Page 1 of HaL

CHAPTER 1

DAWN

My consciousness stirs before my body. Shivering, I attempt to understand where I am and the circumstances that got me here. Slowly cracking my eyes open, it takes a second for me to comprehend that I’m looking at everything around me from the floor. Another shiver racks my entire body just as a sudden sneezing fit has me curling up into a ball, clutching my ribs as I try to calm my overactive senses. Between the pain radiating throughout my body and the fact that my eyes are watering so badly that most would think I’m crying, my allergies are once again attacking me at the worst possible time. Tucking my nose into my shirt, I take a few deep breaths, trying to calm down.

Realizing I need the handkerchief I always carry in my front pocket to wipe my eyes, I struggle to get my arm to move. My mind is fuzzy, and my body isn’t responding the way it’s supposed to; it’s almost as if it’s resisting my own thoughts and commands. Has someone drugged me? When I’m finally able to get into my pocket, I manage to roll over onto my back, only to wish I’d stayed curled up instead.

Holding the cloth against my face, I wipe my eyes, then place it over my nose as I try to block out the smell of wet, dirty socks that seems to be coming from the vents all around me. Blinking, I force myself to focus on the vents in the dented ceiling … a ceiling that is marred with scratches … scratches … vents … a ceiling? Something is wrong. Shaking my head, I attempt to clear my thoughts, but I draw a blank for a moment, then the vibrations beneath me become unmistakable. I’m in a damn ship?

Pushing myself up off the floor, I grit my teeth as every joint in my body seems to be screaming out in pain. Straightening, I sling my fuzzy hair out of my eyes, then force my unsteady legs to support me as I struggle to stand, only to find I’m surrounded by bars.

Where in the living hell am I?

Turning my head abruptly, I wince at the sudden pain above my eye. Reaching up, my hand comes away with pieces of dried blood from my temple. Still confused, I glance down and find my clothes are filthy, and somehow my shoes are missing.

Turning slowly in both directions, I try to assess the pain radiating through my body, only to gasp when a sharp jolt steals my breath. I tug my loose jumpsuit away from my hip and freeze.

My right side is dark purple.

Carefully, I press my fingers along my ribs, testing for anything broken. Judging by the bruising, I look — and feel — as though someone tossed me in here like a sack of potatoes.

I’ve been working with Vedece long enough to recognize a fresh injury. This is at least a day old; the bruising is far too vibrant to have happened only hours ago. Which means I’ve been lying here, unconscious and completely vulnerable, for who knows how long.

Wait, Vedece?

Walking hesitantly toward the bars, I press my face between them, straining to see if there’s anyone else nearby.

What put me in this cage?

When no voices or other sounds answer me, I step back and take another look around the cramped box I seem to be trapped inside. There can’t be more than ten steps in either direction. If I were any taller, I doubt I’d even be able to stretch out fully while lying down.

A tube is hooked onto one wall, slowly leaking water — or at least something wet — on the floor. The only other things in the enclosure are the bars and a hole in one corner. The smell tells me exactly what that is.

My body sways, and I quickly grab hold of one of the bars to steady myself. That’s when my eyes catch on the communicator still strapped securely around my wrist.

Thank God.

My fingers fumble against the device before finally pressing the main button.

“ANDI... ANDI! Can you hear me? Please, is anyone there?”

I tap it again gently, only to notice its normal red light is not flashing, and I fight the tears that I know won’t do me any good to shed. Falling apart won’t get me out of this cage … but how did I get here? Then my mind finally recalls.

We, … Vedece, KyT, and I were all gathering what looked like wild mushrooms from the base of some of the largest Timbers. We’d split up whenever we found a promising patch, and for once, I was enjoying being outside with everyone else. The new medication ANDI had made for me seemed to be blocking the worst of my allergy symptoms.

Because of his extensive records, ANDI had been researching everything he could find about allergies, trying to discover a way for me to join the others below. From the beginning, I’d been more or less forced to spend most of my time in space with him instead of joining the rest of the survivors planetside, as they called it.

Earth and I had always had a love-hate relationship, depending on the season. But Ethra’s world was something else entirely. Its unfamiliar pollens had nearly driven me out of the open air altogether. For the first time since arriving, though, I could stand beneath those enormous Timbers, breathe the alien air, and work alongside everyone else without constantly wondering what my lungs were going to do next.

ANDI’s recent injections seemed effective at first, but their impact has clearly worn off, as my current disheveled and miserable state shows.

The last thing I can clearly recall is KyT yelling my name and the smell of sour clothes right before something sharp stabbed me in the side.

Glancing around, I don’t see any cameras, and other than the vibrations under my feet, the place is eerily silent. I’m glad and sad in a way … I hate being here, wherever this is, alone, but I’m also happy that no one else is facing this horror as well. I have so many questions rolling through my mind, with no way to get the answers to them, and it doesn’t help that my mind can’t recall exactly how I got here.

Because my legs feel like they’re going to give out on me at any time, I head back toward the farthest wall away from the bars and sit down.

Running my hands down my arms to warm up, I notice what appears to be large, fingerprint-like bruises all over them. My body aches so badly that I feel like I’ve been run over by a car. Pulling my knees up against my chest, I grimace from the pain in my hip and the rumbling of my belly.