บท 12: A New Home

"Up," two pirates, armed with quantum guns, shouted, hammering on the gym's door with the ends of their firearms.

The people inside the gym were startled. Some of the kids even started to cry.

"Line up, two by two, and follow me off this spaceship, let's go!" one of the pirates commanded.

Yuri nudged Tuss and whispered, "Pull your belt tighter."

Tuss looked at her, confused, wondering if he'd heard her wrong.

"Hurry," Yuri pushed.

Tuss glanced down, tightened his belt, his cheeks flushing a bright red. Yuri, though, was too focused on the pirates to notice his embarrassment.

"I did it," Tuss murmured.

Without turning her gaze to him, Yuri bent down in front of him, "Climb on."

Doing as he was told, Tuss climbed onto her back, holding onto her neck. Yuri grabbed onto one of his pant legs, tucking it between her own legs, then did the same with the other. Once he was secure, she tied a knot with her mouth and her good left arm.

"Now, you won't slip off, and my arm can catch a break," she explained.

Tuss felt a bittersweet twinge in his heart. They'd only known each other for a few weeks, and he hadn't been exactly friendly to her. Now, captured by pirates, if she'd left him behind, he wouldn't have held it against her. After all, she was in as much danger as he was.

But she hadn't left him. She'd been taking great care of him these last few days.

Tuss really wondered why she was doing so, as their relationship was nothing more than a loveless deal.

Carrying Tuss on her back, Yuri merged with the crowd leaving the spaceship.

The moment she stepped onto the surface, her heart dropped. This was the most horrific place she'd ever seen, far worse than the post-apocalyptic world from her previous life. That place was perilous, survival was a daily fight, but at least the environment was livable. This place, however—

She didn't even know how she could begin to describe it.

The land was empty, nearly devoid of plant life. There were no signs of life, animal or human, no water to be seen, and even the air was low on oxygen.

It was nothing less than a desert.

"Is this the state of the entire planet, or just a certain area?" Yuri asked Tuss, who was on her back. His reply was, "This planet isn't fit for people to live on."

Yuri realized the whole planet was like this.

The pirates marched them forward, a sprawling range of grey-black mountains coming into view.

Not too far off were several large heaps of unrecognizable objects.

"You've got two hours to build what could be your home for the next few months, maybe even years. After two hours, everyone, no exceptions, works in the mines for me. If you can't, there's only one fate—death." The pirate's voice was cold and hard, his gaze resting on Yuri and Tuss for a moment before he declared, "Start the timer."

The group scattered, darting towards the piles of materials. Seeing this, Yuri did the same, telling Tuss, "You tell me what we need, and I'll grab it."

Yuri had only one arm, but she was strong. With Tuss on her back, they moved around, picking up items for their shelter. Tuss named more than ten items, and she remembered them all. After choosing one, she walked over to the place where the pirates had told them to build.

She put the item down and let Tuss slide off her back. "Stay here," she said. "I'll bring the rest."

Tuss grunted, watching her run off. Balancing with only one arm was tough; she rocked from side to side a bit more than usual.

It might have looked a bit odd, but to Tuss, there was something sweet about it. So sweet, in fact, that he would remember it for many years to come.

The items were mostly made of metal, with some being made of a material they didn't recognize. They were all pretty heavy.

The metal ones were easier for Yuri to handle; she could adjust their weight. But for the others, she had to use her strength.

No matter if she carried them in her arms or on her back, she kept pace with everyone else. She felt the pirates watching her and knew that if she slowed down, they might hurt her and Tuss.

To stay safe, she had to be strong and keep going.

Meanwhile, Tuss was busy too. He had been the top student at Military Academy No. 1 and was skilled at many things. Making a quick shelter was easy for him.

He didn't think about how strange his situation was and used his arms to get around. He even used his hands to lift himself up and search for tools in the pile Yuri had brought back.

By the time Yuri had brought all the items, Tuss was almost done building the shelter.

"Looking at the ground and rocks, it's probably windy here a lot, " Tuss said seriously. "We need to make the shelter secure, and the stakes have to go deep."

"Don't worry, just hold it steady. I'll hit the hammer," Yuri said, wishing she still had her right arm. She was right-handed.

Tuss couldn't offer to do it because, without his legs, he was top-heavy. He could barely sit still, let alone swing a hammer. At least, not right now.

He knew he had to get used to not having legs sooner rather than later.

"I'll practice aiming first," Yuri picked up the hammer, swung it a few times in the same spot and said, "Ready."

Tuss made a noise of agreement, his hands working hard to hold the stake still. Yuri was much taller than him now since he only came up to her waist, so he had to look up to see her.

Yuri, gripping the sledgehammer with her left hand, lifted it off the ground and swung it in a big circle, hitting the stake right on the dot.

There was a loud 'clang' as the stake dug a little into the ground.

"This ground is super hard," Yuri complained.

Tuss stayed quiet, pressing his lips together.

A little distance away, two men were also busy making a shelter.

"Why are we building shelters like cavemen when we have such advanced technology?" one of them grumbled.

The other one just shrugged. "Who knows. Maybe the pirates like watching us make fools of ourselves."

Yuri, their very own cave woman, just kept quiet.

After pounding two stakes into the ground, Yuri was tired. Her hands, not used to hard work, were blistered.

Sweat dripped from her face onto Tuss's. Before, Tuss would have freaked out about being dirty and would have needed to wash his face quite a few times. But now, he was so focused on holding the stake that he didn't even wipe the sweat away.

"Mr. and Mrs. Hiro, I've been searching for you everywhere."

Zeek looked relieved but also sad to see them looking so messy.

Yuri stopped and turned to Zeek. "Sorry, Zeek. There were too many people, and we had to hurry to build the shelter. We didn't have time to look for you."

And it wasn't just a few people. There were thousands, maybe tens of thousands, on the starship. Finding one person was like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Plus, given their conditions, it was easier to just look out for themselves. Even if Zeek wanted to help, the pirates might not let him.

Now that Zeek was here, they needed a bigger shelter. Yuri kept bringing materials, and Zeek and Tuss drove in the stakes. Once all the stakes were in and Yuri had brought all the materials, she and Zeek started building the shelter. Tuss connected the parts. With Zeek's help, they were working much faster.

Right when two hours had passed, the pirates blew a whistle. "Time to gather up," they called.