Kraken Orbital Read Free Page A

armor
starts to creak and groan but I’m very glad of it. There is no
telling how much worse my injuries might have been had I not been
wearing it. I stand to another chorus of cracks from my shocked
vertebrae. I sigh with pain but it’s duller and a lot more
comfortable than I had been expecting. My head is starting to clear
too.
    ‘I don’t
know.’ He replies and turns back to glance at me but only
momentarily. That was odd. How
can he not know? I should ask him. But I
daren’t. ‘I administered as many painkillers as I though you could
handle.’ He continues without dwelling on the first comment. That
explains why I’m not bent over double.
    I glance
quickly down at my red but heavily
scuffed armor. I bend my arms every way I can and listen to bones
and sinew crack and twist back into place. This armor used to
belong to a guard at my work. I stole that too. No surprise. I
needed a disguise. The material is made from flexible polymer. It
has a plastic feel to it but a tougher, hardened outer shell. I tap
it gently with my bleeding knuckles. It feels ok. I can move really
well in it and it dries quickly too. I remember sweating my ass off
when I came too before. Now I’m bone dry. Looks like I chose well.
This armor should be perfect for when we have to traipse through
the barren desert before us.
    ‘ Thanks.’ I
say again. I don’t know why this guy has me so freaked. Usually I’m
not afraid of a fight. He just has me spooked. He has a way about
him that I find a little unsettling at best. Maybe I’m just
suffering more than I thought from the hard hit to my head. The
concussion might be clouding my judgment. Maybe I’m judging the
poor guy a little too early.
    ‘ How come you
don’t remember how you got here?’ I walk
over to him. More of a stumbling pace. To Hell with it I figure. I
nearly died a few hours ago when I planted my rig into the sand.
Why would he go ape on me after saving me anyway? I’m still nervous
to ask though.
    ‘If I knew
the reason why I do not remember, then I would not have lost my
memory, would you agree Sam?’ If it had been anyone else other than
Kolt, I would have thought that was a joke. But his fixed eyes give
nothing away.
    ‘Right.’ I
relent. ‘Call me Parker.’ I don’t add any reason. Why bother? I just prefer my surname. Maybe I’m just so used to hearing
the guards bark it before slapping me upside the head for the fifth
time in any day. Those painkillers must be working a treat. I’m
even getting a nice, subtle, but nice buzz from them. It’s making
me feel good. I’m starting to feel more like myself
again.
    ‘ I remember
the fire.’ He added. His voice tone changes, though not his cold,
hard, and fearsome stare. He sounds reflective and sullen though even that is difficult to gauge behind
the muffling effect of his mask. I’m sure he is staring into the
distance, searching his fragmented memory, but those gruesome eyes
are impossible to focus on.
    He must have
meant the fire that welded his mask onto his suit. And right into
his skin too.
    ‘Was that on
your ship?’ I pry further but don’t move any closer to him. He
stands and squares up to me. He doesn’t look threatening but his
body language is a little invasive and he seems to be on the
offensive.
    ‘I think so,
Parker. But I do not remember crashing.’ His voice trails off into
the abyss of his lost memory. ‘I remember walking. A great
distance. And then seeing you out here in the desert.’ He said
nothing more. His eyes are vacant and the repetitiveness of his
breathing through that mask is making me sea sick.
    ‘ So you
didn’t crash that long ago?’ I ask him and back off. I’m not
feeling threatened by him anymore. Even though I should be. I
wander over to the console on the right of the tiny bridge-come
escape pod. The polished surface, matted black in color, gives me
my first glimpse of my face in what feels like years. My beard has
grown out of control. I look like a wild