Chapter 36: Saddle Up
Sheen's eyes slowly opened, as opposed to the way that they had darted open back on Earth, eager to see the light of a new day. Sheen was anything but eager to escape from his dreams, the only place where he felt no pain.
It had been around fifty hours since he had first crashed on the accursed rock that he realized would soon be called his grave. He had tried to keep his morale up for the first two days, and even early this morning, but as he woke up from his nap he knew that he was finished.
"I'm so thirsty," he moaned while struggling to sit up. The pangs of pain that he had experience when he first crashed had increased tenfold. The waves of pain radiated from his stomach as he tried to straighten himself out. He fought them just long enough for him to get off of the ground and lean against the rocket.
He hadn't had anything to drink for three days. He vaguely remembered downing half a bottle of water the night before the whole 'asteroid belt' fiasco, but he couldn't be sure. Time was becoming a blur as his brain shut down. He could live without water, without water even, but not without hope.
He pushed the depressing thoughts out of his mind and looked at the spot he hadn't left in two days. He stared at the rocket that he was leaning on and shook his head at its worthlessness. He had spent the better part of his first day trying to fix it, but had soon realized that it was hopeless. Given enough time, he might be able to repair the wires, but he would never be able to get the damned thing airborne.
Shaking all of those fatalist feelings aside, he turned back to the task at hand. He realized that he couldn't fly himself out of here, but he might be able to summon help. When he had still been strong enough to walk, he had found the tattered remains of his headset. It was smashed, crumpled, and utterly useless. But Sheen had nonetheless spent nearly all of his free time trying to fix it.
"Sheen to Jimmy, Sheen to Jimmy, do you copy?" He whispered into the scraped microphone. There was still no sound, not even static. The thing was dead.
"Man, I guess this really is it," he thought while grabbing a nearby pistol and playfully pointing it to his temple. He wasn't desperate enough to pull the trigger, not yet. He knew that with his luck, Jimmy would come to save him the second he was dead.
Sheen stared down at his right leg, still wrapped inside his makeshift splint. "Do you think it's healed?" he asked himself while untying the discolored ropes that were once his shirt. The metal rod fell off of his leg and clanged onto the ground. Sheen tilted his head and stared quizzically at the injured limb. It had a deep impression from the metal beam being attached to it for the last two days. He slowly bent his knee, expecting to experience crippling pain. To his surprise and delight, there was only a mild discomfort.
"Well I'll be Ultralord's niece," he said while shaking his head. "Maybe it wasn't broken after all. Just..." he paused, trying to think of how to describe it, "roughed up a little."
He took a deep breath and tried to stand up for the first time in over a day, but his right leg buckled under his weight. He slammed back down onto the ground, scraping his bare back against the rocket. "Ok, let's not get overzealous," he told himself. He paused a minute before trying to stand back up. "Overzealous?" he asked, surprised that he knew the word.
"Must have picked it up from Jimmy..." he groaned while slowly pushing himself off of the ground. As soon as he was standing he shifted his wait to his left foot. "...Back in the good old days."
Sheen bent down as far as he could and grabbed the steel rod. He planted it vertically into the ground and grabbed onto it like a cane. He began to walk around, slowly at first, but then almost at his pre-crash pace.
He felt a brief sense of peace and joy wash over him, like when he had fixed his leg that first day. Walking brought the ability to move, to gather supplies, to perhaps find a way off the asteroid.
Yet, just like the dozens of times before over the last two days, his hopes quickly sunk. Sheen had gotten used to his moods rapidly rising and falling. Rising over counting the guns, falling over the fact that there was no enemy to shoot at. Rising over a sparkle of light in the distance, falling as he realized that it was only a star.
"So I can walk, big deal. Where am I walking too?" he pondered while climbing a small hill in front of him. His right leg continually radiated pain, but he found that he could ignore it if he concentrated.
He strolled around for a few more minutes, hoping to find a miracle. He didn't. After five minutes of exploring the asteroid, he turned back towards the wreckage of his rocket.
"Well, that was fun," he dejectedly muttered while falling back down to the ground and leaning against his rocket. He yawned and stretched his arms. He had spent more than half of his time on the asteroid sleeping, yet he was always tired. He enjoyed sleeping; it was a break from his dire situation and the bleak world around him. Plus, there was always the chance that he would wake up on a rocket to discover that Jimmy had rescued him during his slumber.
"Time for a nap," he mumbled while settling back and closing his eyes. Suddenly, a low roaring filled his ears. "Stupid ears," he mumbled while absent-mindedly slapping them. Instead of dissipating, the roaring grew steadily louder.
"What is that?" he asked himself while sitting up. He stared straight ahead, and didn't see it at first. But as his eyes focused on the incoming object, his heart swelled with joy. A rocket was coming straight towards his asteroid. As he stared on in amazement, the ship slowed its thrusters and began its descent to the asteroid.
"They came back!" He happily shouted while jumping for joy, ignoring the pain in his side. "I knew they'd come back!" He shouted while starting to run towards the ship.
His pace faltered as got a good look at the rocket. It definitely wasn't one of Jimmy's fleet. He hadn't seen a Yolkian spaceship in around two years, but he immediately recognized it. Yolkians, he thought while carefully stepping back and hiding behind a rock.
"This is bad," he thought while sinking to the ground. "Ok, ok," he finally muttered after a few seconds of biting his lip, "stay calm. Jimmy said that he would hijack a Yolkian ship once he rescued the parents. It has to be him."
But as he said this, he instantly shook his head in doubt. Could Jimmy really have reached the Yolkian planet, saved everyone's parents, hijacked a ship, and come back to save him in just over two days?
"It has to be him," he repeated while daring a quick look at the ship. He peered his head over the rock just enough so that his eyes could be seen. The ship was only a few dozen meters off of the ground.
"Even if it is the Yolkians," he quickly muttered to himself, "I should still go up to them. They would probably take me prisoner. They'd keep me alive. And even if they didn't, wouldn't that quick death be better than dying here of thirst?"
He peered his head over the rock again as the ship's hatch opened. He held his breath, keeping his gaze absolutely focused on the door. A moment passed, and then another. Still he held his breath, his lungs screaming in pain and his face turning blue. Come on, be Jimmy. Come on, be Jimmy. Suddenly the familiar egg-like shape of a Yolkian came out of the ship. Another followed suit, and then the hatch abruptly closed.
Sheen sank back behind the rock and slammed his fist into the ground. So much for an easy rescue. He drummed his fingers against the ground while whispering to himself. "Why are they here? Do they know about Jimmy's plan? Do they know that I crashed here? Will they kill me?"
Sheen lightly banged his head against the boulder behind him. He closed his eyes and thought for a moment. They may not stay long. And enemy or not, they are my only shot at getting off of this rock. I better turn myself in. He let out a deep sigh of despair while standing up. He was about to walk up to the Yolkians when he glanced behind him.
The array of firearms that he had salvaged from the crash lay in front of the rocket, all polished and loaded. They seemed to glow in the light form a nearby star. Sheen ducked down behind the rock once again and continued staring at them. He crawled out from behind his
hiding spot and dared a look at the Yolkians. They were hovering above the ground, slowly making their way across the asteroid. They seemed oblivious to his presence. He then looked back at the guns and, for the first time in what seemed like an eternity, a small smile spread across his chapped lips.