Orion Colony Complete Series Boxed Set J.N. Chaney (books for new readers .txt) 📖

the dog growled at her? He was excited to see us, but it wasn’t the same with her. I wonder why.”

“I don’t know, but I don’t want to hear any of your alien spores theories,” I said. “We have enough real-life issues to deal with.”

We walked on as the day turned into night. I reached into my pack for a flashlight to help guide our way. Ricky did the same. The stars were brilliant in a way I had never seen before. As I scanned the horizon for familiar constellations, I paused, realizing that I was no longer home. I was no longer on Earth. My stars were gone, never to grace my eyes again. Whatever shapes we drew in the heavens would be new and different now, given new stories and a new history to them.

That was only if we could survive the night, of course.

I had to remind myself more than a few times to keep my focus on the thinning trees around us. We had been walking for hours. My stomach reminded me that dinner had come and gone.

“Do you think we put enough distance between us and the mist?” Ricky asked after a while. “I don’t know what time it is, but it feels like we’ve been at this all night.”

“I agree,” Doctor Allbright said as she took in the area around us. “We’re out of the woods or very close to it. Perhaps some food and rest will help. We can finish the journey back to Orion tomorrow.”

I wanted to protest, but my legs were already killing me. Plus, the darkness made seeing the Orion impossible. For all we knew, we were heading in the wrong direction.

“All right,” I said reluctantly. “Let’s find somewhere to rest and get some food in us.”

Our campsite was meager at best. We found one of the few trees that remained in the area. The landscape had transformed into open plains of grass and sloping hills. We gathered at the base of the tree, taking out the protein bars and water bottles. I frowned as Ricky opened a bar for the mutt.

“He needs to eat too,” Ricky said, catching my eye.

Even though Ricky was the one feeding the dog, the mutt came over to consume his treat next to me.

“Ah, come on, I was the one that gave that to you,” Ricky said.

The mutt ignored Ricky. He braced the protein bar in his paws and went to town on it as if it was the most delicious thing he’d ever tasted.

I opened my own, ready to take a bite, when the holo pad went off.

An unknown voice came through, saying something inaudible before ending in static.

26

We all stopped and looked at one another. Ricky was mid-chew. Doctor Allbright put her bar down. She was the first to find her voice.

“Was that Stacy? It sounded like Stacy Wil—”

The holo pad went off again in my pack. I dug it out, trying to listen to the words coming from the transmission.

“Can any—hear me? I rep—can anyone—this is—Wilson of the—Orion.”

I grabbed the holo pad a little too eagerly. It was great to hear her voice, and I was a bit surprised at myself for feeling such a sense of relief.

“Stacy, it’s Dean, can hear you me?” I asked, pressing the button on the pad to speak to her. “Can you hear me?”

“Dean!? Dean, oh thank—where are you?”

I looked around my small group for an answer to that question.

“On an alien planet.” Ricky shrugged.

“Tell her just north of the forest where it ends,” Doctor Allbright suggested.

“We’re on our way to the Orion on the very north end of the forest,” I told her, hoping that would make sense to her. I had no idea where she had landed. “I think you might be close. The range on the holo pad, I don’t think it’s very far.”

“I can send—flare,” Stacy said on her end. “Look for it.”

There was no need to repeat her words. Ricky and Doctor Allbright were already jumping to their feet and searching the night sky.

A moment later, a red streak erupted from the canopy of trees a few kilometers to our left. The flare shot to the heavens like a beacon of hope.

“We can see you,” I said excitedly over the holo pad. “You’re just a few klicks out. We’ll head to you.”

We followed the tree line west for no more than twenty minutes, when we saw the bright lights of the flashlights. A wave of relief hit me as I realized Stacy wasn’t alone. She had hundreds, maybe even thousands of survivors with her.

Shouts rang out from the big group as we approached in the darkness.

“It’s okay, it’s us!” Ricky yelled back to them. “Don’t shoot!”

“Ricky, is that you?” Boss Creed asked in his baritone voice. “Dean?”

Boss Creed had never been a more welcome sight than he was in that exact moment as he walked forward to meet us with a smile. “I should have known you two would be amongst the survivors.”

Ricky smiled up at the large man as we approached, wrapping him in a hug. Boss Creed looked puzzled, then melted and patted Ricky on the back.

Other survivors from the crash surrounded us, asking what happened, as Doctor Allbright walked away to talk to someone she knew.

“Dean,” Stacy said, breaking away from the group. “Dean, you made it! I was so worried you were sucked out of the ship when the hull was breached.”

We stood there for an awkward moment, just looking at one another. Then one of us—I’m not sure which one—reached in to hug the other. Every part of me was grateful she was safe, and it felt wonderful to hold her in my arms.

“Well, it’s about damn time you gave that girl a hug. It only took us being blown out of the sky,” Ricky said, and as I looked around, everyone was grinning. I gently pushed Stacy away with a cough to cover my embarrassment.

“So, uh, what happened