by Jim Laughter
The other hunt leader was not having much more control over his group. Likewise eager to feast, they were nearly running through the woods ahead of him. He had to stop them several times and reform the ranks required in the search pattern. Tempers were wearing thin among the soldiers and his patience was nearly gone.
“Stay in formation!” he roared. The group stopped in the underbrush. He watched warily, knowing several of them were on the verge of bolting off on their own. With the arrogance of one new to power, he turned and cuffed the nearest soldier.
“You will obey me!” he raged as his claws tore gashes in the arm of his victim. Even the next nearest comrade several yards away could feel the heat boiling from the angry hunter.
“I will not!” his victim roared and turned on him with a swipe of his right claws. “You are not my superior!” he spat as he stepped in for another swing.
“Soft belly!” the hunter shot back. He backpedaled a few feet to maintain a safe distance. The possibility of a fight drew the other soldiers out of their positions. Eager of a blood fight, they formed a loose circle around the two combatants.
As if by unseen command, both unbelted their weapons. The other soldiers were right. This was going to be a blood fight. Knives, both long and short, cast aside (the commander had confiscated their energy weapons lest the human mass pick up an accidental discharge) the two took up positions facing each other in a cleared area among the trees.
They circled each other for several seconds while stripping away their battle tunics, bearing their arms and upper torsos. There could be no armor to protect them in a blood battle. Guttural insults and feints with a claw or two accompanied the verbal attacks as each watched the other for an opening, the hunt for humans temporarily forgotten.
In a flash of claw and red hide, the two dove at each other, exchanging a flurry strikes, both roaring in anger. In the next instant, they drew apart, each sporting fresh wounds which flowed freely with their thick blood.
The two were well matched, both about the same size and weight. The only differences were ones of age and temperament. Those who knew them both understood that the hunter was the younger, rasher of the two. This friction between them had simmered for many cycles but had been kept in check by those in authority over them.
Fighting among soldiers was not uncommon. In fact, some in command considered it a sign of extra prowess necessary to win in battle. So it was not considered insubordination for an older soldier to challenge a younger one placed over him. Frequently, the mismatching was done deliberately to provoke an up and coming leader to exercise his ability. It would stand him in good stead in their harsh society.
The two circled each other and traded insults regarding their spawning and personal habits. The other soldiers were very much amused by the spectacle. There were few diversions in their lives beyond conflict and the hunt. Besides, it helped determine who you could follow in the heat of battle and who you could not. One needed to know this if he were to survive. Few others would watch out for you, and many trusting weaker soldiers were sacrificed to benefit the strong.
Again, they sprang forward and met mid-air in a resounding crash of bodies and blood. To the untrained eye, it appeared to be a whirling tangle of fangs and claws as the now intertwined pair fought close for advantage. Such infighting was inbred into them from spawning and they tore at each other’s bodies and tunics. Blood, spittle, and bits of torn hide flew in all directions as they battled for supremacy. The tremendous roar of the two combatants filled the air, echoing through the forest as a witness that two mighty forces were engaged in mortal combat.
In a flash they were apart again, facing each other across an invisible circle in the alien soil. Both showed serious wounds. The younger hunter had an ugly gash along one arm. To casual observation, he did not appear to be aware of the wound, although his opponent noticed he kept that side further away than before.
The challenger could sense his impending triumph and prepared to spring again for the kill. What had begun as a blood fight for rank had turned into a battle to the death. The challenger relished the idea of tasting the lifeblood of the young hunter as it flowed freely onto the ground.
Rocking back in a feint to confuse the wounded hunter, the challenger tensed his muscles for his final attack. Before he could spring, the air was split by a sudden hiss and a long knife appeared buried deep in the chest of the young hunter, its ugly blade protruding from his back. A look of total astonishment flashed across his face and then he fell backward, dislodging the commander’s knife out part way. Dark blood stained the alien soil as his heart pumped its last.
“You should have let me finish him!” roared the challenger as he whirled and faced the commander standing on a rise behind him. All of them had been so focused on the fight that none had seen or heard his approach.
“He was not worthy of such a death,” the commander said. Stepping over to the fresh corpse, he pulled out his long knife and wiped it on the dead hunter’s battle tunic.
“He was weak,” the commander spat at the dead comrade.
He turned on the challenger. “But you fought well for an old fool,” he commended him. “Save your best for later. You may need it more than you think.”
The other soldiers gathered in a loose rank facing the two.
“You are leader of this group,” the commander continued after a moment. “You will assume his responsibilities and report directly to me.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“Don’t thank me,” he growled. “I heard you fools fighting all the way back at the bunker. Fail me again and I’ll pull my knife out of your chest next!”
The commander kicked the corpse with his cloven hoof and turned to face the rest of the hunting party. “That goes for the rest of you!”
As they started to move, he turned back to the new hunter. “I want you to find his unfortunate comrade and dig up his body,” he said. “Take it to the bunker and remove any sign of our presence here.”
“What shall we do with this body, sir?”
“Leave it. He died a defeated fool.”
With that, the commander turned and strode away in the direction of their underground hideout. Behind him, he heard the recently elevated soldier giving his first commands. The commander knew his orders would be carried out exactly as specified. Soon they would go out again to hunt for the two human females.
∞∞∞
It was late afternoon when Leatha finally stopped leading Anna higher and deeper into the woods. In spite of her excellent sense of direction, Anna was now so turned around that she only knew where they were in a general sense. This also may have been due in part to the effects of fatigue and hunger. After taking a sip from her nearly empty water bottle, she reached for one of the few energy bars she had kept when they abandoned most of their equipment.
She felt an unexpected hand staying hers from reaching into her side pocket. “Save it,” Leatha said in her normal voice. It had been so long since Leatha had last spoken that Anna was startled by the sound.
“But it’s all we’ve got,” Anna said as she tried again to get the bar.
“That’s why you must save it,” Leatha explained. “I know you’re hungry. Feed off what you can find. Let nature keep you alive. Don’t use what you can’t replace.”
Anna thought about this for a second and then relented.
Mention of things being replaced made Anna think of their water situation. A glance told her that Leatha had barely touched her bottle while Anna’s own was close to empty. Water was one thing they had in abundance here in the deep forest.
“Let me take the bottles and fill them,” Anna offered. “There was a small stream fifty yards back.”
Leatha frowned and took on a little more of the harsh demeanor again. Rising up, she peered out from where they were hidden behind a screen of brush. Anna saw her take a couple of sniffs and then listen. They both heard the terrible noise earlier that sounded like two wild beasts trying to
kill each other. After nearly a minute, Leatha crouched back down.
“Take one bottle,” Leatha whispered. “That way if you get surprised, we won’t lose both of them. Be quick and quiet. We don’t have much time.”
Anna started to move when Leatha whispered, “Don’t go back the same way we came.”
“Why not?”
“Leaves a trail.”
Deciding that filling the emptiest bottle made the most sense, Anna took her bottle out of its pouch and removed her pack. Leatha picked it up and slung it over her shoulder, ready to flee in an instant. Then she nodded at Anna who crept carefully out from their hiding place.
Long shadows slid across the forest floor as Anna moved quietly away from Leatha, seeking out a new path toward the stream. Trying to stay low and quiet, it took more minutes than they could spare to cover the fifty yards back to the stream.
Finding a depression in the soft sand of the stream bank, Anna stooped down and placed the open lip of the bottle in the clear water, listening for anything out of place while the container filled. A chill climbed up her arm from the cold liquid but she resisted moving so she wouldn’t make any undue noise. The haunting stillness of the late afternoon forest only accentuated the rapid pounding of her heart. It felt as if her chest would explode from the fear settling over her.
With the water bottle full, Anna lifted it out of the stream and secured the cap. She triggered the dispenser in it that released purifying chemicals into the bottle. Careful as before, she crept back to their hiding spot, again taking a different route. She found Leatha still crouched in almost exactly the same position as when she’d left. Anna held up the full bottle of water for her to see.
“Let me fill yours now.”
Instead of answering, Leatha rose up just high enough to look over the tops of the bushes. A breeze arose and Leatha sniffed it before it died, straining her senses, seeking something she couldn’t see or hear. After another minute, she lowered herself back down into a crouching position behind the brush.
“There’s no time,” Leatha announced. Her voice was flat and quiet. “We’ve got to find a place to defend for the night.”
“What are we looking for?”
“Someplace rocky,” Leatha answered. Without expanding her answer, she moved into the forest and was gone, gliding through the trees like a seasoned hunter in search of a place to set up for a kill shot. Realizing she had to follow or be left behind, Anna fell in behind the stealthy trooper.
The two wove a wandering path through the high forest for what seemed like hours. Mindful of Leatha’s advice about food, Anna picked berries along the way.
The idea of harvesting had been worrisome at first to Anna. Since they were being followed, it would be a clear indication they had gone this way. Then she noted that Leatha was also picking berries but not taking all in reach. Instead, she was grabbing just a few here and there farther back on the bush. Tricky, she thought.
Anna smiled at this. Evidence of someone or something taking the berries would be scattered and hard to spot. Even an experienced hiker such as herself would have difficulty discerning anything but a general sense that something had passed this way. Direction would be a difficult thing to determine even to someone or something wood wise.
After another hour of fast hiking, they reached a rock outcropping deep in the woods. Tall trees grown up in the soft soil at the base of the rocks masked them from view. Anna spotted several likely caves and defiles but Leatha just passed them by. Deciding to trust whatever it was that directed the young trooper, Anna said nothing.
Higher and higher they moved until they reached a rock face much steeper than before. The trees screened it only with their topmost branches. All around was the hard scrabble of stone that had flaked off through the years. Anna was amazed that somehow Leatha still managed to move across the loose surface with hardly a sound. That she was doing this in the very low light of approaching night was even more impressive.
They soon came to a small cave that ran deep into the cliff. Leatha turned in and led them inside until they were out of sight from the entrance. After a quick inspection, she dropped her pack.
“I assume this meets your specifications?” Anna said. She dropped her backpack beside Leatha’s after removing her water container.
“It will have to do,” Leatha said.
“Why didn’t you pick one of the lower caves?” Anna asked. “They looked much more comfortable.”
“Maybe so,” Leatha answered. “But the soft soil would have betrayed us. Where we are now, we will hear their claws on the rocks long before they can see us. The rocks also give us some form of crude weapon.”
“What will they have?” Anna asked. “Blasters?”
“Not here, not now,” Leatha said in that singsong voice Anna identified as relating to something dark in her past. Was this the scared little girl from that planet so far way, or was it the warrior that had faced their enemy in hand-to-hand combat? It was impossible to tell.
“I doubt if they’ll use blasters if they’re trying to stay hidden. The energy signature would be readable from any satellite or passing ship in space. No, they’ll have knives and cross bolts like they used back there.”
“Back where?” Anna asked, bewildered by Leatha’s statement. “I didn’t see anything. Did you?”
“No, but I heard them,” Leatha answered. “We both did.”
“The animals fightin in the woods?”
“They had a blood fight. The last sound I heard was the thud of a knife striking flesh and bone. I’ve heard it before. It’s not a sound you can forget.”
A chill ran up Anna’s spine. “Will they find us?”
“Eventually,” Leatha answered. “But not tonight if I read things right. Get some rest. They’ll attack tomorrow.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Anna woke with a shudder. A deep cold chill rippled through her body. She fought for wakefulness while the wisps of terrible dreams fled from her mind. All she could grasp was the raw emotion of fear stabbed in her heart. Terror gripped her soul.
Peering into the inky blackness, she thought she discerned the faintest hint of Leatha squatting nearby. “Can’t sleep?” she asked in an effort to dispel her own nightmares and reach out for human contact.
“How can I sleep when they’re coming?”
The words from the corner sounded small and frightened, not the voice of an adult.
“What?” asked Anna, startled by the voice emitting from the dark corner of the cave.
“They always come,” said the little voice, dripping with resignation.
“Who always comes?”
Anna felt like she was talking to a child still in her very early years.
“The monsters. The monsters always come. You can never ever get away. They track you, then they kill you, then they eat you.”
Anna knew she had to handle this situation with kid gloves. She didn’t want to upset Leatha, not in this state of mind. She wished Rose Sharon were here to deal with Leatha at times like this.
Anna thought about the signaling responder still in her pack. Leatha wanted to keep it so the Red-tails could not use it to find them. She still wondered about that and thought Leatha might be overreacting. Under their current circumstances, calling for help might be an excellent idea. “We can call for help.”
“You can call somebody?” came back the plaintive little voice.
“We have the signaling responder.”
“Can we call my Mommy?”
What’s going on? Anna thought. She heard what sounded like the whimpers of a small child crying. She scooted across the cave floor to the alcove. She wished they’d brought a lantern with them. Even a candle would have helped. The lack of light this far back in the cave made it impossible to see more than a foot or two.
Anna reached out in the dark to the place where she believed Leatha was crouched in the corner. Her hand brushed against Leatha’s arm. She risked shaking her, fearful she
might react out of character.
In a flash, Leatha was out of the corner and on top of Anna, her hands around her neck in a steely grip. Anna fell back on the cave floor, a desperate attempt to escape the sudden attack.
“Leatha, wait! It’s me!” Anna choked. With her airway constricted, she felt herself losing conscious.
“Leatha, please!”
Just as quick as her attack, Leatha released Anna and fell to the floor in the darkness beside her. Her heavy breathing let Anna know she was still near, although she couldn’t see her face to tell what kind of disposition she was in.
Leatha reached out in the dark and laid her hand on Anna’s arm. “Sorry,” she said while Anna gasped for breath. Anna noticed that Leatha’s voice was more in her normal tones.
“You were dreaming again,” Anna whispered, her voice not back to full strength. She thought she sensed Leatha shaking herself but she wasn’t sure.
“Sorry,” Leatha said again. “Was I talking in my sleep?”
She nodded then realized Leatha couldn’t see her either. “Yes, you were,” Anna answered quietly.
“What did I say?”
Anna could tell Leatha was torn between two lives; one a secure life in outer space, and the other a hidden world of youthful terror.
“Nothing important,” Anna answered, dismissing the question. Privately, she had other thoughts but kept them to herself. She rubbed her throat where Leatha had wrapped her very strong fingers around it.
“Guess we should get some sleep,” Leatha offered.
The two women still lay on the floor where they’d fallen. Anna’s mind raced with fear of what might happen tomorrow. Leatha’s mind reeled with fear she’d lived with her whole life.
“I can’t sleep now,” Anna spoke into the darkness.
“Why?”
“Nightmares. Just thinking about Red-tails makes sleep impossible.”
“You’re not the only one,” Leatha said. “Since we’re awake anyway, we might as well figure out what we’re going to do.”
