Higher Ground by Becky Black (most read books of all time .txt) 📕

until he almost fell over a bit of rough ground; then he just ran until he skidded to a stop on the damp grass beside a group of people. His boots slipped, and he crashed into Dr. Howie, who caught him and set him steady on his feet again.

The excitement centered around Visha, who was kneeling beside a tiny folding table which held the Franes’ radio set. A voice was coming from the radio.

“…fix on your beacon. Maintain position. Check in every fifteen, one five, minutes. E.T.A. forty-five minutes. Please acknowledge.”

“Acknowledged,” Visha said. “Will maintain position with fifteen, one five, minute check-ins. Thank you. See you soon. Frane out.” She looked up at Zach. “A ship. From the Dunbarrow outpost.”

If Dr. Howie hadn’t still been holding his arm, Zach would have gone down like a sack of potatoes. His knees shook, but Howie grabbed him into an embrace.

“We made it.” He slapped Zach hard on the back. “We made it.”

And then the whole camp started cheering.

“Zach! Zach! Come in!” Adam’s voice. They were still connected on the walkie-talkie, Zach realized. He pulled away from Howie, who went to hug Korrie instead. “What’s going on there?”

“We made contact,” Zach said in a voice weak with relief. “With a rescue ship. It will be here in less than an hour.” He waited a moment, grinning at the sounds of Adam and Simon whooping and cheering.

“Zach, that’s fantastic,” Adam said. “Okay, ah, I guess we should get back to you guys right away.”

“I’ve got a fix on your beacon,” Simon said, breaking in. “We’ll race the ship to see who gets to you first.”

“I promise we won’t leave without you,” Zach said.

“See that you don’t. Okay, no more check-ins, we’ll be moving too fast. See you soon.”

* * * *

By the time the forty-five minutes had passed, everyone had packed all of their things. A couple of people insisted on lighting a smoky fire, unwilling to trust everything to the radio beacon. Excitement hovered over the camp like a cloud. People were already talking as if they were on their way out of there. When the dark shape of the outpost supply ship appeared in the sky, people started gathering their gear like travelers at a spaceport finally boarding a long-delayed flight.

Zach didn’t grab his pack. He remembered the hassle involved in getting everyone on the road in the first place. There’d be plenty of fuss this time too. He’d bet on at least an hour before they were even close to getting away.

He took his binoculars out again to watch the approaching ship. As he did, his walkie-talkie squawked, and Adam’s voice came through.

“We can see the ship.”

“Me too.” He studied the approaching vessel for a moment. “Adam, did you take binoculars with you?”

“Yeah, just getting them out now.”

“Take a look at the ship. Look close.”

“Okay.”

Zach went on looking at the ship. The binoculars made the distant dark shape spring into focus, appearing close enough to touch. He easily made out the markings of the Terraforming Authority on its hull, along with the ship’s name.

“It’s the Darwin,” Adam said. “As a botanist, I’m choosing to call that a good omen.” Zach didn’t answer. “Zach?”

“I don’t know much about ships,” Zach said. “So I don’t know what type it is, and scale is hard to judge from here. But I can see viewports and hatches on the ship, and I can estimate from them—”

“Zach, if you don’t cut to the chase, then when I arrive, I’ve going to punch you in the teeth.”

“It’s too small.”

They had nearly one hundred and fifty people here, and that many again in the other group. The approaching ship was not large enough to carry even all of the people in this group. There was a pause over the radio, presumably while Adam made his own estimate. Then he cursed enough to make Zach blush.

“Adam, Simon. Get back here fast. We’re going to need you.”

“We’re coming.” Adam panted as he spoke. They were already running.

If anyone else had noticed the problem, they weren’t saying anything about it, though Zach saw a few worried faces among the jubilant ones when the ship began to descend. The group all moved back, escaping the heat and roar of the thrusters. The sparse grass underneath browned and burned, and then the ship settled onto it, and the roar of the engines cut out. Another cheer spread through the crowd. Seconds later, a hatch on the side popped, and a man in a dark blue overall appeared, grinning.

“You folks call for a ride?”

ADAM AND SIMON ran back into camp just over half an hour later. Adam feared they’d come back to find people fighting for the last places on the ship, but things were calm. On edge, though; he felt it at once. People stood in groups or pairs, having intense conversations.

“Over there,” Simon said, pointing to where Zach and the rest of the reduced leadership team stood talking to a man in uniform. Their breath recovered, Adam and Simon walked over to join them.

“It’s not only the space,” the man in uniform was saying as they arrived. “It’s the weight. As it is, I’m going to have to ask people to leave most of their belongings behind.”

“I understand,” Zach said. “How long will it take you to get the first group to safety and come back for the rest of us?”

“I’d say thirty-six hours.”

“What about Barbara’s group?” Adam asked.

At the sound of his voice, his friends whipped around. Visha shrieked and shot out of the group like a missile into Simon’s arms. Zach looked torn for a moment, perhaps conscious of his leadership role and trying to remain calm. But Adam wasn’t having that. Zach might be the leader, but he was only human. He grabbed Zach into his arms and kissed him heartily. When they broke, Zach was flushed with pleasure.

“You’d think I’d been away for a month,” Adam said.

“I…ah, right,” Zach said, battling to regain composure. “Good to see