“We’ve got company,” Dani alerted Cruz and Jag.
They continued drop in altitude, the creature that moved through the grass keeping pace with the ship.
“There’s a few over here, too.” Jag nodded out his side of the cruiser.
Dani frowned, watching three more swaths of grass rustling alongside the ship’s path.
The lakes passed by below them as Jag made his way toward a flat area of ground. The creatures halted just before the grass’s edge as the cruiser glided over the mirrored lake surfaces, causing ripples to fan out on each one. Once across, Jag carefully lowered the cruiser, small trees and grass swaying from the landing thrusters. “Osirion, we’ve landed. Stand by.”
The network of lakes lay just ahead with a glowshard-covered hill at their center. The exterior of the hill was the same sponge-like, blue-green-purple material that made up the exterior of Osirion. It comprised millions of tiny organisms all working together to form a tough, self-healing skin. The glowshard was able to live in nearly any environment, but it did require specific conditions for its self-healing properties.
Dani, Jag, and Cruz leapt into action as soon as the thrusters shut down. They quickly donned their helmets and holstered their handguns, picking up the rifles last.
“Cassia, do you read?”
“Yes, Dani, I’m here.”
“How’s it looking out there?”
“I’m not seeing anything in your immediate vicinity. The lifeforms seem to have returned to the prairie. The scans show me that you landed near the egniorium deposit. It’s just there at the center of the lakes.”
“Looks like there’s a cave right there along the water’s edge.” Jag pointed out the window.
“Alright, Jag.” Dani grabbed two port-cons from their docking stations on the cruiser and powered them up. “I need you to go in and get the egniorium, fifteen pounds of it. Cruz and I will watch your back. I don’t know if this will work in there, but take it anyway.”
A honeycomb structure of smaller lakes lay before them. Land bridges no more than a few feet wide divided the lakes and ultimately led to the hill at the center.
Dani stepped out of the cruiser, squinting as the sun glinted off of the settling water. “Looks like we’ll have to wind our way over there.”
Cruz and Jag joined her, carrying the supplies. Expanding out from the lakes was a variety of landscapes. A mountain range began its upward slope behind them. To the left and right were the prairie hunting lands for the unnaturally quick predators. And directly ahead, beyond the lakes, lay a grove of the low, wide trees.
Dani passed the first port-con to Jag and adjusted the second, attaching it to her left forearm. “These won’t be effective for sensing lifeforms more than a few yards away, so we’re relying on Cassia’s eye in the sky.”
“You got it,” Cassia replied. “Z has us locking in orbit above you, so I’m watching. So far the big ones are still on the other side of the lake.”
“Egniorium is pretty soft,” Howard chimed in. “It’s red and should look kind of like cloudy gelatin. Don’t let its appearance fool you, though. Despite its malleability, it’s quite heavy. Oh, and don’t shoot at it or blow it up because you’ll die.”
Jag snorted and grinned. “You almost left that little detail out, didn’t you, old man?”
“I told ya, didn’t I?” Howard’s chuckle rang out across the comm.
“Let’s get a move on,” Dani said as she started toward the first path of land running between two lakes. She would have loved to take more time to enjoy the beauty of the planet. It wasn’t often that she had the opportunity to explore on this level. However, the constant stirring of the tall grass from the gentle breeze made Dani uneasy, especially after witnessing how quickly the predators moved.
Dani kept a watchful eye as she navigated them along the network of glowshard-covered stone paths toward the center. The occasional glance down allowed her to see deep into the pools of water surrounding them. Vibrant green fish darted away from the trio and down into the deep blue as they passed.
Dani turned when she reached the cave to look out across the land again. “Cassia, you’re sure there aren’t any signs of civilization? I don’t want to be stealing someone’s egniorium. I know how valuable it is.”
“No, scans didn’t pick up any tech readings or find any indications of civilization. If someone is here, they’ve done a really great job of hiding themselves.”
“Hey, Howie, there’s some of this red stuff on the ground here outside the cave.” Jag knelt down to examine some faded red crystals.
“That’s no good to us. We need stone that hasn’t been exposed to the sun’s rays. It weakens it, making it brittle and useless.”
“Gotcha.” Jag sighed. He picked up one of the red stones and crushed it easily between his fingers.
Dani proceeded to the mouth of the cave, turning on the light mounted on her rifle and shining it into the entrance. The cave was small, but it was large enough that the sun didn’t seem to reach the back half of the cave. She squinted at the dim glow produced by the light on her rifle, but couldn’t tell for sure if any of the egniorium that showed up on the scans was easily accessible.
“Looks good, Jag. Get in there and get us what we need. Cruz and I will wait here. Stay on comms.”
Jag made his way into the cave, sweeping his lit weapon to and fro.
Dani turned to face Cruz, who was perched on a rock and staring across the network of lakes through his scope. Dani followed his gaze to the tall grass on the other side. Several tails, she counted seven, waved in the air in a circle. Dani whispered, “Looks like they caught something.”
Cruz remained motionless, staring at the herd while Dani slowly scanned the area around the lakes once more. Movement near the ship caught her eye, and she crouched down, lifting her rifle and taking aim.
Though Dani’s father spent much of his time away on missions, they did bond over some common hobbies, one of them being hunting. Bob Devereaux was a sportsman at heart, though he wasn’t one who only hunted for the trophy. He prided himself on always having a fair hunt and using as much of his prey as possible. There was a calm about him when they were on their excursions. He always told Dani that there was something so centering about being out in the wilderness.
As Dani peered through her scope, she could make a slight outline of a smaller animal at the edge of the grass. She wasn’t able to tell exactly what it was, but she knew it was there. She pulled her eyes away for the briefest of seconds to glance at her port-con and make sure no other, larger lifeforms were closing in.
She took a deep breath, everything seeming so clear. Each blade of grass was in focus. The gentle breeze across her cheek shifted, placing them upwind of the small animal. The movement stopped.
Dani held perfectly still, waiting. Patience was key in a hunt, but despite her experience, she didn’t want to shoot the creature if she didn’t have to. Dani whispered into the comm, “How’s it going in there, Jag?”
“Found a nice sized deposit and I’m working on carving the egniorium out now,” his hushed reply returned.
A short, quiet whistle came from Cruz’s direction.
Dani lifted her eyes to his perch, keeping her weapon trained in the direction of the creature.
“They’re moving around the lakes,” he signed, then pointed.
The creatures cut paths through the tall grass alongside the water, working their way along the outer edge of the lake area and back toward the cruiser. An occasional glimpse of thick, scaled tail was their only identifying trait.
The grass rustled, and a quiet sound emerged from the shrubbery, something between a chirp and a mew. Dani’s eyes flew to the source of the noise as it stepped into a small opening. Her heart started to race as the medium-sized creature spotted her. Its face was long and flat with pointed teeth angling out of its jaw. It stood on its back two muscular legs while one of its front claws clutched a small, wriggling, furry creature. Th
e other arm steadied the mix of what Dani could only describe as a crocodile and gorilla, the likes of which she had never seen before.
Dark scales and tufts of either fur or fine feathers coated its body. But the characteristic Dani couldn’t take her eyes off of was the tail, a smaller version of the tails belonging to the creatures making their way around the lake.
She had seen the dark tufts of fur-like feathers all around the entrance of the cave, but she’d assumed they belonged to some kind of bird. It didn’t take her long after spotting the creature to realize she was woefully wrong.
“We have a problem,” she whispered, sitting motionless as the realization came to her. “I think we’re in their nest.”
As soon as Dani finished talking, the creature before her dropped the animal it held, which scampered into the undergrowth. It crouched down, facing her, much like Carl would just before he pounced on whatever he was stalking at the time. She was unsure if it wanted to play or was getting ready to attack; regardless, she switched the safety off on her weapon.
Then the creature shrieked the most awful scream Dani had ever heard.
Chapter 6
The noise from the animal stopped Dani’s heart as her eyes darted to the far end of the lakes that the creatures were rounding. Their movement stopped, but only for the briefest of seconds. A moment later, they were on a full-on run toward the cruiser and what Dani guessed to be their young.
“Lifeforms coming in fast!” Cassia called out through the comm.
“Jag, grab what you can and get out of there,” Dani ordered as she and Cruz hurried behind a large rock at the water’s edge. They took aim where the tall grass ended as they watched the tails swarm closer. The youngling screeched again before sprinting toward them along the stone laced between the lakes and toward the cave.
Dani started to pivot toward the smaller animal when the rest of the herd erupted from the grass. A mess of muscle, snapping jaws, and deep-throated roars erupted from the mass of creatures. Dani turned back to them and opened fire along with Cruz, ignoring the smaller, less threatening version of the beast as it ran into the cave behind them.
“Jag, you’ve got company!” she shouted as she fired shot after shot into the herd.
The beasts stumbled but didn’t stop. Their thick hides held up well against the ammunition, leaving only minor wounds that seeped with a vibrant purple ooze. The ineffective bullets seemed to anger the beasts as their roars increased in volume and intensity.
Rocks and dirt slid down the hillside beside Dani. She swung her weapon toward the origin of the disturbance and was surprised to see a leather-clad woman sliding gracefully down the side of the hill, bow drawn. The wind tousled the woman’s vibrant red hair as she skidded to a stop at the bottom of the hill. She loosed a well-timed arrow straight into the open jaws of one of the beasts, the tip protruding through the back of the skull.
Dani’s eyes widened as they met Cruz’s and they imitated their sudden ally and aimed for the mouths of the beasts when they roared. One of Cruz’s shots hit its target as it found its way into the gaping mouth of a large beast, blowing out through the back of its skull and dropping the now-lifeless animal to the ground. The others paused a moment to look at their fallen kin before roaring anew and resuming their charge.
They continued to fight alongside the redheaded woman as the creatures made their way through the maze of lakes and stone. Even the non-lethal hits were slowing them down, slightly. However, the remaining beasts seemed to grow stronger and more determined as each creature fell.
Another beast splashed into a pool alongside the path, its massive tail causing the next to fall in as well. However, the second animal quickly recovered and climbed out of the water to resume its charge.
“Gaaah!” Jag’s scream echoed in Dani’s head through the comm, followed by gunfire.
“Jag, you alright?” Dani shouted over the firefight.
“Let’s just get the hell out of here!” he shouted again, running up beside her with a limp and taking aim along with Dani and Cruz after a momentary glance at the stranger.
Dani and Cruz’s rifles ran out of ammunition and were tossed aside as the pair drew their handguns. The redheaded woman ran out of arrows and drew a long, curved blade from a sheath.
Another one down, three left, but they were too close. The guns slowed the pace of the herd significantly, but they weren’t enough to stop it. Cruz holstered his weapon as the animals closed the remaining distance, and then he pulled a large knife from his utility belt.
With all the grace of a skilled fighter, Cruz launched himself over the rock and tackled the first creature, thrusting his knife into its mouth and out the top of its head. He quickly retracted his arm with a twist and charged the next beast while Dani and Jag shot at the third.
A poorly timed roar resulted in the demise of the creature Jag and Dani shot at while the last menacing beast threw Cruz to the ground and lumbered over him.
Jag leapt on the animal’s back, drawing his own knife and attempting to shove it into the creature’s neck. The rough scales deflected the blade, causing only a shallow cut, but one deep enough to draw more of the purple ooze.
Angry, the beast reached back and pulled Jag off, throwing him at Dani before turning to Cruz once more with another loud roar. Cruz quickly drew his handgun and fired into the creature’s mouth three times, causing it to stumble forward and fall on him.
The redheaded woman hurried to Cruz’s side and tugged on the beast in a fruitless effort to free him.
Dani and Jag untangled themselves and scrambled to their feet. Jag’s knife had slit across Dani’s side between her armored plates during the collision, and she winced in pain as she straightened out her torso. The two hurried to Cruz’s side and tried to roll the heavy beast off of him.
After several pulls and some pushing on Cruz’s part, the four of them were finally able to remove the beast and free Cruz.
In the distance another roar sounded.
“Let’s get the hell out of here!” Dani shouted as she ran toward the cruiser, holding her side.
Cruz quickly grabbed her by the wrist and pointed to another grouping of the dinosaur-like tails running toward the cruiser.
“The cruiser is surrounded. Head for the grove of trees if you can. I don’t see any lifeforms that direction,” Cassia called through the comm.
Dani turned to run the opposite direction, but she lost her footing on the purple ooze–covered stone and slipped down, into the water. Her equipment weighed her down, and the cut on her side stung fiercely at the exposure to the water, limiting her ability to quickly recover. She knew how to swim, but the water in the lake provided her with less buoyancy than she had ever experienced.
Her kicks and attempts to grab onto the side of the stone wall were futile as she rapidly sank deeper and deeper below the surface. In a desperate attempt to save herself, she started to unclip gear from her body, but before she could release her pack, a wave of red hair dove into the water beside her. The warrior woman hooked her arm under Dani’s and kicked off the wall, back toward the surface, where Cruz quickly grabbed Dani by the armored plate on her chest and hoisted her out of the water.
Dani sputtered and gasped as the woman climbed out and grabbed Dani by the arm once more, practically dragging her along the path. Cruz followed close behind, glancing back over his shoulder at the cruiser, where the creatures had just emerged from the brush.
Jag was near the edge of the lake system, limping along with a pained look on his face. He stopped and stared back at Dani and the others. “Is she okay?”
“Go!” Dani yelled and waved at him between coughs as she struggled to keep up with the red-haired woman. Her lungs burned, but stopping wasn’t an option at this point.
The woman reached Jag and grabbed the egniorium bag from his hands. He started to protest, but more frantic waves from Dani convinced him to let it go. The warrior woman swung the bag up over her shoulder and set off in a dead spr
int toward the trees.
Dani was impressed with the woman’s speed and thankful for her help. Without the extra weight, Jag was getting along a little better, but Dani and Cruz still caught up with him rather quickly, and if they could, the beasts could.
She glanced back across the honeycomb of stone and water and saw the creatures were quickly gaining ground and were nearly to the cave. Had it been open field, they would have surely been dead by now. Dani swung around to look toward the trees. They seemed so close, yet so far away.
“Cruz, get Jag,” Dani ordered as she firmly placed her hand on her side and tried to pick up the pace.
In near effortlessness, Cruz bent and angled his shoulder under Jag’s arm on the side of Jag’s injured leg and grabbed him around the back. His muscles flexed as he started to run, Jag bouncing along beside him on his good leg. They made quick time and caught up to Dani with relative ease. She gritted her teeth and tried to ignore the pain as they made their way toward the thick trees.
The warrior woman reappeared through the foliage and waved them closer, but as they neared she held up her hands, gesturing for them to stop. The trio quickly came to a halt and saw the reason for the woman’s hesitation. The trees were covered with gigantic thorns as big as Dani’s forearm. At the end of each glistened a drop of amber-colored liquid, sparkling in the sunlight.
The woman beckoned for them to follow her and carefully stepped between a pair of the trees that were slightly more spaced out that the rest. Dani followed next, contorting her body away from the dagger-like thorns and into the darkness of the grove. Once she reached an area where she could turn around, she helped guide Jag through, then Cruz.
Within the safety of trees, Dani and her crew could hear the animals shrieking, but they didn’t follow. Even without the thorns, the trees were much too close for the large beasts to find their way through, and Dani felt relief for the first time since the youngling first appeared.
The Complete First Season - Episodes 1-5 Page 24
