Empire's Legacy

Chapter 32: A Missing Daughter

Once past the quarantine line, the Sophia made good time, entering into orbit above Elderia at about the same time Amy was crawling through the air ducts on C-Prime. The planet was small and rocky, trapped in an elliptical orbit around a red dwarf. Its artificial atmosphere bubble gleamed faintly in the dim light of its star, a pretty sheen that disguised the harsh landscape of the planet. Her airspace was eerily empty; although the outliers weren't known for heavy air traffic, the absence of even one short-range bird in the vicinity served as a sobering reminder that there likely weren't many planet left alive, much less in any kind of condition to be flying.

Grey leaned over Kate's shoulder and frowned at the vidscreen, eyes narrowing. "Status."

Kate's fingers flew over the controls. "There's a few flickers on the comm," she said, "but not a lot. Mostly from the northern hemisphere, northwest precinct." Glancing up at him, she added, "New Eldorado. It was the first settlement on Elderia. If there's survivors, that's probably where they are."

"Not what we're here for," Grey said, straightening. "Pinpoint Trattoria and put us in orbit directly above it."

Kate opened her mouth to agree, and then said, "New Eldorado is sending us a message, Cap."

Grey's mouth thinned. "Ignore them."

She swiveled to face him. "But—"

"We can't help them, Kate," he said. He punched the ship intercom to the flight deck. "Taz, how's that hopper pod from the Waratah looking?"

"Ready whenever you are. She'll hold four at a squeeze plus the biohazard container for Molly, though there won't be much room for moving around."

"Prepare to launch and let Ramina know. I'll be down in a minute." He released the button and looked down at Kate. "Put the ship over Trattoria and then come down to the flight deck."

"Sir?"

"I changed my mind—I want you flying the hopper. Have Benji relieve you here."

Grey climbed down the ladder from the bridge and set off towards the flight deck, ignoring the feelings of fear that bubbled just beneath the surface, threatening to come rushing out if he gave them a chance. He'd come for his daughter, and he refused to believe she was dead. He'd never been one to believe in the fairness of the universe, but letting Molly die... Surely that would just be too much.

Taz looked up from the hopper when Grey walked in. "You'll want to put on the biosuits before you get in," he said. "There's not enough room inside the pod for that kind of maneuvering."

Ramina, at the end of the hopper and already half into her biosuit, picked up a second suit and tossed it at Grey. "These are good suits," she said. "Top of the line. Amy's brother must have a lot of money."

"You have no idea," Grey said, setting aside the helmet and stepping into the first leg. "Have everything you need?"

"My case is in the hopper," she replied.

The doors opened and Kate trotted in. "We're above Trattoria," she said. "Benji's got the conn."

"Into your suit, Kate," Grey said. "Taz, keep my ship out of trouble until we get back."

"Do my best," Taz said. "Hope you find her."

Kate set the hopper down outside the small southern settlement of Reva, just east of Trattoria, after what Ramina dryly called the rollercoaster ride from hell.

"I'm sorry," Kate said again as they emerged from the hopper and stepped onto the parched, cracked earth. "It's my first time with Empire tech, and it's not like the captain gave me any time to practice before throwing me off the deep end." She scowled. "At least I could fly the damn thing. You're both still alive and none the worse for a few bruises."

"Kate, relax," Grey said. "Your flying was fine."

"Morgan," Ramina said, her tone cutting sharply through Kate's anxiety. She pointed past Grey. "I hope for Molly's sake she is not in Reva."

Clouds of insects swarmed over the settlement, drawn by the bodies that peppered the streets. A brightly colored bird perched on a bloated corpse, pecking a staring eye with a sharp beak. Another took to the air as they approached, leaving behind remains barely recognizable as human.

"Oh, god," Kate said, choking.

"Don't be sick," Ramina advised. "If you're sick in your suit, you'll be stuck with it." Her nose wrinkled. "And it won't be pleasant."

Kate swallowed hard. "Surely there's no one left alive here," she whispered, and then fell silent, seeing Grey's face.

"We'll search the settlement," Grey said decisively.

"Can I not?" Kate asked. "Please? I'm a ship girl. I don't do planets."

Grey shook his head. "I need you to help. The search will go much faster if there's three of us." He stared down at her with a black look on his face. Then his expression softened slightly and he added, "I am sorry this is hard for you, Kate. I should have realized. Ramina and I have both seen awful things before—the lot of a soldier and a medic. It should have occurred to me that you'd wouldn't have. But I needed you to fly that hopper. And I need you now." He took her hand and squeezed it. "When we return to the ship, you can go to Benji, and you can tell him about it, and he can comfort you and you can cry or be sick or whatever it is you need to do to cope. But right now, I need you to force back the horror and try to be strong. Because I need you. Right now." He met her eyes. "Can you do that for me?"

She took a deep breath and whispered, "Yes."

"Good. Let's go."

Several hours later, two things had become apparent. First, aside from the birds and the insects, there was nothing left living in Reva, and there hadn't been for some time—the dead had clearly been piled on communal funeral pyres sometime earlier in the outbreak, but from the number of bodies left on the ground, left where they died, that hadn't been the case for some weeks.

Second, there was no sign of Molly.

"I'm confident that none of the bodies of the children are your daughters," Ramina told Grey. "That said..."

"She could easily be one of the dead who burned," he said grimly.

"Let's be optimistic," Kate piped up. "Perhaps she's somewhere else entirely."

"It is entirely possible her guardian took her away," Ramina pointed out. "If that is the case, then we simply need to discover where it is they have gone."

Grey stared at the settlement for a moment, thinking. "Back in the hopper," he said at last. "Once we're in the air, Kate, set Reva aflame. It's the best we can offer them. Then head out for the cliffs. Molly used to play out there."