Astronomicon 1: Inception Point (Finished)

41 - Corpses

"She never even looked at us!" Kate cried.

As the leading buggy steadily climbed the slope up into the valley between two low mountains, Kate sat sideways in the front passenger seat with her arm wrapped around the headrest. She stared back sadly at Melissa, who was still sitting calmly on the gravel as though nothing had changed. Melissa did not even look up at the departing buggies.

"Doesn't she care that we're leaving her?" she asked.

"Maybe she's fine without us... now?" Chris replied.

"How can she be fine with it?!"

"She doesn't look too bothered," he replied. "When we're better set up, we'll come back and check on her. Maybe we can work out a way of helping her?"

"I can't bear seeing her like that."

"You won't have to for much longer. Another hundred metres and we'll be over the highest part of the valley floor. Once we begin descending the other side, she'll be out of view."

"That's not what I meant!"

"I know... but I don't know what else to say," he replied sadly, his stare fixed on the terrain ahead of the buggy.

The shallow slope was no hindrance to the three buggies. They picked up speed down the other side where they could see kilometres of gravel plain before the low ridge, some four kilometres further on. If the navcom was doing its job, the Command Module would be just beyond that ridge.

Before worrying about the ridge, Chris aimed to call in at Supply Module 1. Because of the angle of the sunlight due to the approaching evening, it was hard to pick out against the terrain, but he could see a bright object exactly where the navcom said it should be.

They made excellent time across the gravel and parked in a row next to the prone form of the supply module. Fletcher's makeshift parachute-shelter was still standing, strapped to the side near the ladder which provided access to the top. Everything appeared to be exactly had they had left it.

"What are we doing here?" asked Lucy as they all climbed down from their respective buggies.

"I want to see how the other team got on with reviving the frozen crew members," Chris replied.

"Our radios should be within range of the Command Module now, Commander," Fletcher suggested.

"I'd forgotten about that, Fletcher. We've been out of range so long, I'd stopped considering the radios. Lucy, get on a radio and establish contact with the others. Find out how they got on here. Meanwhile, I'm going to climb up on top and get a look at the terrain ahead."

Chris set off towards the ladder.

"You're thinking about the rocks we crossed to get here, aren't you," Lucy asked. "I've been wondering what the plan was for those."

"The buggies won't make it across where we traversed it on foot. I'm hoping we can see an alternative route across from on top of the module."

Kate caught up with him. "Are we going to have time to do a longer route before nightfall?"

"We've got less than two hours left," he shrugged. "As the crow flies, we could be there in twenty minutes, but if we have to go a long way around, who knows?"

"Commander, you should see this," Fletcher called from the entry to his shelter.

"What have you found, Fletcher?"

Chris redirected, walked past the base of the ladder and arrived at the shelter to find a solemn Fletcher holding open the oversized flap of parachute that formed the door and pointing at two human figures lying in the centre, a man and a woman. Neither wore H.E.P.O.s and something about their posture left him in no doubt that they were both dead.