Athyyah

Chapter Eighteen Rescue

Kris wasn't moving. He was lying on the ground in a mangled heap. He was laying face down in the dirt, with all but one of his limbs sprawled out in awkward positions. His left leg was the only one which rested in a normal position and the knee was smoking like an overcooked turkey.

"Kris, you in there. Are you alright?" asked Valerie as she triggered something and the faceplate of her armor slid up.

Kris did not reply, but after a moment he groaned.

"Ow," he said faintly.

"Oh thank goodness, you're alive."

Alex knelt down next to him. "Do you feel anything?" he asked.

"Uh, everything. Surprisingly I feel pretty good though," Kris answered. "Must have good shock absorbers."

"Can you move?" asked Alex.

"Let me see," answered Kris. He moved his left arm and braced it against the ground and pushed himself over so that he rolled onto his back freeing his right arm. As he did so, his leg fell to the ground.

"Okay, good. Can you stand?" Alex then asked.

"I'll try. What even happened?" Kris answered as he sat up and attempted to stand.

"I'm not entirely sure, but I have a hunch," Alex answered examining the smoldering knee.

"No good. I can't lift my left leg. I can feel it in there, but the suit won't respond and move with it. It's to heavy and stiff for me to lift with my own muscles."

"And that was my hunch. I think you blew something and your left leg just failed which is why you went tumbling," Alex told him and raised his faceplate as well so he could look at the damage more closely.

"So that's what happened. It just felt like I tripped. With a far greater effect," replied Kris trying to sound casual about it.

After looking it over then looking at his own leg Alex turned his attention to Kris.

"Okay, I think I can repair your suit, if there's only the one issue that needs to be fixed. With my own to go by, I can at least tell when something is out of place or disconnected," he said and started fiddling around the section of the leg where it jointed.

He was knelt over Kris for a long time. Valerie and Ellenah paced around impatiently for him to finish. After two long hours Alex straightened up.

"Okay, I think that will do it. I would have finished sooner. But I did not want to get out of the suit. Can you see if you can stand?" he asked stepping back to give him room.

Kris slowly got to his feet. He was a little wobbly at first, but he straightened up and stood firmly on both legs. After a moment he took a few steps. They were just as clumpy as when he had first got in the thing, but it seemed to be steady.

"I think you did it. Though I'm skeptical about running in this thing now," Kris told him. "Think it will hold together?"

"Impossible to tell," Alex answered. "We can only hope. Of course if you want my professional opinion. Not likely."

"Well, we've already covered much ground and I know where we are going," said Ellenah. "Since we are no longer pursuing the vorlixx we can walk the rest of the way. Just let me get my bearings so I can figure out just where we are. We moved with such speed, it will take me a moment to figure out our position."

"We definitely covered a few kilometers. That's for certain," replied Alex

"How much farther do you think we'll have to go?" asked Valerie looking at the sky.