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"Yeah." I ducked down and peered through the trees. "Do you think Brinley—"
"She's fine," Slek said. "I saw her get off the pod. She won't be far behind us." I wish he looked as sure as he sounded.
"We should wait," I said. The forest had fallen into near silence, apart from the occasional shout, or thud. A tree a few metres away exploded into splinters when something hit it, but I couldn't see a cause, apart from more debris.
"We should find a cave," Slek said.
"Well fuck," I replied, "I forgot my map." I was also trembling so hard my hair bounced around my head.
Danec crouched beside me and wound his arms around me. "It's okay," he said softly. "I won't let any harm come to you."
"Who's going to protect you?" I asked with a sniff.
"You will," he said firmly. "And Slek. We'll look after each other."
Slek gave him an 'I can take care of myself, thanks dude,' look, but said nothing.
"We shouldn't stay here," Danec said. "Just in case."
I didn't ask 'just in case what?' Truthfully, I didn't want to think too hard about it. Not now.
"We should find some of the others," Slek said. "Commander J'avet, even."
"What about Commander J'avet?"
I never expected to be happy to see him, but when he stepped around a trunk and stopped a few metres away, Brinley beside him, I wanted to hug them both.
Instead, I rose and hugged her.
"Uh, we're craving leadership, sir," Slek said with both respect and irony.
"I'm certain you are." J'avet looked me up and down and, for the first time, I didn't see loathing in his expression. I saw no kindness either, but indifference was better than hate, at least in these circumstances.
"Or a map," I said.
J'avet rolled his eyes at me and I thought he might snap. He spoke coolly instead. "This is an uninhabited planet, Nurse Wright."
"Edie," I said. "And uninhabited doesn't necessarily mean uncharted." I glanced at Brinley for support and she nodded.
"There might be maps, but unless we can access communication from a remaining pod—"
She didn't need to finish the sentence, we all knew what she was going to say. We might be alone here.
"We'll gather everyone and stay together," J'avet said. He pressed his watch and sent the location to each evacuee. If we couldn't communicate with the rest of the universe, at least we could communicate with each other. Until our watches died. Each only held enough power for a month, two at the most, before they needed to be recharged.
J'avet leaned against a tree, arms crossed over his burly chest. This was the first time I got a good, long look at him. His jaw was wide and stern. The fur on his face was so fine it could easily be mistaken for skin. His lips were thin but his mouth wide. His brow was heavy right now, in an impatient frown.
"Why would someone attack the IF?" I asked before I had any idea I was about to speak.
His frown deepened. "Apart from your friend, I can only guess." He pushed himself off the trunk. "Not everyone is in favour of the IF. There are those without and within who would end the alliance altogether."
"Apart from humans?" I asked.
He stiffened. "There are others, yes." He turned away then and I knew that was all I was going to get out of him, for now.
Brinley was busy tapping away at her watch. She looked up and said, "I'm trying to warn the other pods. Two more landed about thirty kilometres east. They saw nothing but the tail end of the debris."
J'avet turned back. "It's possible whatever attacked the ship thought all the pods were aboard."
