Titans

The Genesis [124:00]

Location: Unknown

Our footsteps echo into the dark as we make our way down the thick metal ramp and off the ship. The other day we found a bunch of flashlights in the storage room and now we each hold on to one, the beams swinging around us like strobe lights. Even then, they do little to light the way ahead.

Cal stops suddenly and I nearly run into him. “I think we’re gonna need more light,” he says.

I sense, more than hear, Merc coming to a stop beside me. As usual, his presence turns my insides to ice – a throbbing cold sensation that lives in my heart and spreads outwards, icy arms curling through my blood.

“We should turn on the ship’s headlights,” Merc says. “They’ll do a much better job than these torches.”

“Good idea.” Cal moves back towards the ship, the circular pool of light cast by his torch swinging away from us.

I shiver. I’ve never been so thankful for the dark as I am when he’s gone. Even with the heavy night as a curtain, the distance between Merc and I is far too small. I move away, the ice in my heart slowly dissipating with every step I put between us.

Using what little light I have, I find the side of the ship and run my hand across the metal. My palm comes back covered in soot-like grime.

“Hey, have you seen this?” I ask suddenly, momentarily forgetting who I’m speaking to.

“Seen what?” Merc’s voice seems to bound away from me, out over the rocky plain. He must have his back turned.

“This,” I say, turning towards him and shining the light on my palm. The glow spread outwards to encompass my face as well. I feel like I’ve just shone a spotlight on myself.

“Dirt?” There’s a tone of condescension in the word. “Yeah, it’s all over the place. Look around once in a while.”

Anger bubbles out of the void in my chest. I lower the torch and wipe my palm on my pants. “Would you stop?”

“Depends,” he mumbles. “Can you cease to exist?” In the silence, I can hear every faint word.

It’s enough to push me over the edge. “Jesus! What’s done is done. I can’t un-shoot Atara, okay? I wish I could, but I can’t. You need to get the hell over it. You’re acting like a freaking child.”

“Get over it? You–”

At that instant, there’s a flood of light as the ship’s headlights are switched on. I shield my eyes, squinting as they adjust, and my anger slowly slinks away. Then my vision clears and I gasp, bringing a hand to my mouth.

A few steps behind me, Merc has a similar reaction, our argument all but forgotten. “Ho…ly…shit.”

The landscape before us has been decimated. From each end of the ship to as far as the light can reach in either direction is a ridge – an immense fissure in the ground. It must be nearly fifty metres wide, the edges splintered and littered with car-sized rocks. A peak over the edge confirms that it extends far below ground, the ship’s light illuminating a hundred metres of cavernous walls before they melt into the darkness. There’s no telling how far down it goes, and our ship rests, partly sunken, smack bang in the middle of it.

Cal comes out minutes later, half-running. “We need to get this ship flying now.”

“Trust me, we know,” Merc replies, still half in shock, and finally turns his back on the destruction.

Cal is shaking his head before Merc can even finish. “No, I don’t think you do. The ridge isn’t stable yet. It’s still shifting.”

Merc swears.

I look at the both of them. “And?” I ask.

“And,” Merc answers, shooting me a look, “the ship isn’t just hanging over the ridge. It’s sinking.” He turns to Cal. “We need to get Atara the hell out of there.”

Cal shakes his head. “There’s no point. If the ship falls, not only will we lose all our food, water, medical supplies – everything we need to survive in this damn place – but we’ll also lose our one hope of getting out of here. If it falls, we’ll be stuck here. Maybe forever. And none of us will survive that, Atara included.”

The three of us are silent for a moment as it sinks in.

“The only way we’re surviving this is if we get the engines back up and running,” Cal says, breaking the quiet. “It’s our only shot.”

Merc nods. “Then I guess I’ll go see if I can make heads or tails of them.” He sets off towards the ship.

I watch him go with a scowl. “Like he’s going to be able to fix a damn starship.”

“Can you?”

“Do I look like I know how to answer that? We don’t know squat about ourselves, remember?”

“Look, we have no idea who can do what. Merc didn’t know he could stitch up Atara until he was doing it. Maybe you’re good with engines. The least you can do is try.”

I stare at him for a lengthy moment, considering my options.

“Just help Merc out. Please. Whatever differences of opinion you two have can wait. Surviving can’t.”

I sigh. “Fine, sky boy. But only because you asked nicely.”

“It’s Cal,” he corrects.

“Uh-huh.”

I head for the ship, Cal following a step behind me. As I do, I attempt to forget about the devastation, the rift in the earth that’s on the verge of swallowing our sole chance of survival. And above us, the black as pitch sky presses down, punctured with the faint blue glow of a second star.