Prodigy Returns (book 3)

Chapter Three

Alex didn't catch more than a few hours of rest, although she had no way of knowing for sure how long she had been asleep. When she opened her eyes, she was delighted to see the sun, or whatever it was called on this planet, was out and shining brightly. Based on her experience so far, the day/night cycle felt around the same as the 24-hour cycle on Earth, which was good since it would not affect her circadian clock.

She checked her arm. It was still sore, but the fracture seemed to be healing. She would have to remain mindful not to overexert herself for the next few days or so until it fully healed. There was one other thing she was curious about healing — ever since her arrival, her brain had been restored back to her hyper-accelerated synesthesia state. The way her brain processed information and her memory felt like her old self.

Before Alex did her morning stretches, she wanted to look outside and see if anything had changed overnight. From high atop the main deck of the ship, she looked down on the grounds below. Remarkably, it looked a lot like Earth, except for the colours were all different. When she returned her attention inside the control room, she saw something she hadn't noticed before. The controls of the ship were gutted and in some places large holes had been blasted through the metal as if someone had poured molten lava on it. It wasn't clear what had happened, but with decades of history, she could only imagine. Her father's cryptic message replayed in her head once again without warning.

'There's something I need to tell you before I go, Alex. It's all my fault. They're all dead because of me, every last one of them... you need to get off this planet before they come for you.'

Confused at what he meant, she contemplated all the possibilities. Was there some murderous alien race that he was trying to warn her about — one that would capture her and perform horrible experiments on her, an infestation of savage beasts like the one she had encountered earlier, or something far worse than even her imagination could conjure? She thought about her father and wondered if he was still alive. In all likelihood, the beast had taken her father to eat him. Alex hoped for the best, but feared the worst. Maxim was a survivor and had apparently outlived everyone else of his crew members. But as clever as he was, he was an old man on death's doorstep and in need of serious medical attention. He was in no condition to be fending off attacks from some wild jungle creature.

Feeling like a lone wolf, Alex prepared to start her first full day on the strange planet. She had absolutely no idea what to expect. With nothing but a lighter and the clothes on her back, she set off.

She had briefly searched the ship upon her initial arrival, but wanted to start her day with a more thorough inspection. If she was to hunt and defend herself against predators, she would need to secure some type of weapon. At the very least, it would give her some peace of mind. She figured there wouldn't be much left that she could salvage on the sixty year old ship, but it was worth having a look anyway.

She had been in a similar position before when she was stranded on the island off Thailand. Although this time was different. In response to almost dying at the hands of Mother Nature, she had downloaded every survival patch she could find in the global knowledge database. She vowed to never let a lack of knowledge be the cause of her suffering again, especially something as basic as survival training. Now as a survival expert, she figured a lot of her knowledge would be applicable on this planet as well. Despite her being alone and deprived of proper equipment, she actually felt confident to take on the task at hand. If nothing else, she was excited to put her knowledge to the test.