Forsaken Planet Read online

  The blockage was surprisingly easy to remove. She didn’t even need to unscrew the cover to get to it. Folly frowned as Issy hauled on the pineapple top, falling over with a plop as it came free suddenly.

  She glanced back at Ma standing at the table cutting up potatoes. She could have removed it herself easily. Why had she sent Aleck to drag her away from her work for something so simple?

  Because they wanted her to be like them.

  She was supposed to like getting together and talking, even though none of them talked about anything that interested her. If she ever tried to discuss Prioris, and the things she found there, they were dismissive. Her treasures were ‘rubbish’. And even those that were useful, someone else took credit for. They were the ones who put them there—she was just uncovering them from the dust.

  What point was talking when no one wanted to listen to what you had to say?

  She heaved a sigh as she pulled herself to her feet. She wouldn’t get away without sitting down to the dinner Ma was cooking. Any hope she had of finishing her book faded, overpowered by the unpleasant smell of cooking soy sausages.

  “It’s done,” she announced.

  “Thanks, Tahlia,” Ma said cheerfully.

  “Don’t call me that!”

  The words were out before she could stop them. Everyone in the room, Ma, Da, Aleck, Issy, and all her other siblings, stared at her. She took a deep breath. “Folly, please.”

  A mutinous look crossed Ma’s face. “That’s not a proper name, it’s an insult. Why would you want to call yourself something like that?”

  As if she had to ask. Or was she daring Folly to say it? “If it was good enough for my dad, it’s good enough for me.”

  The room was silent. Pitying faces stared at her from around the table. Pity because her dad was dead. Pity because they thought he hadn’t been much of a man anyway.

  No one had believed her mum when she’d told them that he had a spaceship that could travel even faster than the anysogen engine would—a spaceship that might be able to get them off this planet and back to real civilisation. They’d scoffed, and said it was impossible.

  She’d show them.

  Folly whirled around and ran from the room, running through the trees and back to her cave. When she got there, Chicken fled down her leg to watch her from the middle of the bed, chuttering loudly, mimicking Folly’s muttering as she stuffed some clothes and the leftover tins of food into her bag and grabbed her toolbox.

  She then took a deep breath as she stared at the maps on the wall.

  It had to be in Tadig. There was nowhere else. And it made sense too. The only people who lived in Prioris were biologists and zoologists, studying the wildlife in the cave. The important people, those who worked on the anysogen project, had all been in Tadig. That would have been where the engineer her dad had wanted to talk to would have lived. Maybe he’d taken the ship with him, to prove that his project was a success.

  If she wanted to prove that her mum hadn’t been crazy, that her dad had been a brilliant scientist, then she was going to have to go there and find it. No matter what the risks were.

  She carefully unpinned the maps, folded them along the crease lines, and then tucked them into her bag. Picking up the compass that sat on the shelf, she added that too.

  The clock on the wall showed six thirty. It would be dark outside soon. If she’d been going to Tadig, where she knew her way, now would be the perfect time, safe from the UV radiation that would slow her down during the daylight. But she didn’t know her way.

  Sighing, she sat down on the edge of the bed. Better to wait until morning.

  After a moment, Chicken crawled over to Folly, and put her tiny paws on her knee. Folly ruffled her fur. “We’re going on an adventure tomorrow, Chicken. Are you sure you don’t want to run off and join your family? You’d be much safer there?”

  Her monologue was interrupted by a knock at the door, and she swore. Of course, they couldn’t just leave her alone, could they? She ignored it, not wanting to talk. Not wanting to hear an apology, even if they offered it.

  “Folly, are you in there?” Da called out.

  She softened just a little. At least he hadn’t called her Tahlia. “I don’t want to talk.”

  “Then don’t talk. Just come back and have dinner with us.”

  As if that would happen. “If I come back, Ma will insist on talking, you know that.”

  Da didn’t argue, no point really. “Issy was upset that you left. She cried.”

  Turning on the guilt trip, of course. She should have left tonight, then she wouldn’t have to deal with this.

  Folly sighed and scooped up Chicken. Stashing her packed bag under the bed, she stood up and opened the door.

  Da smiled at her, but she couldn’t bring herself to smile back. They got what they wanted. They always did.

  Chapter 3

  Kerit squinted through the perspiration fogging his visor, evaluating the possible handholds above him. He tested the hold of his left hand, but it was strong and solid. Picking the largest handhold, he carefully shifted his weight to his left hand and reached with his right. His hand closed around the rock, and the sweat in his glove that made the leather stick to his skin chose that moment to become slippery.

  He’d fully intended to ditch the gloves and climb bare handed. Right up until he’d stepped out of the shuttle and into the searing heat. At that moment, he’d decided his mother might have had a point. This wouldn’t be any ordinary sunburn.

  Now, as he readjusted his grip several times, trying to gain a firm purchase, he wondered which would be worse—slipping to his death, or having burnt hands.

  He put some weight on the rock, then a little more. He couldn’t feel a thing through the gloves, but the rock seemed to be holding, so he attempted to pull up.

  Even as he began the move, he knew he’d made a mistake. His full weight made the rock shift, and the handhold crumbled away in his hand, bouncing down the cliff below him, the sound echoing loudly in the silence. Kerit scrambled for a handhold, but everything he touched came away under his fingers. Blood rushed in his ears, his heart thudding. His right foot slipped off the rock, and he felt his weight begin to shift away from the cliff. He hung on with his left hand, and swung his right leg in the gap between his left leg and the cliff, hoping the shift in his balance would be enough and wishing it hadn’t been quite so long since he’d placed his last piton.

  His own breath echoed inside the visor. Time froze for a moment, before his body swung back towards the cliff. He scrambled to find a handhold, the light reflective jacket either splitting a seam, or tearing off some of his skin that was glued to it with sweat. Several more holds broke away easily, before he found one that was stable.

  He hung there for a moment, breathing heavily, fogging up his visor even more. But there was no way he could clean it now, or reach for the water bottle that hung at his waist for the drink he desperately wanted. Damn that asteroid impact, which had loosened a lot of the rock face.

  And Dr Benton had thought he could just stop and put up an umbrella if it started to rain. He gave a breathless laugh and looked up ahead, searching for the next handhold.

  The sun still hadn’t even risen over the ridge to bathe where he hung now. In another half hour, it was going to get far worse.

  He stared up at the towering cliff, squinting through the fogged up visor. Could he make the height he needed before he was climbing in full sunlight? Probably not. But he’d come this far now, no point in going back down. The heat wouldn’t kill him.

  Hopefully.

  He reached automatically for the chalk bag that usually hung on his belt. Half way through the movement, he remembered. Even if he’d brought it, the chalk would be useless. Although pouring some inside the gloves to soak up the perspiration might make him feel better.

  Slowly, carefully, one handhold at a time, he continued up the rock face, until he reached a sizeable ledge. Using the last of his energy, he ha
uled himself over and rested with his back against the rock for a few moments, breathing heavily.

  As soon as he could take a breath without his head spinning, he popped up the straw on his water bottle, and lifted the visor to gulp at some water. He wiped his forehead, then tried to remove some of the fog from the inside of the visor. The leather gloves were just as useless for this task as they were for climbing.

  As he raised his hand, he noticed that the cuff of his jacket had split from the arm. Well, at least that meant it hadn’t been his skin tearing. He pulled it down to cover the gap, then glanced up the mountain. A third of it still towered above him. Kerit groaned. How had he ever thought this task was going to be easy?

  Well, every moment he waited meant another moment in the sun. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and picked up his radio. “I’m about two thirds up, on a pretty stable ledge,” he said, trying to keep his breathing steady and quiet.

  “Good job. How are you going?” Tyris returned, his brother’s voice sounding hollow in the confined space.

  “Oh, not bad. Only nearly fallen to my death half a dozen times thanks to these stupid gloves. Oh, and it’s like a sauna down here.”

  “Stop exaggerating, Kerit. It shouldn’t be humid, there’s no vegetation to hold in the moisture,” his mother corrected.

  “No, all the humidity is coming directly from my body and trapped inside this damned jacket and gloves.”

  He waited for his mother to berate him again for exaggerating. What had happened to the concern for his life she’d shown earlier?

  But Tyris was the one who spoke. “Just take your time and stay safe. There’s no hurry.”

  No hurry for Tyris maybe, all nice and cool up there in space.

  “I will. My next call should be from the top, with the beacon placed,” Kerit said, with more confidence than he felt.

  “We’ll be waiting.”

  The conversation over, Kerit couldn’t put off the rest of the climb for any longer. He pulled himself to his feet and steeled his nerves.

  Something rumbled above him and several small rocks bounced onto the ledge and past it. Scrambling back, Kerit flattened himself against the wall, judging the size of the ledge he stood on. A decent rock-fall would push him off and down the mountain easily.

  A rope snaked down in front of him.

  Kerit stared at it. Maybe it was it hotter than he thought. He had to be hallucinating. He looked up, trying to work out where the rope had come from, and more rocks and dirt bounced off his visor.

  What was a rope doing here? What was it doing moving?

  It jiggled, just as it would if someone was climbing down it.

  The air was so hot it seemed to press in on him. It must be slowing down his brain. He couldn’t think of any reasonable explanation for the rope’s presence.

  The whirring of friction on the rope above him gave him just enough warning to step back as a human shape slid down in front of him, landing securely on the ledge, knees bent.

  There had to be some logical explanation for this. But none came to him. Nothing at all could explain why there was someone here, right in front of him, on this abandoned and uninhabitable planet.

  The baggy cargo pants and jacket didn’t obscure the lithe female shape completely. With a little imagination, he could easily fill in the missing details. A grey scarf wound around a straw hat, holding it to her head and hanging down hiding most of her face, especially as she leaned over the ledge, checking the rest of the descent.

  The certainty with which she moved, indicated she had some idea what she was doing. But was that harness made out of… seatbelts?

  “What are you doing here?” Kerit demanded, finally finding his voice.

  Startled, she swung around, stepping backwards at the same time—right off the edge of the ledge. For a moment, she stayed suspended in time, her arms waving as she fought to regain her balance.

  Not stopping to think, Kerit grabbed her arm and pulled both of them backwards against the rock wall.

  The landing forced his breath out of him in a whoosh and the weight sent him sliding to the ground. He managed to jam his foot against a rock and wrap his arms around her body, keeping them both on the ledge, which somehow seemed far narrower than it had earlier. A sharp, acidic smell filled the air, and he thought he heard something squeak.

  He had just long enough to be certain he was feeling breasts and a trim waist under the baggy clothing, and heavy breathing tickled his ear. Then a violent shove had her free and scrabbling for distance. “Who the hell are you?”

  “I might ask the same question. Who are you? And what are you doing here? This planet was supposed to be abandoned.”

  She put her hands on her hips. “I asked first.”

  Actually, he had. But he didn’t think it was a good time to bring that up. And it wasn’t exactly a secret. “I’m Kerit.” He held out his hand to her.

  She didn’t move or offer a hand in return. In fact, she crossed her arms. “What are you doing here?”

  After holding his hand out long enough to feel stupid, Kerit dropped it. “We’re planning to live here.”

  “You want to live on an uninhabitable planet? Are you dumb or something?”

  He should have been insulted, but somehow, he felt more like laughing. She had spunk. It was cute. Laughing though, probably wouldn’t go down too well. “I don’t know, you tell me? We have a way to fix the planet. What’s your excuse?”

  “My excuse?” Her voice was high. “I didn’t choose to be here. My parents were just visiting when the Colonies abandoned this planet and left everyone here to die.”

  Of course. What other reason could she possibly have? Instantly contrite, Kerit said, “I’m sorry. I should have realised.” He cheered up. “Well, never mind. We have a spaceship and can take you back to wherever you want to go.”

  His hand reached for the radio. He needed to tell Tyris about this. It changed all their plans. They couldn’t terraform the planet while it was occupied, it was too dangerous. “How many of you are there?”

  “You have a spaceship?”

  If only he could see her face. Was he imagining it, or did her voice sound calculating? “Yes, the Resolution, and it has FTL capability. We weren’t planning on going back to the Colonies, but I’m sure we could do a trip to drop you off.”

  “Where is it?”

  “The Colonies? Well, they’re quite a way away, about two weeks travel at FTL.”

  “No, the ship.”

  Kerit frowned. “The Resolution? In orbit of course. There was no point landing until after the planet was terraformed. The process is too dangerous for anyone to be on the ground as it happens. That’s why we need to get all your people off.”

  “How’d you get here then, if your ship is in orbit? Can you teleport or something?”

  What was with the twenty questions? “No, I came in a shuttle. But it can only carry a couple of people.” A thought occurred to him. “Are you the only one?”

  How awful, to be stuck here alone all these years. She had to have been here at least twenty years. How old was she? The brief moment she’s been in his arms had indicated strength and vitality. He didn’t think she was much older than he was.

  She heaved a dramatic sigh. “No, unfortunately. There are, oh, five thousand of us? Thereabouts anyway.” Her voice and mannerisms backed up his initial impression of her age.

  Then her words seeped into his overheated brain. Five thousand! The Resolution would be creaking at the seams with that many people. But it shouldn’t be for more than a day or two. “Where are they? Take me to whoever is in charge, so I can discuss this with them.”

  To his surprise, she hesitated. “I’m not going that way.”

  He frowned. “Surely you want to get off this planet? It isn’t exactly the most pleasant place to live, is it?”

  She gave a harsh laugh. “Not even remotely. But I need to find something first.” She paused. “If you help me find it, I’ll take you
to the others. I’ll even introduce you, not that a recommendation from me is going to do much good.”

  Kerit considered her offer. Her attitude fascinated him—and he was getting really curious about what she looked like under all that getup. “How far is this thing you’re looking for? And what is it?”

  She waved a hand towards the edge of the cliff. “It’s in the ruins of Tadig.”

  The name was familiar. The main city, where Nerris and the others had lived. He’d seen it in the distance as he’d landed, and seen the giant crater that had torn away half the city.

  Biting back a groan, Kerit shook his head. “That’s too far. I don’t have time for a trip to the old city. How about you take me to your people, and I’ll help you find what you’re looking for after we finish the terraforming?” He’d have more time to get to know her then anyway.

  She shook her head. “No.” She shook it again. “You’re just trying to put me off. How do I know you’ll keep your word? We find my stuff first, then I’ll help you.”

  It was a standoff. But Kerit held the winning hand. He pulled the radio off his belt, depressed the button, and spoke into it. “You there, Ty?”

  There was no response. Not even static. Kerit shook the radio and tried again. “Ty? You there, bro?”

  Nothing.

  Dammit, it must have broken when he fell against the rocks. What was that saying, something about no good deed going unpunished?

  She watched him, arms crossed. Kerit sighed. “What’s your name?”

  “Folly.” She glared at him, as though daring him to comment.

  It was a strange name, but he’d heard worse. “Right, Folly. I need to get back down to my shuttle so I can contact the Resolution.” There wasn’t much point placing the beacon until they’d spoken to the people here on the planet. It could take a couple of days, and if there was rain, the acid could eat away at the coating and set off the reaction before they were ready. “Once I talk to them, we can see about finding your… what is it you’re looking for anyway?”

  Her gaze shifted away from him then, staring out into the dust. “My father,” she said quietly.