Free Rebel (Rebel Stars Book 0) by Edward W. Robertson Page A

returned to the cave to work things through.
    She saw the same solutions as before. None were good. She couldn't afford to wait. Not with just four days of air left. Hiking for an old mine site offered the chance to turn up a cache of supplies, but the trek would be rough. She'd only have one shot.
    That left stowing away on the attackers' ship. Not impossible. She could hide in one of the carts, let it deliver her inside. They would probably have security around the carts to watch out for such shenanigans, but it felt like the best option of a bad lot.
    She'd need to observe them, see what she could figure out about their schedules and security. She was exhausted from breaking through the wall, though. She grabbed a quick nap.
    Hours later, the beeping of her suit woke her. She waited for the canister to dwindle, then switched to the backup and replaced the spent bottle with a fresh one. She headed back to the vista to do some spying.
    The carts were gone from the site—and the massive square ship was hovering over the alien vessel. As she watched, it thrust away from the surface, the alien ship tucked against its underside. The square accelerated slowly, but within minutes, it was a speck of dwindling light.
    Rada laughed hollowly and sat down. The surface was as still as a painting. There was nothing left but the wreckage of the Box Turtle and the gaping hole where the alien ship had been extracted. Her best door had slammed shut.
    She'd been granted a new window, though. If the enemy was gone, she could explore the remains of the Turtle . She got up and bounded across the barren ice.
    Sections of the ship remained cohesive, but for the most part, it was smashed beyond recognition. She sifted through what was left, stirring clouds of fine ash that took minutes to settle back down. She found no air. No comm stations that weren't hideously damaged.
    That was it, then. She'd have to head for an abandoned site and hope to blunder into a cache. The only other option was to wait here for the Hive, but she only had three days and change of oxygen. It would be over five days until the Hive's ambassador was set to arrive. There was no way to make it.
    Unless one of the intact fragments of the ship had sealed itself off.
    Either way, she'd need to go back for the cave for supplies. She loped to it and gathered up her packs, taking everything. Hiking to an old mine was a bad move, wasn't it? Even if it had O2, she wouldn't be able to make it to the nearest site and back before the Hive swung by. If she missed them, it could be weeks or months before another ship came close enough.
    As soon as she got back to the ruins of the Box Turtle , she pulled out pieces of gnarled metal and scorched plastic. Over the next two hours, she brought them to a clean patch of ice and arranged them to spell "HELP."
    Finished, she moved to one of the biggest shards of the ship, circling it, eyeballing its exterior. The first chunk looked good until she saw the punctures near its base. She shined her light inside. The holes penetrated into the interior. Vacuum.
    The second lump of ship was ripped in half down the middle of a set of rooms that might once have been bunks. The bulkhead appeared solid. And much easier to carve through than the hull. She knelt beside it and got out her drill and the first aid kit, taking out a length of flexible tubing and a can of sealant that could be used to patch up broken skin or suits. She positioned the drill bit against the wall.
    Progress was slow. But it was progress. The bit bore an inch deep, then two. It was nearly six inches long, but she hadn't hit the halfway point before it wore down. She switched it with her only replacement. She pressed hard on the back of the drill. Three inches. Four. The bit was slowing again, grinding down against the tough bulkhead. Rada was sweating, elbow quivering from leaning against the back of the drill.
    The drill shot forward, its face clanking against the bulkhead. Air spewed