Freelance Saga 2: Quantum Interference by Scottie Futch Page A

Wounds healed rapidly and most moderate injuries would fade after one good night’s rest. While he could not claim that he’d h ad a good night’s rest, he had at least slept for a while.
    Scott sat up slowly then dragged his exhausted body to the tree that he had leaned against earlier. He managed to crawl up the trunk just enough to get the leverage that he needed to roll over.
    Now that he was sitting up properly he could breathe with greater ease. Softly, he whispered, “Fuck.”
    There were no words for the kind of pain that he had experienced earlier. Even now his body ached all over. Scott was afraid to close his eyes again. He had a strong feeling that the next time he closed his eyes he would not wake up.
    Instead of giving in to his body’s demands for rest, he looked up at the night sky. He was sitting in a forest clearing at the moment. The sky was open to him, and beautiful.
    While he sat there sounds and gentle lights began to make themselves known to him. He had been in too much pain to pay attention earlier, but he could hear a subtle noise in the background that sounded like a soft lyrical melody.
    He listened to the background music, the night-time symphony of the forest, while watching the dancing lights. “So, even here there are fireflies?”
    The gentle dance of the insects put him a little more at ease. Despite his exhaustion, and the nagging ache in his body, he could feel at peace for the moment.
    The moons of Alterra caught his attention next. The largest of the three moons looked like it took up half of the night sky, though that was obviously a trick of the light. “Bright blue, it looks like Earth.”
    He raised his hand and reached for that massive blue orb. How could it be so close that it was this large in the sky? Wouldn’t the gravitational force do terrible things to this world? It was just another oddity of this strange land and its game-related laws of physics. 
    Scott sighed softly then dropped his hand. He should just try to head back to Earth. Maybe if he transferred home he could get answers from the corporation.
    “Transfer protocol window.” Scott spoke the words loudly, clearly, but no thing happened. He stared at the empty air.
    He called out for the protocol window once more and it still did not appear. Panic began to creep along his spine. Slowly it wormed its way into his chest and his heart began to beat faster. The transfer window was not responding!
    A terrible suspicion overtook his sense. He began calling out for the menu screen, his inventory screen, anything that he could think of that might work. Nothing worked. He was completely cut-off.
    During the tutorial he had been able to use those functions with impunity. Now he had no access. He could not even return home!
    Normally he would attempt to think of some way to rectify his situation. However, the combination of pain and bewilderment caused him to do something he would not typically allow himself to do.
    In the darkness he breathed heavily for a moment. Then, slowly, he drew his knees up and wrapped his arms around them. His body began to shake and tears streamed from his eyes. Quiet sobs echoed softly through the night-time woodland.
    Reality had set in. He was lost, alone, and injured on an alien world. There was little that he could do till morning despite the gnawing hunger and burning thirst that he felt. He did not know how long he had been unconscious but he needed food and water desperately. There was nothing that he could do but wait for the morning to come, and hope that the dawn would bring new possibilities.

Chapter 2: Alone
    Life in the wilderness had a strange way of forcing people to do things that they normally would not do. Scott Hunter had finally reached the point where he could no longer ignore the needs of his body.
    His st omach growled fiercely. The beast dwelling within demanded tribute. It had been quite some time since he had eaten and his body had started to rebel against his