Free Guardian Awakening by C. Osborne Rapley Page A

form over the lip of the hatch then let her go. She fell to the airlock roof with a thud. “Sorry.” He hoped he had not hurt her further.  
    Tristan pulled himself up and dropped down the other side of the bulkhead, avoiding Aesia’s unconscious body. The outer door release panel was hanging open. Tristan pulled the lever, it was stuck solid.
    “Fuck it!”
    The smoke from the cabin was filling the airlock. Panic, tightened across his chest. He swallowed “Idiot!” They must be interlocked. He turned to the inner door. His eyes stinging, blinking against the tears, breath coming in ragged gasps, his hands searched for the inner door lever. He found it and pulled, the door moved then stopped. Tristan hit it with a clenched fist, the door started to move again and caught He placed his hands flat against it and pushed, forcing it closed. He felt the door latch. Turning he stepped over   Aesia’s prone form, grasped the outer door lever and pulled. The door opened. He took a deep breath of cold, damp night air.  
    He pulled himself up and looked out. The faint glow from the fast cooling engine exhaust enabled him to see the edge of a forest, and that it happened to be pouring with rain. “Oh great. Light years of travel and I might as well be back in England.” The ship had dug itself into a grassy slope sounded by trees. Tristan stooped down, picked Aesia up from the airlock roof, and lifted her over the edge of the outer lock. He heard her fall to the wet ground with a squelch. Tristan swung himself over the outer lock edge and jumped down.  
    He scooped Aesia up from the wet ground, threw her over his shoulder, and ran. He had just reached the edge of the small clearing when a loud explosion knocked him to the ground. He lay for moment waiting for his head to clear before picking himself up. The force of the explosion had flung Aesia several yards in front, and she was lying in a heap in a puddle of water. Tristan stood, lifted her in his arms, and dived behind a large tree. He sat her down against the tree trunk, away from any blast if there should be further explosions. He slumped down beside her. “We have to stop doing this!” As he leaned over to check she was still breathing she groaned, her eyes flickered open, and she glanced around.  
    “Oh, I hurt everywhere!” She tried to move, winced then asked, “Where are we?”
    Tristan shrugged. “On the ground in a very wet forest.”  
    “What about the ship?” she asked.
    “It exploded, and is currently on fire.” He pointed at the flickering flames that could be seen through the trees.
    “How did I get here?”
    “I carried you,” Tristan replied. “Getting you out of burning ships seems to be becoming a habit.” He smiled attempting to relieve the tension.
    Aesia ignored his attempt at humour. She sat quiet for a moment and then started to stand. She immediately collapsed back down with a scream of pain. “My leg, I think it’s broken!”
    Tristan pushed himself to his knees and ran his hands down each of her legs in turn. She cried out as he gently brushed her left leg for the break; her leg was broken at the shin. She started to shiver. 
    “I’m cold.” 
    Unable to do anything in the darkness, he sat down beside her and pulled her close to keep her warm. She resisted for a moment and then snuggled up tight to him to get some of his warmth. They sat together until the dawn light started to filter through the trees.
    The flames from their ship had died down, so Tristan stood and walked to the smouldering wreck. Only the forward section had burnt, but there was a gaping hole in the stern where the fuel cells had been located, obviously the source of last night’s explosion. Rain drops sizzled and danced when they struck the smouldering forward section and the hatch, so Tristan had to leave his exploration until it had cooled.
    He looked about the scorched ground and found some sharp shards of metal lying near where the hull had