The Invisible Planet

Part 9: Murderer

Angeline leaned against the ship with her arms crossed as the survivors bombarded Shay with questions and accusations.

"One at a fucking time!" he shouted irritably.

"You brought us here on purpose!" a man accused.

"You crashed into us," Shay responded. "A very unlucky accident, if you consider the abysmal chances of unintentionally running into a planet that's invisible."

"Why won't you let us leave?" a woman asked.

"There isn't a way to. If you hadn't noticed, your ship lost power the moment it touched the atmosphere. None of your electronics will work here."

"Don't you have teleporters?"

"That would be Mira, and her portals are limited to this planet."

"Can't we call someone to come rescue us?"

"With what? Your little wrist things aren't going to work without electricity. Even if you could contact someone, and even if they somehow managed to actually find this planet, they would only end up losing power like you the minute they touch the atmosphere. Then we'd have two crashes on our hands."

"Are there other people here?"

"No. It's just us and you."

"What are we gonna do about food and shelter?"

"Well, you've got the whole planet. There's plenty to eat, and we'll help you build shelter. For tonight, you'll have to make do with what's left of the ship. We'll have something ready for you in the morning. I will say this once: do not wander into the forest at night. Especially alone."

"When are we getting rescued?"

There was a pause, and though she couldn't see his face, Angeline could almost feel the exasperated expression from beneath Shay's hood as he gestured vaguely into the air. She was standing just close enough to hear him mutter, "Thank you for the reminder of why I agreed to live on an empty planet for eternity."

"We can't hear you," said someone near the front.

"Tomorrow," he answered finally, in a voice that told her he was clearly lying.

Several people began to talk at once.

"That will be all." He turned toward the ship and threw his arm forward, sending a wave of red light toward the sealed door. With a loud crash, it fell to the ground. The crowd went quiet. "All yours."

"But, there's bodies in there," one of the women protested.

"That's your problem. We'll be back before dark with food." He gestured at Angeline. "She's in charge until we're back."

She stared at his shadowy hood in horror. "What? Why me?"

"Because you're the only one who isn't scared of me yet," he answered.

Mira created another portal behind him, and the trio disappeared through it.

Some of the group began to split off, with a few going toward the ship entrance, and others heading toward the forest.

"Do you think we're really stuck here?" The new mother stood beside her husband, holding one of the infants swaddled in a blue cloth.

"I don't know," Angeline replied. She frowned at the woman. "How are you even standing right now? No offense, but— didn't you just squeeze out twins?"

"That woman, Kita. She had this green light that took away the pain. I've never felt better in my life."

"Right..."

"I'm Jess, by the way," the mother said. "This is my husband, Steven."

"I'm Angeline."

"I would shake your hand, but—" Jess smiled as she looked down at the baby in her arms.

"Don't worry about it. What are you going to name them?"

"We were going to call one Anton, after my grandfather," said Steven. "I wasn't expecting twins."

"That's nice. You could call him Tony for short," said Angeline. "What about the other one?"

"I was thinking maybe Connor," said Jess, glancing nervously at Steven.

"Connor," Angeline repeated. "That's a nice name."

"I like that," Steven said. "Tony and Connor."

The thought that the infants were stranded there because of her made Angeline's stomach knot up. "Congrats," she said, mustering a smile. "I'll let you, um—" she didn't finish her sentence before she walked away toward the front of the ship, beginning to circle around.

She stopped short as she saw Emani. With a wince, she approached her body and carefully rolled her onto her back. Then she reached up and pulled the girl's eyelids closed.

"I'm sorry," she whispered as tears filled her eyes. "I didn't mean for this to happen. I really did try."

The hairs on the back of her neck stood up and she lurched to the side on instinct, just in time to watch a sharp piece of metal slice through the air she had occupied a second earlier. She grabbed the wrist of her attacker and swept her heel back, smashing it into his shin and throwing him off balance. A swift twist of his arm brought him flat to the ground and she pinned her knee in his back, pressing the metal he'd been holding lightly against his neck.

"This is your fault," he spat, struggling against her in vain. "If you hadn't hijacked the ship, we'd all be safe at the Station!"

"Is killing me going to get you to the Station?" she asked, leaning to the side to look at his face. It was one of the men who had found her in the cockpit.

He went quiet, breathing heavily against the dirt as he glared over his shoulder.

"You're the one who tried to use Emani as a shield."

"Who?"

"The attendant. You didn't even ask her name before you put her life in harm's way to save yourself. Coward."

"You're one to talk," he countered. "You're the one they were looking for. The murderer from Midelian. Did you ask any of our names before you kidnapped us and stranded us here? You might as well kill me. Our lives are ruined because of you."

"You think it's smart to piss off someone who's killed before?" she asked. It occurred to her that he had put a timer on her safety; left alive, eventually he would tell the others that the crash was her fault.

It would be easy to cut his throat and pretend he'd died in the crash. Maybe even drag his body into the trees, where he'd never be found...

"I'd stay out of my way, if I were you," she warned. "Tell anyone else what you know, and I'll kill them, too." She released him and stood up, still clutching the sharp metal as she backed away to let him leave.

He glared at her as he got up, and then he scurried back to where he'd come.