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

the downed section of the Orion that held the prison cell block. As of this moment, only half of our group knew the real reason we were headed for this particular escape craft when there were four others we could have gone to.

“Do we know if the survivors on the escape ship are injured?” Hannah asked. “Have they been able to communicate with us at all?”

“Unfortunately, not,” Stacy answered. “The Orion’s communication ability is handicapped right now. It’s something we’re working on fixing.”

“So, the survivors could all be dead or even moved on from the ship trying to find us?” Mark asked.

“That’s a possibility,” Stacy answered. “We won’t know until we get there.”

“Weapons are on short supply, but I managed to procure a few rifles and a blaster for our trip,” Elon said, pulling a duffle bag forward from under his seat. He unzipped the bag, showing two dark grey pulse rifles and a heavy handheld blaster. “In addition to Stacy’s and my own blaster, we’ll be able to arm half our party.”

Elon passed a rifle to me.

I shook my head and motioned to our two military veterans. “I think we’ll be safer with our firepower in the hands of those trained to use them. I’m all thumbs these days.”

“I see your point,” Elon said, handing the weapons over to the husband and wife team. He gave the last blaster to Boss Creed.

“I don’t know.” Mark gave me an appreciative nod. “I saw the way you handled yourself in the cafeteria when they were beating on that woman. You look like you can handle yourself. What was that? Some kind of karate or Krav Maga?”

“A mixture of a few different fighting styles,” I said, moving the conversation along. “We should get started if we’re going to put in a few kilometers before dark.”

“My thoughts exactly,” Stacy agreed.

Plates, utensils, and cups were placed in a washbasin by the tent flaps as we exited into the heat of the noonday suns. Part of me wanted to ask Lou how the wondrously glorious heat felt radiating off his bald head, but I didn’t want to get into another long conversation with the man about how magical the planet was.

I shouldered my pack, which had to weigh a good forty pounds. The straps fit on my shoulder comfortably for the time being. We’d revisit that conversation once I’d been hiking all day.

“Food, water, knife, sleeping bag, and tent,” Boss Creed said, walking beside me. “I gave you the light one.”

“Always looking out for me,” I said, thinking about how far Boss Creed and I had come. He went from a foreman I never talked to, at a job I didn’t love, to someone I’d consider a friend and would look to when these harsh times became impossible.

These thoughts were taken from my mind at the sound of heavy hammering. The wall around the open side of the Orion was coming along quickly. A third of all the survivors were working on it now. Sheets of metal three stories tall acted as a barrier to secure our meager spot of land on the alien planet. Heavy beams on the inside of the wall were secured and acted to anchor the structure to the ground. A catwalk was taking shape higher up along the inside of the wall for lookouts to pace back and forth.

As far as I could tell, they were doing a heck of a job. Even my mechanic’s eyes couldn’t find any flaws in the way the wall was being built.

“By the time we come back, they may even finish this thing,” Tom said, joining us on the other side of Boss Creed. “They’re working like machines on that.”

“Fear can be one hell of a motivator,” Boss Creed said, eyeing the man who was sweating profusely already. “You said you were a wilderness survival expert?”

“Who me?” Tom asked. “Oh, right, yes. I worked in the civilian sector providing guided walks and trips for the rich and famous. You know, teaching them how to pitch a tent, start a fire, live off the land, and all of that.”

“Right,” Boss Creed said. “Well, I’m glad to have you with us on this trip. There’s no telling what we’re going to run into out here.”

“Be safe,” one of the workers on the wall called down to us.

“Bring them back home,” someone else said.

I found myself thinking over their well wishes somewhat surprised. Strangers didn’t really wish each other well anymore, at least not while we were back on Earth. Usually, when you passed by people you didn’t know, you either didn’t make eye contact at all or, if they turned in your direction, you just looked away.

It was obvious the crash of the Orion brought these people together in a way only going through a traumatic experience with someone else could. In that way maybe this colony did stand a chance.

Stacy and Elon led the way, using a smart pad to plot out our course. The husband and wife team of Mark and Hannah brought up the rear.

I got the lucky position of being stuck in the middle with Tom, Lou, Boss Creed, and Doctor Albright. The first two talked on and on, and the latter two seemed content to let them carry on the conversation.

Mutt decided to join us on this one, falling in line with us as we departed the supposed safety of the Orion. He stayed close to the group, sometimes going off to sniff a bush or piss on a tree but always within sight. It was as if he too understood we were going into uncharted territory and was wary of straying too far.

We walked until the hot suns disappeared over the horizon. Flashlights were distributed among the group as we prepared to make our camp in a wide clearing. The plan was to skirt the edge of the jungle and to make it to the ocean without pissing anything off that wanted to kill us. Once there, we would follow