Read Alpha Rising for Free Online Page B

here and turned on the lights. We don’t even have
a gun.”
    “ Kaz!” Deni snapped. “Why
automatically assume that unknown people are evil? Maybe they’re
peaceful and helpful.” Moving debris aside, she saw the American
flag on the sleeve of a space suit. She freed the jumpsuit and
shook it off, watching as particles fell to the floor from gravity.
She would find out more about this alien planet. Limping to the
mid-ship control center to check for damage to the built-in
equipment, she called to Bach. “Bach. This equipment looks
functional. See if you can get something operational. There’s
gravity, but it can’t be the AstroLab’s AG. Try to get stats for
temperature outside, atmospheric pressure, oxygen. I want to go out
and have a look around.”
    “ No, Deni, we need to stay
together.” G.R. said. “There could be dangers, and you’re in no
condition.”
    “ I won’t go far. I’m not
going to sit around and wait for time to pass then wish we could
turn back the clock and do something. Sooner or later we’re all
going to have to go out. Time may be critical to our
survival.”
    Bach tried to initialize the electronics.
“Nothing. Processor’s dead. But one power cell’s operational.
Thermal measuring units show seventy-three degrees in here and
sixty-eight outside. Maybe I can get a little interior and exterior
light going.”
    Deni examined the spacesuit she’d found, but
it was torn and useless. Scrounging through the wreckage for
another, she noticed an area at aft ship where cooler air and a ray
of golden light streamed through a three-by-four-inch split in the
ship’s framework. “Bach,” she yelled. “Come here. Hurry. The ship’s
split open.”
    Bach inspected the opening with a huff of
concern that soon changed to excitement. “This is good—it’s good!”
He yelled to the others, “We got a sizeable rip in the framework
and outer hull back here that compromised the vapor and compression
seals. We’ve been breathing foreign air for over half an hour with
no ill effects.”
    Deni stuck her face close
to the hole to get a better look. “That means I can go outside
without suiting up.” She angled one eye full into the opening. “A
lake?” She gasped. “ Is that a lake? It’s so still it looks like black
glass.”
    Bach stuck his face next to hers and peered
through the opening. “Looks like a lake with a big boulder or
platform in it, but no reflection in the water.”
    Deni steadied herself on the makeshift cane
and looked at him with determination in her eyes. “I’m going
out.”
    “ Don’t open that door,
Deni,” Kaz warned.
    Bach stepped back. “You can’t go by
yourself, Deni. I’ll go with you.”
    Kaz clambered across debris to Bach. “Don’t
go.” She grabbed his arm. “You both don’t need to go. She can go if
she wants to. G.R. might be right. Something bad might happen. We
can’t get separated. Don’t go!”
    “ We can’t just sit here,
Kaz.” He wrestled from her grasp. “We need to know where we
stand.”
    Lynch called out in a pained southern drawl,
“How you gonna get out? Our boarding door’s flush against the space
station.”
    Bach pushed his hair back from his forehead
and exhaled. “Okay, we’ll use the back ramp. The Lab’s tail is
clear. I’ll open it manually.”
    “ Gonna strain your guts
crankin’ that ramp open,” Lynch said, “and you’re gonna jeopardize
all of us to whatever alien life forms may be out there. But if
that’s what you want, the crank’s right there alongside the
ramp.”
    “ Can’t you wait until
daylight?” Kaz asked in a high voice. “At least wait until you can
see more before going out there.”
    Bach grasped Kaz’s shoulders and looked into
her worried brown eyes. “We can see enough to move forward. It’ll
be all right.”
    She stepped back, face in her hands.
    He unlatched a clamp and removed the crank,
then put it into the turn hole.
    Kaz yelled, “Bach!”
    As Bach turned the