The spinning slowed as the freighter dipped on the other side of the mountains, but did not stop as they approached the orange expanse.
Please don’t crash in the ocean, Dani chanted to herself, no longer able to do anything but ride it out, squeezing her eyes shut.
Boom! The freighter hit the ground on the starboard side, the sound of twisting metal piercing her eardrums as she flew sideways in her seat, straps holding her steadfast.
Stomach summersaulting as the ship continued a sideways slide, she could no longer keep her eyes shut.
Mouth opening, air expelled from her throat in a silent scream as she grasped tightly against the console.
A thick orange feathery substance brushed across the viewscreen before dark brown soil completely covered it, the ship burying itself in the planet’s surface, coming to a jerky halt.
The deafening noise of twisting metal died down to a groan. There was screaming, and Dani realized the expelling from her throat was not so silent. Clamping her mouth shut, she surveyed the bridge.
A crack ran along the console, across the deck, up the starboard bulkhead and through the ceiling. But there was no pain in her body as she did a mental check.
They were down. She was alive!
Drawing air into her lungs, she expelled it in a loud, shaky sigh.
Alive for now. Soon they would find out if this planet had breathable air.
One problem at a time.
Next thought of C’hase, she projected her mind at the pup. C’hase? Are you okay?
Dread crept into her heart when he didn’t answer. Oh, no—
There are chickens, everywhere! A young boy’s enthusiastic voice sounded in her mind, playful excitement emanating from C’hase’s end of their strange bond. Why was she under the distinct impression he was chasing them?
Pandemonium was rampant in the cargo hold as Dani entered. Chickens ran every which way, followed closely by C’hase, who barked cheerfully at their flapping wings and noisy squawks. As far as Dani could tell with a quick count, all twenty-four chickens were alive and accounted for.
Relief filled her. Everyone was alive.
Body relaxing, sharp pain on her elbow made Dani wince. Holding it up, blood dripped to the floor, a red trail of drops across the flooring where she’d walked from the bridge.
Looking at it in a reflective surface by the chicken cages, there was small gash. Damn, that was a little more than a scratch.
Grabbing a first aid kit attached to the wall, she cracked it open. Thankful to see a mirror in the case, she sat on a row of seats against the bulkhead and plucked out a needle and thread.
The chickens squawked and the young hellhound yapped, feathers floating through the air.
“C’hase,” Dani chastised as she threaded a second stitch above her elbow, wincing at the sharp pain. “Stop terrorizing the chickens.”
The young four-legged gray pup stopped dead in his tracks, antennae drooping as he hung his head low. A small squeaking tan furball ran headlong into his hind legs. Was Hedge chasing the chickens too?
Sorry, Alpha, C’hase said. Dani was sure she would never get used to him calling her that.
Fingers extending from the hellhound’s front paws, Dani was sure she’d never get used to seeing that either. C’hase scooped up the trumpet-eared space rat, holding it up for her to see.
Look. Hedge made it. I’m so happy. He hugged the squeaky creature. Are you happy too?
“What do you know, the rat made it.” Her voice was flat, lips set in a thin line.
She had no idea what the little creature actually was, having nothing else to compare it to but a rat of some sort, but C’hase loved it. Dani found she was genuinely happy it survived the crash, along with everything else.
Sewing a fourth and final stitch, she inspected her handiwork in the mirror, wiggling her fingers to ward off the tingling sensation.
Task at hand complete, Dani looked around the confines of the cargo hold, heart dropping.
How were they going to get off this planet, find Mogha, and warn the hellhounds in time now?
Dani watched as C’hase placed his pet on his head, Hedge’s oversized claws dangling over the sides, and started herding the chickens back into their pins.
“This rescue mission just got a lot more complicated,” she said, letting out a sigh.
She could hope that someone heard her distress call, but a rescue from this world would only mean captivity for C’hase, imprisonment for her.
She figured out how to get C’hase out of that lab for nothing—
Visually inspecting the bulkhead and cargo compartment, Dani’s gaze fell on the hellhound.
“Well, the ship didn’t break in half,” she said. “We have that going for us.”
Requiring an antiquated space station to keep humanity alive, all humans underwent extensive training and education on the maintenance and repair of such a structure. Some were better at it than others, but Dani’s skills weren’t half bad. Perhaps she could repair the ship and they could be gone by the time a rescue party arrived.
Of course, none of it really mattered if the planet didn’t have breathable air. Having jettisoned the oxygen tanks, there wouldn’t be enough oxygen for her environmental suit.
Standing, she walked to the control panel next to the loading ramp, requesting a readout of the outside environment. Flip, the damn thing wasn’t working.
There was thumping against the flooring as C’hase scratched the back of one of his front legs with his back paw, bushy tail twirling when he caught her watching him.
I got the chickens back in their pins, he said, holding his head up high, the strange rat creature perfectly at home perched atop his head.
One reddish brown chicken scratched around his feet and Dani raised her eyebrows. “You missed one.”
Fingers extending from the pup’s right paw, C’hase reached out and pulled the bird against his chest, who let out a squawk. Tail raising in a twirl, he simply looked at her with those big innocent eyes.
“Don’t eat the chickens, C’hase,” she felt the need to say.
Hedge likes this one.
That wasn’t exactly affirmation that he wouldn’t eat them, but the feeling she got from him was protection, no intent to harm.
Slowly nodding her head while staring at the chicken, she focused on the task at hand. There had to be some way to find out if there was breathable air.
“I’m going to the bridge to see if I can’t get a damage report,” she said. “Maybe the external environmental read-out will work from there.”
They had survived the crash. Next priority, keep surviving—
For the dozenth time, K’vyn glanced at the blue, orange and green planet, floating brightly against the blackness of space, stars winking lazily beyond.
All attempts to mentally connect with his mogha companion failed, yet he couldn’t shake the feeling.
“You’re distracted.” L’iza’s words carried as much weight as the sidelong glance he could see out of his periphery. Staring straight forward, he ignored both.
“We have a job to do,” he said.
Break the human supply chain, report threats to the Korthan Cyborg Corps, and direct all human traffic away from Mogha. Keeping the mogha home world safe was most important. Although, the Invader freighter was the only human activity in this part of space for months—