We Leapt Into the Sky

Chapter 23

"There is a being in the ruins. A sentient entity of some sort," Kendra said to the camera. She sat at the computer in the research station, drumming her fingers on the desk as she spoke. "It is tied to the crystals we've observed in the ruins since we started this expedition. I spoke to it. Our conversation was, well, intense."

She let out a pinched laugh and then sighed, running her hands through her hair as she smoothed it off her forehead. "This being has driven the machines into a frenzy, that much I understand. Whatever its biology or technology, it's unlike anything I've ever seen before."

"I don't believe it means harm, but it asked to be left alone for a few days," she said. "In the meantime, I've continued to study the caretakers' fuel. Their technology differs vastly from ours as well, though I've been able to extend the fuel's shelf life by mixing it with glycerol." She huffed. "It makes it last about eight hours longer than its baseline. Still not good enough."

She crossed her arms, rubbing her fingers along the strange hairline fracture in her skin, where the tissue parted like cracked clay. "I need to find the beacons. The machines probably threw them away, but if one of them still works, I may be able to contact someone off this planet. Because as it stands, no one else will ever hear what I'm saying."

Kendra ended the recording and slumped forward, head in her hands. Then she slowly rose to her feet and returned to the lab, where she drank a few handfuls of the fuel she had brought with her. She donned the makeshift scarf she used to keep the sand out of her face and headed back to the plateau in the rover.

She had to get a message out, to let someone else know she was still alive. If she wanted to find the beacons, she'd have to search the sand pits in the caves that the machines used as dumping grounds. Once in the ruins, she hoisted herself up into the vents, crawling through the maze of tunnels and scraping her elbows and knees along the sides of the cramped passages.

She stepped out onto the soft, powdery sand in the small cave she had previously visited before she entered the shadow's chambers the first time. The sand sank down into the center of the room in a funnel shape. The vibrations from the construction in the upper levels of the caverns had shifted the sand, leaving metal and plastic pieces protruding.

Grabbing a metal pole, Kendra fished through the sand and junk. She found bits of plastic worn smooth by years of tumbling around in the grit. Then, a round shell caught her eye. It was palm-sized, about the shape of the smoke detectors she had seen in old buildings when she was a kid.

It weighed next to nothing.

The beacon had been opened up on one side, its circuitry and most of the parts removed, leaving the outer casing behind. Unsurprisingly, it failed to power on. She grunted, tossing it aside and staring into the sand.

"Come on, get it together," she said. "This is a good sign; it means the other beacon might be nearby."

But searching the sand was laborious and dull. It made for too much time to think about her situation, to weigh the odds of escaping this planet in one piece. To think about whether she'd ever be able to tell anyone what happened to her here. To think about Antony. Her hands clenched as she remembered the last time she spoke to him—what was the last thing she said? We'll be back as soon as we can, she thought.

Kendra let out a soft groan, shaking her head as she stared at the ground. She crouched down, running her fingers along the cracks in the floor. Small pits and fractures marked the room. On the other side, a larger hole led down into the chamber where the shadow lived.

She stayed close to the central pit, digging into the sand, searching for anything that may have lodged itself there. Her fingers caught on something. It didn't feel like stone as she scratched her nails against it.