Sci-fi Megabundle (the shorts) ebooks

Jurassic Dark

Chapter 1: Gnomic utterances

I’d walked about two kilometres when my headlamp crapped out. ‘Well, of course that would happen.’ I hurled the useless gadget away. ‘Okay, yes, that was a stupid thing to do.’

Spock, my German shepherd, was used to me talking to myself. She didn’t judge.

The lamp clanged as it landed somewhere in the darkness, disturbing the silence of this little world.

‘This is just ducky. It’s the worst thing that could possibly happen.’ I scoffed at my miserable luck. Our portable communications booster broke down just as we tried to contact our friends BB and Aurora back in the city. Bexley, our mechanic, and Henry, our pilot and unfriendly local hacker, had scrambled around trying to repair it. In fact, they were probably still working. But Spock and I had set out in case they weren’t able to get the job done in time.

We’d cut it close. I checked my watch. Still about four hours before the other ship launched. We had to make it. Otherwise, we’d all be stuck here for eleven days. Something about this planet’s radiation or ion field or whatever interfered with our comms. In order to communicate over distances of more than a couple of metres, you needed a booster. Which was fine – when the blasted thing worked.

I sighed. If we didn’t get to our next job in three days, we’d lose out. But if we couldn’t get a message to the other crew, we’d be stuck here until the next supply ship came. An extra eleven days on this dusty, tedious planet…

Hence, Spock and I were out here, in the dark, walking to the planet’s solitary city. ‘City – ha! I wouldn’t even call it a village. Just a collection of prefab huts and a little shop.’

The road was made of loose gravel, a little lip at the edge the only thing keeping travellers from falling off into the planet’s endless caves and tunnels. Some of the tunnels connected. Most went a few metres or a few kilometres before turning into a dead end.

I stopped walking to consider my alternatives. ‘Spock, come.’

Immediately, she nudged my hand with her cold, wet nose. ‘Spock here.’ Holly, the AI device installed on my watch translated Spock’s language – such as it was – into words I could understand. And Spock had a similar device on her collar that helped her understand me.

I fished in my backpack for her lead and clipped it to her harness. Ever since we’d had the translators it felt cruel to leash her. Still, on this dark, barely inhabited world, it seemed sensible to stick together.

‘We’re not in any danger, you know. Okay, so we might not get to the city in time. But we’re not in danger.’ I wished I could convince my body of that fact. Bile kept rising in my throat.

‘Lem safe.’ Spock nudged my hand again. ‘Spock protect.’

I took a deep breath and nodded. Pivoting slowly, I surveyed my surroundings. Without my headlamp, I couldn’t see anything. I tried turning my watch-light on – but it barely illuminated my own arm, never mind anything as far away as, say, my feet. This stupid planet had no moons. And the thick cloud layer blotted out most of the stars. There wasn’t enough light to see anything.

If I fell off the edge of the road, I was as good as dead. Was I being hyperbolic? Maybe. But how would anyone find me? ‘We’ll have to take it slow.’

Thankfully, the road between our base and the city was fairly straight. Most of the way, at least. Narrow. But reasonably straight. Ish.

‘All right.’ I looked down at where I thought Spock was. ‘You ready, mate?’

Spock didn’t reply, but I set out. ‘One foot ahead of the other.’ My hand gripped her lead.

I tried feeling the road’s texture with my feet. ‘It’d be better if I had a stick or something so I could test the road. But we’ll have to do this by fee—’

I wish I could say I didn’t – but I definitely squealed when Spock flung herself across my path. ‘Are you mad? I almost tripped over you! You could have killed us both.’ I slapped my chest and tried to catch my breath. ‘I’m sorry, mate. Just be careful, yeah?’

Spock still hadn’t budged. ‘Lem stay road.’

‘What?’ I twisted my wrist around to point at the ground and strained my eyes. Still couldn’t see a bloody thing. But I was facing dead ahead on the road – I was sure of it. I stretched my foot out and carefully tried to feel the road and—

‘Ow!’ I stubbed my toe on the kerb.

Far from facing straight ahead, I was headed off the edge of the path towards certain death.

‘Lem stay road.’

I put my hands on my hips. ‘You can see in the dark, can you?’

‘Not see,’ Spock replied cryptically. She turned and headed back out onto the road, staying close enough that I could touch her. ‘Lem follow.’

With a shake of my head, I plodded after her. Always with the gnomic utterances. ‘Right. You can be my seeing-eye dog. Or smelling-nose dog. Or whatever it is you’re doing.’ I took a deep breath. ‘Thank you, Spock. I’m sorry I shouted at you. You were right and I was wrong.’

‘Spock good girl?’

I smiled in the dark and reached a hand down to stroke her fur. ‘The bestest.’

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