The Avalon Chronicles

Chapter Eight

 Ryver knew they had to work fast to hide the Avalon and keep the Sul-ya protected from any prying eyes. She was sure that someone in the settlement they had passed would come to investigate, and the plume of smoke rising into the clear sky gave a marker for scrappers to find.

But keeping her ship from being found was only the start of her concerns.

"Des!" she barked. "Extinguishing all flames," she ordered. "We gotta get that smoke under control." She pointed at Senna, her other hand still firmly clasped on the unconscious Sul-ya's shoulder. "Senna, get in there and salvage anything you can. Rations, water, medical supplies, clothing, everything. Take careful account of what we have. It might have to last us a while."

As the two scrambled to accomplish their tasks. Quinn approached Ryver and the kidnapped Sul-ya.

"You know we're in deep shit, right?" he hissed.

"Will you save the 'I told you so' until we get out of this mess? Help me get her into the ship."

Even though it was clear Quinn had a lot more to say about the dangerous situation they had found themselves in, he nodded and bent down to scoop up the young woman in his arms. Ryver helped guide Quinn to the best opening for them to use to get inside the Avalon's battered hull. Quinn passed the girl off to Ryver when she climbed inside. Her grip on the young woman was so tight she was worried she would bruise the pale skin, but she was more worried about dropping her.

She could feel the sparks dancing over her arms as she held the Sul-ya—something that happened to everyone in close proximity to the mysterious creatures. But it had been a long time since Ryver had been in the company of a Sul-ya, and the feeling seemed more intense as she stared at the pale face.

Quinn told Ryver to stay where she was inside one of the torn-open cargo bays while he went to scout for a place to hide the Sul-ya. He also wanted to assess the Avalon carefully, worried that Ryver would become distressed at seeing her baby in such a bad state from the crash. Everything in the ship was tilted to one side, causing anything that had been loose during their landing to end up in disarray around the ship. The rest bay beds were still secured, but the mattresses and bedding had been tossed about the room.

Working quickly, Quinn pulled a few crates together on the flattest surface he could find and yanked one of the mattress pads on top of the crates before returning to Ryver's side to help her move the unconscious Sul-ya. Ryver made it a point not to look around the ship, figuring she could worry about that once she was sure that their stowaway was safe.

Her mind had gone terrifyingly blank.

Quinn draped a few blankets over the unconscious woman, shaking his head.

"Think she's okay?"

"I have no idea," Ryver whispered, looking over the Sul-ya. "How did they even kidnap her? She clearly could overpower them." Quinn knew she was not looking for an answer, so he shook his head and reached out to pull a glob of the blue sedation sap from the young woman's neck.

"I've heard sedation sickness is a nasty thing," he mused. "Hopefully she wasn't in there too long and she can gain her bearings soon."

He hissed as he rubbed the glob of gelatinous liquid off his fingers onto the blanket. "Shit...that stuff burns."

Ryver had noted the red patches of skin around the clinging sap and tried not to let her anger at the Begantu men swell at the thought of them keeping her in such a potent forced sedation.

"You alright?" she asked reflexively.

"Yeah," he groaned, looking at his fingertips in confusion at the glistening skin where the sap had burned him. "Let me get some rags. We'll get the rest of it off her."