Deadly Space

Chapter 10: Stranded

Renjo sat near a small, crackling fire made from unneeded clothing and several packs of plasma ammunition.

"Those ammo packs, are they explosive?" Renjo asked, leaning back and cuddling Kala, who was still unconscious, on a makeshift chair from the ship, which still sat next to them.

Grânn looked up to him briefly from the fire, and then continued to stare at the small glow of ash. "Explosive? Renjo, if they were, we had been dead by now."

Renjo nodded in agreement.

They sat silently for what felt like hours staring at the glow of the fire, which was now diminishing, just like the ship's lights a few hours ago, and listening to the wind blowing softly in this barren, sandy wasteland.

Everyone else still lay unconscious near the fire. The night sky beamed dimly, although the whole hemisphere was filled to the brim with stars.

"Grânn, do you think that we'll ever make it back to the Alliance? Back home?"

Grânn stood, and strode to the unconscious crew. "Well, I feel that we should be able to, considering this is the bithplace of the human race, and they've left their belongings behind, the answer to that is quite high. That includes the broken cruiser as well." Grânn picked up Fiennes, grunting in the process as if he was unable to lift her weight. "But this is a question for tomorrow. I'll take watch tonight, although we may not need it, and you get some rest." He softly placed Fiennes closer to the fire. "Go ahead, get some sleep. Don't worry about me."

"Alright, if you insist." Renjo layed down and closed his eyes, listening to the fire. Before he knew it, he was out.

***

Renjo woke up to the smell of cooked food, and low voices. His eyes fluttered open and he sat up.

"Ah, good morning Renjo. Care for some breakfast?" Grânn asked, stopping his conversation with Dayrn, who was up and kicking.

"Yeah, sure." Renjo got up and grabbed what looked like a plate of eggs and whatever was in those military food rations. Dayrn looked at Kala and gestured to her. "What's your situation with Kala?" He said with a half mouth full of eggs. Renjo looked at her.

"You know what? I'm not entirely sure, but I think she fell in love with me. And I think I'm falling for her too."

Dayrn almost looked starstruck. "But she's a cat. And you're a robot. Er, cyborg. Now I admit, she's cute, but not, human cute."

"Well, I don't know whats coming over me but, I'm going with it. See where it takes me."

Daryn shrugged. "Whatever floats your boat. Heh, or sinks your ship." We glared at him. "Too soon?"

Renjo finished his plate of eggs and Fiennes jolted upward and screamed, startling all of us.

"Jesus!"
"Ahh!"
"Shi- Ack! Cough cough!"

The awake group all shouted something in unison, including Dayrn choking on his food.

"I had a nightmare! We all died here on this god-forsaken rock from something terrible!" Fiennes began to sob. Grânn rushed to comfort her. "Hey, it'll be alright. It was just a dream."

Soon after, the rest who lay unconscious awoke. Kala got up and walked towards Renjo, stilll drowsy, and grabbed his arm. She lay her head on his shoulder. "Hi." She whispered. Renjo wrapped his free arm around her.

A few moments passed and Renjo had the idea to go scavenging for materials to get off this rock. "Guys, I want to take a few of you and scavenge for some materials. It's how were gonna get back to the Alliance."