Page 95 of Black Mamba

The hatch rises, disappearing into the wall above. A short hallway with a large seating area appears with an opulent lounge space on the other end. Gleaming white plastic, cut through with silver bars, line the walls. Under the bars, soft, white light brightens the luxurious interior with a pale white glow. I’ve never been inside Mateo’s ship before.

“Elena.” Jenna appears from around the corner. “Come in?” She looks behind me, her expression nervous.

I step into the ship and meet her at the end of the hallway. “Where’s Mateo?”

“He’s on the bridge, trying to negotiate with some of his investors. There have been many responses since we landed, and he’s been able to reach some of his people in other star systems.”

I don’t know exactly what Mateo does, but I know he’s important to his business. “Where were you guys?”

“Hold on.” She nervously glances outside once more. “I command the AI to close the hatch.” As the door closes, she clasps my hand and tugs me deeper into the ship, sitting me on one of the round, cushioned seats within the lounge.

“It’s so good to see you.” I take in her slender form. Noting the makeup on her face, I assume she has been living… mostly okay this past month. She has more than the basics about her. Mateo has been taking care of her well. She’s taking care of herself.

“It’s good to see you too. I’m so glad we were able to find you. Mateo’s been wanting to take the ship to the colony pod, but I wouldn’t let him, not until I was certain you weren’t still here. Now that we’re together, we can leave. We all can.”

I lick my lips. “I lost contact with you when The Dreadnaut erupted. What happened?”

She sits down on the chair beside me and shudders. “We barely escaped.” She’s silent for a moment. “We got lucky that a freighter ship, a massive one, was between us and The Dreadnaut, it kept our ship shielded from some of the minor explosions, but we almost didn’t make it. We ended up outside the orbit of the moon with hundreds of others, dodging pieces of the ship.”

“The moon?”

“And you went to Earth it looks like.”

“It’s where Lula took me.”

“Mateo didn’t have the AI pilot. He piloted himself. But it was probably the smarter move. It was hard for people to move between the spaceships as supplies ran low. I also didn’t hear your broadcast until a few days ago. The moment your voice played, I screamed. Mateo had to calm me down. I tried to contact you immediately. When you didn’t respond, we flew to your coordinates. It only took a little convincing.” She wiggles her fingers and I see a red gem on her hand.

“Did you see the blue dome when you descended?” I watch as she crosses and uncrosses her legs. It’s then I see that her nails are nicely polished as she settles them on her knees. I glance down at my uneven, chipped ones, realizing there’s more color to me than ever before. I’m not as white as I used to be.

“Yeah, what is up with that? We saw the beam of light too. We flew past the dome but made sure to keep our distance.”

“It’s from an ancient powercell within the military encampment east of here. It’s where I was. I saw it go off. The commander of the camp mentioned it would give us the ability to reach other galaxies. If you just got my broadcast a couple of days ago, and Mateo is getting comms now, maybe it’s actually working.”

“Interesting…” She squeezes her knees then releases them, leaning forward with a smile. “But guess what!”

“What?”

She throws out her hand, spreading her fingers, and the red gem reappears, big and ostentatious. “Mateo and I got married!”

She pulls her hand back and looks at her ring, twirling it with the fingers of her other hand. “It was a small ceremony, just the two of us… And the AI officiating… But when we get back to the colony ships, we’re going to have a huge celebration. After we have a memorial, of course.”

I sit back and force a smile, uncertain about the news but happy for her anyway. “Mom and Dad would be excited.”

Her eyes flicker with sadness and I feel bad for mentioning them.

She knows, as well as I, that our parents didn’t make it off the ship. They were still on it when we had left.

“They loved Mateo.”

“They loved his money.”

Jenna laughs and it lightens the mood. “Yeah, that too. He’s going to relaunch my music career on The Sovereign and we’re going to apply for permanent resident status. You’ll have to as well, Mateo said he would pay for it.”

“So, you’re really going to another colony ship rather than staying?”

“Staying?” She gawks. “Here? There’s nothing here but wilderness, aliens, and death. I can’t sing here. I’m not a colonist.”

“Of course you can. The people at the encampment I was at, or one of the others, I’m sure, would love to hear you sing.”