Heart of the Nebula by Joe Vasicek Read Free Book Online Page A

groaning returned, followed by another
loud clang that shuddered through the walls. This one made her
teeth chatter and sent chills up and down her back. She steadied
herself and tried very hard to control her breathing—not much air
left, after all. Seconds turned to minutes, and her heartbeat
slowly returned to something close to normal.
    How much longer? she wondered. If only she had some way of sneaking
a peek, she could—
    The groan sounded again, starting in the
distance but growing steadily closer. When it was directly
overhead, it stopped for a second, then changed pitch and grew even
louder. Something large and heavy hit the top of the container,
making the whole thing shudder even harder than before. Her heart
skipped a beat, and she held her breath as the noise turned to
deafening silence. Then, without warning, the groaning returned,
and the container lifted up, making her stomach fall out beneath
her.
    All at once, everything around her started
to reel and pitch. She gasped and grabbed onto the walls for
support as a wave of dizziness and nausea swept over her.
Gradually, she realized that the container must be dangling from
the crane—that was why the floor shook the way it did. The heavy
machinery groaned directly overhead as it carried her away from the
loading platform, though where it was taking her, she had no
idea.
    Eventually, the groaning stopped, and the
container rocked for a few seconds until it more or less
stabilized. Kyla took a deep breath, but just as she started to
relax, the floor dropped out, making her stomach sink. She yelped
in surprise in spite of herself, then clamped a hand over her
mouth. Moments later, the container hit the next platform with a
thud that sent shocks vibrating through the lower half of her
body.
    Did anyone hear me? She gripped the release wire on the hatch and
began counting down each second. The loading crane moved off into
the distance, leaving her in relative silence. No one came,
however—no one had heard her outcry. She sighed in
relief.
    The container began to move. It started off
slowly at first, but it soon picked up speed. In the darkness, Kyla
reached out to the crates to make sure they were secure.
Fortunately, they were packed so tightly that they hardly budged,
but the steady acceleration pressed her up against the hatch.
    Where are we now? A bolt of fear shot through her, and she wondered
again if she’d made a mistake. There was no turning back now,
though. All she could do was ride it out, wherever it took
her.
    An uneasy flutter rose in the pit of her
stomach. At first, she dismissed it as just another hunger pang,
but the more the feeling grew, the less certain she was. She turned
her head, and a strand of hair brushed against her face in the
darkness. She lifted her hand to pull it back, and felt more than
one strand drifting up over her head.
    I’m weightless, she realized with a start. As if in confirmation,
she lifted up off the floor and bumped her head lightly on the
ceiling.
    The container began to slow, sending her
drifting toward the opposite end of the narrow space. She caught
herself with her feet. Even though she knew that down was supposed
to be below her, she felt almost as if she were standing on the
wall with her chest to the ceiling. In the darkness of the
container, it thoroughly disoriented her.
    Eventually, the container
came to a stop, leaving her floating in midair. With space so tight
that she had to keep her knees and elbows close, she felt herself
begin to panic. Her breath came short and fast, while her heart
began to pound. Let me out of here! a part of her seemed to scream. The growing
stuffiness only made it worse. She reached for the release wire,
fingering it with her sweaty hands—
    No, she told herself. I’ve already made
it this far. She took a long, slow breath
and forced herself to stay calm. If she was weightless, it was
probably because the container was in the station’s docking arm.
That meant that she