Arrival 4

The story of Cold Snap's arrival continues.

Continued from








This story takes place in the Angel Falls setting

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Art by the awesome . He did an amazing job on the comic book series that begins with this deviation. I am allowing download of the image so everyone can fully appreciate the detail and sheer awesomeness of Sean's work. If you like it, please stop by 's page and let him know. I would appreciate it very much.


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Aleezha Eth’kal stirred inside her cryo-tube. She had traveled via “low-berth”, as it was called, several times before. She had not enjoyed it then; and having to do so while in legal custody did nothing to make it more enjoyable now. She took several deep breaths to clear the remaining cryogenic gas from her system. She prepared herself for the unfriendly welcome she was going to receive from the enforcers here on Gorram. The Nexinian female cracked her eyes open, expecting to see a squad of enforcers waiting to take her out of her tube.


The last thing she expected to see was the cracked cover of the cryo-tube. Or the deserted cargo bay, lit only by dim emergency lighting and filling with streams of water. Aleezha hit the emergency release inside the tube but the lid refused to budge. It seemed even the cryo-tube’s emergency power was offline. Pushing on the lid accomplished nothing save further crack the composite laminate lid. This gave Aleezha an idea. Ripping her prison jumpsuit, she used the strips of synth-cloth to wrap her hands in protective layers. With her hands protected, she began to break open the lid. When the opening was large enough, the Nexinian carefully climbed out of the tube.


Aleezha examined some of the other tubes. The only signs of her fellow Motarian Crime Syndicate members were small piles of liquefied flesh and bones sloshing around in the bottom of the tubes. Turning her attention to the rest of the cargo bay, she noticed the warped and buckled bulkheads. Water was streaming in from numerous points and steadily filling the cargo bay. Nexinians were amphibious; the rising waters did not bother her. Being trapped in the cargo bay did. Clearly the shuttle had suffered some sort of catastrophic landing. The career criminal considered her options. If the shuttle had indeed crashed on Gorram, it was a sure bet Enforcers were on their way here to take custody of the ship and prisoners.


Removing the ragged remains of her prisoner jumper, she went over to the evidence locker. One edge of the container had been damaged and Aleezha carefully pried it open until she could reach inside. The locker held evidence related to the Motarian Syndicate’s crimes. This included weapons that had been confiscated as the members had been arrested. There were slug throwers, gauss pistols, needlers, and all manner of hand-held melee weapons. The lack of ammunition or power packs made the firearms worthless, but Aleezha never cared much for them anyway. Digging around inside the locker, she found her own weapon amongst the collection of evidence. She smiled as she retrieved the Nexinian foil whip. The weapon was her favorite one, and in her hands a versatile and deadly one. Feeling better now that she was armed, Aleezha set about escaping from the cargo bay.

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Aleezha surveyed the inside of the shuttle craft as she swam through the ship. The crys-iron bulkheads were warped and charred. Nearly all the systems appeared to be totally destroyed. Feeling the flow of the current moving through the downed craft she swam towards the source. As she did, the slits on the sides of her neck flared open as her gills pulled oxygen from the water. The water itself was salty and had a particular taste. It reminded the Nexinian of the ocean on the planet Wideocean in the Glimmer Drift sector. Aleezha smiled as she swam into the shattered cockpit. From the looks of it, something big had smashed into the cockpit. Maybe an asteroid or another ship. Seeing the open waters ahead of her, she swam out towards freedom. Like all Nexinians, Aleezha loved the feel of water.


Equally at home under water as she was on dry land, the water was invigorating. She looked towards the surface. Above her she could see a light playing across the dark surface of the water. Her pupils were fully open, allowing her to see in the murky deep with clarity far beyond that of a human. As she ascended, the underside of a boat became visible. Aleezha swam upwards slowly, planning her next move. She noticed something strange as she moved through the water. Patches of ice kept forming on her skin and in the water near her. This puzzled her; was it some chemical anomaly in the waters of Gorram? The water didn’t feel that cold? The only thing she could detect was a strange mild tingling all over her body, like a wind blowing lightly over her skin. Aleezha wasn’t sure if it was a side effect of the crash or the cryo-sleep. Right now, it didn’t matter. What did matter was escaping before the enforcers arrived to look for the shuttle. The boat above her was a small one; with luck it was just a scout with a small crew. The grin on the Nexinian’s face grew more predatory as she swam up from underneath the watercraft.


To be continued …