According to the universal board time, a week had passed since Cerridwen underwent the fight for survival. She ate the last calorific mix portion two days ago. Weak with hunger, injuries and zero gravity she lay down without moving for endlessly dragging hours. Her only entertainment was struggling with her imagination of slow starvation inside the frosted wreck.

  A triple signal woke her up. She opened her eyes, accustoming them to the red glow of the emergency lights. As she unfastened the belts, an emptiness cramped her stomach up, but she plodded out of the bed. After a few steps, she lurched sideways because of the head rush escalating with her every move. Leaning against the doorframe, she waited for a minute. She found her balance, but a dull ache still rammed inside her brain.

  Holding on to the wall, she reached the cockpit. She raised her head carefully and looked ahead. The view behind the glass was no longer distorted like a lens. A sandy-yellow planet gleamed in front of the distinct stars. Blue-and-purple structures surrounded the turquoise smears scattered on its equator like the sprawling roots, and the rest of its surface resembled a unicolour, creamy mass. Cerridwen’s eyes strayed to the only working screen. Showing on it was a communication that informed about the nonfunctional rings, hazardously low hydrogen level and proximity of the unidentified planet.

  I’ll survive because of it, she thought, gazing at the planet, or it’ll become my tomb...

  She touched the screen, unrolling the list with data related to fuel consumption. She found out that the antimatter that powered the ring had annihilated completely, and the ship flew by the leftovers of hydrogen, so the reactor had gone into hibernation phase to save the energy for the life support system.

  She scanned another chart. The time remaining to enter the atmosphere of the planet was seven hours. It was her luck that the atmosphere mostly consisted of nitrogen and oxygen, but the carbon dioxide concentration was on a terminally high level. The planet seemed to fit the norm of habitable objects with its size, although the gravity could be slightly low. The scanner detected a cluster of organic matter near the colourful stains at the equator. The rest was covered only in the dead, scorching wasteland. Cerridwen smiled under the mask. At least, she wouldn’t die in a metal tin in the middle of nowhere.

  She returned to the hold and sat on the bed. She sorted the supplies from the cabinet and collected most of the necessary items which she packed into the sack. Cerridwen took with her the last two bottles of water, a torch, syringes, a few containers with the brown liquid, a boiler suit, long and strong rope and a scalpel. She walked to the cockpit and fastened the sack with belts on the seat next to her. She slumped on the pilot seat and stared at space.

  The yellow globe approached imperceptibly slowly. Its surface seemed devoid of life, except for the tiny seas and purple zone on its equator. Hope returned to Cerridwen for a moment. The planet was full of water and the organisms living there could be edible.

  I’ll land here and see what’s next? How will I get out of here? Maybe it’s not my chance but my ultimate failure? Or what if there’s the Union? They’ll know I spent a few days with the rebels. They’ll find and question me about their enemies. She frowned, recalling all the crimes of the rebels she’d witnessed. I have nothing to hide. I won’t defend the rebellion. They’re not innocent. They drew me into the war and treated me like a cannon fodder. The Celestian girl clenched her fist faintly at the very thought of the filthy, raw-boned scums. But who other than Antares and his band could put me on Seth’s trail?

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  She hated them all. She just chose the lesser evil.

  Another signal woke her up from the light sleep. Narrowing her dry, red eyes, she looked at the screen. She’d slept for five hours while the fuel level had decreased to zero. She read the communication:

  NO FUEL. ALL SYSTEMS, INCLUDING THE LIFE SUPPORTING

  SYSTEMS, WILL BE DISABLED IN 30 MINUTES. EVACUATION IS RECOMMENDED.

  “Evacuation? Now? This far from the ground?” Cerridwen muttered to herself and tapped the screen. Emergency procedure instruction showed up immediately. She scanned it and jumped to her feet. She pulled the boiler suit on and grabbed the sack with her supplies. She sat down again, reaching her hand under the seat. Feeling a flexible material, she tore the belts from under the seat and fastened it.

  Grains of mud and small pieces of rubbish floating around began to fall down. The Celestian girl felt the increasing gravity too. She glanced at the instruction again. She straightened her spine with a dull crunch and pressed the yellow button. The belts closed, moulding to her pinched figure and pressing her ribs. Immobilised, Cerridwen growled and squeezed her eyelids, awaiting the vehicle to get into the atmosphere, preferably in one piece.

  Inertly like a meteor, the cargo ship fell towards the sandy surface of the undiscovered planet. As it pierced the upper layers of the atmosphere, pale-yellow flames surrounded its prow. It was a common phenomenon, but Cerridwen clenched her fingers on the armrests and held her breath. She got the impression that even though the protective coating of the prow was made of coruscium, it would break down and the fire would burst into the ship. Due to the g-force, a pulsing ache overwhelmed even her eyeballs and neck. Cerridwen held the armrests with all her strength and both, for the safety and out of fright, she froze.

  The lights and screens winked and after a few seconds, they went dark. Cerridwen smashed the red button. The mechanism boosted the seat out of the vehicle cockpit. Cerridwen heard only a buzz and dull ringing.

  For a second, she saw a blue sky without clouds, and everything became dark in a flash. An airbag opened, surrounding the seat with a thick material. Another lurch shook Cerridwen when the parachute unfolded, and a sour liquid scorched the back of her throat. The descent slowed down, but her heartbeat still pounded in her head.

  A white ball with the parachute fell on the ground, bowled and stopped. Cerridwen, sitting inside, opened her eyes and gulped, feeling the leftovers of water gurgling from her stomach. The air hissed, and the materials rustled. She loosened her grip on the armrests. Inhaling deeply, she waited for the pain and dizziness to let up, then unfastened the belts.

  I’m alive. No idea for how much longer... but I’m alive!

  Cerridwen pressed the blue button. The air began to escape from the airbag. She rose from the seat, and even though she had the impression she would tumble, she stood upright. She put the sack next to her and as she raked up the protective coating, she blinked a few times at the sight of the dazzling light. The Celestian girl slipped down on the taupe gravel. She looked around, covering her eyes from the sunbeams.

  Everything up to the horizon was covered by boundless serir, a gravel desert, and the mountain range with majestic, ruffled peaks extended southwards. Within her sight, there was no single living creature or even traces of its existence. Blowing from the side of the mountains, the wind carried with it dust and grains of pale sand. Cerridwen spotted a thin, wafting wisp of black smoke far on the wasteland. She thought it might be the wreckage of her ship. She has seen something similar during the battle of Narjahanam.

  The Celestian girl took off the magnetic crampons and bands which were useless on the ground. She circled the place of landing to check if she would need some parts of the emergency mechanism. She did not find anything that she could take with her. She threw the sack over her shoulder and marched towards the mountains.