All hope is lost!

"Sorry love, if you could just wake up," Alma said, as she placed Haiser on one of the canvas rugs she found in the escape pod. She didn't know it was meant to serve as a tent building material. 

Right then, all her focus had been to get as far away from the pod as possible. She also needed to find cover from the hovercraft. She knew that it wouldn't take long before they found the pod, but there was nothing she could do about it. All she could hope for was that it would buy her some time. 

Placing Haiser on the mat, Alma then proceeded to drag the mat, which meant dragging her beloved along the forest grounds. While it seemed a cruel and unusual punishment, this was her only option, as she couldn't possibly carry him. Lifting him had already taken a toll on her. 

Panting, she ran with her luggage following closely behind. Alma did not realize that she was leaving an obvious trail for anyone to follow. All her energy was focused towards getting them away from the would-be pursuers. 

Haiser was still breathing, and his condition was stable. However, he was still in a coma. For the moment, instead of being the asset he would be, he was nothing more than a heavy burden. 

Not for the first time, Alma found herself contemplating leaving him behind. Some deep, dark part of her heart was whispering, why not leave him behind, cut our losses. If she did, her chances of survival would go way up. 

However, she would only barely entertain such a thought only because of how tired she was. She would never actually consider leaving him behind. 

As she continued to trudge on, she could feel her strength leaving her. Due to the perceived threat, she could feel that her enemy was right around the corner, as if waiting for her to fall down before pouncing. 

This thought, along with dozens of others, served to give her strength, to keep pushing. The cuts and bruises on her body were barely felt. 

Alma prided herself as a strong and capable woman. However, the strength she had was her strong and unyielding heart, her indomitable resolve, and the influence she had over others. None of that was of any real value now. 

Alma wanted to just fall down, take a nap, and when she woke up, everything would be okay. The past 48 hours would be a nightmare, and she would be back to her happy life. If only.

Just as she was about to collapse, she heard the sound of running water. There was a river nearby. Oh the joy! 

Without much ado, she began powerwalking towards the river. She didn't know why, but she could feel a sense of hope coming back. She still had her nutritional fluids, and her supplies. She made sure to carry them by placing them in the same baggage that held Haiser. 

However, just as she was about to get the river bank, she felt the ground give way. She had not yet seen the river, but the banks were sinking at the slightest step.

Oh no! I am sinking! That little pocket of soil mold was barely hanging on, now with the addition of two human beings and all their weight, it had to give. 

Before Alma could react, she was swept away by the current, swallowed by the river waters and propelled downstream. She had even lost contact with Haiser.

That wasn't her biggest problem. She did not know how to swim. Why would she? She neither had the interest nor the need. To her, swimming pools were lounging next to and dipping one's legs when the temperature got too high.

Yea sure, she had taken a couple of dips, but only on the shallow end, or in hot tubs.

Now, this was a far cry from the tubs she was used to. She was fighting with the river currents, desperately trying to remain afloat, but always managing to sink. 

Little did Alma know, she was approaching river rapids. At that time, it would be a coin toss if her bruised body could make it. 

***

"I think those guys in intelligence are messing with us, there's nothing out here," Duma said as he maintained control over the hovercraft. 

Planet Tres was a relatively calm place to work. It was on the fringes, far removed from the hustle and bustle of the human kingdoms. It also lacked significant resources to warrant strong infiltration or smuggling routes. 

There were a few cases of pirates getting in and out, mostly to buy and sell goods on the black market. Unfortunately, there wasn't much planet Tres residents had to offer, except maybe the harvest from their farming. Even then, the nutritional fluids and other processed foods were better preferred, especially by space dwellers. 

Duma had worked in other, much busier ports. He knew how smugglers operated. This did not feel like it. Even after going through the evidence, he doubted they had found something that stealthy, to avoid detection. 

Anyway, he had the time, and the company had the resources, by not go site seeing. 

"Found it!" As Duma flew the hovercraft, the other two were engrossed in searching for any signs of infiltration. Just as Duma had been thinking there was nothing to see, someone shouted out. 

"Get in touch with command, start the livestream," Duma said. 

Flying closer, the crew got a first glance at the infiltration device. 

"An escape pod, and it looks military," Alex, who was back at control, muttered as he observed the escape pod. "So, we really do have infiltrators, and here I thought my promotion would take a while."

Alex couldn't wait to file his report. He knew what followed next. The company would have to organize a search party. They would also retrieve the escape pod and analyze it from top to bottom, gain whatever information they could from it. 

However, none of this was his concern. He had done his part, and now, he would wait for the promotion.