Chapter 28

Chapter 28 is the twenty-eighth chapter of the Astra Lost in Space manga. It is the second chapter of the Icriss arc and, in the compiled volumes, the tenth and final chapter of the third volume.

Synopsis
The crew stands on the wrecked forward hull of the Astra, waiting for Zack to return with a report on the ship's status after it crashed into the cliffside. When he rejoins them, his assessment is grave: while the ship still has the ability to fly short distances, faster-than-light travel is utterly impossible, as the fusion reactor in the bow is broken beyond repair. He tells them that their journey is over and that they will have to live the rest of their lives on Icriss.

Quitterie is vocally disbelieving of Zack's assertion; she questions the veracity of his words and demands that Kanata disprove Zack. Kanata's bitter reiteration of Zack's assessment crushes her, and she collapses to the ground in tears. Zack apologizes to the crew for the accident, but Kanata insists that he should have ordered a landing sooner. As Kanata seems to teeter on the verge of despair, Ulgar reminds him of Kanata's previous insistence on acting strong when their circumstances are against them. Ulgar suggests that Kanata would normally use some sort of proverb to drive the group forward, and fabricates one for the sake of example; his mood considerably brightened, Kanata immediately steals Ulgar's proverb and suggests they all begin foraging for food. He quietly thanks Ulgar for encouraging him, drawing a typical, gruff response from Ulgar.

The group splits up, and Charce, Funicia, Luca, Ulgar, and Yun-Hua begin searching for food. As they near the far side of the light-dark divider line on the planet's surface, snow begins to fall; Charce remarks that the air would be cold enough to freeze them without their suits on. Yun-Hua notices fruits growing at the top of a tree and wonders if they are edible; Ulgar shoots one down to test it and confirms that they are. She then wonders about the area's lack of animals, drawing Charce onto a lengthy tangent about how they might catch one insectoids they encountered before. Away from the group, Luca quietly regards the others' apparent casual behavior in the face of being freshly stranded, believing that they have somehow come to terms with their situation. Ulgar, kneeling next to him, is quick to correct his assumption, asserting that they are acting strong to keep the despair from overtaking them. Luca then asks Ulgar if he feels the same, drawing a defensive response from him.

Tugging on his sleeve, Funicia tries to convince Charce to search the area of a nearby cliff. He insists there is nothing edible there, owing to the planet's tidal locking preventing areas in shadow from ever receiving sunlight, but she points in the direction of the cliff, drawing his attention to something reflecting light underneath the cliff's overhang. Their interest more than piqued, the five move to investigate.

Meanwhile, Aries, Kanata, Quitterie, and Zack's search for water have led them to a freshwater pond; they have moved to Astra next to it and are filling its water tanks while Aries attempts to comfort the still-emotional Quitterie. When Zack tries to get her to focus on their survival, she snaps at him, questioning the point of any of what they are doing. She reminds him of the things she wanted to do with her life that she will never be able to do and sarcastically wonders how he is not behaving the way she is in response to having lost his own future. He coldly replies that he is dedicated to playing his role as the calm, collected member of the group, a role he refuses to abandon for any reason. Zack then offers her an alternative, one with a very low chance of success: one of the Astra 's cryo-stasis pods are still active, meaning that one of them could theoretically use it to wait for a possible rescue, one which might never come, owing to the vastness of space and the lack of a distress beacon on the Astra. The thought of everyone else dying while she alone survives is even more distressing to Quitterie, leading Zack to kneel down in front of her, hug her, and offer the only other alternative: living as best she can with everybody on Icriss.

Aries comments to Kanata about his composure and apparent acceptance of their situation, leading him to contradict that he is lying to himself, telling himself that they might be able to fix the Astra somehow many years in the future. Aries softly whispers to herself that being with Kanata for a long period of time would be pleasant. Kanata seemingly responds as if he has heard her words, but it quickly becomes evident he has not; speaking briefly into his comm, he tells the others that Charce wants them to come to his location immediately. They rush to his location and are just as confused and dumbfounded as Charce and the others in his group are: before them, sheltered underneath a prominent overhang in the cliffside, rests a ship that looks exactly like the Astra.