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

“We’re almost to the ship,” Elon reassured everyone. “ Just one more night. There are people there that need us.”

Yeah, one more night to the ship, but we’re about to find the section that broke off from the Orion holding the prison cell block, I thought to myself.

We pressed on as the suns began to descend until we reached the ocean and the mound of metal rising from the water like some ancient monument long forgotten. It kind of reminded me of some sort of interpretive art. I hated that stuff.

The ocean itself was brighter than the bluest water I could ever remember seeing. The waves glistened like magic in the sun. For the first time, I thought the view was beautiful. Maybe Lou was onto something. Maybe we had seen so much bad here, we needed to take a minute to see the good as well.

Alien birds winged through the sky. Here and there, sea life leaped and played in the water.

This section of the Orion was actually three or four levels of the ship that had broken apart and splashed down just inside the ocean’s borders. It stood there like a massive metal housing unit reaching from the water’s cold embrace.

“What’s that?” Tom asked.

“It’s a section of the Orion that broke off on descent,” Elon answered.

“We should search it,” Mark added. “There could be supplies we need, maybe even survivors on board.”

“I’ll go,” I said understanding what we were really looking for. “No need for everyone to possibly get hurt on there if it’s unstable.”

“Stacy and I will join you,” Elon said, already doling out instructions. “The rest of our force will take up a defensive position on the shore.

No one argued. I had a sneaking suspicion that if Hannah, Mark, or even Boss Creed really knew why we were searching the ship, they’d insist on coming as well.

We traveled up the beach, my boots sinking in the soft sand. A half kilometer to our right, the tree line of the jungle coaxed us in as if it were trying to apologize for its screaming during the night.

“We have a few hours before the suns set,” Stacy said as we drew up parallel with the metal hulk of the Orion. “Why doesn’t everyone who’s staying behind set up a camp on the beach. We’ll search this section of the Orion today. Tomorrow, we’ll make the last push for the escape ship. It should just be a few more kilometers to the north. Just inside of the jungle border.”

Everyone went to work setting up camp, while Stacy, Elon, and I prepared to enter the water and wade to the broken Orion.

Mutt came with me, looking at me and then the water and back again as if to say, “Really? You’re going in there?”

“I know,” I said, shaking my head. “I can’t believe it either.”

We waded into the warm, clear water as one, Stacy on my right and Elon on my left. We all kept on our boots and pants. Once we reached the Orion, we’d need the protection against exposed edges and the metal surfaces.

Stacy and Elon kept their weapons out and ready.

My eyes scanned the water in front of me for any sign of alien sea life. I half expected for some kind of hydra or kraken to grab us and pull us under. It seemed that the planet wanted to kill us and this would make sense. Lucky for us, we made it to the Orion undisturbed.

The only thing I saw was a school of silvery fish, each the size of my palm, lazily flailing through the water. If they took notice of us at all, they didn’t show it.

“It’s almost beautiful,” Stacy said, looking out over the water. “Like those pictures you see of tropical beaches, clear water, and white sand.”

“Big fan of the ocean?” I asked.

“I guess so,” Stacy answered. “I’ve never seen it in real life. I mean, I’ve never seen Earth’s ocean.”

“What?” I asked in disbelief. I never thought about the possibility of someone growing up never seeing an ocean before.

“There, we can ascend there,” Elon interrupted our conversation, pointing around the side of the Orion facing us.

We were looking at the exterior of the curved section of the Orion now. Just around the left corner, the familiar levels of the ship opened up. If the main section of what was left of the Orion back on dry ground looked like a cracked egg, this portion looked like a small section of the eggshell.

I said “small,” but in reality, it was still the size of half of a sports stadium. It was just relatively small for us compared to being in the actual ship when it was whole and now having half of it back on the planet.

Dark smoky edges and soot painted a section of the exterior as we turned the corner. The water was waist level on us now as it lapped higher and higher.

“It looks like there was a fire on board,” Stacy said, pointing to the dark smoke stains on the metal. “I don’t know if we’re going to find any survivors.”

Memories of Maksim and what he was capable of touched at my mind.

“Either way, be ready,” I said.

“I agree.” Elon gripped his blaster even tighter. “We know what Maksim can do. If he is still alive, he’s capable of anything.”

We turned the left corner of the exterior hull, climbing onto the first of three levels of the cell block section of the Orion. There were four intact levels total, but the first one was mostly submerged in ocean water.

I pulled myself up, feeling the weight of the added water that soaked my clothes. I gave a grunt but made it up despite carrying the extra water weight.

I reached behind me and offered a hand to Elon and Stacy. A few seconds later, we were all dripping wet on board the ruined Orion. There wasn’t much to see. To our left, the