The Abyss of Time

Chapter Twenty One

"All main engines are out," said Gilbreth, her voice giving no sign of the alarm she must have been feeling as she stared at the engineering console in front of her. "They must have hit the thrust processor."

"How's our descent?" asked Seakgosing, tensing up in his seat. The Engineer's next words could well be his death sentence.

"Orchid," said Mulzak from the wall speakers. "What's your situation?"

"We're still in the pipe for a safe re-entry and landing," Gilbreth told them both, "but we'll overshoot the Alpha site by about a thousand klicks."

"Shit." Still, it could have been worse, Seakgosing mused. If they'd taken the hit earlier, they'd be coming in at too shallow an angle. They would have skipped off the atmosphere like a flat stone on water and bounced off into space. When they came down again they would have been on the other side of the planet, ten thousand klicks from the Alpha site.

"We'll come pick you up when you land," said Maynard.

"No," said Seakgosing, though. "We'd have to broadcast our exact location, and chances are the cyborgs'd get to us first. No, every other lander goes to the Alpha site and begins setting up defences. We'll make our way to them overland."

"You mean walk?" said Bradley in disbelief. "A thousand kilometres? Through jungles filled with creatures a billion years more advanced than us?"

"It's our only option," Seakgosing told him firmly. "We'll be okay. We'll make it."

"We're about to enter atmosphere," said Maynard. "We're about to lose communications. If you've got any orders for us, you have to give them now."

"Are all the other landers still on course for the Alpha site?" asked Seakgosing.

"Roger that. We're all fine. There has to be something we can do to help you."

"Negative," Seakgosing told him firmly. "Your priority is to set up the Alpha site and get your defences in place. Bear in mind that if the cyborgs get us, you'll be facing twenty four zombies in addition to the cyborgs themselves. They'll have quadrupled their strength at a stroke."

An idea came to him, and although his mind shied away from it at first, he forced himself to consider it. They could deny the cyborgs their twenty four zombies if they deliberately crashed the Orchid. Sacrifice themselves to give the colony a better chance. His family was on another lander. They'd be okay. Bradley and Gilbreth also had family on other shuttles, which meant they might well go along with the idea if he suggested it, but there were families in the passenger bay behind him. Women, children. Men who would fight to defend them. If he did this, he would have to do it without the passengers knowing about it.

"Losing communications," said Maynard, his voice distorted by static. "Won't be able to talk much longer. God speed, Orchid. Come home to us..." The static grew stronger and his voice was lost under it.

"We're on our own," said Bradley. "What do we do, Skipper?"

Seakgosing stared back at him in an agony of indecision.

☆☆☆

Miller felt a shock running through the lander, and the vibration of the engines ceased. There was no longer a pressure pushing him back in his seat. A shock of fear ran through him, and a glance at the countdown timer on his tablet computer confirmed his fears. They'd suffered damage, and the engines had shut down too soon.

"What was that?" asked Zanele, her eyes wide with fear. She reached across and gripped Miller's hand hard.

"Nothing to worry about," said Miller, smiling back reassuringly.