
You succumb to the pain in your skull, letting out a loud moan. You hear a faint gasp, then the sound of small footsteps coming your way. It's Easa, the young girl for whom you once thought you were the babysitter. She seems surprised to see you stirring.
That night you think you are having the handlight dream again; even with your eyes closed you are convinced you can sense the bright lights through your eyelids. It is not real, just a byproduct of your feverish condition, and you know there will be no lights if you open your eyes.
But this time is different. There are voices accompanying the lights--distinct voices, saying recognizable words. Completely undream-like. "Over here sir, three human life readings. One severely injured, two children." Multiple people are stepping into the cargo bay, and you can feel it rocking slightly from all the sudden footsteps. "Get Dr. Wildon over here!" someone standing over you shouts, and then another voice says, "It's OK honey, you're safe now. Your parents have been looking for you!" This must be directed at Easa; you hope Yiggy is safe too.
You're enjoying this dream, so this time you don't dare open your eyes. It would be devastating to learn that none of this is real.
But it is real, though. A doctor assesses your condition, injects you with something that makes the pain disappear almost instantly, and then you and the two Belson children are whisked away to safety.