Page 1 of Jhon
1
ELLA
Ella’s heart pounded, and she found herself seriously reconsidering her life choices as the rickety little spacecraft groaned and creaked all around her.
Glimpses of the sky and the moss-green, crumbly surface of the moon they approached flashed at her through the floor and ceiling of the craft, which were made of a transparent material she suspected was as brittle as glass from the unhappy sounds it was making.
The rest of the puddle jumper looked like something out of the myths of Old. Twisted arms of dark metal cradled the groaning globes of glass, giving it the appearance of some deep-sea beast.
Yet in spite of the heavy-looking metal, the fuel must have been biological. It smelled like the flower monger’s wagon back home, amplified about a hundred times.
The thick scent of flowers and the stifling heat, along with the pouch-like, furry seat she was strapped into combined to make her stomach churn.
She glanced to the side, studiously avoiding looking at the glass above, and especially below, for fear that she would throw up into her pouch.
To her left, her friend Jade stared straight forward with a clenched jaw.
Jade was blonde-haired and blue-eyed with delicate features, like an ingenue out of the holo-films. But unlike those starlets, she was anything but soft-spoken. Jade had a quick wit and a tough streak that never failed to impress Ella.
In spite of the extreme heat inside the craft, Jade still had not removed the long arm-warmers she’d worn since the day Ella met her in the training program. Ella often wondered what Jade could be hiding under them. But that was her own business.
“You okay, Jade?” Ella asked.
“Just trying not to hurl into my seat,” Jade said dryly. “I feel like a possum in a laundry tumbler.”
A giggle came from Ella’s right, and she turned to see their other friend, Kinsley, smiling, actually smiling, in her pouch. Somehow, she looked as fresh as a flower.
“Sorry,” Kinsley said, trying not to laugh. “I was picturing us as possums. We were adorable. These pouches kind of grow on you, don’t they? Makes you feel less like you’re about to fall through the floor.”
“Kinsley,” Ella moaned. She had been trying not to think about exactly that.
“She’s not wrong,” Jade said. “In combat, if someone shot out the glass, technically we could survive it. If the atmosphere didn’t kill us.”
Combat? Would something below try to attack them? These frontier moons were supposed to be harsh places.
Ella forced her eyes to Kinsley, hoping to distract herself from that unwelcome thought. Kinsley looked like she was still trying not to laugh. Her dark eyes sparkled, and dimples appeared on her cheeks. For all her straightforward good humor, Kinsley was definitely the wild card of the group.
While Ella knew the reason she had joined the program, and Jade certainly seemed to have a past, Kinsley’s soft curves and shining hair spoke of a previous life in which she was well-fed and wanted for nothing. Plus, there was her beauty, her easy sense of humor, and her sweet disposition, which all made it clear that Kinsley had choices the other two didn’t.
So why choose this?
Being hurled across the cosmos in a glorified soup jar wasn’t something Ella had specifically chosen. But it was the direct result of what they had all done when they applied to the Alien Adoption Agency to care for a child, alone, on a far-flung frontier moon.
For Ella, the coveted opportunity to adopt was a matter of life and death. And not just for her.
“You okay, Ella?” Kinsley’s bell-like voice distracted her from those thoughts. She looked genuinely worried.
“I’m fine,” Ella said, smiling tightly.
If Kinsley wasn’t already terrified over the airworthiness of this jalopy, it seemed kindest not to get her started now.
Kinsley smiled back, the warmth in her eyes like a hug. She was such a kind person. It would be easy to be a little jealous of her, but it was even easier to love her, which Ella did wholeheartedly.
All three had become close during their training, and now she looked on these women as her sisters. It was impossible to believe they would be sent their separate ways once they landed.
“There’s no cloud cover,” Jade said suddenly.
“Interesting,” Ella replied without looking.