The next morning she didn't want to move, but something was nagging in the back of her mind as she ate some of the leftovers from yesterday. The wounds were almost gone, that nanobots having been rebuilding the area all night. When she first awoke she realized that there was blood underneath where she slept. She spent part of the morning using the seawater to clean it off. She took a small dip to clean the outside of her suit. Then she sat quietly until her suit reminded her to eat. Boomerangs were her favorite and she wished she had some way to spice them other than the little bits of salt that dried on her suit or from the floor where her hair drip-dried.
"What I wouldn't give for some garlic." She muttered. Still something nagged at her. She sighed and leaned back closing her eyes. Her muscles needed the rest. It was awful. Like she was tearing herself apart just to move. "Or butter." She hummed. "Or cold clean water that doesn't taste slightly of fish. Or a bed."
More time passed. She was sure that she was wasting a day but she was so damn tired. And sulfur had been elusive thus far.
"Wait…" She muttered sitting up. "That evil bastard exploded. Like a real explosion…" There could be sulfur there. It was a hell of a long shot, but seeing as she couldn't find an active volcano conveniently nearby she supposed she would have to follow any lead she had. "Isn't sulfur used in explosions? I can't remember. Anything really. Karen what is my name."
"Current users name unknown. Unable to access passenger files. Lifepod secondary systems have been offline for approximately 60 hours."
"Right." She muttered. "Don't need to dwell on that. I'm still me. And I'm still in terrible danger of being left behind unless I get that sulfur. Karen, you said I could make a knife?"
"You do not currently possess the correct materials to create a survival knife."
"Yes I do." She said walking over to her little compartment. She grabbed a roll of rubber and some titanium chunks. She moved to the fabricator and placed the items inside, instantly a new option popped in stark relief. She smiled and touched it seeing a little knife symbol.
The machine hummed to life little lazers creating the small knife. She reached out and took the knife testing its weight.
"Weapons were removed from lifepod fabricators following the massacre on Obraxis Prime. The knife remains the only exception." Karen told her.
"That's good to know." She said swinging it experimentally a few times. "At least I have a little protection. Karen, is there anyway for me to carry this without having to hold it all the time?"
"Please wait." She felt the suit begin the slight buzzing it does as it reforms. There was a few minutes of the tingling sensation a good bit of it centered on her right hip. "Sheathe created."
Sure enough there was a small holster that fit the survival knife. She experimented with it moving about and making sure it didn't stab her but it was perfect. It even drew easily.
"You're an outstanding system, Karen."
"Would you like to rate the Alterra settler suit?"
The woman laughed. "Sure." She said as she climbed up. Her legs felt like jelly and her arms were creaky as she made her way up. The recent wounds also ached the smallest bit not fully done healing.
"How would you rate the Alterra settler suit on a scale from one to five stars?"
"For you, Karen, Five stars." She said before splashing into the water.
"Thank you for your participation. Uploading data to Alterra's Mainframe Network." There was a pause. "Unable to connect to Alterra's Mainframe Network. Data stored in local memory until connection can be made."
Laughing underwater was a bad idea. Five minutes of spluttering and nose burning later and the woman showed back up to the cave. She stared it down. It felt more like a mouth now than before. She gathered her breath and dove, moving quickly as to not chicken out. She entered the part of the cave where the little fish had been, but nothing was there. Just that pod that it had exited. Curious she swam a bit closer and saw a pile of yellow stuff in it. She grabbed it and tucked the solidified gunk into her storage. She tried to pry the pod itself up, but it was stuck fast.
"30 seconds."
She swam as fast as she could back to the surface. "Let's see what this is." She muttered swimming back for lifepod 5. From her angle she realized that the pod actually looked like it had a face. "How could I have named Karen but not you buddy! You're Henry now!" She named him with a smile.
"Congratulations, survivor: you have exceeded your weekly exercise quotient by 500%.
Data indicates that swimming was your favorite activity. Be sure to vary your routine for uniform muscle development."
It seemed that laughing in water was still a bad idea. Henry was waiting with his usual dim lighting and the constant sparking from whatever damage he had suffered from entering the atmosphere and crash landing in an alien ocean.
The woman crossed her fingers and placed the yellow mass into the fabricator, but no options popped up. Frustrated she went and grabbed some titanium and the silicone rubber just to be sure. Immediately a new option popped up.
The repair tool. She whooped with joy doing a little jump that just made her ache all the more. She pressed the button and waited. The repair tool was a bit smaller than she expected, but it was easy to hold. She moved to the broken part of the pod and pressed the tip to the exposed wires and metal. She pulled the trigger and watched as the smartmetal came to life. Her hands buzzed so furiously she was sure that she would lose feeling in them. The pod slowly repaired itself.
"Lifepod secondary systems online. Running full environment diagnostic and outputting results to databank." Karen said suddenly. The woman grinned and moved over to fix the radio as well. That one took less time.
"Radio Online: Greetings survivor I am your emergency radio transponder. Broadcasting emergency distress signal."
"Oh," the woman smiled at the new more robotic voice. "Good, you do that."
"The Aurora suffered orbital hull failure. Cause: unknown. Zero human life signs detected."
The woman froze. "What?"
"The Aurora suffered orbital hull failure. Cause: unknown. Zero human life signs detected."
"What do you mean zero human….of course there are people over there!" The woman suddenly felt desperate. "There have to be!" She scrambled up and onto the top of Henry. There sat the Aurora, burning as it had been since she had woken up. She stared across the water at it watching the smoke and flames.
"Fuck!" The woman stared in dismay. All of the walls she had unknowingly built around herself crumbled to dust. Walls made of promises to sleep in a real bed when they came for her. Eat better when they came for her. Sleep for three days when they came for her. She never once doubted the crew's ability to reach her. To find her. She just had to get Henry up and running.
It was all a lie she had told herself. Why else hadn't she seen rescue boats circling the crash site. The storm that had been brewing in her chest finally broke open. She finally realized what she had been looking for and failing to see.
Human life.
"Everyone." She mumbled staring dumbly at the wreckage. "Everyone in there."
"Air scrubbers initiated." The woman jerked slightly realizing that she had simply stopped being there. She wasn't sure how long she had been staring at the wreckage but night was falling and her joints protested the movement as she pulled herself back into the pod. The lighting systems had finally fully activated making the inside warm and glowing. The air didn't smell constantly of smoke, though the woman was sure that her hair still did. She reached out and grabbed one of her drinks taking another sip. A flat green screen caught her attention near the front of the pod.
Status: OK
"Well that's something." She muttered moving to stand in front of the screen.
Outgoing radio communication: Offline
Incoming radio communication: Online
Flotation devices: Deployed
Hull integrity: OK
Environment:
-Uncharted ocean planet 4546B
-Oxygen/Nitrogen atmosphere
-Waterborne bacteria levels: High
"Okay." She muttered. "Karen, do you have my personal files?"
"Yes, personnel files acquired."
"Who am I?"
"Passenger designation 00179FU, Benningfield Andromedae, Casual name: Dae. Occupation: Animal Specialist."
"Dae." She muttered. "Andromedae. That's right." The memories felt close to the surface yet still hazy in her mind. She wondered just how bad of a blow she took to the head. Dae had avoided thinking all too much about herself keeping focused on the task at hand hoping that her memory would just start to work again. At least she knew her name and a few other important details. "Okay, what do I do?"
"Radio receiving transmission. Should I play it?"
"Yes of course!" Hope bloomed for a moment in Dae's chest.
"This is Aurora. Distress signal received. Rescue operation will be dispatched to your location in 9...9...9...9...9... hours." Dae immediately sat down pushing her face into her hands. "Continue to monitor for emergency transmissions from other lifepods."
"That's right," she muttered not moving from her position, "there are other pods. There could still be other people." Dae sighed and stretched trying to push away the dark feelings that were threatening to overwhelm her. "Even if the Aurora is broken, once we group together we can work on contacting Alterra. I just have to wait."
