Serpents of the Abyss (The Darvel Exploratory Systems #2)

by S. J. Sanders

  He lifted up higher onto his tail, his dark indigo wings spreading wide and beating with large, gusting flaps, drawing them up from the ground. She squeezed her eyes shut against the cloud of dust that swirled around them, but it was only a moment before they were airborne and she felt the cool, clean touch of the wind brushing against the side of her cheek.

  Turning her head, she opened her eyes, blinking away any sediment that still clung to her lashes and the creases of her eyes as she gawked at the landscape below her. While everything nearby seemed to slip by at an astonishing speed, there was so much to see in the distance that the far-off location captured her imagination.

  What would it be like to explore there?

  She laughed under her breath. Since when had she become such an explorer? Keeping her head down and doing her job had always been her preference. And yet… she couldn’t deny that there was something awakening within her that yearned to see more of this world.

  It wasn’t just “the rock,” as many colonists referred to Seshana. It held a mystery of its own that seemed to be calling out to her.

  Red rock and sand turned to dark hills in the distance, and yellow patches could be seen scattered near the jutting rock formations. An oasis? She had seen for herself that there was ground water deep within the caves, so it would stand to reason there could be areas where water broke through to the surface. If that were the case, why wasn’t the colony built closer to take advantage of them? She was going to point them out to Slengral and ask when his left wing suddenly dipped and they careened away at an angle, the yellow patches disappearing from sight.

  Turning her face against his neck so she could angle her head to look up at him, she wasn’t able to see much more than the masculine line of his jaw. That was until his head ducked down, his dark shielded eyes meeting hers.

  “Not much further,” he rumbled, the sound almost immediately being snatched away so that the words that reached her ears were faint.

  She nodded against him, her head tucking once more against his shoulder. Eyes angling down, she froze in terror as two long tentacles burst up from the sand. Sand seemed to spray up from the tips and roll down the long length of both whipping protrusions that lunged for them. Her fingers instinctively dug into Slengral’s shoulders as she screamed and pressed her face tighter against his shoulder.

  Lori gasped and choked on air when her scream was cut off by the force of his massive body as he wheeled away from it. She could see the sinuous flick of his tail in the air behind him as he shot forward, the tentacles slapping at empty air. In their frenzy, the tentacles collided hard enough that the sound made Lori’s head and teeth ache as it burst through the air. Only afterward did they seem to sink back into the sand as they were left further in the distance.

  Giving another powerful flap of his wings, Slengral’s body relaxed, his wings stretching out again to resume an easy glide. His large hand stroked her back as he pulled her up tighter in his arms and ducked down to speak against her ear.

  “Fazthal,” he hissed. “They travel through the deeper dunes over which we now fly. This is their hunting period, when the suns are near the edge of the horizon. Their eye stalks above the sand are difficult to see but are a warning of their presence. They take the opportunity to attack anything that walks or flies over them.”

  She shivered against him. That could possibly explain why the colony was set up on a hard bedrock close to the caves. If Slengral’s slight diversion from the track between the mine and colony had been all it took to put them over the dangerous territory of the predator, traveling any distance to the mines over the dunes would have been treacherous at best.

  Dangerous predators had also been entirely absent from Corp’s handbook for the planet and the several mines they had placed over the surface. It seemed to her that was an important thing to have in there.

  Some of the planet’s mysterious beauty lost a hint of its appeal with that consideration in mind. Tucking her head against her mate’s shoulder, she tried to ignore the velkat strapped to his back, the end jutting up closer to her face than she liked, and relaxed as much as possible for the remainder of their flight to the dome.

  Her eyes grew heavy as she lay against him, the rhythm of his body sluicing through the air oddly comfortable. She must have fallen asleep because her eyes jerked open when he dropped at great speed. He had warned her previously that the entrance to the rocky ridge nearest to the colony, where he could hide, possessed a steep incline that he would have to dive into. Even with the warning, her heart leaped in her chest as she clung to him. The descent into the dark alcove of rocks was sudden, and Slengral hissed as his tail dropped and whipped to coil beneath him in the narrow space.

  Lori blinked against the darkness and stumbled forward as her mate reluctantly released her. She might have been tempted to linger there with him for a moment longer while she recovered, but she was eager to finish what she had set out to do. The sooner she spoke to Jack Dowry, the sooner she could return to him. She knew that her mate understood that as well. Slengral released her despite his muttered protest, his body lowering into the darkness, the flash of his red eyes glowing as he settled into the crevice. His eyes flicked to the rough crevice in front of them.

  Taking her cue from him, Lori walked forward enough so that she could peer out from the jagged gap into the rocks. Just beyond the edge of the outcropping, she could see the side of the colony dome. She recognized the station marker on its side. They were positioned just off to an angle from the entrance. She would be able to see it easily once she stepped out.

  She glanced back at her mate, noting the way he watched her anxiously, the end of his tail twisting and flicking. She gave him a small smile.

  “I’ll return as soon as I can,” she assured him softly.

  His crests flicked. “I will be waiting here.” His tone hardened. “If any of the males touch you…”

  The threat was left unspoken as he swallowed back whatever words had been on the tip of his tongue. It was as if he did not even want to think of such a possibility. She nodded in understanding.

  Whatever treatment she was shown today would determine what mercy her mate would show to the colony and how much help he would be willing to give her people—if any. Whether Supervisor Dowry or anyone else wanted to acknowledge it, it would take a hunter to establish contact with the shinara. Without that peace, and the shinara’s official protection, the rogue hunters would continue to prey upon the colony.

  Lori slipped from the crevice and crept along the rocks until she arrived at a point where she could drop onto the packed earth just behind the ledge. Dusting off her uniform, she straightened it and proceeded to head toward the entrance without anyone being any wiser as to where she had emerged.

  She knew her mate was watching. She could almost feel the charge of tension in the air, just as she knew the moment the entrance guards spotted her. Unlike the visceral feeling she got from her mate’s unwavering focus, human shouts were jarring and abrupt, the sound harsh on her ears after so many days listening to the rolling voices of the Seshanamitesh. She jumped, her hands shooting into the air in the universal sign of surrender.

  Thankfully, no weapons were raised. Although she had prepared Slengral for that possibility, she was glad that she didn’t have to find out how he would actually react to it. Instead, the guards strode out toward her, their plasma rifles held in a relaxed position as they eyed her with open curiosity. One of them withdrew a datapad, his brows furrowing as he quickly looked her over.

  “Who are you?” he bellowed across the short distance separating them.

  “I’m Lori Straford, citizen ID U2386-99-02!” she shouted back, the words raking her throat raw. “I’m a miner.”

  Like her ears, it seemed that her throat had become accustomed to speaking her mate’s language. Shouting just made the discomfort all the more abrasive.

  The guard dropped his eyes to his datapad to input the information. He remained still and expre
ssionless as he studied whatever came back to him. She was slightly alarmed when he turned away to speak into his comm, his low voice too muffled for her to hear.

  After several minutes, he nodded to himself and slipped the datapad back into his pocket as he turned to face her. With a flick of his hand, he gestured for the guards to take position behind her, cutting off any retreat as he approached. Dark brown eyes stared down at her through his helmet visor.

  “Lori Straford, I am sorry, but you will be coming with me. There are questions that must be answered.”

  She nodded mutely, thankful that he didn’t grab her arm as he turned to take position at her side. All the same, she felt trapped between them as if she were being marched to some terrible fate rather than a lost soul being welcomed back. That feeling settled like a knot deep in her belly as the metal entrance loomed forbiddingly over her. A light lit up, and the clear panel slid away to admit them.

  She wanted to turn and run—back to safety, back to Slengral. He represented everything that was safe to her. For all the freaky shit that happened in the caves, he protected her. Here, where she had no protection, there was an ominousness that she couldn’t escape. One that threatened to swallow her deep into some unknown recess and never let her out again.

  But it was too late. The guards hustled her through, and the gate locked behind them. Long halls stretched out before her as they led her beyond the common areas, deeper into the heart of the colony. Doors that were biometrically locked unsealed to admit them further inside with their blaring confirmation alarms and the quiet whoosh of doors sliding open. A nervous sweat trickled beneath her TRS when they approached a locked elevator.

  The guard beside her set his hand on the lock, and the metal doors parted, revealing the elevator cage within. She balked at entering, her pulse spiking.

  “Wait…”

  Where exactly were they taking her? The command station for the colony was clearly marked in the public blueprints that projected from numerous viewing screens set up throughout the colony. It was heavily fortified, but she knew damn well that it was not underground.

  “Keep moving,” he grunted, practically shoving her inside.

  She spun around as the guards piled in after her, their hard eyes tracking her every movement as if she were a prisoner.

  Eyeing them, she wrapped her arms defensively around her waist. She didn’t understand what was going on. She didn’t do anything wrong.

  There had to be a mistake. Who the hell treated lost citizens like this? Or any of the miners if they might have returned? Briskly rubbing her arms to chase back the unease assailing her, she swallowed. They wouldn’t dare do anything to her… would they? Surely, once they spoke to her they would realize what they were doing was overkill.

  She was there to help the colony, not harm it.

  She only prayed that Supervisor Dowry would listen and take her seriously. The colony command needed to hear what she had to say.

  Chapter 34

  Slengral hissed from where he lay burrowed in the sand, watching the males leading his mate away. He had crawled closer, slinking through the heavier sand, determined to keep an eye on his mate. He was glad that he did. They were so completely covered that he could not scent them and attempt to determine their emotions. They were big blank spaces that moved around his female in a manner he could only interpret as hostile.

  He wanted to go after them and tear them away from her, to kill them as painfully as possibly for taking his mate, but he did not. He had promised Lori. None were touching her, so he could not even make that excuse for his reaction. But everything shrieked deceit to him.

  Their complete head and body coverings and the way the one turned away from her made his tail flick with his rising fury.

  Deceitful humans. He could not let them take his mate with them!

  He started to raise from the sand, his wings flicking it off. His mouth parted with an angry hiss. His tail lashing, he began to dart forward to kill the males and retrieve his mate when a bolt of fire hit the sand in front of him. Another grazed his arm, and he snarled with pain. Fire blasts were raining down on him!

  Armed with fire or not, they would not defeat him! He would draw his mate away and let the shinara have the humans for this insult.

  Slengral’s body jerked as his wings flapped to make it to his mate, his determination outweighing any pain. Another fire grazed him, and another. He was too quick to be hit fully, each one leaving a black streak of burned scales. The anguished roar that left him, however, had nothing to do with the pain of his wound and everything to do with his last glimpse of his mate before she was ushered within the dome.

  She was gone.

  He sank down into the sand in agony. He never should have agreed. The deceitful humans would never let her go. He knew this now. Grief rattled through him, and he let out a low bellow. Another blast flicked out across the air toward him. Flapping his wings, he pushed himself backward across the sand, evading it as his fury swamped him.

  The humans would not even allow him to mourn the separation! He would show them that a Seshanamitesh was not so easy to remove at their convenience.

  Sidewinding on his tail, he snarled, scanning the curved dome of the nest, searching for the source. There were metal structures set up along the outer wall, and in them his keen vision pinpointed humans taking shelter in their strange barrier with raised weapons.

  His wings flattened to his back and then spread wide in a gesture of intimidation as he removed his velkat from its harness. Another tongue of fire headed directly to him, and he swung the curved blade up, the superior metal of his people absorbing and dispersing the flames into tiny sparks on the sand. Opening his mouth wider to show his fangs, he hissed again in defiance before drawing in a deep breath and rapidly lifting into the air.

  It would be so easy to drop on them from above and hurt them the way that they had done to him, but he was also certain that route would ultimately lead to his death. He would retreat to the dunes and then slowly make his way back to the human nest, keeping low over the sands so they would not see him. It would take him most of the dark cycle to make his way back, but he refused to leave while they had his mate.

  Letting out a furious bark that had the humans scurrying back and ducking behind their protective blockades, Slengral flattened his gavo and wheeled in the air away from the nest, his wings stretching wide with every flap. He kicked up the dust and sand, screening his departure as he slowly gained elevation. Flying against the wind, he knew that the sand cloud he stirred would be carried to the humans, and so he was unsurprised to hear their faint angry shouts and the violent hiss of their weapons as fiery tongues were shot out at him.

  He turned his head to eye them over his shoulder. It amused him to see how easily disoriented they were. Their shots were fired wildly in his general direction in the off chance that they may hit him, and that entertained him even more. Although the nest was well fortified, he knew that it would be so easy to kill any human outside of it.

  But his mate would be displeased with him if he did that.

  Growling under his breath, he left the human nest far behind him, gliding over the sands lit softly by Seshana’s four moons. The four sisters, as his people called them, rose slowly over the horizon, their light sharpening his vision. His inner lid had drawn back once the suns had left the sky, allowing him to see in the dark well enough, but the moonlight brought extra clarity as he turned on a glide back toward the colony.

  At his approach, he dropped closer to the ground, his thin, secondary inner lid sliding closed to protect his eyes from the sand. He flew at a more leisurely speed so not to disturb the sands beyond what would be seen as natural. With the wind behind him now, he was able to glide with fewer flicks of his wings to keep him aloft. This too worked in his favor.

  Slengral worked his way around the colony, keeping his body low and beyond the reach of the lights that beamed out toward the sands as he scouted for weaknesses while it was saf
e to do so. If the humans did not release his mate, he would find one to exploit, one way or another. Although patrols swept by regularly and he encountered a number of stations that housed guards, he was able to frequently find open gaps where he could get close to the colony to look at its protective casing.

  The clear shell that surrounded the nest was impressive. He had thought the material to be completely solid, but when he looked very close at it, he could see tiny pores along its surface. He surmised that their presence was enough to keep the colony within cool, their small size reducing the chance of sand blowing in during the seasonal storms. A strong blow to the surface with his fist also confirmed that the material was strong.

  Looking around to make sure that no one was near, he unstrapped his velkat again and struck it. Red lights on a pair of nearby metal beams blinked as a terrible noise filled the air. Hissing, he dropped back rapidly from the dome to a safe distance and buried himself in the sand. No sooner was he covered than humans converged on the spot he had occupied. They shouted to each other in their incomprehensible language, their weapons raised as a number of them scanned the sands, their bodies stiff with tension.

  He smiled to himself. They should be worried. The humans were entirely vulnerable to his kind. If they attempted to keep his mate, he would not rest until he got her back.

  Growling softly to himself, he settled deeper into the sand to protect himself as the suns gradually made their way into the horizon. The intense heat and light of the sun would damage his scales if he spent too much time out in it, and so he made sure that he was well covered and comfortably cool beneath it, his eyes tracking the movement of the guards within his field of vision.

  With the sunrise, those patrolling and at their stations changed for other groups that looked nearly identical to the first. The attitude was noticeably different, however, as the humans swaggered around with the confidence of juveniles trying their wings. He snorted quietly to himself with grim amusement.