Page 67 of Condemned

Chapter Twenty-Four

Everyone’s noses andfaces were red from the blistering wind. This inner area of the crashed sat was warm enough to let them strip off the furs and heavier clothing. Timin and Kondio lit a fire using debris they’d found and wood saved from lower down the mountain. It wouldn’t last long but it was worth it, even if the smoke hung around on the curved ceiling in a cloud that slowly drifted away, sinking as it cooled.

Food was brought from the bags. The florses were fed on grain and given water. Then everyone sat or lay on their makeshift pillows of coats, jackets, and saddlebags, eating meat strips, fruit, and traveler biscuits.

The water in her canteen came out cold enough to make Avalon choke. Takk, she noted, had seated himself nearest the exit. He might’ve been guarding them if not for the liquor he was drinking, straight from its original bottle. Aragorn Rum. Toxic stuff from her recollection.

“This place is too big for a mere satellite. This is made for people to walk along.” Timin nodded at the walls.

Released from his hooded coat, his russet mane had sprung out from his head even crazier than usual. At least it was clean. When she first met him Timin had been the grimiest of the troop. He caught her eye and smiled. Nibbles scampered into his favorite spot on Timin’s shoulder then leaped and ran off into the shadows.

Casually, as if it was their normal, Zo put his arm around her and pulled her closer. “I haven’t seen bunks though. Maybe this is what they did, for some reason.”

“True. So much we don’t know.” Rubbing his lame leg, Kondio stared at where the mouse-bot had gone. “Saw a few bodies of his sort. Pulled out one from the snow by its tail. He’s from this ship. There must have been a few bots. Hundreds maybe.”

“Ship,” Takk said. “Yeah. It is more of a ship than a sat, to my mind. The mouse is a maintenance bot, I think.”

“I agree, Captain. He... uhhh, he’s been helping me with repairs. Helped me fix small things I can’t easily do. He seems to naturally be inclined, call it programming, to repair whatever seems damaged. I hope you all agree it’s not going to be a problem?”

They shook their heads, even Takk agreed. Timin and Nibbles seemed to be a pair now. She couldn’t say she was sorry. They fit together.

Which left her alone. Avalon stared into the fire then around at the mauleons. They were so easy with each other. They too just fit together. Zo squeezed the side of her neck and her shoulder. After a moment, she rested her head on him and he began stroking her hair, which only made her vacillate from worry to a sleepy wonderment.

She could be happy with them. If only. She peered across at Takk and he met her eyes then swung his gaze elsewhere.

Daydreaming, she switched to looking at the fire, vaguely listening to the conversation.

“Do you think the sats are really falling, Takk? I mean, apart from this one.”

“Yes. The humans have data and so do we. Five crashed in the last few years. More are wavering in their orbit. In a few decades, our planet will be free of them.”

“The Quarantine will end. Starships can land and depart again,” Zo murmured. “Maybe in our lifetime.”

“Maybe.”

“Omage likes to lay claim to bringing them down. Those ceremonies they do.”

“Yes, and they have a prophecy: Lo, a pale rider from the heavens on an iron steed, shall herald the end of the world.”

Whichever mauleon said that, it had resonated. There was nothing added for some time.

“Wow. Is that Omage?”

“Yes.”

“Pretentious. Sticks up their asses?”

“Up somewhere.”

They all laughed.

Omage was where Takk was taking her. He’d even signed the contract, she’d heard, sent it off. The money was waiting for him... for them. She was a commodity.

Except there was Zo and his niceness. His caresses seemed to say he valued her for other reasons.

“Want to tell us why you decided to come here and steal the Claw, Ava?” He nudged her.

Annoyed at being questioned on what must be a sore point for the others, she squinted at him. “No?”