Transmission Lost Read Online Free PDF Page B

a scar from a previous wound, a long one that traced through the thin fur of her underbelly, from her collarbone down between her breasts and almost to her navel. Clearly she was no stranger to serious injury.
    Biting her lip, Aria withdrew a disinfectant spray from the kit along with an electric wound sealer, the modern successor to the old-timey needle and thread. She sprayed disinfectant along the gashes. Switching the sealer on, she started drawing along the wounds. There was a hissing noise as the heat from the instrument slightly singed her fur, but the wounds closed cleanly, leaving behind only drying blood and a ragged line in her flesh as evidence that she'd been cut. When she was finished with her front she moved to her back, the thicker fur there giving her some difficulty. But she finished the job all the same, and she replaced the supplies in the kit before turning back to Jack.
    She didn't bother to zip her flight suit back up, and Jack knew it was because she needed the wounds exposed to air before they would fully seal. He also got the feeling that she was trying to unnerve him, in which case she was succeeding. He averted his eyes. Even though she was his enemy, it didn't seem right to stare when she was...well...exposed.
    “Now,” Aria said, crossing her arms over her chest. “What I do with you, hm? We are stuck on this planet together, and you are prisoner.”
    “What the hell are you asking me for?” Jack shot back at her, glancing over. “You're the one with the gun. Seems to me like you get to give the orders, yeah?”
    Aria looked back at him, her face impassive. Then she nodded once. “Well, yes.” She crossed her legs, swishing her tail. She seemed much more at ease now that her wounds were attended to. “First thing. Your radio. Does it work?”
    Jack blinked. “No, it doesn't. Whatever you did to it during the fight, you knocked it out completely. I tried using it as soon as I finished setting up my camp, and all I get is static on all channels.” His face took on a dejected look. “Believe me, the first thing I wanted to do was call for help, but you ruined any chance of that, didn't you?”
    Aria shrugged. “War. I do what I must, yes?” She uncrossed her legs, standing up and starting to pace back and forth. “Is too bad. What to do...” She paced for a while, lost in thought, paying Jack no mind at all. Then she stopped, turning her head to look at him. “Well, then. If I want to leave this planet, I find my ship. Perhaps radio still work.”
    Confused, Jack straightened himself as well as he could. “Find your ship? What do you mean, find your ship? You came from your ship to find mine, didn't you?”
    Aria shook her head. Finally, she pulled her flight suit back up around her body, zipping it up. “No. I eject during crash. Escape pod take me away from ship. Far away, I think.” She nodded her head towards the edge of the clearing, a different direction than the one she'd come from. “All I know, somewhere that direction. Not know how far...Not even know if ship in one piece. But only chance to survive is go and see if radio works, call for help.”
    “And so...what, you just leave me here to die?” Jack asked bitterly. “Tie me up and wait for some predator to finish me off? If you're gonna do that, just shoot me and be done with it.”
    “No, not do that,” Aria said. She strode over to Jack, kneeling down in front of him. She looked into his face, an unreadable expression on hers. “You come with me. Help me find ship.”
     
    ******
     
    Jack just looked at her, definitely not sure that he'd heard her correctly. Because there wasn't any way that she just said what he thought she'd said. She couldn't be serious.
    “You're gonna have to repeat that one for me,” he said slowly.
    “You help me find ship,” Aria said. She leaned back from him, sitting on her haunches with her hands on her knees. “I need working radio to call for rescue. You help me do