Free Critical Dawn by Colin F. Barnes, Darren Wearmouth

back?” Maria said.
    Two figures covered in foliage along with a dog broke from underneath the canopy cover. Two weapons aimed upwards toward them.
    “Shit! Back to the airlock,” Ben said.
    He grabbed Ethan by the epaulette and dragged him back. Ethan stumbled to his feet and quickly overtook Ben. To the immediate right of the door was a circular, charred indent; the ship appeared to have taken a considerable blast from something.
    They all crashed against the internal wall after staggering back in.
    “Jesus, Ben. Erika, Jimmy …” Maria said.
    “I know it’s hard, but try to forget about them for a moment. We’ll get some back-up soon. They won’t just leave us here.”
    “Who was that?” Ethan said.
    “No idea, but stay out of sight. They can’t see here.”
    Ben checked around the room, now assisted by light. What he originally mistook for grime had a dark purple color, spattered and speckled across the walls. He shoved against the internal door with his shoulder to no effect. Ethan slammed the bottom of his foot against it, grunting with every blow. Maria felt around the room, patting the stained surfaces, running her fingers down the corners.
    “What are you doing?” Ben said.
    “I don’t know. There might be a hidden button or something.”
    Ben crouched and peered over the back of the ship into the distance. Nothing looked familiar. A group of black specks circled in the air. The trees had a white tinge, and the outline of buildings jagged against the skyline, reminding him of the broken fence posts on the toy wooden farm in the orphan compartment.
    “Did you hear that?” Ethan said.
    “Hear what?” Ben said.
    “Shouting. Listen.”
    The engines continued to strain and lull below. Ben heard a voice drifting up on the breeze between the mechanical screams.
    “I’m going to check it out. Give me a minute,” he said.
    “Stay here. We’ll be safer,” Maria said.
    “It might be the people that saved our ass. I’ll crawl to the edge and have a look.”
    “ They might not be people. How are you going to communicate?” Ethan said.
    “He’s right, Ben. You’ve seen the trench behind the ship. Doesn’t take a genius to work out we’ve crashed.”
    Ben peered back at the fresh brown trail chewed out of the ground. “We need to do something. I’m not waiting here for another psycho to show up.”
    He slid onto his stomach. Maria grasped his ankle. “Don’t do anything stupid. We need you.”
    Ben held up his thumb. He leopard-crawled across the platform, shooting glances at the body by the bike. A star shone brightly in the sky directly above him, warming his neck. The small dimples in the metal gave him a decent grip, and he quickly progressed.
    He reached the edge, took a deep breath, and looked over.
    A single figure stood below, looking directly at him, the bearded face of a man. Ben thrust himself back with his elbows.
    “Hello. Hello,” a male voice called out. “Do you understand me?”
    He spoke in English. Another member of the crew? It made sense. That’s why they shot the attacker on the platform.
    Ben leaned over the edge. “What the hell’s happening? Where are we?”
    “I’ll explain when you come down. You’ve only got a few minutes.”
    “What happened to the ship? Did we detach?”
    The man appeared to start laughing. His shoulders rocked as he looked down, shaking his head.
    “I’m glad you find this funny,” Ben said.
    He gazed back up with a stern expression. “Far from it. If you and your buddies want to live, you’ll do as I say.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “I’m not going to stand here debating. You’ll get us all killed. Come down in the next minute or I’ll leave you to join your friend,” the man said, pointing toward Jimmy.
    “We can’t get off this platform, can’t see a way down,” Ben said.
    “Look around the edge. There’s a ladder that runs up the side.”
    Ben edged around the corner and looked along the side of the ship. It was