Chapter 23

Aries awoke with a moan, rubbing her head. She looked around the cockpit as she slowly sat up.

          The cockpit was a mess. Most of the consoles had exploded out of their panels. Charity was pinned between the chair she had been sat on and the floor. The view ports and screens were all smashed, smattering the cockpit in glass, making the cockpit fill with deep grey mist that seemed to come from outside.

          The lights were running on the front mounted back up power cells, and wires were hanging over head, exposed and sparking. A waste of power.

          The console Aries’ head had hit was covered in blood. Her blood. She felt her face. There were shards of glass in her face. She removed them with care. Blood dripped from her cuts onto her hands. Outside it was completely dark. Great, Aries thought.

          Aries very slowly, and carefully stood up. No sharp pains, no major damage. As the mist had made it hard to see the floor, she was very careful crossing the cockpit to her sister.

          Aries gingerly lifted the chair that was by design very light in weight. Charity had not fared as well in the crash as Aries had. Charity had shattered all the bones in her right arm.

          Aries looked around the damaged cockpit for something to splint Charity’s arm with, so she removed her jacket and tore the sleeves off her black T-shirt and after ripping her jacket, Aries tightly bound Charity’s arm and using the longest strip, created a sling for the arm to rest in. There was nothing else Aries could do now but wait.

 

          “Hope I am going to ask you to calm down,” Faith said holding her left hand in her right. “I know things seem bleak right now but I sense my brother is close.”

          “Calm down!” Hope exclaimed. “Calm down! We were pulled down from orbit.” Hope paced, in panic, from end to end of the holding cells. “The ship is also in two pieces.”

          “Which is why you need to calm down.” Faith reasoned to her daughter. “We need to find the others and if we panic we are of no use. Now, please open the cell door.”

          Hope went to open Faith’s cell door when they both heard footsteps in the corridor. Thunk, thunk, thunk, thunk! Mother and daughter both froze. Thunk, thunk, thunk, thunk! The footsteps were getting closer. The girls only moved to breathe and to blink. Two shadows began to extend slowly up the corridor. A beeping sound became clear, like someone was using a hand held scanner.

          Hope moved over to the left side of the doorway. Beep, thunk, beep, thunk.

          Two male figures rounded the corner and stepped through the door.        

          “Hay!” Loki exclaimed in pain, rubbing the back of his neck, after Hope had hit from behind. Zardac smiled, Hope backed off embarrassed with laughter. Then the eyes of Faith and Zardac met for the first time in 20 years.

          Zardac prized 5 steelton bars from Faith’s cell and ran in and hugged her. Faith returned the hug with all her heart.

          “Zardac, I never thought I would see you again.” Faith sobbed into her brother’s ear.

          “I know the feeling.” Zardac whispered back. “How do you feel?” Zardac and Faith released each other.

          “I have a small pain in my left hand from the crash. Otherwise I’m fine.” Faith replied. “You?”

          “Scared but fine.” Zardac answered, “Why hasn’t your hand healed yet? It should have done.”

          “I don’t know.” Faith said.

          “Are you scared?”

          “Like I told Hope, I don’t do scared.”

          “Ok,” Zardac sighed, taking Faith’s left hand in both of his. A gold light came from his eyes and hands.

          “Thank you.” Faith said picking up two poles and threw one to Loki. “To defend yourself, you don’t know what is out there.”