Five Days Left
The world is ending. We have known since the first humans dared step foot on this damned rock. We came anyway, scavenging whatever was left before it was all lost.
It was all Jared’s fault, the dose that idiot sold him had been spiked, or maybe it wasn’t even blissful irix. That day, Axel woke to find the airlock open and the entire section vented. His memory was blank, but the cameras recorded every second. Now they were both stuck in this prison.
There was little in his cell. A tube, where water spilled. A bowl-shaped depression on the wall, where nutripaste bubbled up. Then a bed, made entirely of metal. His only glimpse of the outside world was the little screen embedded in the wall.
It always showed the same camera. Bright green fields had rotted into brown mush soon after the ships left. He had watched them leave, hundreds of engines filling the sky with streaks of fire on the same day. All that remained now was the black hole filling the horizon, draining an entire star onto itself and blanketing what little he could see of the sky with swirling light.
Axel did not know if he was the only one. He had screamed and pounded against the walls for hours. No one came. No sound reached him. Forgotten, by design or by accident, it mattered not. Thirty-seven standard days, that was all that remained.
He tried to break the screen, to find something hidden in the wall, but he couldn’t even crack the glass. Axel screamed, pounding his fists against the immovable walls.
#
Thirty-one days. The ground rumbled, then shook. Axel hid beneath the bed as the whole building rattled. The earthquake arrived with lightning and thunder, a crack snaking across his cell. Ripples spread across the ceiling. It splintered. Concrete came crashing down.
The weight fell on the metal bed and it bent, cracking against his chest. But it did not break. Layers fell into the cell. In the darkness he coughed up dust, waiting for the floor to stop bouncing.
All stood still. The rubble had settled. The ground did not shake, for now. Axel reached to the side, finding a jagged wall of rubble. He tried to push the bed up, but failed. He squirmed down, feeling with his bare feet for space. There was a hole there.
He wiggled and pushed from under the bed, ignoring the sharp cuts against his skin and jerking with panic as his uniform got caught. But he moved. Inch by inch, he crawled through the darkness on his back until he found himself in a cave. A large flat piece of concrete was stuck halfway down, blocking the falling rubble and saving the rest of the corridor.
In the darkness, there was only the banging of fists against doors.
#
He felt for the locks with his hands. The power was out, it was just a matter of sliding the bolts from the outside. But he hesitated. He was not a criminal. A little bit of irix never hurt anybody, but behind that door could be the worst the colony had to offer.
He slid the bolt open.
“Who’s there?” a voice came from inside.
“A prisoner,” Axel said. “I’m getting you out.”
“You are? Oh man, I thought this was it.”
“It’s your lucky day.”
Axel moved on to the next cell. It was silent. He banged against the door and called out. No one answered. He moved to the next one. The banging was loud and growing desperate, a beast caged in a box. He felt for the locks. A large hand wrapped around his.
“Are you sure you want to do that?” the man whispered, much too close to Axel’s neck.
“Should I not have let you out?” Axel said.
“You got lucky, man. I was a… smuggler,” a large hand landed on Axel’s shoulder.” Think, friend. When the colony evacuated they took everything, and desperate men are unpredictable.”
Axel hesitated, his hand against the lock.
“I can’t just let them die.”
He slid the lock.
#
A sharp beam of light made it through the collapsed rubble, the only glimmer of hope in the darkness. The path ended here. He knew they were outside the small prison, following the crack in the bedrock that had cut across the colony.
“You filthy piece of…” Bob, the smuggler, swore constantly as he worked.
They hauled the rocks away, the sounds of heavy breaths loud in the tight corridor. Piece by piece, light flooded in. He stood back, watching the other men. There was Jared, of course the bastard had survived. And Bob, the biggest man in the group, standing two heads over him. Erika was tiny, hair cut short and a smug smile always playing at the corner of her lips. Then there was Robson. The man had not said a word and Axel only knew his name by the tag on the uniform.
He crawled through the hole they made in the wall, dust still settling from above. At once he knew where he was, the corridors of the colony as familiar as the contours of his cell. Along the walls, hydro tubes were stacked from floor to ceiling, cracked and dripping water, the plants now gone.
“This way,” he said to the others. “We should search the canteen.”
Axel led the way across the twisting corridors, the white light still bright and harsh. His bare feet slapped the metal floors. At least there was power, that meant the reactor was up and running. It was just a matter of how long it would last.
The doors to the canteen slid open. Inside, plastic plates and cutlery were scattered across the floors. He ran over to the empty counter. The storeroom behind it was also empty.
“They were kind enough to leave some nutripaste,” Erika called from one of the dispensers, her tone sharp with sarcasm.
But it was something, at least. They were already filling bowls with the chemical-tasting mush.
“Wait,” Axel said. “Where’s Robson?”
“Stayed behind,” Bob said around a mouthful.
“Why?”
“Who knows? Who cares? Weird guy,” the giant rumbled.
#
His footsteps echoed down the empty halls. Once, this was a busy highway, linking the different buried hubs, an ant colony dug into the bedrock. They decided to split up, searching every corner for leftover supplies, for anything that could get them off this planet. Axel found little bits, chocolate bars forgotten in a drawer, a nutripaste dispenser with some left over in the tubes. He brought some back. The rest he hid, like he knew the others did.
The medical center looked spotless, as if waiting for a fresh batch of patients. Neat rows of medical beds, separated by curtains which he took. He could always use more blankets. But the cabinets were empty, not even aspirin, not even a little something to take the edge off.
He saved the hangar bay for last. It was always good to havea little hope. As he rummaged through the lockers in the airlocks, his heart sank. No suits, not even a respirator. He thumped the button to open the hangar itself.
There it sat: a rover. The vehicle stood on four large mesh wheels, a box of glass and cables almost seeming to float on top of the axles. He climbed aboard, sinking into the seat. Even the key was in the ignition. He turned it.
The machine grumbled to life. The dashboard lit up. The batteries were almost full, the oxygen recyclers at full capacity. Axel let out a scream of joy, fists hammering the wheel. The engines sputtered, groaned, then died. All the lights blinked off.
Twenty-two days.
#
The canteen where government officials once dined had been turned into a camp. Tents made of blankets and sheets rose against the walls, supplies piled haphazardly. There was no way of knowing how much water they had left, and the lack of showers filled the space with human stench.
“We need to think this through carefully,” Axel said. “We have twenty days until we cross the no return point, until gravity becomes too strong for our ships to reach escape velocity.”
“I can fix the rover,” Bob said. “I just need tools. Can’t unscrew bolts with my hands, can I?”
“And then what?” Erika asked. “Jump off a ramp in your little car?”
“We go to the spaceport,” Axel interjected before the argument started again. “Something might have been left behind.”
Erika smirked as if he had told a joke, but said nothing.
“It's decided,” Axel announced. “Make us a list, Bob. Me and Erika search.”
“Anyone seen Robson?” Jared asked. The bastard had been keeping quiet, hunched up in the corner, afraid Axel might turn on him.
“No,” Axel replied, resisting the urge to shout. “I got a bad feeling about him.”
#
Seventeen days. The rover grumbled to life, gently rocking. It did not sputter. Axel sat at the driver’s seat, Bob next to him as Jared and Erika stayed behind. The gate opened. A blast of dusty surface air came swirling into the hangar.
The road was nothing more than the tracks of endless rovers, compressing the dirt and clearing away the purple fuzzy moss that somehow still survived. The rover bounced over the gently rolling hills of purple and brown, raising a plume of dust in its wake. It was night, the planet facing away from the blackhole, the sky filled with flowing blue and green auroras.
The road twisted upwards as the crater rose like a mountain, and the rover climbed the steep cliff over the looping road. They crested the top.
The base of the crater had been flattened with metal and concrete, the base itself dug out of the walls. Flood-lights bathed the darkness, and there, rising like a crooked finger, was their only hope.
Axel parked the rover underneath the ship, right next to the platform that rose up, holding it in place and leading to the airlock.
“Now what?” Bob asked.
“We can survive for a few minutes,” Axel said.
“If you don’t breathe,” Bob murmured. “Crazy guy.”
Axel held his hand on the door’s handle, drawing deep breaths, trying to slow his racing heart.
He swung the door open and jumped out. He raced over to the stairs, climbing it several steps at a time. Round and round the tower, he ran. His eyes were already stinging, tears racing down his face. He kept running. His chest was burning. He suppressed the sudden urge to draw in a breath, to open his lungs to the noxious atmosphere.
His heart thundered in his ears. His lungs screamed for air. Axel looked up the shaft: he was only halfway up. No chance. He turned back. He tripped and tumbled, half running and crawling down to the rover.
#
The hose stretched all around the hangar bay, stitched together with duct tape and hope. Axel picked up a flimsy segment and it bent in his hands. Bob was busy working the pump inside the rover. Axel walked all around, listening for leaks. He heard none. He picked up the end of the hose and held it tight against his face. Air gusted against his face, hissing out the sides. Erika leaned against the wall, smirking, while Jared seemed to have disappeared again. Axel knew no one else was going to volunteer.
Thirteen days.
Bob parked the rover right next to the stairs, hopping onto the back to start working the pump. Axel removed the tape and pushed the hose through the hole cut into the rover, as air leaked out from the increased pressure inside.
“Good luck,” Bob said.
Axel did not wait for the fear to creep in. He swung the door open and grabbed the hose, pushing it against his face. He did not run, careful not to jolt and tear his breathing tube, walking up the stairs with purpose. Only when the air blasted against his face did he draw breath.
The rover was tiny down below, the hose rising from the shaft in between the stairs. Then it got stuck. Axel tugged gently. It did not budge. He tried wiggling it to the sides, pulling as much as he dared. The hose tugged back, and he knew: he had reached the end. He was close. Two more loops of the stairs. He drew a deep breath and ran.
He staggered to the top, reaching the metal bridge that connected to the ship. He ran over, thumping his fists against the button to open the airlocks. It didn’t respond.
His lungs already burned, convulsions rocking his body. He spun the handwheel. He tugged with all his strength, the metal creaking and giving with each pull. Finally, he pulled the lock. It did not open. He pulled again, feet anchored against the ship, arms straining. The airlock flew open and he tumbled to the floor.
In the doorway, Robson stood in a suit looking down at him.
#
“You weasel!” Bob shouted, holding Robson in the air by the scruff.
“I was going to come back for you,” Robson whispered.
“Sure you were,” Bob said, smacking him against a wall. “I should break your neck right here.”
“Wait,” Axel said. “Can the ship fly?”
“Not yet,” Robson mumbled. “Almost done. I can fix it.”
“Liar!” Bob shouted, spittle flying.
“Can you fly a ship, Bob?” Axel asked, laying a hand on his muscle-bound arm. “We need him. Put the bastard down.”
Axel could hear Bob’s teeth grinding, but he lowered Robson down. The man collapsed to the floor, wrapping his arms around his knees.
“Look at him,” Bob said. “He can’t do a damned thing.”
Axel crouched down over the man, raising his head until they were eye to eye.
“Listen,” Axel said. “You will fix this rust bucket, and we’ll all fly out of this rock. And just in case, Bob here is going to be keeping an eye on you. Do you understand?”
Robson nodded, trembling.
#
“Strap in,” Axel said, sinking into the gunner’s chair in the control room.
Robson’s hands danced over the controls in the captain’s station, performing all the checks, releasing the safeties. Bob glowered at him, holding a jagged piece of metal like a shiv.
“Ignition in three…”
Fire burst from the ship and everything shook and rumbled. The metal groaned as thunder filled the air. The ship lifted off the ground, and the force pushed Axel down against the acceleration gel.
There was nothing he could do but hold on, hoping the ship did not break apart, did not explode, did not leak air. The craft roared across the atmosphere. Minutes stretched and he could feel the ship fighting against gravity.
Axel felt the rumbling subside, as he was pushed further and further against the chair.
It stopped. All was quiet. He floated up against his restraints, all their fuel now spent.
“Hell yea!” Bob shouted.
“Send out the SOS,” Axel ordered. “Let’s get out of here.”
Silence stretched as Robson worked the commands.
“There is nothing,” Robson whispered.
“Nothing?” Axel undid his straps, floating over to Robson’s console. There were no communications, no drives burning bright in the sky, no stations bleeding transmissions. Only silence. Only void.
Axel sagged with the realization: time dilation.
The days had sped unfelt, unseen.
They had all left. The entire system was evacuated.
No one waited for survivors.
Five days left.
