Free Tears of Glass (The Jana Darren Saga Book 1) by Jessica Cole Page A

ship. She fought off the blackness creeping its way into her field of vision. Jana stuck one of the ends into the crack where the ramp opened and used her body weight as a counter to force it open. She clutched the pipe, almost falling over. It hurts so bad. I can’t die here.
    She mouthed the words silently, the act itself giving her a renewed sense of purpose. It felt like every organ and bone inside her had gone through a pepper mill. Just when she was about to give up and try something else, the hatch opened a few inches. Abandoning the piece of metal, Jana dropped to her knees and tried to force it open more, all the while struggling against the pain. Her weak and tired muscles gave out and she fell back, virtually collapsing from exhaustion.
    Time was running out. Without power, air was no longer pumping into the stasis compartments. Jana tried again.
    This time it opened more, just enough so she could squeeze through. Lowering herself into the hold, she was thankful for the first time in her life that she was so small. The hatch closed again with a deadened clank. It was dark. Trying to remember the layout of the hold and imagining it upside down, Jana felt her way around in the dark, tripping over odd twisted pieces of metal, slicing her leg open on one. Finally, she found a stretch of empty wall.
    Feeling along it, she came upon a rounded, oblong object. Fumbling for the lock, Jana struggled to undo it. They can’t breathe. I gave them the stasis gas and now they can’t free themselves. The lock was high above her head, and she had to stand on her toes to reach it.
    She found the release button. In a panic, she searched for the buckle on the harness. She wasn’t sure who it was. It didn’t matter. They would all be in stasis for at least another half hour. They wouldn’t even know they were dying.
    When she unbuckled the harness, she tried to brace the body so it wouldn’t fall on its head. She struggled under the weight and the pain, and fought the urge to start crying. Once it was safely on the ground, Jana bent and put an ear to their chest.
    Still breathing.
    Relieved, she left them and moved to the next one. By the time she was getting to the last one, Jana was on the verge of unconsciousness. She had to steady herself. Jana swayed, but braced herself. There was a sharp pain in her chest. Not willing to abandon someone to die, she staggered over to the last one.
    She shook her head, trying to get her eyes to focus and to concentrate. Jana had her hand on the lock release. She pressed it as hard as she could, with barely enough energy to stand. It didn’t release; she was too weak. Jana tried again, throwing her body weight into the movement. Planetary landings were simple. Yeah, right.
    Jana slipped on something wet on the floor, hit her head, and blacked out.

14. You’ll Feel Better In The Morning
     
    “Jana? Jana, please wake up,” a voice pleaded.
    She opened her eyes. Her field of vision flooded with light.  Sunlight... real light. An unbearable pounding in her temple made it impossible for Jana’s eyes to focus. Her throat was dry and her whole body screamed in pain.
    “I’ll get her some water.” The air around her stirred a bit as the person kneeling beside her got up and walked away. She smelled something odd, rich.
    “She doesn’t look so good.”
    “Well you wouldn’t either. Jana, what happened?” the voices of those around her sounded muffled and wobbly, like they were a mile away down an underwater tunnel. “Come on, please answer me.”
    Once again, everything went black.
    Jana opened her eyes. This time it was dark out, and the only light source was a cool, pale white glow from the moon. She felt the cold on her face, but nowhere else. Jana lifted her head a bit and scanned the area. A number of blankets covered her. A meter away there were a few shadowy shapes framed in a bright orange backdrop. What the hell happened?
    “Jana? You awake again?”
    “Where am I?” she