Joely Sue Burkhart

Week One
Week Two
Week Three

Kermit’s large bulbous eyes blinked and rolled independently, a sure sign of Quag agitation. “Are you sure, Rack? Must you go back?”

“I’m sure. The suns and eclipses were the clues.” He laughed raggedly, running a hand through his hair. “The clues were there all along. I didn’t even need the last journal, although it helped clarify exactly how many full night hours she saw. It was the third night that she put herself into cryo, right after the Captain died from his injuries. In the eclipse, it must have been Fades that got them. All along, she was right there…”

“New Haven and Im-Muir, the same?”

“Remember the ruins we saw in the tunnels?” Just thinking about the escape made Rack’s hands tremble. His stomach churned with bile and the scar burned viciously. The poisonous wolf was only the first obstacle they faced in their escape. “I think that’s where she is. To protect the colonists from beasts on the surface, they set up command in a cave. A cave, just like those under Im-Muir! They didn’t know about the Fades beneath ground until it was too late.”

“But– but–” Kermit shrilled. “The only way– You–”

“The only way I can possibly find my way back to those ruins is through the prison.”

“If you go back–” Kermit twittered so fast, so broken, that Rack couldn’t understand him. “Death — Worse — Suffer — Wolves — Fades!”

Rackman patted him on the back, humming beneath his breath. His human vocal chords couldn’t manage the exact soothing sound, but it seemed to help. “I know, my friend, I know.”

“They will lock you up again!”

Grimly, he nodded. “That’s exactly what I need them to do.” He pulled out the comm he prepared earlier and smiled with genuine affection as he pressed it into the Quag’s hand. “The Obsession is yours, Kreee-meeet.” Deliberately, he tried to mimic the whistles of the Quag, to pronounce his name correctly. One last sign of respect. “My only request is that you name her something else.”

Kermit calmed, blinking at him slowly with his head cocked. “I shall name your ship the Redemption.”

Wordlessly, Rackman nodded, his throat tight. If his life was the price for finding Hope’s Haven, he’d go with a smile on his face. Hope would redeem him.

I hope she’s still alive.

#

Rackman landed the shuttle exactly where the Quag rescue ship first picked up him and Kermit nearly ten years ago. Last time he was an inmate at Im-Muir, they allowed him to keep the clothes he came in with but took away all his water, food, and marks. He stuffed a few more tokens in his pocket–not enough to make an obscene bribe, since he wanted them to believe his story, but respectable. Enough to earn him a few days’ reprieve until the eclipse.

Although from the red lip along the bottom of the second sun, the eclipse wasn’t far away.

His gut tightened and shivers raced down his spine. He wouldn’t think about the Fades. Not yet. He needed to worry about the wolves first. To be safe, though, he guzzled all the water he could hold. He’d need the extra fluid in the tunnels. If he made it that far.

Before venturing outside, he took out Hope’s last journal entry.

The suns are gone.
The search party, butchered.
Captain Killian is alive but so badly injured I know he’ll die before I can stabilize him enough for cryo. He’s the last crewmember still alive, other than me.
So many dead.
I’m a doctor. I save lives. Yet I couldn’t save my husband and seven-year-old son from a virus on Tentar. I couldn’t save these poor colonists. I can’t save myself now. All I can do is sleep, and hope. Hope that you will find these journals. Hope that you’ll come looking for the idealistic fools who set out into the wilderness, were lost in space, and tried to find a new life here in New Haven.
I hope you find what you’re looking for.
Don’t forget me, trapped in my cold, dead sleep. I will live until you find me.
The suns are gone. The beasts come. Please hurry.
Find me!

Rackman ripped out that last page, carefully folded it into a neat square, and placed it in his inside pocket next to his heart. He took a deep breath, opened the shuttle door, and ran for his life.