Pandora's Chase

Chapter Fifty-One

Chase's most favorite days on Earth were those he hiked the forests on Cougar Mountain during a gray rain soaked spring day. The fresh smell of the mountains was his favorite and when he saw Arboria for the first time out his porthole, he could almost smell the island mountains.

Maybe it was the relief of finally arriving; maybe it was the beauty of seeing Arboria from space. Either way, it was the moment he'd remember for the rest of his days, for it was the exact instant he fell in love with traveling through space. Tingles traced every square inch of his skin as he gazed upon her magnificence. She was alone and beautiful all the same.

Arboria was a world with almost equal surface areas of land and water and much the same size of Earth. It was a planet with one ocean littered with islands no larger than the islands of Hawaii. And every bit as beautiful and warm.

Once learning Arboria was his target planet, Chase began studying it when he had the chance. He grew to care for Arboria. The people seemed humble. They only wanted to live a beautiful life.

The Foxhole orbited the planet for quite some time before the door to Chase and Paira's room opened. As usual, they were greeted with Tommy's snarling face and abusive demeanor. Apparently unwilling or unable to learn his lessons.

"Come on. Get up," Tommy growled and motioned for them to follow him to the mess hall, where the rest of the crew were waiting. Braider had the map out and was holding it awkwardly, trying to get it to show something.

"Chase, help me with this stupid thing," he said.

He and Paira had hoped to find a good time to steal the map and escape, but it hadn't happened yet. Braider wanted to make sure the disk really was on Arboria before spending the fuel to rocket back out into space. Whether he'd have a moment to take back the map or not, Chase figured he should take good mental notes while he looked at it now. He took hold of the map and brought up the target. It disappeared on its own, and Planet Arboria replaced the emptiness. It showed the red dot in the southern hemisphere on Anacaona Island, as it had before. Chase was sure to double check that during his research the past weeks. Just as he'd hoped, the map zoomed into the island and showed the disk's location. It was high up on the south side of the only mountain on the island. Mount Serenity wasn't a tall mountain. It was under two thousand meters above sea level.

Chase remembered what he could. It was about three quarters of the way up the mountain, just west of directly south. It was tucked in a deep valley that stretched all the way down to the sea. Halfway down the mountain, the valley turned westward, entering the sea via an inlet. That's where I'm going in, with or without the map, Chase thought to himself.

Braider realized that Chase was studying the map and immediately pushed him aside. "All right, hero, don't get stupid now. All I wanted was to double check it was here before we head to the surface. Tommy, go strap them in."

Tommy obliged and escorted them out of the mess hall and over to the passenger room. "Sit." He pointed to the seats, and they sat down, buckling the harnesses over their bodies. The metallic smell in the room reminded Chase of the same passenger room on the Night Hawk. He was unsure if he'd ever get over that crash, so he tightened his seatbelt again. It was an illusion of added safety, but he wanted it. There was no locking door to the passenger room, which prompted Tommy to bind their hands to the armrests. Paira made a big fuss of this, and it took a long time before Tommy finally forced her cooperation. Not before smacking the side of her face though. Chase figured fighting this one was no use when Tommy came to bind his hands.

Tommy left, and before long, the ship began to shake and rattle as it entered Arboria's atmosphere. It was obvious by the sudden lateral shifts that Braider and Tommy weren't much of a piloting team. Their heads jerked around. Flames engulfed the porthole window. At least that was normal, but the roaring outside the hull of the ship seemed more intense than it should. The turbulence worsened, and so did Chase's fear. This reentry experience was far too familiar in the worst of ways.

"Relax. The Foxhole can handle this," Paira shouted to Chase, seeing the obvious terror on his face.

The rattle and straining of steel continued, but soon Chase's worries eased as the roaring quieted. The obsessive shaking smoothed out with the deceleration as the Foxhole's wings took hold of the atmosphere.

"Paira," Chase called her attention away from the porthole. "We're most likely landing at the launch pad on the island of Azacca. From there, we'll have to find a guide and boat for about a full day sail to Anacaona, maybe longer. I doubt they will take us to get the supplies, so we may have a window of escape there."

"What about the map?" she hollered back, and Chase was completely interrupted by a familiar feeling. Familiar but far more intense. The sensation he felt for the disk grew stronger the closer he got. He knew it was here.

"I can probably get us close enough, but I definitely need it for when I put the disk back in the box. I don't want to take any chances. If you can grab the map, do it."

The ship was soaring at a quiet speed now, so they lowered their voices in case anyone was listening.

"All right," she said. "But if we can't get the map, we should just stay with them until we can. I'm betting my brother isn't far behind us, so maybe we can leave some kind of trail."

"Let's hope that's the case, but we still need to move fast. We don't have much time left. Three or four days, maybe."

Paira gave him a surprised look. "Seriously?"

Chase confirmed that with a nod.

"Can we make it?" she asked.

"Yes." Chase looked at her with confidence. "We have to." He really didn't know what to expect when they found the disk. Sharing with Paira how little time they had made him really think about what that might mean. If he returned the disk to the box, would he need extra time to get his brother back? The confidence he showed Paira did not match what he was now feeling. It was easy to hide his discomfort inside his dismay for having to go through another landing.

Through the porthole, Chase gazed out to the new world. Island after island fit together like puzzle pieces, separated by fewer than a couple kilometers of deep blue water. They flew through blue skies that seemed to stretch into eternity. They were only interrupted by the occasional puffy cloud. Off in the distance, a dark gray cloud covered a single island, as if it were its specific turn for a storm.

The ship entered the launch pad area, which covered almost the entire west side of the island of Azacca. A hard landing shook the ship violently, and a sharp twang rang through the hull. That could only have meant that something steel and big had just snapped.

"Oh, man," Paira grumbled. "These guys really suck at flying."

Chase smiled, but the harsh reality of not having his map caused a fiery frustration to well up inside him. He was eager to get out and breathe the fresh air that was sure to skim across the surface of Arboria. Unfortunately, Tommy's scowling face was all he and Paira received for the moment.

Tommy freed Chase first. He knew Paira would be more likely to try something, so he then had Chase free Paira so he could stay ready with his gun on them. Once they were up, he ushered them to the cargo hold, where Braider, Scrat, and Lendar were waiting by the closed cargo bay door.

"Let me be clear," Braider announced when they appeared on the mezzanine above. "The second I feel you're not cooperating" --he pointed his pistol at Paira--"she dies. Understood?"

Chase nodded, eager to show his compliance to keep Paira safe. The more Braider believed he was going to be compliant, the easier it would be to double cross him.

"Same goes for you, Paira. Any trouble from you, and I'll hunt down your brother and put him out in the cold and dark. Got it?"

She nodded, also eager to get out of the ship. The air in the ship had become so incredibly stale from the crew's lack of knowledge for basic system maintenance. Not to mention the stench of men who didn't shower enough.

"We'll head out and find a ride east to get supplies and a boat," Braider said, addressing everyone while opening the cargo bay door. A warm rush of fresh humid air filled the ship, and sunlight raced in, forcing their eyes shut. "Except for you two," Braider pointed at Chase and Paira, crushing their hopes of leaving. "We'll be back for you."

Before either of them could protest, they were shot in the neck with tranquilizers, and they both went down, knocked out cold.