Page 21 of The Price of Peace
As we searched, Peace’s anger became more palpable. I wasn’t surprised when she thought,Let’s make sure no one ever uses this place again.
Nodding my approval, I gathered her close to soothe her, also needing to feel her warmth after the horror we’d just experienced. “But first, we need to find a way off this rock.”
She nodded, and we continued our exploration of the rooms. Moving deeper into the facility, we finally found something useful for escape—a communications hub. It was in disrepair, but it was something. A console dominated the center of the room, its interface dark. I crouched beside it, prying open a panel.
“If we can reroute power from the emergency reserves, we might be able to get a signal out,” I said, glancing at Peace. “Find me something to work with.”
She rifled through the nearby storage lockers, gathering a bundle of old cables and a rusted toolkit. “How’s this?”
I nodded and set to work, my fingers moving with practiced efficiency. Peace watched me, chin in hand. I could clearly hear her thinking over everything we’d seen so far. I had just crawled halfway inside the console on my belly when she finally spoke out loud.
“I wonder why the MEDIC is in such good repair, and all of this looks like it was deliberately destroyed?”
“Don’t know,” I answered through gritted teeth as I fought with a rusty bolt. “Maybe Julie didn’t belong to him.”
“Who else would …” Suddenly, a spark jumped from the console, and a faint hum filled the room. I smirked, backing out of the console to stand. “We’ve got power.”
The screen flickered, static warping the display before clearing into a long-range transmission log. Most of the channels were dead. But one still had a faint connection.
I tapped the panel. “If anyone is receiving, please respond.”
For a long moment, there was nothing.
Then, a burst of static.
A garbled voice cut through. ”—opy … who … transmitting?“ I didn’t recognize the language he was speaking, but the translation in my ear was clear enough.
Peace’s eyes widened in shock. “I can understand him,” she hissed.
I tapped my head. “Translator implant. Julie said they gave you one. I have one from the academy.”
Nodding, she turned to the screen and raised her voice: “We need help. We crashed on—“
The transmission screeched and crackled so loudly I winced. “Are you receiving?” I adjusted the frequency. “Hello? Please identify yourself.”
The transmission sharpened, clearing just enough to be understood. “This is Captain Helos of the freighterSilverlight.Your signal is weak. Please repeat your location.”
I exchanged a glance with Peace before answering. “Stranded on a deserted ice planet, Arktaryn Prime. Coordinates transmitting now.” I tapped the communication console, which thankfully adhered to the galaxy’s official coding.
“Stand by.” There was another pause, then Captain Helos responded, “We’re a couple of rotations or more from your location. We’ll need to hyperspace and then find a suitable landing spot near that mountain you’re transmitting from. It will take us a couple of rotations before we can safely render aid. We’ll transmit when we are in your atmosphere. Out.” The signal cut out.
Peace exhaled, a small, relieved smile tugging at her lips. “Looks like we might have a way out after all.”
I nodded, but something in my gut nagged at me and I’d learned to always trust my gut. “Did you find any blasters or charge cartons in your searching?”
“No. But I have some power left in my blaster. Why?”
“Just better to be prepared, that’s all. We’ve got a couple of days to look and prepare ourselves. Hopefully, this Captain Helos is legit but …”
“Peace? Are you there? Can you hear me?”
We both jumped when an unknown male voice came from back down the hall in the MEDIC room.We sprinted back to the main room, our eyes scanning the space.
Did you hear that?Peace asked telepathically.
I nodded.
“Peace. Turn around.”
