Free ToxicHaven by Gabriella Bradley Page A

What’s wrong? You’re awfully agitated,” Josias said. “Calm down, girl.”
    “Deep space fighters. Three of them.”
    The expressions on both the men’s faces became grim. They rushed outside and returned just as fast. “Yes, they’re a few hours away,” Josias said.
    “What the hell do we do?”
    “We have to hide. We can’t put these people in danger. Thank God the men who fumigate the slag found those cases. Remember the weapons I took from the storeroom? They’ll come in handy now,” Josias said.
    Isan shook his head in doubt. “What if they don’t land, don’t ask questions? They could simply destroy the villages in minutes. And if they do land and get no answers, they might destroy them anyway. The powers that be have no interest in this planet. They don’t give a damn.”
    “I’m sure they want us alive,” Josias said. “They’ll land and question the settlers and send the drones out to search for us.”
    Pierre came into the living room. “What is this I hear? Danielle told me there are three fighters in the sky.”
    “Yes. Can you warn everyone in the village? The other villages?”
    Haven looked at Pierre’s worried face, at Danielle who looked panicked now. “We need to leave here and hide,” she told him. “Where can we go?”
    “I can warn everyone quite fast. The settlers in the other settlements don’t even know of your arrival yet. I will contact some and they will contact others. I’ll get a chain going. I will warn them to say if questioned, we do not know of any strangers arriving on our planet.” Pierre took his outdated, though working communicator from his belt and stood before the window while he conversed with his friends and council members. When he was finished, he faced them. “There is a cave I can take you to but it is quite cold during the night. The temperature drops to below zero. I don’t know if you can survive such cold, even with suitable clothing and thermal blankets.”
    “I can, but Isan and Josias can’t. They’d freeze to death,” Haven said.
    “We could let you use our transport, but their scanners would pick up on it and they would blow it out of the sky. That is not an option either.”
    “The sanctuary,” Danielle said.
    “A church?” Josias asked. “I doubt they would respect holy ground.”
    Haven noticed the hesitation mirrored in Pierre’s eyes and the frown on his face.
    “We would need permission from the elders, if—”
    “Not time,” Danielle interrupted. “It is only safe place.”
    Again the hesitation but after a prod in his side from his wife, Pierre spoke. “There is a sanctuary in the mountains. That is where we get the, what we call, magic water. It is deep inside caves and it is beautiful, serene. There is a hot spring so it is warm inside. I could take you there.”
    “How long does it take to get there?” Haven asked.
    “We have two gliders. They malfunctioned and were left behind a long time ago, but we managed to repair them. We can only use them for emergency. The one is just a transport glider. The second one is a high altitude glider that only the elders know about. I would consider this an emergency. It will get us there very fast and scale the mountain easily.”
    “And you can pilot it?” Isan asked.
    “Yes. All the elders know how to pilot it.”
    “Fantastic! Let’s go!” Josias shouted.
    Danielle left the room and returned quickly carrying a bundle and blankets. “Here is some food and beverages for you and blankets.”
    Haven gave the woman a hug. “Thank you, Danielle. I will ask the goddesses to watch over you. I hope to see you again soon.” Just as she was about to leave, she remembered their clothing. “Danielle, we need the clothing we wore when we arrived. If it is found—”
    Danielle rushed to fetch the clothing, probably still in her laundry facility. Haven waited impatiently, with the men outside, prodding her to hurry. Danielle returned with the clothing bundled in a cloth