Echoed Lullabies (Lunar Chronicles x Reader)

Chapter 24

"I suppose it's too much to hope that we landed ourselves near any sort of civilization," Thorne said, tilting his head to one side.

Cress picked her way through the debris to the nearest window. "I'm not sure we want to be near civilization. You're a wanted criminal in three Earthen countries, and one of the most recognizable men on Earth."

"I am pretty famous now, aren't I?" Grinning, he waved a hand at her. "I guess it doesn't matter what we want. What do you see out there?"

Standing on tiptoes, Cress peered into the brightness. Her eyes went wide.

"Cress?"

"It's beautiful out there."

A hesitation, before, "Could you be more specific?"

"We're in a desert," I answered for her. "I only see dunes right now."

Thorne spoke in Cress' direction. "Do you see anything useful? Palm trees? Watering holes?"

"No, there's nothing else at the moment. Maybe once we get outside we'll be able to see more."

Thorne didn't look my way. "Cress, try and find some way to contact the Rampion. The sooner we can get back on my ship, the better. Next we need to get that door open. We're going to be baked alive if the temperature keeps rising like this."

Cress studied the mess of screens and cords on the floor. "The satellite was never installed with external communication abilities. The only chance we had of contacting your crew was the D-COMM chip that Sybil took. And even if we did have some way of contacting them, we won't be able to give exact coordinates unless the satellite positioning system is functioning, and even then—"

Thorne held up a hand. "One thing at a time. We have to let them know that we're not dead, and check that they're all right too. I think they're capable of handling two measly Lunars, but it would put my mind at ease to be sure." He shrugged. "Once they know to start looking for us, maybe Cinder can whip up a giant metal detector or something."

Cress scanned the wreckage. "I'm not sure anything is salvageable. The screens are all destroyed, and judging from the loss of temperature regulation, the generator is—oh, no. Little Cress!" She wailed and kicked her way to a piece of metal that was crushed on one side, bits of wire and plastic dangling from the shell. "Oh, Little Cress..."

I folded my arms. "Who's Little Cress?"

She sniffed. "Me. When I was ten. She lived in the computer and kept me company and now she's dead." She squeezed the databoard against her chest. "Poor, sweet Little Cress."

After a long silence, Thorne cleared his throat. "Scarlet did warn me about this. Do we need to bury Little Cress before we can move on? Want me to say a few words for her?"

Cress glanced up. "I'm not crazy. I know she's just a computer. It's just ... I programmed her myself, and she was the only friend I had. That's all."

"Hey, I'm not judging. I'm familiar with IT-relations. Just wait until you meet our spaceship. She's a riot." His expression became thoughtful. "Speaking of spaceships, what about that other pod, the one the guard docked with?"

"Oh, I'd forgotten about that!" She tucked the databoard beneath its slanted desk and tripped over to the other entryway. The satellite sat at an angle, with the second entry near the lower end of the slope, and she had to clear away countless bits of plastic and broken equipment before she could get to the control screen. The screen itself was down—she couldn't get a flicker of power out of it—so she opened the panel that housed the manual override locks instead. A series of gears and handles had been set into the wall over the door.