lungs. After a while he felt strong enough to raise his head and look around, and wasn't surprised to find Hazel sitting next to him, looking almost as bad as he felt. Ruby Journey and Jack Random were sitting together, a little way apart. They had their guns in their hands, and although they both looked a bit pale, they were keeping a watchful eye on the outer hatch. Tobias Moon lay flat on his back, eyes closed, breathing steadily. Owen sniffed.
'Nice landing. Moon. Sure you couldn't have shaken us about a bit more?'
He stopped talking as he realized how harsh his voice sounded. His throat felt as though someone had scoured it out with wire wool. Hazel looked at him sardonically.
'We're down and we're still alive. Anything else is a bonus. Any idea why Moon is still out? He doesn't seem injured.'
'Beats me,' said Owen. 'I can't get any response out of Oz, either. Maybe they were both knocked out when the computer systems finally crashed.'
'Actually, I'm conserving power,' said the AI through Owen's comm implant. 'Moon pretty much drained the ship's batteries getting us down. I'm going to have to go offline for a while, Owen. The ship's a mess and so am I. Short of a complete refit and rebuilding, this ship's not going anywhere, and neither are we. Unless you've fallen in love with this planet and decided to settle down here, you'd better pray that someone at the Last Standing is feeling hospitable.'
'How badly are you damaged?' said Owen.
'Don't ask. You don't want to know. You're not far from the Standing. About half a mile, north northwest. Walking distance under normal circumstances, which these aren't. In case you hadn't noticed, it's an oven out there, and it's just going to get hotter as the day goes on.'
'What about the air?' said Hazel.
'Your lungs are about to go slumming, but it won't kill you. There are a lot of other things out there that'll take care of that. For the moment, the local wildlife is giving you plenty of room, but there's no telling how long that'll last. I'm getting readings on lifeforms everywhere, from very small to extremely large and everything in between. Can't give you any details; the sensors took a real battering.'
'Any recommendations?' said Random.
'Yes. Shoot yourselves now and get it over with. From what I can make out, everything out there that moves is attacking everything else, whether it moves or not, and eating it. Damn place is a slaughterhouse. No signs of intelligence or cooperation, just if it moves, jump it. Reminds me of Imperial politics on a larger than usual scale.'
'Nice place you've brought us to, Deathstalker,' said Ruby.
Owen thought hard. There was only one course of action that made any sense, but he couldn't help hoping he could come up with something less obviously suicidal. Unfortunately, he seemed to have backed himself into a corner, tactically speaking. He looked round at his companions and wondered if his face was as grim as theirs.
'We can't stay here,' he said bluntly. '
'Let me see if I've got this right,' said Ruby in her cold, even voice. 'We're going to fight our way through half a mile of alien carnage and slaughter in order to reach some ruin that's been deserted for hundreds of years? If it's there at all? That's our plan?'
'Got it in one,' said Owen.
'All right,' said Ruby. 'I'm up for it. I could use a little exercise.'
Owen gave her a hard look, but she didn't seem to be joking. 'It may not be all bad news. According to Family legend, the Last Standing is supposed to be a massive structure with considerable technological defenses. Assuming we can get past those defenses, we should find my ancestor still there, held in stasis. If we can wake him, I'm sure he'll help.'
'There's a lot of it's and maybes in all that,' said Hazel. 'I don't have much faith in legends anymore. The last time we went looking for one, we found him.' She looked severely at Jack Random, who glared right back at her. Hazel sniffed and turned back to Owen. 'Come on, Owen, what are our chances, really?'
'Not good,' Owen admitted. 'But all the alternatives are worse.'
'I seem to be hearing that a lot just recently,' said Hazel. 'Ever since I joined up with you, in fact. I should have stayed at home and become an accountant, like mother wanted. There's always work for an accountant, and people very rarely shoot at them. Or maroon them on savage planets with no table manners.'
'Oh, I don't know,' said Random. 'I can think of quite a few accountants I'd have cheerfully dumped somewhere unpleasant. Right next to the lawyers.'
Owen looked across at Tobias Moon, who was still lying flat on his back, dead to the world. 'He'd better wake up soon,' Owen said flatly, 'because I'm damned if I'm carrying a great lump like him through half a mile of homicidal jungle.'
'We could always use him as a shield,' said Ruby. 'Or a battering ram.'
'If I didn't have such a good nature, I'd stay unconscious and let you carry me,' said Tobias Moon, without lifting his head.
Owen looked at him severely. 'Eavesdroppers rarely hear well of themselves.'
'I believe that's the point.' Moon sat up slowly. 'Everything seems to be functioning again. Hopefully we can find some energy crystals at the Last Standing. I used up most of my reserves getting us down in one piece. Not a bad landing, if I say so myself.'
'I'd hate to be on one of your bad ones,' said Random.
'You're alive, aren't you?' said Moon.
'Enough chat and friendly banter,' said Owen. 'It's time we were moving. Oz, how long have we got before the
'I should leave right now,' said the AI. 'I'm going to have to shut down, Owen. You'll have to struggle on without me. If you find compatible hardware at the Standing, download me into that. Otherwise, you're on your own. Try not to get yourself killed.'
'I'll do my best,' said Owen. He wanted to say something more, but the words wouldn't come. Ozymandius had been with him since he was a child. He'd never had to cope without the AI before. 'I'll be back for you, Oz. One way or another, I'll be back.'
'If we've finished with the tender goodbyes, perhaps we could get a move on,' said Ruby. 'You're the one who said the ship is going to blow.'
Owen nodded curtly and moved over to the outer hatch. 'Oz, anything nasty out there?' There was no reply. Owen bit his lower lip. He really was on his own now. He drew his gun and put his ear to the metal of the hatch. It was uncomfortably warm to the touch, suggesting the onboard fires were getting closer. He couldn't hear a thing. The metal was too thick. A passing Investigator could have been slaughtering a brass band out there, and he wouldn't have heard anything. He looked back at the others. 'Stand ready. Hazel, get over here by the manual release. When I give you the nod, open the hatch.'
Hazel moved over to the controls, and everyone drew a gun or a blade, according to their nature. They looked tired and tense, but prepared. Owen wished he'd had some armor and heavy-duty weaponry put on board at some point, but he'd never seen the need in a pleasure yacht. Assuming he got out of this mess alive and reasonably intact, it was a mistake he wouldn't make again. The universe was not a friendly place. He hefted the disrupter in his hand and looked back at the others.
'Everybody ready? Right. Remember, no rushing outside the moment the hatch opens. We're going to take this slow and steady and very carefully, until we know the lay of the land.'
'Is he always like this?' Ruby said to Hazel.
'Mostly,' said Hazel. 'He used to be a lord. I think he inherited the pompousness along with the big ears.'
Owen decided he hadn't heard that. 'Hazel, open the hatch.'
There was a worryingly long grinding noise, and then the hutch slid open. Bright crimson light spilled into the airlock, along with the heavy humid air of the jungle. It smelled of rotting meat. And then everything in the world tried to get through the hatch at once. There were huge ferocious shapes with teeth and claws and glaring eyes,
