Dragon's Isolation - Miranda Martin Page 0,29
they’re empty remnants, already raided for salvage. Our job today isn’t going to be that easy.
“Where will we find the machine?” Shidan asks.
“Up there,” I say, pointing above us and biting my lip.
He should know this. He does know this. Except he doesn’t.
Shidan stares up then looks around the area. Silently, he sets to work, grabbing the remaining crates and salvage and stacking it to form a ladder up. I help, though some of them are too big and heavy for me to even attempt to lift. We work together until there’s a serviceable ladder ready for us to use.
“You go first,” Shidan says. “That way, I can catch you if you fall.”
Nodding my agreement, I start the climb. It’s treacherous. The makeshift ladder shifts under my weight, sliding and scraping. More than once, my stomach drops as I think I’m about to fall, but somehow, I manage to steady myself and continue climbing.
I’m over halfway up when Shidan starts climbing too. His greater weight causes the crates to shift down, and I yelp. He puts a hand on my back, steadying me, then we continue. If I stretch my arm all the way up, I can get my fingers over the lip of the door I’m trying to reach.
“Can you push me up?” I ask.
“Yes,” Shidan says, He puts his hand on my ass and boosts me up.
He lifts me up a foot with no effort. I get both hands over the lip of the open doorway and then pull myself up and over. I slide across the lip to stand on what was once the wall. A few moments later, Shidan leaps up into the opening, wings open, and he lands balanced on that same lip, then moves to the opposite side. He grins, and in that shining moment, I see my man. The joy and delight he lives his life with, taking so much pleasure in the simplest of things. That’s my Shidan.
Sure, the very thing that used to drive me nuts is the thing I figured out I love most about him, but isn’t that true of most things? He has a youthful outlook. Life is meant to be enjoyed, and he makes the most of every moment.
“Where to now?” he asks.
“Well, the medical area is that way,” I say. “It’s where we’ll need to go, I think.”
Don’t think about it, Amara. Push the worry aside. It doesn’t matter he should remember all this. It’s the past, who remembers the past anyway? Nothing there but old bones and worries. He’s going to be fine.
Together we work our way up to the former medical bay. It’s hard, exhausting work. Luckily, so far, we haven’t found any signs of life except for droppings that stain what was the decks. I’m purposefully not thinking about what left the dung. I’m fine to get in and get out without any excitement, thank you very much.
When we finally climb through the last opening it’s as much of a mess as I remember it being. Worse thanks to decay and other raiders hitting it up. The march of time has taken a heavy toll. The outer wall, which was once the floor, has holes worn through it giving glimpses of the darkening sky outside. That also allowed sand in.
Sand is everywhere, carried by the constant breeze that makes its way across Tajss. Sometimes that breeze is a full-on gale-force wind, in which case the sand becomes a blasting, destroying power. The dome over the City protects us from the worst effects of that now, but the ship has no such protection.
The machines were already bashed around in the crash and now they’re filled with sand. As I work my way through the piles with Shidan’s help, my hope weakens. I don’t think we’re going to find anything working here. The dim light coming through the holes fades until we’re working in heavy dusk.
I grab another crate, intending to toss it to one side, then something flashes beneath it, darting towards me. Shidan growls and moves faster than the thing coming at me, grabbing it out of midair. My heart pounds and my head hurts as I look at the thing in his hand.
It’s a snake, or close enough to be considered one. It writhes in his hand, its small head trying to curl around to bite him. He grabs it with his other hand and rips it in half, then tosses it aside. I swallow hard and do my best to not