Read Online Tundra 37 by Aubrie Dionne - Free Book Online

instructions.
    The intercom remained silent. What if they didn’t survive the landing? What if she was the only one alive? Gemme scrambled up to the portal and slapped the panel. The particles dematerialized to reveal more blinking lights and smoke.
    “Hello?” Her voice resonated against the chrome in between shrieks of the emergency alarm. “Is anyone there?”
    She coughed and ducked under the smoke, using the wall to guide her down the corridor.
    Please, someone be alive.
    Maybe she could send a message to Ferris. She checked her locator. The screen showed no signal. The landing must have damaged the remaining control towers. She had no way of knowing who survived.
    A portal dematerialized down the corridor and a middle-aged man stumbled out holding a woman in his arms. Relief flooded Gemme at the sight of other people.
    “Help us.” He dragged the woman toward her. A white bandage blossoming red had been wound around her head.
    At least Gemme wasn’t the only one alive. She stumbled down to reach them, making sure to duck beneath the smoke.
    “Is she all right?” Gemme examined the woman’s head. She didn’t respond to outside stimuli, but her breathing remained steady.
    “She hit her head on the wall.” The man struggled to hoist her limp body.
    Gemme put her arm under the woman’s shoulder. Protocol dictated any wounded passengers be taken to the nearest emergency sick bay, but she wasn’t certain if any sick bays still existed. “Where should we take her?”
    “I don’t know.” With flighty eyes full of fear, the man looked more lost than she felt. “The Seers have everything under control, right?”
    Not.
    Gemme’s faith in the Seers had plunged farther than their ship. But the crew of the Expedition was still alive, whether by the Seers’ hand or not. Looking into the man’s desperate eyes, she wasn’t about to tell him her misgivings, so she changed the subject. “I’m not sure we should move her.”
    The man jerked his finger up at the smoke. “I’m not keeping her here.”
    The intercom buzzed on and they both froze, gazing up to the speakers on the side of the wall.
    “Everyone remain calm.”
    Gemme knew the voice better than her own. The sound filled her with relief.
    “This is Lieutenant Brentwood. Communications are patchy at the moment, but I’m working on reestablishing contact with the Seers. Until then stay in your personal cells unless you need medical attention. All wounded seek attention on Deck Six, Bay Four. I repeat, wounded must report to Deck Six, Bay Four.”
    The intercom sizzled off. Gemme hung on to his last words, her spirits revitalized. Brentwood had survived. Not only that, but the ship may be repairable because he was working on it as they stumbled around helpless. Just those two small facts brought her a rush of hope.
    “Come on, let’s take her to Bay Four.”
    They shuffled down the corridor to an emergency stairway. Although twenty decks separated them from Bay Four, Gemme didn’t see the point in trying the elevators. The man wrapped his arms around the woman’s shoulders and Gemme took her ankles, heading down backward. She gritted her teeth, wishing she’d used the workout decks more often. Her calves burned with each awkward step. The man’s jitters didn’t help. He kept pushing faster, and Gemme struggled to keep his pace. Maybe conversation would calm him.
    “What’s your name?”
    “Ben Harvey. This is my wife, Isabelle.”
    Oh yes, I remember: Son is Robert Harvey matched to Britt Stone.
    Gemme had completed Robert’s pairing three months ago. The computers had calculated an instantaneous match, both candidates demonstrating excellent skills in bioengineering and aerodynamics.
    Where was their son now? Gemme knew not to ask. Chances are Ben Harvey wondered the same thing. A wave of nausea swept through her. Had her own family survived? The claustrophobic stairway felt surreal, as if she’d trapped herself in a nightmare and couldn’t