The clearing still smelled of smoke. Jagged metal jutted from the torn hull of the Artemis IV, wires dangling like entrails. The crew stood before it in silence, staring at what had once been their lifeline.
Okafor finally broke. "We're done. Look at it—engine housing crushed, comms tower gone. Even if we patch the hull, we'll never get her off the ground."
Hayes' voice cut like steel. "We're not done until I say we're done. That ship is our only chance. We fix it, or we die here."
Marquez crouched beside the wreck, fingers running over melted plating. "The reactor core is intact. If we can restore the housing and bypass the ruptured conduits, there's a chance." She hesitated. "But we don't have the materials."
All eyes turned to the ruin in the distance. The crown-shaped monument glowed faintly under the morning sun, its cracked crystal still pulsing deep within.
Daniel's chest burned in answer.
---
Inventory
The crew began to assess what remained. Supplies were scattered across the clearing—half their food packs lost, oxygen canisters dented, tools buried beneath debris.
Hayes recorded each item with a grim face. "Three days of rations, maybe four if we stretch it. Oxygen for a week, if no canisters leak further. Weapons functional. Tools limited."
Marquez wiped sweat from her brow. "We can't rebuild with this. We'll need alloys, components—things this forest doesn't grow."
Okafor spat into the dirt. "So what, we dig through alien ruins? Tear their stones apart and pray it matches Earth tech?"
Hayes didn't flinch. "Exactly that. Whatever brought us here wrecked our ship. Maybe it left us what we need."
---
Daniel's Unease
While the others argued, Daniel walked slowly around the wreck, his hand pressed to his chest. The crystal pulsed faster here, almost as if feeding from the ship's ruin.
When he touched the torn hull, a spark leapt between metal and stone. For a heartbeat, he saw something—schematics flashing across his vision. Blueprints of the Artemis IV, interwoven with symbols from the ruin.
He stumbled back, gasping.
Marquez caught his arm. "What did you see?"
Daniel hesitated, then whispered: "A way to fix it."
The others stared at him, doubt mixing with a fragile thread of hope.
Hayes squared his shoulders. "Then that's what we'll do. We salvage the ruins, rebuild the ship. Three days' rations or not, we work until it flies again."
The forest groaned in response, a low rumble beneath their boots, as if disapproving.
But Hayes ignored it. "This ship will rise. Or we won't."