Nathan Hystad - The Survivors - Books 1-3

Slate led the way out of the bridge, down the hall, past the engineering room, and into the center of the ship. Crates were strapped to the walls. Upon closer inspection, I saw they were labeled. Food products on the left, from floor to ceiling.

“Boss, here are the clothing crates. We have medical supplies here,” he waved to the stack of crates on the right side of the room. “Toiletries here. And you saw the food supplies.”

“How about those?” I asked, nodding toward some large steel boxes in the middle of the floor.

He shook his head. “You don’t want to get into those yet. Armaments. Lots of them. Grenades, more pulse rifles than the few of us could ever use. Always better to be overprepared than underprepared. A few secrets, I’ll show you later.” Slate had a twinkle in his eyes, and I saw what turned this man’s crank.

Nick Ellis, the doctor, sauntered in, whistling when he saw the crates piled up.

“How about we get some of this sorted and organized?” I asked them. “There’s a small medic room near engineering. How about you start there, Doc? Slate, let’s get this kitchen set up, and the beds while we’re at it.”

Nothing was ready in the ship. The president hadn’t expected a long-range venture with a crew, so nothing was set up for us. I didn’t mind, because it allowed us to bond by setting it up. Some sweat equity at the start of the journey.

“Sounds like a plan,” Nick said, grabbing a crate down with Slate’s help.

Soon we were organizing what we needed, Nick setting up the medical station, then adding linens and pillows to the bunks. Slate and I filled the shelves of the kitchen and I found a coffee maker, brewing some fresh-ground beans to keep everyone going. All in all, it took us just over two hours, and I brought coffee up to the bridge for the ladies on duty.

“Dean, I’ve been thinking,” Mary said, smiling at me as she took the coffee cup. “If we can’t catch them here, maybe we should follow them secretly. We might want to see where they go. It could teach us a lot. Maybe we can find where the Bhlat are and take the offense to them.”

I hated the idea but didn’t want to dismiss her right off the bat. Maybe she was right.

“Let’s see how this goes. Maybe we catch up today and stop them, even if it means I’ll never get to eat the dehydrated food I just lined the shelves with. Patrice and Heart wanted us to stop them right away. I’m not sure I’m up for breaking those orders. Especially with the huge guy in the store-room on their side,” I said.

“Just think about it,” Mary said quietly.

“Clare, how are we doing on the FTL drive?” I asked.

She smiled. “Under an hour left before we can fire it up. What’s the plan?”

“Mary, what do you say when it’s ready, we jump closer to them? I have to think they know how to use their drive too. Maybe they just haven’t yet because they don’t know we’re coming after them. Appear right up their ass and blow them away.” I knew it wasn’t going to be as easy as capturing them. I wasn’t going to even try to kid myself.

“That’s exactly what we should do. I just assume they’ll …” The blip on the screen flashed. “Shit. They activated it.”

The blip was accelerating faster. We traversed through space toward their trajectory, and all we could do was watch as their ship kept getting farther and farther away.

“That’s what we have tracking for,” Clare said as we watched the blip get smaller as the map expanded. My gut was telling me we were in for quite the chase.

“We wait until the drive’s charged, then follow them just like the plan accounted for. Is there something to eat in the kitchen?” Mary asked, stomach growling at the mention of food. As if on cue, mine followed suit.

“I’ll go whip up some omelettes. Nothing like pre-beaten eggs from a cardboard container. Everyone good with that?” I asked.

Clare said she was, and I walked over to Mae, who was still nursing a swollen eye. “Mae, why don’t you let the doctor assess you finally? Maybe take something and rest for a bit.”

She looked at me, her one open eye intense. “I just want to catch them, Dean. I want to go home. I… I let them get away.”

We hadn’t heard the whole story from her yet. She got up and followed me into the kitchen, where coffee still sat in the maker. I offered her another cup and she nodded to me. I wanted to give her a big hug and tell her everything would be okay, but I could tell it would only upset her more.

“What happened?” I asked, grabbing a frying pan.

“I know you had your big event, but I felt like it might be just the time someone would make a move. With the whole base distracted, it only made sense.” Mae sipped her coffee.

“If you thought that, why didn’t you tell anyone? It does make sense, but sometimes the most obvious things are the ones we miss first.”

“Everyone was just happy, and I didn’t think there was a way they could escape, so I hung out by the prison, just laying low. At the ten PM guard switch, it went south. I snuck in behind him and saw him let Terrance out first. I tried to intervene but got a beating for my troubles. Soon Leslie was there, kicking me too. That’s who we’re dealing with here. They’ll do anything for their cause.”

I cringed, thinking of my friend getting pummelled by two people. No wonder she had become so closed off-lately. She’d been through so much.

I walked over to her where she sat and pulled her toward me, being careful her bruised face didn’t get hurt. I held her head to my stomach and leaned down, kissing the top of her head.

“I’m sorry, Mae. I’m sorry we weren’t there for you. Never again,” I said, and she cried into my shirt.

Doctor Nick started into the room, saw our intimate moment, and slowly backed away. I hoped he saw it for what it was, not something else. That was all we needed with a crew of six people.

“I love you, Dean,” she said, her hand holding mine. I knew what she meant. We weren’t in love, but she was like a sister to me, and I a brother to her. It was a bond we would never shake.

“I love you too,” I said.

Mae got up, and we made breakfast for the crew in silence, working in the small space like we’d been doing it our whole lives. By the time we brought the food to the bridge, Clare had a look of pure joy on her face. It was a little unsettling, considering the circumstances.

“It’s ready. Let’s blast across this galaxy,” Clare said.

Mary shrugged her shoulders and pressed the glowing green tablet button. Stars stretched out around us on the viewscreen.

“Anyone for eggs while we make history?” I asked.

“D on’t look so worried. Mae has it under control,” I said. We were lying on the bed in our own bunk room, face to face, heads on pillows. We had been soaring through space for hours now, not catching up to our target but keeping on their tail as best we could.

“I know. It just seems like so much. I still can’t believe we’re here, racing past Mars, only half a day after we watched our friends getting married. Do you wish we had gotten married?” Mary asked.

I hadn’t given that a lot of thought. “I’m happy just being with you. A label at this time is really just that, a label. It doesn’t change anything.”

She closed her eyes. “You’re right, honey. I’m going to sleep for a while, okay? Try to get some sleep yourself.”

I closed my eyes too, noticing the missing dog at our feet. Even through all the unknowns, the body knows when it needs to recharge, and in moments, my mind stopped racing, drifting off into a well-needed slumber.

A few hours later, I was awoken to the sound of Mae’s voice over the comm-system. “All crew to the bridge.”