7. Evleyen is on her seventh and-thankfully-final mission for the month. Crossing the silvery grey moon, Harooo, on her trusty Steed to deliver urgent medical supplies, she takes an unexpected detour... . Round Seven (tie-breaker) - Lost World...
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Author's Note - Written for Round One of SFSD X
Sub-genre - Lost World. Prompts -I've included items 4, 5, 6, 9 and 10. Word count 5,150
It's the year 2815 and following a few hundred years of global warfare, Earth is pretty messed up.
There are rumours of an island far below the 60th parallel whereupon a civilisation has been untouched by the war. Upon arrival though, your character discovers that not only has this civilisation been untouched by the war, it is also trapped in time, and an incredibly messed up time at that!
~~~
"They're here! They're here!" Xan's excited cries pierced the air. "Qu, come and see!"
Qu Pang dropped his spoon on the table and rushed outside to the veranda, all thoughts of breakfast forgotten. Xan was down on the ground, wide-eyed with excitement, jumping from one foot to the other. "Hurry!"
The two boys raced between the houses, down to the harbour, dodging between the adults moving at a more leisurely pace in the same direction. Panting, they reached the long bamboo wharf and saw, somewhat to their disappointment, that the huge sailing ship was already bumping gently against the dock.
Elder N'yen was there too, bustling forward officiously to be the first to welcome Captain Broward and his crew home. The Sea Eagle had been gone for five months, searching for a passage north. Considering that more than two hundred years had passed since the end of the Armageddon Wars, Broward was convinced the atmosphere would be breathable, the land safe to explore. He wanted to know if anything was left in the North, if anything had survived. If anything was salvageable.
Now the Sea Eagle was back.
Qu Pang stared more closely at the ship, suddenly aware that something was wrong. The huge sails were dull with salt spray, the deck unpolished - faults an experienced Captain like Broward would never condone.
Talking of whom... "Where's Captain Broward?" he asked Xan. "The crew?" Xan shook his head and shrugged.
A tall, skinny man appeared abruptly, standing up in the hatch space.
"Help," he said, his voice scratchy as if through disuse. "We need help."
For a moment, no-one moved. Then Healer Ju-Li pushed forward through the small crowd. "Let me pass," she murmured, her satchel of medicines slung over one shoulder as always.
Qu stared at the crewman. Even from here, he could see that the man's hair was long and lank, as if it had been days since it was washed. The exhaustion radiated from him like heat. He swayed and reached out a hand to balance himself on the edge of the hatch. At that moment, his sleeve slipped back, exposing, raw red flesh. Green pus oozed from the open wound.
There was an audible gasp from all those who were close enough to see and most took a quick step backwards.
