Tevun-Krus #81 - DesertPunk

Katana's Secret - A Short Story by @jinnis

Katana's Secret

By jinnis

The wind howls around the silicone reeds, swirling the pale blue sands in dancing eddies around the stalks. Ary stops in the shade of the ghostly stalks, sparkling in the harsh red light of Katana's sun. Is this the discovery she hoped for? Her heartbeat quickens while runs a quick scan, all kinds of theories flashing through her mind. This might be the long-searched proof for life on this planet... she studies a broken segment of the stalks when a beep announces the results.

Ary lifts her darkened outer visor, trying to decipher the display of the monitoring device on her left forearm. The instrument tells her what she took as desiccated plants are mineral concretions, just another extravaganza of the planetary nature.

Disappointment sends a wave of exhaustion through her limbs. Breathable air is still at 70 per cent, ample to reach the base. No reason to worry. So, why is cold sweat running down her spine under her environment suit?

With a shrug, Ary stows the stalk segment in her sample bag, checks her bearings and closes the visor. Time to move. She revs her speeder and heads out into the plain, leaving the foothills of the mountain range behind. Her mission was a failure. Aside from the reeds, she didn't find potential resources. To allow the colony to grow, they need metals, minerals, fossil fuels, all kinds of raw materials.

Ary sighs, a rasping sound in the helmet, and adjusts her course. No use to spend air and fuel on a detour. She'll be back out here tomorrow, for another search mission. Katana has enough similarities with Earth to be considered a Goldilock planet. But its surface is covered by a desert, as far from the yearned for paradise as possible. Strong winds hurl coarse sand across endless plains and grind the ancient mountains to dust. It's hard to imagine any kind of life on this dustball.

Through the clouds of blowing sand ahead, she makes out the top of the dome. Its artificial metal-and-glass structure breaks the dust bank like the back of an enormous whale. Almost home, or whatever the habitat should be called. Suddenly, she can't wait to get into the shelter it offers, to breath the filtered atmosphere and to enjoy a few hours in loose clothing instead of the suit.

At maximum speed she approaches a dip in the otherwise even surface. Pulling the speeder to a stop, she squints her eyes and tries to estimate the size of the depression. The rim disappears to both sides in the swirling dust. She can't remember this spot, but so close to the dome, the terrain has been thoroughly surveyed and mapped. Straight ahead it is, no use wasting time.

The slope becomes steeper, and a fine mist clouds her visibility. A glance at the speeder's tracker tells her all is clear ahead. She slows regardless, spooked by the eerie blue light surrounding her.

"Must be the dust filtering the sunlight," she mumbles, her throat hoarse. The air from the tank is dry, and when she sucks at the straw connected to her water supply, only a few drops moisten her tongue. But she'll reach the dome in a few minutes. She'll be fine, she can risk travelling a bit faster for sure.

The fall takes her by surprise. The speeder dips forward, no solid ground beneath it, and Ary hits her head hard on the transparent canopy while she tumbles into darkness.

~

A shudder of the ground wakes her. Ary lies on a rocky surface in an awkward position, her left arm behind her back, her right caught beneath her knee. Her head hurts, and she can't focus on anything in the gloom, her lids seem glued together. She tries to rub the grit out of her eyes, but can't reach them. Right, the helmet. The dome was only minutes away when she fell... Bile rises in her throat. She gags and swallows the bitter lump in a fast reflex, aware puking in the suit is dangerous.