Sorcha The Alien Book One

Chapter Five

"We're getting close," Sask's voice flashes in my mind.

"Okay, I won't be long." I gag back the remainder of my breakfast.

I put my spacesuit on and meet Sask in space. The action is no longer scary, in fact, I'm eager to be outside among the stars. I sit cross legged on her head. This will never get old.

The images Sask placed in my head, of the planet we're on route to, illuminate once more. I can't stop thinking about it. Excitement makes my hands shake by my side. I'll be the first human to set foot on an alien planet! We could live here, maybe, if the natives allow it, if they're friendly. A new life brims on the horizon, full of possibilities.

Occasionally I get pangs of guilt when I think back to Earth, back to my aunt. I imagine her walking into my room and finding me gone. Reading my note and calling my phone obsessively, but it wouldn't ring. Did she call in sick and wait in the flat, did every noise make her heart soar? Did the police question her as she cried? I wish — I sigh— I could just tell her I'm okay.

I think about my empty chair at school too, did the girl I sat next to in science miss our stilted conversations? Did my IT teacher miss my enthusiasm for his lesson? What would they say it they knew where I was, would they think me ridiculous?

A sparkling pin prick of light grows in space as Sask and I approach. Guilt fades, there's no place for it here. A planet expands before my widened eyes, but this is nothing like Sask's memories. The excitement inside me dies and something closer to fear takes its place. This is a beige rock, with dying remnants of green and a murky grey ocean.

My heart thunders. "Are you sure this is the right planet?"

"Yes," Sask replies, "I never get lost."

"What happened to it?"

"Let's find out!"

Sask pushes closer and the orb grows larger, it fills my visor. The butterflies in my stomach multiply. Nothing about this feels right. My thoughts stall, I stand. Ships appear as if from nowhere, as if they command the ability to teleport. Black bullet shaped ships the size of cities. Sask pauses.

"I think we need to go. I think these are entra ships," I say.

Sask turns and a fleet of ships layer behind us too. Bolts of yellow blast across the cosmos, towards us, towards the ships behind us. Lasers hit ships on either side, and we're caught in the crossfire.

"We've got to go!" I shout.

Sask moves, we weave through the shining bolts. Ships explode around us. Fragments of twisted metal hurtle past. Packs of pods zip by frighteningly close, hunting ships almost identical, but for a symbol on their left wing. Flames colour space red, orange and yellow, a mesmerising display. But fire does not stop the chase, the hunters heard their pray and shoot them down.

A thick beam of yellow comes towards us. Sask dives, it misses her back and blasts through my ship. Metal explodes into space. I watch, motionless. All my belongings gone. All my memories of Earth, dead. The bracelet my parents bought me for my birthday, destroyed. All that remains of Earth are the clothes on my back and my dead headphones draped around my neck.

"No!" I shout as my broken belongings scatter and mingle with the battle.

Chaos surrounds me. Silent chaos. Husks of colossal ships burn, quick flames, exploding against the cosmos. But despite the many ruined vessels, there are more still standing. Huge ships change position and I see a flash of beige.

"Go towards the planet," I shout.

The world peeks shyly between ships, it beckons us closer, and we obey. It's our only exit, our only hope. Space is swarming with black ships, above and below, and my head is flooded with fear.

We slip between colossal vessels. Lasers burst from two ships, they strike through space like lightening and pummel Sask's hide. I feel the pain in her mind and turn to see a gaping wound. Blood as black as space floats from the hole in her back in perfect spheres and the planet's gravity pulls us closer.

I cling to her neck as we break the atmosphere. Her body shrinks and the force of entry cuts our contact. I'm battered by the wind, beeps sound in my suit as I freefall to the surface. A long skinny tail wraps around my waist and pulls me back to Sask's body. Sask slows our descent, her feet touch the ground and then mine do too.

"Are you okay?" I stare at the wound, at the blood that flows like a river.

"I..." Sask's legs buckle, and she hits the ground with an almighty thud. "I just need to heal. It will only take a few weeks," she says with a cheery voice, right before her head hits the ground.

I look around, mouth parted, eyes wide. Dry cracked ground spreads to the horizon in every direction. Beige in every direction, no shoots of green that sprout from the cracks. Nothing. Just nothing.