by Brey Willows
Voices woke her, and when Teckoe opened the door to her tent she looked at him with her heart racing. He put his finger to his lips and pointed down, then moved away from her tent. Jessa scrambled from her sleeping unit and pulled on her boots. She tucked the energy gun into the pocket on her thigh and left the unit to find her group gathered on the edge of the ledge, lying down to look into the forest below. She lay quietly beside Benika and saw what they were looking at.
The forest below resounded with raucous laughter and shouts. The trees swayed and bent as people lumbered through, sweeping long handled tools ahead of them that beeped rhythmically. They could have been any group of passengers on Jessa’s ship. Their clothing ranged from scruffy and raw to elegant and clearly expensive, though they didn’t seem to be searching as a cohesive group. Jessa noted the sideways glances, the looks of contempt and cunning. Palms sweaty, she shimmied back from the ledge and the others followed. They stood at the cave entrance and Jessa tried to keep the tremor out of her voice.
“They’re probably searching for things they can use or sell, not for people.” Jessa wiped away a bead of sweat sliding from her forehead. She wanted to blame it on the humidity and not the fear soaking through her, but she knew the truth. “If we stay quiet, they won’t know we’re here.”
Teckoe put his hand on her arm. “Captain, we left a trail through the forest a blind waftmonkey could follow. We just have to hope there are some decent folks down there, too.”
Jessa blanched. She hadn’t thought of that, and she should have. She’d just been focused on getting them to safety. A sudden shout made them all turn toward the cliff edge, and someone calling from below was clearly saying they’d found something. Jessa knew what that something was, and when she heard the word for slaves in a language she was fairly adept at, she made a decision.
She darted into her domicile, grabbed her pack, and moved to the far edge of the cliff.
“You’re leaving us?” Peshta crossed her arms and glared at her.
“She’s leading them away from us.” Benika brought over a geo locator and tucked it in Jessa’s hand. “I’ve marked the cliff and the escape pod. Don’t stay gone after dark, okay? We can set out as a group tomorrow. Maybe find a city.” She kissed Jessa’s cheek softly before stepping back.
The kiss tingled on Jessa’s cheek and she gave them a weak smile before beginning a swift but careful descent down the cliff side. She could hear the commotion at the base of the cliff where they’d climbed up, and when she was on the ground again she edged around to the front. Her pulse was hammering in her neck and fear was making her dizzy, but she didn’t have time for that. She stepped out into the open and made a noise. She’d meant to shout, but it came out as more of a frightened mewl when she saw the group about to ascend the cliff. Almost as one, they turned toward her. Like the frightened animal she felt like, she turned and sprinted into the woods. She glanced at the geo locator. If she made a wide circle around the escape pod, she could make her way back here and hopefully lose them along the way.
She darted one direction and then another, leaping over fallen logs and ducking low hanging branches, and the sounds of her pursuers enjoying the chase was enough to make the bile rise in the back of her throat.
Suddenly, she was faced by a thick wall of trees too dense to get past. According to the geo locator, she should be able to run forward, across the river, and then double back. But this wall of trees went on for ages. Indecision tore at her. Left, and she was moving into an area she hadn’t been to yet. Right, and there was no telling if it would take her to the river or cut her off. Her hands shook as she wiped her hair out of her eyes. Just as she was about to go left, she screamed as a hand closed around her upper arm.
“Do you lack the sense of a cripson? They’re nearly here.”
Jessa blinked at the woman standing beside her, unable to come up with words.
“Come on. Unless you want to end up in the slaver’s net.” She tugged on Jessa’s arm again, and then let go and headed to the right.
Jessa’s legs were like rubber, but she forced them forward, after the woman. If the woman was a threat she would have kept hold of her and let the others know where she was. Instead, she’d let her go and allowed her to make up her own mind. That was enough, for now. Jessa followed and realized she’d lost sight of her. When the woman reached out and grabbed Jessa from between two trees, she very nearly screamed again, but managed to keep it together as the woman pulled her into a narrow gap.
She laced her fingers together and bent low. “Up.”
Jessa looked up and saw the small platform in the tree. She put her foot into the woman’s hands and accepted the boost to the small metal hand and footholds in the tree. She made her way quickly to the platform and swung herself over, collapsing onto her back and breathing hard. When the woman landed gracefully beside her she started to thank her, but the woman shook her head and pressed her finger to Jessa’s lips.
Jessa nodded her understanding and sat up. They waited for what felt like forever, until she could no longer hear any voices or shouts, even in the distance.
The woman sat with her back against the tree trunk and looked at Jessa curiously. “Why’d you come down off the cliff?”
“You knew we were there?” Jessa thought they’d left the pod long before anyone had come looking. Apparently not.
The woman shrugged. “I was there before you even left. I followed you to the cliffs to be sure none of the prowlers got you, and then I went back to get what I came for.”
Only then did Jessa notice the pieces of metal and wire sticking out of the woman’s bag. Her stomach sank. “You pulled apart the escape pod?”
The woman’s gaze was searching. “It’s not like it was doing you any good, and if I hadn’t, everyone else would have. I’m heading out to see what else may have come down. Was yours the only escape pod to land here?”
Jessa stared at her. “I didn’t land here. We crashed. We were heading for Andine when we were hit by an asteroid. And if you’re only interested in other pods coming down so you can pull them apart, and not because you have any interest in survivors, well…you can just…just…” Mortified, Jessa felt the tears sliding down her face.
The woman looked away, her jaw clenching. “If you’d landed in the Heather District, or even Waterside, maybe it would have been different. But you crashed in open market territory, and that’s the way it is. If they’d caught you, you’d have been sold at the slaver’s market on the docks.”
Slavery. Jessa had read about it in history books, and she’d even heard that it was still practiced in some galaxies that hadn’t been properly colonized yet. Evidently, the tales of Indemnion didn’t tell the full horror story. She wrapped her arms around herself and pulled her knees to her chest. “Thank you for helping me.”
The woman held out her hand. “Kylin.”
Jessa took it and noticed the rough skin and strength in Kylin’s fingers, along with a slightly raised scar between her thumb and finger that looked like a brand of some kind. “Captain Jessa Arabelle.”
Kylin gave a low whistle. “Captain, huh?”
Jessa nodded, but it was getting dark and her thoughts turned elsewhere. “Do you think we can make it back to my crew on the cliff?”
Kylin stood and stretched. “You did a good job of getting the other scroungers to follow you, so your crew is probably still safe there. But we’ll have to hoof it to get back to the cliff before night hits. You don’t want to be on the ground when the prowlers come out.”
Just the word made Jessa’s skin crawl. “Prowlers?”
“Lots of them in this forest. They breed here this time of year and then spread out next season.” She slung her bag over her shoulder and climbed over the edge of the platform. “If you see one, it’ll probably be the last thing you see. So let’s move.”
Jessa climbed after Kylin, her hands shaking on the metal pegs. Thank the heavens she’d spent so much time on the climbing deck o
n the ship. It had been a good way to exercise and a good release for tension. Now it might save her life.
Chapter Four
Jessa followed Kylin through the forest, awed that she seemed to know exactly where she was going without ever looking at a locator, though Jessa checked hers occasionally to make sure they were going the right direction. When they got to the cliff base Kylin motioned for her to go ahead.
“Probably best if the first head they see come up is yours. I’d hate to lose mine.” She grinned.
Jessa smiled in return and quickly climbed the rock, cresting the cliff top just as the sun left the sky.
“Thank the heavens.” Asanka pulled Jessa into a tight embrace. “We thought they’d got you.”
“And you can’t do that again. We can’t lose—” Teckoe stopped and leveled his energy gun to Jessa’s right. “Watch out!”
Jessa stepped in front of the gun. “Wait! She saved my life.”
Kylin stepped onto the cliff ledge and stuck her hands in her pants pockets, looking for all the world like she was at a party instead of facing an energy gun. “Hey there.”
Teckoe lowered the gun. “Sorry.”
She shrugged. “Not the first time, won’t be the last.” She looked at their domicile units and her eyebrows raised. “Wow. These would get a fortune in the marketplace. Haven’t seen one in years.”
“Well, I don’t imagine you get a lot of people who need them here.” Jessa flinched inwardly at the caustic tone in her voice, but she couldn’t help it. She was sweaty, scared, and she wanted to go home. But then, without a ship, where was home?
Kylin was walking around Jessa’s domicile unit, poking at it and looking in the entrance. “Sleep units too. Wow, you guys really know how to rough it.”
Before Jessa could respond, a terrible sound ripped through the night. High-pitched, it crackled on the air like electricity along the treetops, a kind of keening that sang of death.
Jessa turned toward Kylin, who had stopped messing with the domicile unit and was looking out into the forest. When the terrifying sound died away, she turned toward the cave and swept aside the vines. “Have you checked it?”
Jessa shook her head. “We couldn’t see in far enough, but nothing has come out or gone in it since we got here.”
Kylin shrugged off her bag and dug through it. She pulled a short, fat stick from it and then twisted it several times until it was much longer. She gave the end a sharp tap and blue light flared from the end. She moved forward into the cave and Jessa moved in behind her.
Kylin looked over her shoulder and laughed. “I’ll move a hell of a lot faster if you’re not right behind me when I turn around to run.”
Jessa lifted her chin and motioned with her gun. “If you’re going in, I’m behind you. You saved my life. I’m not letting you risk yours again while I sit outside like a limp queen.”
Kylin didn’t respond, she just moved quickly into the cave, shining the light back and forth. The cave was enormous, and they could have pitched the domicile units inside it easily. But when Kylin stopped and ran something through her fingers, Jessa could tell it wouldn’t have been a good idea.
“It was a prowler den, but they haven’t been here in a while. Sometimes they come back and use old dens, though. You and your friends shouldn’t stay here any longer than you need to.”
Jessa followed her out of the cave. “Okay. Where can we get the nearest shuttle to Andine?”
Another terrible howl filled the air, but this time it was joined by several others coming from different directions. The sound made the hair on Jessa’s arms stand up, and she instinctively took a step closer to Kylin. She noticed that the others drew closer together, too.
Kylin scrubbed her hands over her face and then ran them through her hair, clearly frustrated. “If you know anything about Indemnion, you know we barely have mass transports, let alone shuttles. We send off maybe one every five years from the Heather District, if there are enough passengers to make it worth it, and there hardly ever is. I have no idea when they’re planning on sending out the next one. Could be tomorrow, could be ten years from now.”
Asanka knelt by her unit and put her face in her hands. Her gills were opening and closing rapidly, and Jessa knew it was a sign she was crying. Benika rubbed soothing circles on Asanka’s back, but she looked just as shocked.
Jessa turned to Kylin. “Could you get us to the Heather District? At least then we’d have a chance.”
Kylin sighed and shoved her hands deeper into her pockets. “Look, I’m just a scrounger from Quasi. Heather District is the only one on this planet where you have to have linari practically falling from your mouth to even enter the city. It’s also on the other side of the planet. Sorry, but there’s not much I can do.”
Jessa felt the air go out of her. She moved to the cliff wall and slid down it. There was a slim hope of getting off this cosmos forsaken planet, but there might as well be a universe between them and that chance. She was responsible for four other people, but she had no idea how to keep them all alive long enough to get off planet.
Kylin turned toward the rest of the group. “Look, it’s not my place, but I’d suggest you get inside your bubbles. Prowlers have a good sense of smell, and it’s better if you’re not out in the open where they can pick up your scent. They really only hunt at night, so you should be okay to make some kind of move tomorrow.”
Jessa watched as the rest of her crew shuffled into their units without so much as another word. When Kylin turned toward Jessa, she finally pushed herself to her feet. “Thank you for your honesty. If you’d like to sleep in my unit tonight, you’re welcome.” She turned and left Kylin standing there looking surprised. Just because this planet was barbaric didn’t mean Jessa was about to forget her own upbringing. She wasn’t surprised when Kylin pushed into the unit and dropped her bag beside the empty sleeping unit.
“Thanks.”
Jessa nodded, unable to find any words. Tomorrow, maybe, she’d find more. She’d think up a plan and they’d make a move. But right now, she wondered if Steve was better off than they were. “When you pulled the pod apart… What did you do with Steve?” she asked quietly as she slid into the chamber that encased her body.
Kylin frowned. “There was no one there.” When Jessa looked at her wide-eyed, Kylin flinched. “I didn’t know you had someone that didn’t make it. As soon as you left, one of the forest predators probably came and took him. I’m sorry.”
Jessa curled into a ball. “We should have buried him.”
Kylin grunted softly as the chamber closed around her body. “It wouldn’t have mattered. They’d have dug him back up, and you probably would have been captured by the scroungers that arrived later.” She seemed to realize how blasé that sounded. “It’s the nature of the forest. Nothing goes to waste.”
Jessa let the tears fall, not caring if Kylin knew she was crying. This world was brutal and unfair. She wanted out. There simply had to be a way to get to the one launch station they had here. She’d find it no matter what it took, and if it took all the credit chips she had left, she’d use them. As the light faded she stared at Kylin’s profile. She was extraordinarily tall, had short, bluish-black hair that almost touched the collar of her beat-up leather jacket, and there were thick yellow rings around the edges of her light gray eyes. In any other circumstance, Jessa would be entertaining very different thoughts about a woman like Kylin. She was ruggedly handsome, at ease in her own skin, and clearly knew her way around. Jessa liked capable, intelligent women, and she had a feeling that’s just what Kylin was.
The question was, could she convince Kylin to help them? Or would Jessa have to figure this out herself? Even as she drifted into an uneasy, exhausted sleep, a plan began to form.
Chapter Five
Kylin watched the stars fade from the sky as the sun began to filter over the trees. She’d slept fitfully and had finally given up when she sensed dawn breaking. She had a load of metal and wire to tra
de from the single escape pod, but it wasn’t the haul she’d been hoping for, and it wasn’t nearly enough to get her out of debt to Orlin. And what she’d told Jessa about their dead crew member wasn’t strictly true. He wasn’t in the pod, that part was accurate. Rather, pieces of him were strewn around the outside of the pod, the scavengers already having dragged him out by the time Kylin arrived.
But Jessa didn’t need that image in her head. Kylin knew women like her. She enjoyed women like her. Soft, gentle hearts and equally soft hands. Women who smelled nice and warmed a bed perfectly. Women who were only part of Kylin’s world for a moment before she moved on, keeping them from the dirty and often cruel underbelly Kylin had to deal with for survival. The fact that Jessa had led the other scroungers away from her crew was impressive, but it didn’t mean she belonged out here, either.
One thing Kylin was sure of. If she didn’t help these people get to Quasi, they’d end up in a slaver’s net. And she didn’t care what kind of people they were, no one deserved to end up in that kind of life. But she also wanted to follow some of the other smoke trails to see what she could find. Her dad was safe with Auntie Blue, so she had time to search. Her little flyer could only take one other person, so that didn’t help them much. With a sigh, she took out her comms unit and tapped the screen.
When Maana’s face showed up she wanted to change her mind. The thick wedged lines down both sides of her face marked her as someone from another galaxy. The black soullessness in her small eyes marked her as someone you didn’t want to mess with on any planet.
“Well, well. If it isn’t my favorite playmate.” Maana licked her small, pointed teeth. “To what do I owe the pleasure? Have you come to your senses and decided to play nice?”
