At the edge of Vera's consciousness a very dim light seemed to glow. But everything else remained in pitch black darkness.

But eventually questions started invading her thoughts. What has happened?, a voice in the back of her head inquired. Where am I? Followed by the far graver question: Am I dead?

This thought sent a cold shiver down her spine. But at least her question was answered by that - had she been dead, she wouldn't have been able to feel like this. Or so she thought. Life and death were somewhat known to her, even though she had lead a protected life until now. One couldn't grow up with a mercenary as father without ever wrapping one's head around the matter of mortality. She was sure that the time had not yet come for her. Apart from the pain she started to feel and the dizzyness affecting her more and more, she would not dare to open her eyes yet. Or maybe she hadn't gained enough of her consciousness back to open her eyes.

More and more she started to come around, her other senses responding. She heard silent crackling like of open flames somewhere near her. She smelled smoke and burned up circuits. After a few moments she could feel that she was lying on her back, a hard surface beneath her. From the back of her head she felt a painful knocking, and burning pain ravaged in her hands. She tried to move her fingers and succeeded - but it hurt horribly. And she felt some warm liquid running over her fingers.

The more she sensed all these things the better she could remember what had happened. But that didn't make it better. Because amongst all these sounds around her, the crackling and hissing in the background and all the strange noises she could not identify, there was one missing. A sign that she was not alone here...

She opened her eyes.

It was as bad as she had imagined. She was looking at the ceiling of the shuttle's interior and realized after a few seconds that she had somehow landed in the rear passenger part. Not much was left of it, though. The lights had gone out, but that didn't matter, for daylight came in through big gaping holes on both sides of the shuttle. The seats to the side looked like being shredded. Ceiling and walls were covered in cracks and holes, with cables hanging around spraying sparks from time to time. One of those cables near Vera hissed loudly, and she flinged.

As she tried to sit up by using her hands to push herself, she screamed. Her hands burned like fire. With some effort she managed to get up anyway and took a closer look at her palms. The sight gave her a terrible shock. There was blood all over her hands, covering them. That had been the liquid she had felt running over her fingers. With her teeth gritted she managed to make a fist out of one hand. It hurt like crazy, but she made it. So it probably wasn't fractured. But when she opened her palm again she felt dizzy and sick for a short moment. That didn't come from her hands, she thought by herself. Her head was aching, too, and on its back she could carefully feel a pretty large dent.

The cables were hissing and spitting sparks again, terrifying Vera once more. All of a sudden she remembered that she wasn't alone here. Or at least should not be. "Tammy?" she called out hesitantly - her voice almost failing due to the pungent smoke filling the cabin, and she coughed, worsening her headache. Still she tried again: "Tammy? Are you all right?"

When she got no answer Vera worked on getting back on her feet. It did go better than she had expected - unlike her hands and head her legs seemed to have come out unharmed, and she started to feel better once she was shakily standing upright. But not for long. It took her only a few steps to the front part of the shuttle, to the burst cockpit through which fading daylight fell on a motionless figure lying face first on the control panels.

Vera gasped in horror upon this sight. Immediately she started cautiously moving towards the cockpit. She stumbled once, holding on to one of the forward seats with her injured hand which hurt her again. But she didn't care. She reached the motionless body of her friend and froze. It looked horrifying. Tammy had her eyes closed, her face was covered in blood. Her hands which were placed next to her head on the crushed console seemed to be as bloody as Vera's.

"Oh... Oh God!" Vera reached out forward in horror, wanting to touch Tammy... but she stopped. She was afraid of harming her friend even more. But she had to do something! There was no one else to help here. She gathered all her guts and felt for Tammy's pulse...

Tammy groaned. That made Vera almost jump and quickly pull back her hand. But then a distant spark of hope lit up inside her. "Tammy?" she asked again. With visible strain her grown-up friend turned her head. Her face looked like a scary mask, full of blood and dreadful wounds. Her eyes seemed misty, but they saw Vera standing there - and recognized her. Vera took a breath in relief. Not everything was lost yet.

Tammy's mouth opened, letting out an unintelligable mumble - that was all she was capable of. But when Vera cautiously leaned forward she could at least make out one word: "Medpack."

There was one on board the shuttle. It was part of the standard equipment of every vehicle of the academy. Vera looked around for it. She had once seen where it was usually stored, but that was some time ago.  And amidst the chaotic state the shuttle was in she had little hope of finding it in usable condition. But then she remembered. There was a small hatch at the bottom side between the cockpit wall and the first row seat in the passenger section. It was damaged and halfway open, enabling Vera to see the emergency package through the opening. With considerable effort she managed to pull the package out.

It didn't contain much she would know how to use, but maybe Tammy would know what to do. So she took the package with her, putting it wide open upon the destroyed console. Tammy's eyes examined it, and after a while she pointed with slow, shaky movements of her hand towards a syringe. Vera got it instantly and picked it up. It was an automatic injector containing a strong painkiller, according to its inscription. Vera had never seen, let alone used anything like it before, but fortunately it also had instructions printed on it. Like it was shown there Vera put the injector to Tammy's neck and triggered it. A small click, and the painkiller was administered. Quickly Vera pulled back the injector - not that she would do something wrong after all...

It didn't work. Not at first. But some frightening moments later Tammy seemed to relax a little, letting out a deep breath that she seemed to have held onto for some time. Vera looked at her worried, ready to jump and do anything anytime Tammy would order or request her to.  But there was no order, no request. And when Tammy closed her eyes again Vera feared for the worst. "No, Tammy!" she pleaded, closed to tears now. "Stay with me! You can't just give up like that."

Almost invisibly Tammy's lips formed a weak smile in her injured face. "Don't... worry", she whispered faintedly. "I'm... still... here." Every single word took enormous effort from her, and Vera would have wanted to hold her hand and comfort her. Only the sight of Tammy's wounded, bleeding hands, in addition to her own injuries, kept her from doing so. It was probably not such a good idea.

Then something else came to her mind. She returned to the backside of the cabin. Her backpack was lying on the floor - one of the belts had been ripped in slightly, and there were several black stains on it, but otherwise it was intact. When she opened it she found the contents completely undamaged. She picked up the box with her birthday cake and went to Tammy. "Look!" she called. "I brought this for you. I was going to share it with you." Stay with me!, she thought desperately. I'll do anything for you if you just stay with me.

Again Tammy had closed her eyes, breathing faintingly. Vera finally dared to feel for her pulse. It was nearly impossible to feel, but it was there. Just for how long? Every breath Tammy took could as well be her very last. The sight of the still, bleeding face of her grown-up friend scared Vera endlessly. She was her best friend... it couldn't just end like that... "You hear me?" she exclaimed loudly and sobbed. She couldn't hold back her tears anymore... it was simply too much. "Tammy, hang on! You will be fine again."

Slowly Tammy's one hand moved to her own, grasping it. Gently it held on to Vera's not so injured fingers. Vera looked at her face and saw Tammy open her eyes again. "Be... strong!" Tammy whispered. "Get... help!"

Vera didn't mean to. She didn't want to leave Tammy on her own. Tearfully she shook her head, but Tammy tightened the grip around her fingers. "Go!" Her whisper had taken on the harsh tone of an order. And by pressing her fingers she made it clear for Vera that there was no alternative. Vera knew that. There was nothing she could do here. The shuttle was destroyed, the energy supply gone, all the panels and consoles were in pieces. She couldn't call for help with the communicator, and she lacked any skills in treating Tammy's injuries. Why did I waste my time with these escape lessons?, she thought bitterly. Why didn't I take lessons in treating wounds? That is much more important!

All those thoughts would do her no good and wouldn't change the facts. But more important was one thing: She had no idea why they had crashed so suddenly, but it couldn't have been a simple accident. Those impacts that had made the shuttle quake before Vera had lost her consciousness... had it been an attack? Probably. Those damages to the shuttle's sides could not be mere results of the crash itself. Had they been fired upon? Possibly.

Was the one who fired at them still around?

Tammy's eyes had closed yet again, and this time Vera had the distinct feeling that they wouldn't reopen. But she kept breathing, although faintingly, and Vera could feel a stable pulse when she tried again. She was still reluctant, but she had to face the facts. Nothing she could do here. No one else around here to do anything. Only one last chance remaining - and only one task for Vera. One single order.

Gently she squeezed Tammy's hand, wiping the tears from her face with the other. "I'll be back soon, with backup" she promised. "Hang on, Tammy! I'll be back soon."

With this last gesture she had the feeling that Tammy would react to it by weakly, almost impalpably returning the squeeze with her fingers as if she had understood. And Vera gained new courage. It was time to face reality. It was time to face the challenge. There was no one else available to do something. It was all up to her.

She fetched her backpack and shouldered it, feeling the weight of all the food supplies, gasping under it. She gave it a quick thought, then she put the backpack down again. Without all this stuff she would be able to go faster and find help. And if she found someone hostile she would have greater chances of escaping without heavy luggage. Taking a last deep breath to try and calm down her beating heart she climbed out through the destroyed side wall.

And took a look around. Her courage she had just gathered abandoned her at this moment.

The shuttle had crashed upon a heightened plain from which she had a view over an ample valley. Cliffy plains and small woods stretched out to three sides, the fourth being an impassable wall-like rock formation several kilometres wide, blocking her path. The woods seemed small and insignificant, the rocky plains empty and desolate although a warm afternoon sun was shining over them. Vera couldn't see any hint as to where she should look for help. There were no settlements in this region - no farms, no bases, no leftover colony ship of the humans. She was facing the raw and untapped wilderness of Geshtachius Prime, the view making her imagine that this was indeed a completely different planet. From her position she could view for miles and miles, finding nothing that would give her the faintest hope.

With a sigh she turned back to fetch her backpack.