Chasing the Stars Read Online Free PDF

screamed in agony. The ones who really got to me were the severely wounded who didn’t scream at all. A few stopped to help others to their feet before making their way to the ship. I slowed to help one of the silent wounded just to my left. Blood and more spilt from a wound in his gut as I tried to help him up. Mum looked at him, then at me, and shook her head. Gritting my teeth, I reluctantly released the guy as gently as I could. He lay on the ground, his eyes closed, his breathing laboured. And then, just like that, his breathing stopped. I stared.
    ‘Come on, Nathan,’ Mum urged.
    With no time to even close the dead settler’s eyes, we carried on running. There were so many around us who needed help, but when I slowed again, Mum turned to shout at me. ‘Sort yourself out, Nathan. Then you can help the others. Keep moving!’
    So for once, because it was convenient to do so, I did as I was told.
    Darren, Mum’s second-in-command, was on the ramp pressing people to hurry up. Now the bomb blasts had stopped, I could hear him call out.
    Then I saw her. Anjuli. About five or six metres to my right, my best friend Anjuli was on her knees, blood trickling from a wound on her head. I sprinted over, pulled her to her feet and placed her arm around my shoulders and my arm around her waist as I urged her on towards the ramp.
    ‘Ellie! ELLIE? Has anyone seen my wife? Where’s my son?’ Darren ran down the ramp only to stop abruptly at the bottom of it. ‘
ELLIE?
Has anyone seen my son Martyn?’
    No one replied as they ran past him into the belly of the ship. Mum, who was now ahead of me, slowed her pace so that Anjuli and I could catch up with her. When we didn’t do that fast enough, she ran back to us and placed Anjuli’s other arm around her shoulders. We practically dragged Anjuli up the ramp. When I knew she and Mum were safe and on the ship, I turned, ready to offer what help I could to those lagging behind.
    ‘Mike, come on. Move!’ I shouted to my friend who was only just emerging from one of the few buildings in the compound that was still in one piece.
    ‘I’m running as fast as I can,’ he called back.
    ‘Not fast enough if you still have breath to argue,’ I yelled.
    Firing a furious look at me, he picked up the pace. The compound was full of those who’d sought shelter wherever they could and were only just emerging now that the bomb blasts had stopped. Why they thought they’d be safer inside their dwellings than outside where they at least stood a slim chance of seeing the bombs coming their way was beyond me. Plus the fact that it was an Earth vessel which had come to our aid didn’t exactly help. With the Mazon on one side of us and the Earth vessel on the other, we were between the proverbial rock and hard place. Now a wave of people were charging for the ramp.
    ‘ELLIE?’ Darren who stood beside me was still yelling for his wife.
    BOOOOM!
    The bomb blasts started again. Not in the compound this time but on the mountain a couple of kilometres to our west. In a panic, more people raced past me, but there were far more still in the compound, only just emerging from their hiding places.
    The ramp I was standing on began to slowly rise.
    ‘NO! WAIT!’ Darren called out.
    Before us, down on the ground, the panic was getting worse. It was now every person for themselves. Those who fell were not helped back up. The shouts and screams were getting louder.
    And still the ramp kept rising.
    Some flung themselves at the ramp and scrambled on. Now the ship itself was beginning to rise. Liana Sheen, our commune’s doctor, jumped up to the ramp and only just managed to grab hold. The ship was rising faster now. Crouching down, I reached out to catch her as her hands began to slip.
    ‘Darren, help me,’ I called out.
    Blinking, as if emerging from a daze, Darren grabbed my shirt and started pulling. Liana took hold of my wrists with both of her hands as I heaved her on board. She fell forward onto her