8. Noelle

The pod landedin a slow sort of crash a few meters from my pod. It plowed into the dry ground and dragged on for a bit before finally stopping.

It wasn't a rescue ship. It was a pod identical to the one I'd taken, though it hadn't been treated as nicely by the atmosphere of Nebula.

My first instinct was to run toward it and offer aid. Someone was potentially in trouble, and I was more or less okay. But then I remembered the drug dealers. Had they come after me? Why would they? They didn't even know I was there.

The scuffle on the station might have ended up with someone diving into an escape pod to get away, but that was a drastic measure.

Or maybe the pod had just come loose, and it was empty, ejected by accident just as I had been.

Yeah, that was probably more likely. I tried to convince myself as I took hesitant steps closer. The pod was probably empty and might have the comm equipment that mine had been stripped of. If the rescue beacon was intact, I was saved.

Sweat beaded down my neck, and I undid the top buttons of my shirt, exposing my neck. It was getting hot, and I needed to figure out my next move. I was pretty sure you were supposed to stay as close to the area you got lost as possible so rescuers could find you, but my pod would basically be an oven in a few hours unless the temperature controls were still working.

I somehow doubted that.

I approached the second pod and braced myself as I opened the exterior door. Anyone could be in there. But who I saw didn't make any sense.

Ryklin?

He was slumped over the controls, a green trickle of viscous liquid coming out of a nasty gash on his forehead. He'd strapped himself in, but something had knocked him out.

What was he doing here?

At the moment, it didn't matter; he was better than the drug dealers. Marginally.

I climbed into the pod, and my nose wrinkled at the acrid smell. Was something burning? I didn't see any fire, but it made me move faster. I pulled the medkit off the wall and opened it, groaning when I saw that there was only a package of bandages and two small cleaning wipes.

That didn't bode well for the comms.

A tiny, possibly evil, part of me was tempted to ignore Ryklin and look at the comm situation. But the injured had to come first.

I just hoped he wasn't too injured. Basic first aid training hadn't prepared me for this.

I took one of the wipes and dabbed it against his wound, flinching in sympathy when Ryklin groaned in pain. But groaning was good. It meant he was alive. Hopefully he'd wake up soon.

I wasn't sure what I'd do if he didn't.

Distantly, I knew I was panicking, freaking out at the thought that Ryklin might not wake up. And I didn't know why. I mean, I wasn't a monster; I didn't want anyone to die on my watch. But there was this sick certainty in my guts that everything would be wrong if Ryklin perished.

I barely knew the guy. I didn't like the guy. But right now, he felt like the most important thing in the world.

The bleeding had mostly stopped, and I applied a bandage. The stark white stood out against his teal skin for a moment before the color shifted to match his skin tone.

Ryklin groaned again and started to move. I put my hand on his arm to try and hold him steady, as if I could possibly stand up to his bulk.

"It's okay," I lied. "You had a bit of an accident, but you're okay. Can you open your eyes for me?" I was stroking his arm, more to comfort myself than him, the reassurance in the heat of his skin that he was still alive.

His eyes squeezed farther shut for a second before they popped open and he saw me. There must have been a strange trick of the light because I could have sworn they flashed red for a second before they went right back to their normal black.

He tried to talk but ended up coughing up dry syllables.

I reached for the water bottle I'd slipped into my pocket and held it up to his lips, carefully doling out just enough to wet his mouth and throat. "Do you know where you are?" I asked. If he'd developed sudden amnesia, we'd be in trouble.

Nothing came out when he tried to speak, so I gave him more water.

Maybe an easier question. "Do you know who I am?"

Something like anguish washed over his face. I'd never seen his expression so alive before. "Noelle." The name rasped out like I'd reached deep into his lungs and yanked away all his breath. Then he blinked and it was like nothing happened; he was as blank as ever.

Right. Okay. Moving on from that.

Whatever that was.

"You're in an escape pod. You crashed on Nebula. Why? What are you doing here?" The panic was still there, threading my words and trying to escape. I figured I could handle being down here alone. Somehow. Maybe. Dealing with an injured man made things about a hundred times more difficult.

And when that man was Ryklin? I didn't understand all the emotions swirling around in my gut, but I had to ignore them for now.

"I came for you," he said. "Saw you climb into the pod. Saw you get ejected. Needed to help."

"Why were you—never mind. Can you move?" Questions wanted to tumble out of my mouth, but there was no time for that, not right now. "We need to see if the comms are functioning."

With a grunt, he unbuckled his harness and stood. Somehow, that made the space half the size it had been only a second ago, Ryklin's presence enough to make me aware of every centimeter of him. And he had a lot of centimeters.

Part of me wanted to step back, to cede the space and regain a bit of sanity in the other part of the pod. The other part of me was determined to stand my ground. He didn't just get to show up here and take over like some conquering hero.

Though he'd look really damn good at the head of an ancient army. I wondered if he'd ever worn a kilt.

Maybe I was the one who'd bumped my head. It was the only way my thoughts made sense.

I squirmed my way in front of Ryklin until I could see the controls. The comms were in the same shape as they'd been in mine. The rescue beacon too.

No hope of getting a message off.

I groaned and clenched my jaw, trying not to cry.

"Check to see if there's any food or water," I told Ryklin, needing some next step. "There aren't any comms. No rescue beacon either."

He took that in stoically, of course. The man was a robot most of the time; why would this be any different?

There were two meal bars and an empty canteen.

My nose wrinkled again. "Do you smell th—" But before I could finish my question, Ryklin wrapped his hand around my forearm and yanked me towards the exit as the entire front panel burst into flames.