“Tiburon! Put the gun down!” Catina yelled as she ran towards them.
Tiburon looked up as he fired. It was Catina, she had come back to him.
She ran to the gate and tried to open it, confused by the chain.
“Get the key from him,” Tiburon ordered.
She turned and looked at the stranger and then her eyes fell to the body of Jason.
“Jason!” She ran to his side. “What happened to him?”
“Your husband almost choked him to death.”
“Oh Jason, I told you not to come back. I begged you,” she whispered as she cradled his head in her lap.
“Catina, get the key!” Tiburon demanded.
“Will he be all right?” She looked up at the man, realizing this must be the man Jason had come back for.
“If you can help me carry him to the car,” the man said.
The gun blast brought them back to reality. Catina turned and faced her husband.
He aimed the gun at Jason. “Open this gate now, or he’s dead.”
“Tiburon don’t do this,” she pleaded as she walked towards him.
“It is the only way. Don’t you see? We have to leave here. They have killed Morta. You are all I have left. We must leave here and go someplace safe.”
“We will,” she promised him. “But let them go first.”
“No!” he raged. “They killed Morta! I will not let them go!”
Catina stepped back from the cage. “I say they go.”
Tiburon aimed the gun at Jason. “I say they die.” Before he could fire, she stepped into the path of his aim.
“Get out of the way!”
“No. If you insist on killing them, you must risk killing me and our child.”
“Catina!” Tiburon roared. “Do not cross me on this!”
Fear shivered up her spine, but she held her position as Winston got Jason to his feet and slowly pulled his friend up the trail. Catina followed close behind. She blocked Tiburon’s line of sight until they turned the first bend. The moment Tiburon could no longer see them, she ran to help Winston, who had collapsed against a large boulder.
“Hurry,” Catina urged. “I don’t know how long that cage will hold him.”
Winston shook his head. “I would love to hurry, but I’ve lost too much blood myself.” Then he collapsed on top of Jason.
Catina pushed him off Jason. She would come back for Jason’s friend later. First, she half-carried, half-dragged Jason to the car. She was struggling unsuccessfully to get him in the back seat when Milo drove up. She had never been so happy to see anyone in her entire life.
***
Milo stared at the two unconscious men in the back seat. They looked dead. “Cat, they need a doctor!” He held on to the seat as Catina took the curve much too fast. “And if you don’t slow down, we’ll all need one.”
“I can’t slow down. I’ve got to get out of range before he gets out of that cage.”
“Did they go into a cage? The blond guy’s leg looks mauled.”
Catina was about to tell him the truth but stopped. How could he believe the truth? It sounded insane. No one would ever believe her.
Chapter 24
Carmella was livid with rage, but she didn’t let it show. The native tracker had negotiated an outrageous fee to take her to the Warrior, and now he wanted more. She studied his face closely. He wasn’t frightened as he claimed to be. He was simply greedy.
She reached into her backpack and pulled out the gun Kyle had procured for her. Aiming it directly at his head, she stated clearly in his tribal tongue, “I have paid you more than a fair price and you will fulfill your end of the bargain.” She wasn’t certain whether the man looked so surprised because she had spoken his language, or because she countered with a gun.
“If you shoot me, you’ll be lost in the jungle forever.”
She shrugged.
He studied her eyes for a moment and seemed to accept this unexpected turn of events. They continued through the vague jungle trail for several miles. As they moved deeper into the jungle, Carmella sensed they were not alone. Something followed them.
The native’s pace quickened, and his trail became confused. He would walk a hundred feet north, then turn west then turn south. He was running her in a circle!
She called for him to hold up as she stopped to get her compass out of the pack. She steadied the round cylinder in her hand and watched the dial swing. She was right: they were now heading south. She put the compass in her pocket and pulled out the gun, cocking it for immediate use. The native would honor his contract, or he would die right along with her.
Or not…
The man was gone. She studied the area she had seen him last, but there was no sign as to what direction he had disappeared. The sensation that someone or something was watching her intensified. In one fluid motion she raised the gun above her head and fired into the thick green canopy of the vine covered trees.
The gunshot thundered, followed by screeching birds escaping the area, and then utter silence reigned.
She listened, waiting for any clue of her watcher, her gun darting from side to side, up to the canopy above and back to another side as little noises erupted around her. A clear snap of a twig turned her north, but before she could fire into the foliage, a giant blackness struck her from the side with a force strong enough to send her into oblivion.
***
She awoke choking from the smoke-filled air. Every nerve in her body screamed for her to run. Unfortunately, the cutting pain in her wrists and ankles indicated that was not possible. She opened her eyes a tiny slit to see if she were alone. She appeared to be lying on the dirt floor of a native hut. The only light came from the small crawlspace opening by her feet and the rays of light filtering through the slates of bamboo on the sides and roof.
The stench of rotting flesh was overwhelming, making her stomach heave. She forced herself to re-swallow the bile rising in her throat. This was no time to be gagging and coughing. She needed to escape before they realized she had awakened.
Her backpack lay a few feet away. It appeared undisturbed. If she could get to it and find her pocket knife, she might have a chance. Slowly she wiggled and rolled toward the backpack. She was almost there when the darkness in the corner spoke.
“You would escape without seeing the man you’ve come so far to see?”
She froze for a moment, then shuffled herself so she could see better into the dark corner. A giant man stepped forward and knelt beside her. His skin was true black. His long straight hair streamed down upon his shoulders like streaks of black rain. He was without question the most beautiful creature she had ever seen.
“You are the Warrior.”
He smiled, exposing his sharp pointed canines which glowed with whiteness. “I am sometimes called that.” He held a small sliver of metal in his giant hands. Her pocketknife. He pried the blade open and leaned forward deftly slicing the leather straps binding her hands and legs.
Released from the bondage, she pushed herself into a seated position and continued to study him as he studied her. Neither spoke for several minutes.
“Where are you from?” she asked.
He looked surprised by her question. “You come to my jungle and ask me where I live?”
“No, before that. What planet? Is it in our galaxy?”
Her question surprised the Warrior. He leaned back on his haunches and studied her a bit more. He had planned to kill her for his evening meal since she was much too small to bear him offspring. However, she intrigued him. She entered the jungle in search of him. She awoke a prisoner yet showed no fear. And now she wanted to know what planet he called home.
“I was born on a ship. This is the only planet I have known.”
Her lovely doe eyes studied him. “Besides your offspring, are there others like you on this planet?”
She knew of his offspring? He leaned forward and studied her. She was a clever young thing, a pity she was so small. “No.” He found p
leasure in discussing his life with someone intelligent enough to understand what he really was. “At least, not that I am aware. My ship only carried myself. I traveled two galaxies before the guidance system located a planet capable of supporting me.”
“What was the purpose of your journey?”
He again seemed surprised by her question. “My purpose?”
“Yes…the reason why you were traveling in the ship.”
He frowned. “I don’t know. My first memories are as a cub, living in the ship.”
“Alone?”
“Yes,” he replied, his voice guarded now.
“No Mother, no other cub?”
“No,” he replied with terseness.
***
Carmella studied his face. Had that been guilt she saw flash upon his expression?
“It seems odd, that they would put you in a ship all alone, with no parent nor mate.”
He turned away from her gaze for a moment. When he turned back, his eyes dilated with anger. “It seems odd someone who is going to soon be eaten alive would bother herself with my cubhood.”
She seemed unperturbed by either his anger or her impending death. “I’m a researcher. I collect facts and try to make sense out of them.”
“And you have come to collect facts about me?”
“Yes.”
He studied her further. When he finally spoke again, sadness replaced his anger. “It seems a high price to pay for knowledge.”
“What?”
“Your life. You do realize I will never let you leave here alive?”
“I knew it was a possibility.”
“But still you came.”
“I had to. It was the only way to discover the truth about you. I could not sort facts from fantasy.” She rubbed her eyes. The smoky air burned them.
“Come.” He grabbed her arm and pulled her from the hut into the fresh air.
The clean freshness of the air shocked her system, sending her body into racking coughs as it desperately tried to rid itself of the smoke and replace it with fresh air.
He waited until she stopped coughing and then pulled her through the huts of the village and into the jungle. He never released his iron grip on her wrist, except in several instances where he lifted her onto his shoulders, so he could leap across impossibly wide gaps in the rocky ledge of the river cavern.
His final leap brought them onto a large flat rock that seemed to teeter on the edge of a hundred-foot waterfall. With white water roaring around them, he released her and sat on the warm rock, indicating for her to do the same.
“So, little researcher, ask me your questions. Since you’ll pay the ultimate price, I will tell you what I can.”
Carmella had no desire to die, but her best chance of surviving was to form a bond with this alien. If it didn’t work, at least she would die discovering the greatest secret on earth. “Did you program the ship to find this planet, or was it pre-program to do that?”
“I did not program it, so perhaps it was pre-programmed.”
“And they gave you no instructions, no indication of what you were supposed to do when you arrived?”
“No.”
Carmella frowned. “That doesn’t make any sense. Why would they send a single cub out into space?”
His eyes narrowed, while his hands furled and unfurled. “Perhaps there was only me.”
She could tell by his agitation he was not telling her something important. “Doubtful. Someone put you in that ship.”
“True, but it could have been a different species.”
“I don’t think so. Your species is designed to be dominant. A competing species would kill you, not send you into space looking for a new planet to occupy.”
His eyes widened in surprise. “So what do you think happened?”
“Insufficient data for speculation,” she replied. “Is your ship still intact?”
“No.”
“What happened to it?”
“The jungle devoured it.”
Carmella sat up. “Can I see it?”
“There’s nothing to see.”
She didn’t believe him. “It might help me to determine why you are here.”
“I do not need to know why I am here. I only need to know that I am here; a god among animals,” he raged. His voice echoed through the canyon.
She remained quiet for several moments, and then observed, “That must be hard.”
“What?” His eyes narrowed in suspicion.
“To spend hundreds of years among creatures so far beneath your intelligence.”
He nodded and closed his eyes. “You are very different from other humans.”
“Besides your tribesmen and Dr. Taylor, how many humans have you known?”
The Warrior opened his eyes in surprise. “You know Dr. Taylor?”
“I know of Dr. Taylor. I have never met him, personally.”
“He is still alive then?”
“Yes.”
The Warrior considered the implications of this statement.
“As are your children,” Carmella added, suspecting that was what had set his face into such deep thought.
He leaned forward. “You know of my children?”
She nodded.
He smiled, displaying his white sharp teeth. “You are a very good researcher. Who else knows what you have discovered?”
Carmella shrugged. “Suffice it to say, that killing me won’t stop the investigation.”
The Warrior did not waste his effort extracting the names of the others from this doe-eyed human, he would get that soon enough. She would give them away when the agony of being eaten alive became an excruciating reality.
“So, what do you know of my offspring?” He stared out across the water, attempting to disguise the level of his true interest.
Her head tilted to one side and then she smiled. “I will trade you, truth for truth.”
The Warrior tensed in fury. He was not accustomed to bartering with humans. Didn’t she realize his power and strength? He stared at her, so fragile, but so calm. She showed no fear, only intellectual curiosity. It was a shame she was so small. He would certainly like a cub with her intelligence.
She was also very beautiful. He moved closer to her and smelled her sweet scent. He had planned to kill her for his dinner, but if he did so, he would lose her company. If he mated her, she would remain alive much longer, and while he considered it a near impossibility she would ever bear him a cub, at least he would have her company until she died.
“You please me.” His hand stroked her elegant cheek bones. “That is my first truth.”
She smiled. “And you are very powerful.”
He frowned. “You do not think me handsome then?”
“The word handsome does not describe your alien magnetism.”
His eyes narrowed. “You use words that I do not understand. What is magnetism?”
Her head tilted. “That’s right. The only man who spoke English to you was Dr. Taylor. Given your limited exposure to our language, I am surprised that is the first word you have not recognized.”
“It is not the first, but usually I can follow the jest of the topic. This time I cannot.”
She nodded. “Well, in the future, if I say a word you do not know, give me a sign—a flick of your index finger—and I will elaborate on the meaning.”
Her offer surprised him. Dr. Taylor had used his knowledge as a point of power. The Warrior had to gather the words until Dr. Taylor had finished his long-winded speeches and then ask their meaning. The offer to supply the meanings in context would greatly enhance his ability to learn.
“Magnetism is the attraction of two forces. In this context, I was saying that physical features did not entirely explain the attraction people feel towards you. Thus, calling you handsome seemed inadequate.”
The Warrior leaned forward, so his breath felt hot against her face. “So, you are attracted to me?”
Carmella swallowed hard and looked d
own, seeming to study the rock upon which they sat. “From the research I’ve done on you and your offspring, you should be aware of your seductive abilities.”
The Warrior smiled and leaned back. “So, my offspring are the same?”
“Yes. I believe it is hormonal.”
“What does that mean?”
When Carmella explained, the Warrior looked offended. “Then it is not my charm that seduces you?”
Carmella looked up. “No. Evidence supports a hormonal influence.”
“What evidence?”
“The women, whom your son has impregnated, also display the same seductive abilities.”
The Warrior leaned forward, intensely interested in this news. “Has he been successful?”
Carmella smiled. “My turn. May I see the remnants of your ship?”
The Warrior shrugged. “If you wish.” He stood and held out his hand to help her up. Pulling her close to his side, he leapt across the river, landing in the soft moss on the bank. He pointed into the dark tangle of the jungle. “It crashed there.”
***
If this was the crash site, then the Warrior was correct, the jungle had devoured it. Nothing remained to indicate a space ship had landed here. Carmella made her way through the tangle, using a large two-pronged stick to disrupt the undergrowth looking for any remnants. However, the disturbance of the heavy undergrowth brought to surface a large quantity of insects and reptiles ranging from the moderately poisonous to the extremely venomous. Still she worked on. “This is going to take a while, so why don’t we continue with the questions while I search.”
The Warrior was intrigued. Was she blind or ignorant to the danger she was in, or merely disinterested? “The scorpion nest you are dislodging is quite deadly.”
“I see it. Unfortunately, I have no choice. Every piece of the site must be examined for clues.”
“Then we had best talk fast, because I don’t expect you will remain alive for more than five minutes. Tell me about my son’s attempts to bear children.”
“Except for one, they’ve all been unsuccessful.”
“He has a live cub?” the Warrior asked in pleasure.
Carmella stopped working for a moment. “No. The cub was accidentally killed soon after its birth.”
Cat Refuge Page 15
