Dark Space - Marianne de Pierres [114]
‘What is it?’ Frightened voices clamoured for an explanation.
Kristo wound the latch on the small inset open and peered out. Thick dust blasted in, sending most of them into coughing fits.
‘Can’t—breathe out there,’ he spluttered when he could speak.
Mira hugged Vito for a moment, then handed him to Josefia. ‘I will go,’ she shouted to Kristo over the roar. ‘My—filter—better. Close—hatch. Knock—when—I return.’
Kristo nodded. ‘Stay close—barge,’ he shouted back as he boosted Mira through the hatch.
Outside, the sky had turned solid. Mira could see nothing through the hail of sand and grit that blasted past her. With her body halfway through the hatch she knew that she’d made a mistake. The wind tore her out and away from the side of the barge. Gasping for breath, she clawed at the ground to find a hold, digging her boots deep into the sand. Despite her velum, her eyes streamed. She closed them and took shallow breaths while she convinced herself that she wasn’t suffocating. Her lungs felt as if they’d been coated with hot ash.
When Mira opened her eyes again she couldn’t see the barge. She began to crawl in the direction where she thought it was. Pebbles bounced off her shoulders and back as she crawled forward, counting the number of her movements. After half a dozen in one direction, she reversed back to her starting point. A sound whipped past her—her name, she thought—but from where? She didn’t have the breath to call back. Rotating through a quarter-turn she crawled in that direction.
No luck.
Panic took her easily now, tossing her heart around. She wanted to curl into a ball but logic told her that if she stayed still she was likely to be buried. Already she could feel a dirt mound building against her legs. The thought of being buried alive kept her trying her clockwise forays. Just short of the full circle her hand touched something hard—the barge’s tracks. Relief was a sharp pain in her stomach.
Staying on her hands and knees, Mira crawled the length of the barge, clinging to the top of the tracks, until she reached the cabin. She reached upward, feeling for the door but before she could open it a thought stopped her—if she opened the door it might well be torn off altogether, and that would endanger those inside who were already suffering.
Recognising her folly, she dropped back to her knees and retraced her movements to the doorbridge.
The climb up the doorbridge taxed her muscles to the point of total exhaustion and Mira clung to the ladder without the strength left to bang on the inset. In a few moments she knew she would fall and there would be no fight left in her body to crawl back to the protection of the vehicle.
Then strong fingers grabbed her from above. Kristo was leaning out of the hatch, struggling against the storm to drag her in.
Mira reached for him as if he were . . . Insignia.
* * * *
Sole
manifestspace
learn‘m/learn‘m/little creature
push‘m push‘m/more more
each’n versus each’n
watch‘m alter * * * * MIRA The doorbridge began to open but became jammed on the build-up of sand. ‘It’s over,’ Cass called to them from the small opening. ‘It’s over but we shall have to dig the sand away.’ Innis was the first to move, pushing roughly over Mira and Vito to help Liesl out. Kristo raised a hand to ward him off but Mira stopped him—she had no heart for such confrontations. She felt more concern for the korm who roosted next to her, barely moving. The barge emptied slowly, two at a time, until only Mira and Josefia were left. Cass waited for them on the mound of sand. Outside, the dust-filled air filtered the sting of the sunlight. Visibility had increased to several mesurs and Mira could see the squat outline of thorn bushes
The storm blew out more quickly than it had started. The women stayed still, as if afraid of what might follow. Some sobbed, but most stayed silent, worn out from the exertion of breathing.