Wanderer - Millennium

Chapter 3-1

3

Kaira groped for her bag, then rummaged blindly through it, desperately trying to find the torch. Breathing already felt more difficult, but she wasn’t sure if that was really the case or she was just panicking.

Finally her hands closed on the torch and she turned it on. It seemed much too bright in the pitch black cargo bay, but she had other things to worry about right then. She clambered up and out from between the barrels, forcing her stiff body to move, then half lowered herself and half fell onto the floor. Pain shot through her left arm as it took some of her weight. It was bruised, if not worse, from being trapped but there was no time to worry about that right then.

She pushed herself up and quickly moved toward the smaller door which led into the rest of the ship. As she moved she pulled the small bottle of air with a breathing mask she’d brought for emergencies out of her pack. It would provide no protection against vacuum, but it might keep her conscious for slightly longer, and that extra time could be critical as she sought an escape.

The pumps continued to rattle and wheeze as she reached the door. Despite the danger she was in she found herself pausing. If she did this, if she opened the door, there would be no going back. The Glimmer wasn’t that large a ship. It was highly unlikely there were many places to hide other than amongst the cargo. Going through the door would lead to her being thrown off the ship at the next station and arrested, if she was lucky. The captain would be perfectly within his rights to execute her on the spot.

She stayed where she was, listening to the pumps sucking the air away, but still reluctant to do what was necessary to avoid suffocation.

She must have been standing there for a minute or more when she realised breathing wasn’t becoming more difficult, not now she’d stopped thinking about it. And she hadn’t needed the air cannister. Could it really take this long to pump out enough air for her to notice? Or was something else happening? And if so, what?

Without warning the pumps turned off. Her ears rang at the sudden silence, but she could still breathe. She had no idea why the pumps had been running, unless it was to clear out the air from the station and replace it with ship’s air.

Whatever the reason, they had stopped now. She suddenly realised she was standing close to the door into the rest of the ship for no good reason, and doing so with a bright light. She covered the torch with her hand so only a dim sliver shone onto the floor, then hurried away.

She’d barely made it five steps before another loud noise startled her. It wasn't the pumps this time, but she wasn't sure what it was. A few moments later the floor lurched under her feet.

The Glimmer was lifting off! Not smoothly. In fact far from it. The words of the drinkers in the bar came back to her, their comments on the poor state of repair of the Glimmer.

As the floor lurched once again she started to wonder just what she’d got herself into. How safe was this ship? Was it really that close to falling apart? Had she made a terrible mistake?

Maybe, but she’d had no real choice. The Glimmer had offered the only hope to get where she needed to go in the time she had available. She might be risking her life by flying on the Glimmer, but not taking the chance would have been far worse.

The uneven flight was severe enough that she stayed where she was, holding onto a solid crate which was in turn secured to the deck. The rough ride lasted for another two or three minutes, then thankfully smoothed out.

Once she was certain things weren't going to get rough again she moved further back in the cargo hold, seeking somewhere to spend the journey. There was no way she was hiding amongst the barrels again. She’d been lucky to survive them moving when they were loaded. If they were to shift again there was a good chance she wouldn’t be so fortunate.

It was cold in the cargo bay. She was already missing the warm but bright jacket she’d had to sacrifice to escape Jace’s trap. She had another top in her bag which she dragged out and pulled on, but it was too thin to make much of a difference.

Other than that all she had was a small towel which she could use to try and cover herself when she lay down, but that too would make very little difference to keeping her warm.

She looked around. Lying on the metal floor was out of the question, it would leach the heat from her body in no time. She moved through the cargo hold, not finding anything that looked even remotely promising until she neared the back wall. There she found a wooden crate which was almost as tall as she was, with enough handholds that she could easily climb up and in.

She levered herself far enough up to look inside and she found it was empty, if quite dusty. It wasn't perfect, but it was far better any other option she’d found. At least she’d be hidden from casual sight.

She climbed in and found that there was enough space for her to lie down without being cramped, even if it wasn’t exactly comfortable.

She used her pack as a pillow. It was no comfier than the floor, but it was at least a little cleaner. She curled up and covered herself as well as she could manage with the small towel.

Reluctantly she turned out the torch, not wanting to risk Tarkus entering the cargo bay and noticing the light while she slept. She lay there in the darkness, trying not to shiver, for a long, long time before she finally fell asleep.