Page 5 of Queen Isabella

“No, no, no!” It would be just like this crappy ship and rubbish voyage to get this close only to miss.

She attempted to crane her neck to keep the planet in sight through the small window, but the foam padding around her suddenly expanded, locking her head, arms, and legs into place. It was just in time, too. The pod rattled as the planet’s gravity took hold. The capsule spun faster, the alternating view of the pink planet and black space whipping past the window faster and faster, until her pod was moving at a dizzying speed and everything was a blur. The rattling grew intense. Isa clenched her jaw to keep from shattering all her teeth as the pod rocketed toward the planet.

God help me!she sent up the prayer, as her capsule violently shuddered. There was a sudden pain in her wrist and forehead just before she passed out.

Chapter 2

Where Am I

Isabella

Isa awoke with a start. She blinked to clear her vision, yet still pitch black surrounded her. Her heart sped up along with her breathing as panic gripped her. She was in water, or maybe mud, since it was thick.

My pod is flooding!The muddy water had covered her arms and legs already. A few inches more and it would’ve totally covered her head.

She attempted to push the lid open, desperate to get out of the flooding capsule. Except, there was nothing above her besides cool air, no lid where it was supposed to be. Another wave of panic hit as Isa scrambled to feel around in the thick soupy water for the capsule—for anything at all. Beneath her was a smooth spongy surface that didn’t feel too different from the padding inside the pod, except there was nothing to her left or right, no sides to the capsule.

My pod is gone.The capsule offered a sense of security, a barrier, since she couldn’t see an inch in front of her face. But now it was gone.Oh god.Her heart thundered in her chest.AndI’m floating in some sort of shallow pond or river. Or I could be lying in a ditch. But I have no freaking clue because I can’t see.She freaked out a little before shoving it down.

Isa pushed against the bottom to sit up, and groaned as her muscles protested. Even though she’d been strapped and molded into her pod it was obvious the crash had tossed her around like a ragdoll then ejected her.

Where is it?!

Anxiously she crawled forward a few feet, feeling around in the pitch-black void. There was nothing but the creepy thick water. She crawled to her left, gingerly reaching in front of her and then to the right, her breath nervously heaving out. Again, there was nothing but the shallow mud and spongy bottom. Unable to see, she was too afraid to venture far. God only knew where she was, on the pink planet at night was obvious, but that was it. The water might get deeper. There could be a drop-off. Who knew?

“Shit, shit, shit!” Isa murmured when she didn’t find her pod anywhere, and she reached the extent of her comfort zone. “Did it float away while I was unconscious?”

Isa’s mind spun, her breath coming out faster as this new crazy wrinkle set in. It was damn lucky she could breathe in this atmosphere, since she was sucking air in at a frantic pace. So, thankfully, she wasn’t dependent on her life pod for that. However, the capsule would have provided a bit of shelter, along with a survival kit that she was desperately going to need in the days to come.

“Oh god!” she sobbed, her future looking grimmer by the second. She was marooned on an alien planet without a damn thing.

Isa wrapped her arms around her knees and hugged herself tight. As she felt her bare arms and legs, it suddenly registered that her pod wasn’t the only thing missing.

Where are my clothes?!She tugged in a sharp, panicked breath.

At that exact moment something brushed against her shoulder. Isa screamed and scrambled a few feet away.

“Who’s there!” she shouted into the darkness.

Isa had already been trembling in fear from her dire predicament. Those tremors turned into all out convulsions. Her head swiveled back and forth, not that she could see anything. She was tempted to run, but in the dark she’d surely trip.

Why the hell isn’t there starlight or something to see by?

“Is someone there?” Her voice wavered as she called out.

The desire to curl into a ball was overwhelming, but if she was going to survive this alien world, she was going to have to summon every ounce of courage she possessed. Hesitantly, Isa reached into the darkness, feeling around for whatever touched her shoulder.

Please let it be a low hanging branch and not something that eats fingers.

At that horrible thought, she curled her fingers inward, letting her fist probe the darkness instead. On the news they said that Tellus didn’t have sentient life. Though that didn’t mean there wasn’t life at all. The planet had been compared to the Pliocene epoch on Earth, which meant predatory mammals, like saber-toothed tigers.

And here I am a chicken nugget huddling in the dark.

Isa froze when something simultaneously cupped her fist and her cheek. If there’d been anything in her bladder she would’ve peed right then and there. Then it registered that it was a five-fingered hand, and she breathed a sigh of relief. One of her fellow colonists found her.

“Thank the heavens! Are you okay?” Isa squeezed the hand on her cheek.

There was no reply and she feared her fellow colonist had been injured. Worried, she started feeling along the woman’s arm for injuries, while the woman continued to oddly hold her cheek and fist. She couldn’t blame the woman for holding on for dear life. If they were going to survive, they needed to stick together. Isa reached the woman’s bicep, and hadn’t found any injuries, but she noticed the woman wasn’t wearing a shirt, either.

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