“Listen up!”
Jeremy snapped his head up again, surprised by the harsh tone. The Coalition Marine who spoke was sitting in her chair and letting her serious gaze travel over all of the science crew. When her eyes touched his he felt a sudden urge to hide. She looked angry and he didn’t want to be on the receiving end of it.
“My name is Lance Corporal Fiona Kate. I’m in charge of Fire Team Charlie. I’m also in charge of keeping you people out of our way. Orbital scans show an atmosphere rich in nitrogen, oxygen, and other trace elements that make it nice and breathable for humans. You do not need containment suits, but you will stay in this transport until you have clearance to leave. Do you understand?”
Jeremy glanced around and saw everyone staring at the Lance Corporal with expressions that he was sure mirrored what he was feeling.
“You people are supposed to be some of the smartest people out there, prove it by not doing anything stupid! Do you understand?” Lance Corporal Kate yelled at them.
Shocked into reaction, Jeremy found himself stiffening and responding, “Yes Lance Corporal!”
He noted that some of the others had responded as well but none quite like he had. Jeremy felt his cheeks warm in the cold interior of the transport, then the icy chill returned when he noticed the Marine staring intently at him. Her eyes dipped to the name sewn on his environmental suit. “You a Marine…Sinclair?”
“No Lance Corporal,” Jeremy said. “I was in the Navy.”
Lance Corporal Kate grunted and looked away from him. He felt Dr. Rice looking at him from her seat beside him.
“That’s not in your dossier,” She said low enough to keep anyone else from hearing.
He ignored her, forcing himself to continue staring straight ahead. His time in the Navy was of no interest or use to anyone, least of all him. “Good,” He said, refusing to speak any further on it. If she made an issue of it he’d do what he had to — it wasn’t like he had a choice to leave and find a new job! He was stuck with Rice and, he supposed, she was stuck with him.
The most recent image of a nine year old Jasmine filled his mind, soothing the added tension in his shoulders. For her he’d deal with his past if he must. The treatments had worked beyond his wildest hopes. She only needed annual checkups and minor gene sequencing to correct the minor alterations that took place. She would continue to need that the rest of her life, but with it she could lead a normal life free of handicap or prejudice.
“Sorry, I’m just not-“
The lighting shifted in the passenger bay to red, distracting and disrupting him. Within seconds the transport shuddered briefly, the inertial suppressors not reacting quick enough to the forces of atmospheric entry. The shuttle smoothed out after a heartbeat. Jeremy swallowed nervously even as he heard Dr. Rice let out a deep breath.
The next few minutes of the ride were quite in an eerie fashion. Everybody was looking around, both at one another and at no one. They were headed to a new planet where only a handful of other people had been before and, from the orbital scans done, little sign of those people could be found aside from the ruins of a spaceship.
Jeremy heard someone squawk as the shuttle was shaken again. It was suppressed as quickly as it started, but a new noise penetrated the strained sound of the ventilators. It was a whining noise that was slowly rising in pitch.
“Emergency Crash Protocol!”
Jeremy was moving even as his mind digested what he’d heard over the speakers in the passenger cabin. He tested his harness then started to reach overhead. He glanced to his right and saw Wesley Roberts, the assistant to Dr. Hall, staring blankly.
“Hey!” He snapped at the dazed veterinary technician. “Check your harness and cover your head!”
Wesley looked at him and nodded, then burst into action as the words filtered through. In seconds was fitting his helmet to his suit and then leaning forward to assume the ages-old crash position. Jeremy was again reaching for his own helmet when the keening noise hit a crescendo and metamorphosed into a sharp roar that made the shuttle tremble.
A new roaring noise replaced the previous one. Jeremy managed to twist the seals on his helmet in time to prevent depressurization. A hole in the wall on the opposite side of the shuttle showed a turbulent sky outside. A strange thought slipped through his mind even as he processed the smoke and flames visible through the opening, ‘ Better sky than space. ’
The shuttle jerked again underneath him. It was a brutal strike that slammed him into his seat and forced his upper body to slam into the wall behind him. His head, protected by his helmet only marginally, met the wall with equal force.