Rift Read Free Page A

incoherent.
    Marie
. Lord of Worlds, she was still alive.
    Her eyelids fluttered. Blood welled from a gash in her forehead.
    “We’re down, Marie,” he said. “We crashed.” Digging into the med kit, he grabbed a bandage and bound it around her head. Then he held her hand until she opened her eyes.
    “My arm …,” she whispered.
    He helped her shift her weight and gently pulled her arm into a normal position. She groaned.
    “We’ve got to get away from the shuttle. Can you walk?”
    She struggled to her feet with his help, but slumped against him. He sat her down at the edge of the opening, then jumped out, and scooped her up in his arms. She was heavy, but they had to move out.
    He headed for a patch of solid ground and laid her down, propped against a tree.
    “Who’s alive?” she asked.
    “No one. We’re the only ones that made it.”
    She licked her lips, looking stunned. He had to think. What, by the Lord of Worlds, were they going to do? Then, realizing he would never have another chance to grab supplies off the shuttle, he decided to make one more quick trip inside.
    Cautioning Marie to remain silent, he made his way back. They’d need more breathers; in this stew of carbon dioxide and sulfur, a breather might last only a few days. As he entered the wreck, the bird swooped past him to settle onto an upended flight seat. Despite his hurry, Reeve kept looking at the bird. He was stuffing another pack with extra breathers and food—and all the while looking at the first live nonhuman creature he had ever seen. The bird’s glossy feathers gave way to a speckled down on its underside. It trembled now and then, and on closer inspection looked mottled in an unhealthy way. In the grand collapse of terran populations, perhaps this was all that remained: the ragged, palsied, and infirm.
    A moan erupted from the cabin. Reeve swung around. He picked his way around the debris until he found where the sound was coming from. It was Grame Lauterbach, second chief of electronic systems. Not dead.
Reeve, you fool, to make that mistake again
. He did a quick survey and found that Grame had a major chest wound and a badly lacerated right leg. Reeve opened a med kit, thinking to bind Grame’s injuries, but what was the point? The man was dying. Grame stirred and tried to speak.
    “Don’t talk, Grame, it’s OK, you’ll be OK.”
    Grame’s voice came out thinly: “Reeve?”
    “Yes, it’s me. You’re hurt, Grame. Try not to move.”
    “OK.” Grame closed his eyes, breathing noisily. Reeve left him for a moment to check every other body, carefully this time.
    All dead, he was certain.
    Eventually Grame opened his eyes again. “Your father,” he rasped. “Cyrus. Is he onboard?”
    “No.” Reeve held the thought at bay, not able to think about it now.
    “He should have made it.” Little bubbles of blood appeared at the edges of Grame’s nose and mouth.
    “Yeah.”
    “Could’ve seen the
ship
, you see?” Grame appeared to smile, but it might have been a grimace of pain. “Could’ve seen the stars after all.”
    He was delirious, Reeve decided. The man was going to die. What should he do? He couldn’t move him, but he couldn’t stay here, either.
    “Reeve.”
    “Yes. I’m here.”
    “Listen now, boy.”
    “I’m listening, Grame.”
    Grame’s watery eyes stared in his general direction. “You got to hurry. Get to Bonhert, save yourself.”
    “Shh. Just try to rest, Grame.”
    “No, you can’t rest! You got seventy days and a long walk. Get to Bonhert. Then you can go along.”
    “Go along?”
    He reached for Reeve’s arm. “To the stars. The stars.”
    “Just rest, Grame. It’ll be OK.” God, what could he
do
? Grame was hurt bad, and Reeve knew so damnably little that could help him.
    “No, listen, you dumb pup!” Grame’s jaw trembled. “Don’t think I’m rummy, boy. The ship’s coming, the generation ship. We never told folks, but it’s on its way. Been coming, all these