...Oh God, which wall did I slam into this time? I tried to move. I was too damn cold to stay lying wherever the hell I was, but nothing seemed to work properly. Besides the pounding in my head, which doubtless accounted for the dancing black spots behind my eyelids, my left leg was on fire and it hurt to breathe.
“Josh…”
Just the sound of his voice made me feel better and I forced my eyes open. Thankfully, the spots faded somewhat. “Matt,” I said, although croaked would be a better description.
“Try to stay put, Josh. I think your leg’s broken,” he said.
“No,” I retorted, “my leg’s definitely broken.” I looked around, but that sure didn’t make me feel better. “What the hell happened? And why is it so damn cold?”
“Not quite sure what happened, except that we crashed in what looks like an ice field.”
“Crashed? Ice field? There was no ice field where we planned to land…wasn’t one for thousands of miles.”
“Yeah, but somehow you found one.”
“I’d have an answer for that except I can’t think with this constant drum roll in my head.”
“I know, Josh. I can give you a painkiller.”
“Let’s hold that in reserve.” I sighed. With those things, the cure can be worse than the pain. I glanced around at the mess that had once been the control room. “Where’s Dennis?”
“In the rear compartment. I’m afraid he’s hurt, too. He’s still out.”
I tried to sit up, and Matt helped me lean back against part of the console. “What’s wrong with Dennis?”
“Head injury…doesn’t look good. There’s been a fair amount of bleeding, but it had clotted before I found him. There’s something else, too. The cold isn’t just because we crashed in this ice field. There’s a breach in the rear bay.” Matt sighed. “I patched it as best as I could, but I’m not an engineer.”
Matt handed me a jacket as he spoke and helped me struggle into it. He then passed me a pair of gloves and I swiftly pulled those on. He pulled the blankets that had covered me when I was flat out on the deck up around me.
“What happened when you reported in?”
“Ah, I haven’t. I couldn’t get anything from the comm. The main console seems to be dead.”
“What? Fuck!” I tried to get my head around everything he’d said. No question, though, we were up shit creek without a paddle...