Page 6 of Protected By the Alien Commander

5

Olivia

“What are we going to do?”Miranda voiced all of our thoughts.

“We need to get help,” Ava answered. “The cockpit… we can’t reach the pilot, and I think we’re on our own.” Tension left my shoulders. I had braced for her to say something completely unhelpful. “But it’s not safe to leave the ship. I’m sure someone will find us quickly.”

I chewed on my bottom lip and tasted the faint remnants of my lipstick. I knew we had to get help, but I didn’t want to get into it with her. I sighed. Either I had to speak up or some archaeologist in the future would find our mummified bodies in this broken cruise ship.

“I think we need two people to go together to find help and someone to stay here with Emma. I volunteer to—”

“That’s not a good idea. Did you hear what I said?” Ava frowned at me. “We have to stay with the ship. Everyone knows that.”

I scowled. Well, now I wasn’t going to stay quiet to keep the peace. “Hold up, this is not a dictatorship. We don’t know where we are or how far away civilization is.” If there was any. After a glance at Miranda, I sure as hell wasn’t voicing that thought. “I still think my earlier suggestion is the—”

“Have you not seen every horror movie made? You never split up!”

I stared at Ava with my mouth open. That was the basis for this? Really? “This is real life. We have an injured person who needs medical care and we're going to run out of food and water in a day or two.”

Ava tossed her head. “I already told you my opinion, but I guess you’ll just do whatever you want.” She sat in a chair pod which creaked ominously and crossed her arms while muttering under her breath.

What. The. Hell.

Miranda stepped towards our soon-to-be ex-friend. “You can stay here and watch the ship and keep an eye on Emma. Try to communicate with the cockpit while we’re gone.” She turned to me. “I feel like you’re the only one trying to save our skins here. I’d rather be with you, even if it is outside.”

We packed bags with a few meal bars and a bottle of water each. The bag’s material felt thick and durable, which was good for our hike to find help. There was only one for each of us anyway. I sighed as I put my bag over my back. We had better find help and water fast.

Miranda led the way until we got to the messy lounge, then she stopped and looked to me to go first. I wasn’t sure she was the right one to leave the ship with me, considering she had almost been paralyzed with fear a few minutes ago. But I also didn’t want to be alone on whatever planet we were currently on.

I could not believe we weren’t on Earth. Even if there were purple skies. Maybe the dome over Utah affected the color of the blue sky?

The emergency sensors next to the hatch showed that the outside environment was safe to breathe. See, we had to be back on Earth somehow. I released the lock which emitted a high-pitched tone, and pulled the handle opening the door. Nothing happened.

I didn’t flash freeze, stop breathing, or anything else terrifying. The air actually smelled really good, fresh and crisp. I stepped out onto the bright orange ground, each step sending up little puffs of dirt. It was dry and warm but not too hot. I squinted against the sun with my hand over my eyes and looked around. Nothing but orange dirt and some bigger rocks, except for a big clump of green plants to the right in the distance.

“I think we should head to the green plants. There’s got to be water there and maybe a ranger station.” I couldn’t remember much of anything about the National Park in Utah, even what it was called. But those plants looked like a place where there’d be a sign or something.

Miranda nodded, looking pale and worried. I bit my bottom lip but shrugged and turned around. It was quiet, with no other sounds except for our footsteps echoing off the rocks. I felt like someone was watching us. I had to keep reminding myself not to take off and run back to the ship. Thankfully I was still wearing my knee-high boots that were in fashion at the moment. I could have been hiking in stiletto heels.

We walked for what felt like a few miles when I stopped, tired of wiping sweat out of my eyes. I was going to dig in my bag and make a headband out of something. I turned to Miranda, then jumped.

Miranda had disappeared.

“Miranda? Miranda!” I yelled but didn’t hear a response. I hadn’t heard anything when we were walking either. Where had she gone?

I picked up my bag, intending to run back the way we had come, but our footsteps hadn’t left a path, and I could still see the ship. If Miranda had been outside the ship, I should have been able to see her. There was literally nothing out here except some rough rocks in the distance, our wrecked ship, tall cliffs far away, and some short scrub brush things to the left. It was like she’d disappeared into thin purple air.

I sniffled and wiped my tears. I was all alone now. I wanted to think that she had changed her mind and gone back to the ship, but she would have said something. And I would have heard her walking back. Wouldn’t I?

An odd feeling like I was being watched jerked me out of my pity party. I turned in a circle again, but nothing was different. I hoped she was in our ship because I couldn’t see her anywhere. The entire view was only dirt, dirt, and more dirt.

I rubbed my eyes dry, then grabbed the lone water bottle out of my pack and drank some. I didn’t want to tire myself out by walking to the ship to see if Miranda was there. I put my bag back on and headed towards the plants again.

I walked faster now, still creeped out by finding Miranda gone.

The rest of the distance passed quickly, and soon I was standing in front of the really tall plants. They looked like aloe vera plants on steroids and about two stories high. The Park staff should stop feeding them Miracle-Gro.

A quick glance showed the ship was still where I’d left it. Then I walked over a leaf, ducked under another, and was quickly in this weird forest. I couldn’t see through the canopy but I could see shadows jump and flit around. It was much cooler, and the thick, wide leaves provided shade, but those pointy barbs sticking up on the edges were not fun. My short dress had holes in it from where it kept getting caught on those damn thorny things.

I pushed through the plants and finally saw water! A narrow, clear stream gently gurgling was at my feet. I knelt down and cupped my hands in the water. It didn’t stink but smelled so good, clean and fresh, better than anything in the domed cities. I wanted to drink it but didn’t want to get sick. Who knew what bacteria was in it?

I drank the rest of my bottled water, then filled it up from the stream. The cruise ship’s water reclamation system could purify it. I frowned again at Miranda leaving me. She could have at least given me her empty bottle to fill up.

My skin was pink from the sun and was beginning to hurt. I poured cool water on my arms and shoulders and sighed. I needed to return to the ship before I got burnt any worse. I put my bottle away and stood, looking around for a sign or anything showing my tracks out of this maze. Then I froze.

Something was staring at me.