Rivers Amiss

By Brandy Woldstad

Seven treasures on seven planets remain hidden after 175 years of people across the galaxy searching.

Cam Ingram (a one-legged treasure hunter), her assistant bot, and her team visit the planet Cragglin to solve the clues left by a wealthy businessman from the Sojourn Space Station.

A rough start to their mission leaves them struggling to stay ahead of their competition.

If you love treasure hunting, sci-fi stories, grab River's Amiss today.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brandy Woldstad
• Release date: Jan 25, 2021
• ISBN: 9781393708308

Book preview

Chapter One

The steel enforced floors of The Serendipity’s flight deck rumbled beneath Cam Ingram’s foot as her assistant bot, Dev 23, activated the ship’s thrusters to slow their descent.

Her breath caught in her throat. The numbers on the monitor in front of her blinked red, indicating that the ship approached the rugged terrain of Cragglin below them way too fast.

Cam waved her hands around the screen, not touching it for fear of messing up what Dev 23 planned to do. At the same time, she regretted putting her over-the-counter assistant robot (one not designed to fly) in charge.

What was she thinking? What was her team thinking?

Dev 23’s four arms extended, giving his torso a bug-like appearance. A band of small cameras the size of the tip of Cam’s pinky wrapped around his head, seemingly more aware of the information displayed on the screens than Cam was.

Which was true, as Cam could only focus on one screen at a time instead of four. She was only human, after all, unlike Dev 23, who was designed to assist Cam as much as she needed.

Cam swallowed, wishing she could turn her head to see her husband, Mason, and her other three team members sitting at their stations behind her. She suspected they all wore eager smiles.

The team had agreed to use the comm system for emergencies only. But right now, a human voice reassuring her that the autopilot worked and that Dev 23 could handle the finite adjustments better than any human would reduce the thin coating of sweat building on Cam’s body.

Dev 23 moved slowly and calmly, oblivious to their impending death. A strange envy flitted across Cam’s chest. If only she were a robot. Perhaps her mind could weigh the odds of survival well enough to stay focused on the task of landing the ship on an unfamiliar planet.

She glanced down at the stub of her left leg, which pressed into the soft seat cushion as if there were a hidden button to slow the ship down.

The view on the monitors outside the ship shifted to thick gray clouds. The ship’s engines sounded like an angry dragon as it gained speed. The g-forces pushed her into her seat. Her head throbbed. A beep sounded, followed by Dev 23’s steady, calm voice.

It appears our approach will be exactly fifteen point seven eight nine seconds too fast.

His reenforced flexi-metal fingers tapped rapidly at the main control panel, while Cam and the rest of her team spoke in unison as if the moment had been rehearsed a hundred times.

What?

Dev 23 made an adjustment in speed that felt like a giant hand had swatted the side of The Serendipity.

Recalibrating, Dev 23 said.

Cam read through the information. Dev 23 had reset the landing sequence on autopilot after adjusting the landing coordinates that her team had calculated. She squinted at the screens.

The center screen showed their new landing zone as a red dot. A thick red ring, indicating the allowable margin of error for the landing, blinked around the dot. The setup reminded Cam too much of a bullseye.

Cool bursts of oxygen filled Cam’s helmet, blowing wisps of her auburn hair against her cheek, a subtle indicator she breathed too heavy. She reached her shaky hand out to read through Dev 23’s recalibration on her monitor.

It appears our original landing site is higher than the documentation we found had suggested, Cam said.

Mason said something unintelligible in a disgusted tone.

The auto-pilot sensors are engaged, Eta Laghari said with her soft accent. We will be all right.

Cam’s unease grew. They should have hired an experienced pilot, one familiar with west Cragglin’s terrain, for their landing. Cam had the experience, but the location they had selected required precision and quick adjustments because of the few flat spots for a ship their size.

Surely, they could have found a pilot willing to keep quiet about their hunt for Rockton’s Treasure.

The clouds grew wispy like a lacey red veil against the pale yellow sky. The brown and black terrain extended beyond the limits of the outside camera’s view. An unwelcome, barren location. One Cam found hard to believe had actually held people, let alone treasure.

The last few moments, when the rocks gained edges, pockmarks, divets and colors, nearly stopped Cam’s heart. She struggled to keep her eyes open, not wanting to miss a single detail of the landing, but at the same time wanting to block out her terror of impact. A small act of courage, since every landing reminded her of the accident where she lost her leg.

Whoa, Hernando Rodriguez whispered, as an electric bolt like lightning appeared in the view of the camera on the left wing.

Do not say that, Eta said, sharply. You will make Cam faint. Her bioscan shows she is bordering on hyperventilation.

Cam struggled to slow her breath, barely acknowledging her irritation with herself for her panic, and at Eta for announcing her health stats.

It’s all right, Mason said to Cam in their private channel. We’re in this together. We’ll figure out where we need to look once we’re on the ground. Or in Dev 23’s words, we’ll recalibrate. His soft chuckle didn’t put Cam at ease.

Okay, she whispered. Cam didn’t voice her worries about if they would still be alive when the ship hit the ground.

Cam peeked at Dev 23. He looked calm. Though she realized robots, no matter what job they did, always looked calm. She suspected that in any sort of crash, Dev 23 would survive with minimal damage to the data he stored, and he could be reused for future projects.

Unless the ship exploded.

Cam swallowed, feeling the constriction in her throat. Everything would be fine. So far, Dev 23’s previous eighteen landings were flawless. A fact that did little to ease Cam’s feeling of helplessness.

The roar of the engine stopped and shifted to a whine. Cam’s gaze was riveted to the screen showing the ground and the ship’s distance from it.

Her gloved hand wrapped around the ejection lever on the front of the control panel. Even though the ground appeared to approach faster than a human could fall in a vacuum, she could eject everyone safely. The unmanned ship would strike the ground and, no doubt be destroyed, but she and her team would still be alive.

The chances of their survival on Cragglin without their supplies and ship diminished if they ejected. Not to mention Cam’s inability to walk without her prosthetic leg or crutches would slow down her team on their quest for help.

Brace yourselves, Hernando said in his quick, thick accent. I think we’re in for a bumpy ride.

Eta inhaled sharply through her mic. Cam clenched her eyes shut, not wanting to see the front of the ship crumble and burst into flame.

The ship jolted. Rocks ground against the metal hull. Cam felt the ship shift to her right side and slide. She recognized the sound of the right wing twisting as the ship cut through the terrain.

She gritted her teeth, hoping the ship wouldn’t roll and damage the top two levels of the vessel. The craft could carry nearly fifty people. It was plenty of space for the four humans plus Dev 23, and any treasures they needed to transport to their headquarters on Davee IV, a space station about a week’s flight from Cragglin.

A snap like a metallic twig breaking reverberated inside of the ship. Hernando hissed; whether it was from the sound or an injury, Cam wasn’t sure.

The pressure on Cam’s safety belts dug uncomfortably into her right side. The ship stopped—the hiss of the environmental settings reengaging filled the air.

Cam cracked her eyes open. The screen directly in front of her was black. The center monitor blinked with a view of the black craters in front of them and indicated a speed of zero.

The entire ship had tilted ninety degrees to the right, a sure sign the wing had broken off during the landing. It was a miracle that the metal walls didn’t have holes.

The tension of Cam’s body eased. They survived. Though, this had to be the most ungraceful landing since her accident.

Good morning. The landing sequence has completed, Dev 23 said with no emotion. The crew whooped with relief.

Rockton’s Treasure, here we come, Hernando said excitedly.

Please remain in your environmental suits, Dev 23 continued in his matter-of-fact tone. The ship’s life support system is malfunctioning. The heating and cooling systems are offline. The landing gear and auto-pilot have malfunctioned. The computers are responding. The left and right outside cameras are offline. Please standby for further updates.

Cam cringed. Hernando swore. He and Mason would be responsible for the ship repairs, assuming everything could be fixed with the supplies on board.

How far are we from where we planned to start our search? Cam asked.

There was a long silence. She wrinkled her forehead in concern as Dev 23 tapped the screen in front of him.

We are one hundred and thirteen miles north of our targeted location, Dev 23 said.

Mason whistled. How far are we from the nearest city?

The taps of Dev 23’s fingers sounded. Ninety-two miles to the west is Spire, a mountain city partially underground.

Anyone notice our ship’s appearance? Hernando asked.

My systems do not detect anyone around. Should I send a distress beacon? Dev 23 asked.

Eta let out a snort of disbelief. The last thing Cam and her team wanted was for certain people to find out about their arrival. If they had wanted that, they would have landed at one of the landing ports where a record of their arrival would become public information.

Not yet, Hernando said. His voice sounded like a groan as he shifted in his seat. I’m going to unbuckle and inspect the damage outside. Mason, care to join me?

You bet, Mason said.

I will investigate our life-support system, Eta said. All the jostling could have caused something to loosen.

The team slid out of their restraints. The thumps of their feet hitting the walls of the ship sounded around Cam. Cam released the latch on her seat, so it pivoted to face the wall that now functioned as the floor. She peeked at her team as they carefully moved around.

Mason’s tall figure walked toward the back of the ship, where the docking bay had the main exit. Hernando pulled out his toolbox and ship scanner from one of the storage units in the flight deck. He hobbled down the hall behind Mason. The toolbox striking objects as he went by.

I’ll analyze the data and figure out where Dev 23 brought us, Cam said.

Cam unhooked her seatbelt and braced herself on the arms of her seat. She let her right leg dangle off the chair and touch the ground. Her hands held onto the chair arms as she looked around. All her normal railings and handholds she used for support and mobility were below and above her. For future flights, she made a note to secure her crutches somewhere nearby on the flight deck.

The familiar ache from the pull of gravity spread around her body and felt like someone pushed on hidden bruises. The fabric of her gloved fingers grew tighter as her fingers swelled. Here on Cragglin, the dull ache around her body would be a constant companion.

During their travels through space, the ship’s gravity was set light enough so the crew could swim or jump with little effort. Cam loved it because she could move around without assistance and be pain-free. Returning to strong-gravity planets was one of the downsides of her work as a treasure hunter.

Eta’s vacant seat was three hops away. If the ship were upright, it wouldn’t be a problem. But the items clipped to the wall that was now the floor turned the short distance into a mini obstacle course. Cam wasn’t confident she could reach it without tipping over. She didn’t want to interrupt anyone from their tasks to ask for her crutches or prosthetic leg. The ship’s needs were more important.

But she wasn’t very useful standing by the co-pilot’s seat. She couldn’t get back into her seat if she wanted to. She reached up to change her comm line to Mason’s private channel to ask for help since Dev 23 was busy scanning the ship.

Mason appeared before she made the switch. His baggy blue environmental suit bunched around her prosthetic leg and crutches tucked under his arm.

I wasn’t sure which you would prefer, Mason said. He held out her prosthetic leg first.

Cam gave him a wry smile. I thought you were going to help Hernando.

I’m getting there. But you, he moved forward and let their helmets touch. His blue eyes met her gaze. Are more important.

Cam took her prosthetic leg