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“Andrea?Sweetheart?”Hetook her by the shoulders, though the world was spinning around him.Therewas a strange scent in the air, he thought—a smell like some fruit fromEarthhe’d had once or twice, but he couldn’t remember the name.
“Please—wake up!” he pleaded.Butagain, the words came out sounding wrong somehow.Everythingwas spinning now—Cadecouldn’t keep his balance any longer.
Hefell to his knees beside her seat, still trying to say her name.Whatwas happening?Thesweet smell was getting stronger—almost overpowering.Itwas getting so hard to think…too hard…all his thoughts felt muddled, as though someone had taken a big stick and stirred his brains.
Cadefell on his side, breathing weakly.
Hislast conscious thought was that he had failed in his duty to keepAndreasafe and he would never forgive himself.
5
ANDI
Thesmell of fresh strawberries wokeAndiup.Itreminded her of the time she’d gone strawberry picking as a girl with her parents.Thatwas during the vacation they’d taken toFloridato seeDisneyWorld, she recalled drowsily.MickeyMouseand theMagicKingdomhad been great but she’d enjoyed the strawberry picking even more.Only, why did the strawberries smell sostrong?
Hereyes fluttered open and she groaned softly as she straightened up in her chair.Shebecame aware that her head was pounding and stinging with pain at the same time.
Withanother groan, she put a hand to her temple where the stinging was and felt something warm and sticky.Ittook her eyes a moment to focus but when she was finally able to look at her fingers, she saw they were red with blood.
“Whathappened?” she muttered to herself. “AmIbleeding?”
Well, obviously.Butwhat had wounded her?
Lookingaround,Andisaw a hole in her seat—just to one side of where her head rested.Hereyes widened as she realized she could look right through the seat and see the living area of the long-range shuttle behind it.Whateverhad made that hole had been traveling at an incredible speed!Itmust have grazed her as it went past.Andif her head had been just another inch to the left…
“Iwould have been toast,”Andimuttered to herself.Shefelt her head some more to be sure it was just a shallow wound.Sheneeded to examine herself—or askCadeto look at her.
Cade!
Hereyes opened wide as her head cleared and she remembered everything that had happened.Goingon a new mission with her bigProtector…folding space and coming out in the middle of a meteor storm…the desperate race to land the ship…and then she couldn’t remember anything else—she must have blacked out before they landed.
Becausewe’re not in space now,Andithought.Andwhere’sCade?
Hewasn’t in the pilot’s seat to her left.Andifumbled with her harness—she was extremely thankful she’d been buckled in—and finally freed herself.
“Cade?” she called, but got no answer.Wherecould he be?Hadhe gone for help?
Lookingout of the viewscreen she saw a tiny hole surrounded by a spider web of cracks in the right side.Thatmust be where the rock or meteor or whatever it was had come though and grazed her head, she thought.
Theviewscreen was otherwise unharmed and through itAndisaw a vast green field.Oneither side of the field were tall copses of leafy trees—only they had pale purple branches and dark purple leaves.Furtheroff in the distance she thought she saw some buildings.Wasthat a town?
ButZo’rathTwodoesn’t have any towns—it’s supposed to be completely uninhabited,she thought to herself.Sohow can there be a town?
Indeed, the planet they were going to was supposed to be something of a tropical paradise, which was one reason she’d worn a dress instead of her more practical work clothes.
Admitit—you wore a dress to impressCade—to get his attention,whispered a little voice in her head.Andnow you’re crash-landed on an unknown planet and you’re hardly dressed for a walk in the wild.
Butthe scene outside didn’t look wild—quite the opposite.Shewas pretty sure they’d landed in some kind of crop field.Thatwas what it looked like, anyway.
Shebecame aware of the fresh strawberry smell again—wherewas that coming from?
Gettingto her feet was difficult—she still felt wobbly.Butshe needed to findCade.Grippingthe back of her seat, she stood and made her way to the living area of the ship.
Therewas a huge, gaping hole in the top of the shuttle and an even bigger one in the floor.Lookingthrough it,Andicould see dirt and some kind of vegetation—the ship had really plowed a deep furrow in this field!
Sniffing, she thought that the fresh strawberry smell was coming in through the two holes.Therewas a brisk breeze blowing into the ship that felt quite chilly—Andiwished she’d thought to bring a sweater.
Shefrowned at both holes again—it looked like the ship was a goner.Buthadn’t she heard that the newer long-range shuttles were being built with self-healing technology?Itwas fascinating actually—theSmartMetalthe ship was made of was laced with nanites which could actually rebuild any kind of injury.Butshe had no idea if their shuttle had that kind of tech or not.
