Free The Secret Beneath the Ice (The Epic of Aravinda) by Andrew M. Crusoe Page B

their tailspin and guide their descent toward a small, icy continent below.
    “Navika, is that—”
    “The southern pole is the safest landing zone in range. Impact in 60 seconds. I will attempt to make our landing as smooth as possible, though with the damaged impulse drive my maneuvering options are limited.”
    The world spun around Oonak slower now. Below, the icy continent revealed itself to be covered in jagged peaks and impenetrably thick blankets of snow.
    “Our approach velocity exceeds recommended limits, and the impulse drive has now failed. I’m sorry, Oonak. There is nothing else I can do.”
    For a moment, Oonak wondered if he would die here, on an alien world so far from home. But it didn’t feel right. This wasn’t where he was meant to die.
    Outside, he could see that they were heading for a snowy valley between two icy ridges. Their monstrous shapes reached up to the sky like ancient relics, raw and uncompromising.
    “Impact in 15 seconds. Initiating last-resort protocol now…”
    The transparent walls went dark and bulged out in stark contrast to their usual flatness. In a flash, the walls were so thick and puffy that they were touching Oonak’s elbows and knees, but now they were as soft as pillows.
    SMASH.
    A million sounds assaulted Oonak’s senses at once. He felt as though the ship itself were about to shatter all around him in a cacophony of light and sound.
    And then, all turned to darkness.

PART 3
     
    THE DIAGNOSIS
     
     
    When he opened his eyes again, Oonak had no sense of how much time had passed. The command bay looked as though a tornado had swept through. The walls were still opaque, and dim emergency lighting filled the cabin.
    The transparent dome above Oonak’s chair was bent to one side, and the walls were still slightly inflated from the last-resort protocol Navika had taken. In fact, just about everything was out of place. Even one of the kavasa berry containers had flown out of the compartment beneath the passenger bench and broken open, scattering dozens of indigo berries on the floor.
    “Navika, are you there?”
    Oonak listened carefully, but all he could hear was an eerie wind outside of the ship.
    He felt his head. No blood.
    “Navika!”
    Still, there was silence. Oonak didn’t like to admit it, but Navika was the only reason he stayed sane during these last few weeks. Originally, the mission had called for a third, but the attack on Sumanas had changed all of that.
    Now, that number might grow even smaller. If he lost Navika, how would he ever survive in this unforgiving place? Surely the cloaking field had failed by now. What would stop whoever attacked them from finishing them off?
    Oonak pushed these thoughts out of his mind and took some time to scan himself. He found some cuts but no broken bones. The last-resort protocol had saved him. And now, he would repair Navika. He must.
    Slowly, Oonak got up, walked behind the command chair, and placed his hand to a pad beside the door. To his delight, the door slid open.
    Beyond the door was the largest room on the ship, the central node where Navika’s nucleus was kept. Oonak looked up and studied it. The sphere was still radiant, though less so than before, and each of the braided cables that led out of it appeared to be intact.
    Except for one.
    If that was the reason Navika wasn’t responding, there might be hope after all. With this in mind, Oonak headed back into the command bay, picked up one of the kavasa berries, sat down, and took a deep breath. If he made a mistake now, it was likely he would never hear Navika’s voice again.
    Some hours later, Oonak was confident that all of the connections to the nucleus had been restored. The nucleus now hung near to the floor, and with confidence, he spoke directly to it.
    “Navika, can you hear me?”
    Silence.
    “Navika, you must hear me. Your nucleus is showing activity, and I have confirmed that all connections are restored. Please, if you can hear anything,