Page 45 of Fall

Both Hall and Desh looked relieved, so that made her think she must havemade the right decision.

It didn’t take very long for them to reach a small, rather dilapidatedspacecraft that Hall’s friend Cain evidently used for transporting goods. Theybuckled in and Cain took off, and soon they were breaking through the planet’satmosphere.

And all the time Lenna was imagining Rone’s face.

He would come to find them when they didn’t return. He would find thedead deer with Desh’s spear still in it. He would find his own spear on theground nearby.

He might follow their tracks. He was good at that.

But it would only lead to a slightly charred patch of grass where thespaceship had launched from.

He would have no idea what had happened to her.

He would just know she was gone.

Nine

Lenna’s stomach roiled sickeningly as they brokethrough the planet’s atmosphere and jumped into hyper-speed.

She wasn’t exactly sure how long she’dbeen on the planet, but it must have been at least four months. That was howlong it had been since she’d been in a spaceship, on a mechanized vehicle ofany kind. The motion was jarring, disorienting.

Her only comfort was the fact that Deshwas leaning back in his seat, eyes closed and wincing visibly so he must bejust as affected by the motion and change in atmosphere as she was.

Eventually, she had to lower her headbetween her legs in an attempt to get her bearings.

“Are you okay?” Hall asked, having turnedaround to see her position.

“Yeah,” she replied breathlessly.

“You’re not going to throw up are you?”

“No,” she replied with more hope thancredibility.

“I never thought I’d see the day when yougot sick on a ship.” Hall’s voice was teasing but gentle.

She lifted her head to glare at him. “Ijust spent months on a primitive planet, living in a cave and using nothing butstone-age tools to survive. Just how do you think you’d feel if you’d donethat?”

“I wouldn’t be feeling a thing because Iwould have rolled over and died a long time ago,” Hall said, an appealing smiletwitching on the corner of his mouth. “We’re headed to the planet where Cainand I live. We’ve got a day and a half before we reach it, so try to hang onuntil then.”

“I’m hanging on.” The spinning in her headhad slowed down so she straightened up in her seat again. “So how did youhappen to hear the distress call? I thought you were fully retired.”

“I am.”

“But you’re still listening to thesmugglers’ frequency?”

“Not all the time.” Something in hisexpression looked almost diffident, and it prompted her curiosity.

“So how did you hear it?”

Hall made a face, as if embarrassed by theadmission. “I’d heard you were planet dumped a few months ago, so I made apoint of checking it out at least once a day, in case you needed my help.”

She stared at him, her eyes widening.“Really?”

He frowned. “Of course really. I wouldhave been dead several times over if it weren’t for you. Kyla would be dead atleast once. Even if I didn’t like having you alive in the universe—which I do—Ibelieve in paying off debts.” He slanted her a quick look, as if he werechecking for her reaction to his words.

It was a sign of how rattled anddisoriented she was that her eyes actually teared up at his words.

He evidently saw this. “You haven’t turnedemotional on me, have you?”