Lost Change

Chapter 103

It was dark outside the shuttle. We had landed in some sort of forest. Or perhaps 'jungle' was a better term. Whatever it was called, we were surrounded by trees and plants.

The trees leading up to the back of the shuttle were broken. It was obvious the shuttle had crashed through them. Thick trunks had simply been snapped apart by the force of the impact, and the heavy logs were scattered randomly near the path.

I hoped that might make us easier to spot from the air, but given how dense the canopies of the other trees were I doubted it would be much help. I could see a few stars if I looked straight up, but it seemed like places with a view of the sky were few and far between. The shuttle had probably only made this clearing by tilting the final tree it had run into.

I couldn't make out any details of the shuttle from outside it. The entire thing was just a haze in the darkness. It reminded me of the invisibility fields the Kymari sometimes used. I could tell the shuttle was there, right up against the tree with the horrible dent in it and right below the faint stream of smoke, but I couldn't make any specific details out about it. I had no idea how it had fared from the crash other than what I had seen from the inside.

Given how thick the trees were and how easily it had blown through them, I doubted the shuttle had done that well. I was actually surprised we were even still alive. If nothing else, the Ilrivians had built a pretty sturdy ship.

Though I supposed given what I had seen of them, it was probably just as likely they had stolen it. My opinion of them had fallen considerably when they had tried to shoot us.

There were a lot of plants growing around the shuttle that I thought would make it harder for Minna's father to treat the other Kymari. There was no telling what kind of infection risks this much greenery posed, or if the Kymari could even get infections from the stuff on Earth, but if nothing else it would be annoying to try and work on somebody while constantly pushing back branches and leaves.

I tried not to think about how I was leaving Minna all by herself while she was unconscious, and while somebody else did who knows what to her, and after I fought down my instincts enough to let me move again I flew to the shattered trees. I found the spot where the shuttle had fallen into the ground - the ground had just been scooped out, and instead of being covered with plants there was just open dirt.

Nothing else around looked suitable, so I settled down in the middle of the dirt and stared anxiously back at the shuttle, begging Minna's father to hurry up and bring her back into view.

And I tried very, very hard not to think about what I had just agreed to. What I had just done.

How could I have promised that?...

I fidgeted in place until Minna's father finally jumped up into view. He landed on top of the shuttle and his feet disappeared into hazy nothingness, but I ignored that. He was holding Minna carefully in his arms. My attention was immediately glued to her. I felt a sense of simultaneous relief and fear as I saw she looked just the same as she had before.

He looked around us and squinted out into the darkness. I let out a loud warble to catch his attention. "Over here." He looked in my direction and carefully dropped down from the shuttle.

The plants must have been even thicker than I realized. It took him a good bit of time to cross from the shuttle to the spot I had picked out. He sat Minna carefully down on the upturned dirt, and I flew over to land on her chest and dejectedly nudge at her head once more.

Minna's father took a step back and looked around us thoughtfully. "You picked out a good spot. Flat surface, no plants in the way." He looked back at me and watched me for another moment.