“You’re being disrespectful,” said Krier. “Even a Terran should address the future emperor with reverence.”
Katin placed a hand on the soldier’s arm. “No. The major is correct. This moon could be home to a colony of cutthroat smugglers for all we know. The less we do and say to draw attention to ourselves, the better.”
“I’ve located a decent-sized hill about eighteen hundred meters from here,” said Wendy, handing Sheridan and Cole a tablet with a map of the local area.
“What do you think?” Sheridan asked Cole.
“It’ll take us a good two to three hours of walking through this thick jungle to get there,” he replied.
“Okay, then. We’ll leave here in an hour. Folks, grab what you can, but remember whatever you take, you’re carrying it on your back.”
All of sudden, the shuttle’s automatic cannon spun over and pointed at the jungle on the other side of the ship.
Everyone froze and held their breath as the gun tracked something unseen.
The hair went up on the back of Sheridan’s neck. He unslung his rifle and flipped it to automatic. A roar, louder than any Sheridan had ever heard, filled the air, turning his blood cold. The brush split apart and a hulking bipedal creature as tall as a three-story building charged out. It had brown and green mottled skin with razor-sharp teeth as long as bayonets. It looked like a Tyrannosaurs Rex on steroids.
The cannon locked on the attacking creature and opened fire.
Pummeled by 30mm shells, blood, bone, and flesh flew from the beast’s legs. With a mighty cry, the dinosaur fell face-first onto the shuttle, collapsing the forward landing strut underneath the cockpit. Smashed into the ground by the weight of the beast, the cannon stopped firing.
Everyone near the ship ran back and formed a ragged line. They stared in disbelief at the bloodied creature snapped its jaws at them as it struggled to get back on its shattered feet.
“What the hell is that?” asked Tarina.
“I’d have to say, he’s one of the moon’s less popular inhabitants,” replied Sheridan as he placed his weapon’s sights on the beast’s right eye and pulled the trigger. It let out its last roar before dropping its head down and smashing it through the cockpit.
“Let’s hope there’s no more of them out there,” said Katin.
“Too late for that,” yelled Cole as two more creatures sprung from the tree line. Half the size of the first beast and covered with brown feathers, they were her children, and they were hungry.
“Run,” screamed Kobak as he took to his heels and ran straight into the jungle.
Sheridan and his comrades got off a quick burst of fire at the charging monsters before turning and running for their lives. They ran inside the jungle, but the beasts didn’t stop. They smashed aside anything in their way, closing in until they were almost upon Sheridan’s people.
“No!” hollered Sheridan when Krier stopped and turned to face the monsters. Pushed from behind by Cole, Sheridan kept running.
A long burst of gunfire abruptly ended with a bloodcurdling scream when one of the beasts clamped its powerful jaws around Krier, crushing the life out of him.
The jungle path took a sharp turn to the left. Sheridan nearly tripped over his own feet as he turned to follow the trail. He ran with one hand in front of his face, pushing the leaves and branches aside. Without warning, Sheridan found himself falling through the air. He looked down and saw a dark pool of water racing up to meet him. Sheridan brought his legs together just before breaking the surface. Warm water engulfed his body. The second he stopped his downward plunge, Sheridan kicked his feet and swam for the surface.
One after another, Sheridan’s friends landed beside him in the pool.
Sheridan’s head popped up. He took in a deep breath and looked around. In the trees above, one of the beasts roared as it gave up the chase, turned away, and went in search of something else to eat. Sheridan counted four heads, none of which were Kurgans. His gut began to churn at the thought of the siblings being killed by a different creature lurking in the jungle.
“Mike, over here,” called Cole, standing on the shoreline. “I can see footprints leading out of the water and heading to the west.”
Sheridan swam over and crawled out of the pond. There were two sets of tracks. “Okay, so we know they made it this far,” he said to Cole. “I hope they’ve got the common sense to go to ground somewhere safe and wait for us to find them.”
“Kobak had the smarts to run while he still had the chance to,” said Cole. “Somehow I think his sister is now the one calling the shots for the two of them. She’s probably got him stashed away until we bump into them again.”
“Michael, don’t move,” said Tarina, drawing her knife from its scabbard.
“Why? What are you going to do with that?”
“This,” she replied, cutting a fat, blood-engorged leech from the back of Sheridan’s neck.
“Oh, God, that’s awful looking,” said Wendy, checking out the bloated parasite.
“Okay, take two minutes to check each other over,” said Cole.
Sheridan turned to face Tarina and winked. She shook her head, grabbed his arm, and pushed him toward Cole.
“I can’t win for losing,” muttered Sheridan.
“What are you bitching about,” said Cole, “I’m the one who has to check your body out.”
Chapter 11
“The tracks lead this way,” said Cole, pointing at a set of fresh footprints on the muddy trail.
“I hope they made for the hill and didn’t try to go someplace else to hide,” said Sheridan.
“Unfortunately, our only tracking device was lost in the pond, so we’ll have to do this the old-fashioned way.”
“Ow! God damn it,” grumbled Tarina.
“What’s wrong?” asked Sheridan.
Tarina pointed at a small red and blue butterfly floating in the air. “Watch those little buggers! It burnt the skin on my hand. I think there’s some kind of acidic powder on their wings.”
“Are you okay?” asked Cole.
“Yeah, I think so,” replied Tarina.
“Here, let me wash that off for you,” said Wendy, pouring some water from her canteen on Tarina’s blistered hand.
“Folks, lesson number one when operating on an unknown planet: don’t touch a damn thing,” cautioned Cole. “For all we know, everything, and I do mean everything, could be poisonous to us.”
“I didn’t touch it,” said Tarina. “It flew into me.”
“Same principle applies. Just be careful.”
“Alan, is that you?” called Katin.
“Yes. Where are you?” Cole replied, looking around.
“Keep following the trail, and you’ll find us.”
“Why is a princess calling you by your first name?” Wendy asked Cole.
He shrugged and turned his head to avoid the hint of jealousy in his friend’s eyes.
“Let’s go,” said Sheridan.
Less than twenty meters down the path, the footprints vanished.
“Katin, where are you?” asked Cole.
“Look up,” she replied.
Cole and Sheridan looked up at a tree that reached high into the jungle canopy. A couple of leaves parted and Katin waved down to them.
“I take it Kobak is with you?” asked Sheridan.
Katin nodded.
“It’s safe down here for now. Please climb down and join us.”
“Where’s Krier?” asked Katin.
“He didn’t make it,” said Cole. “Now please come down.”
When the siblings reached the bottom of the tree, Kobak stood to one side with his head down.
“What’s wrong?” asked Sheridan.
“I ran, and Krier died. His death is my fault,” said the prince.
Sheridan placed a hand on the young prince’s shoulder. “You did the only smart thing you could have done back there. You’re not armed, and your survival is of paramount importance to your peop
le. As for Krier, he was a brave man who gave his life so we could get away. I—we owe him a debt of gratitude. There’s nothing you or any of us could have done to prevent Krier’s death. When this is all over, and you have time to mourn the dead, you can honor his memory then. For now, we have to keep focused on staying alive.”
Kobak nodded and wiped a tear from his eyes.
“Alan, how far would you say we are from the hill Wendy identified for us?” asked Sheridan.
Cole looked over his rumpled map. “Just under a kilometer. But before we take another step, I think we should do a quick equipment check. Aside from my rifle, I have one full magazine, a water bottle, and my knife, that’s it.”
“I’ve only got my rifle and whatever is left in its magazine,” said Tarina.
“Me too. But I’ve also got a comms device and my knife,” said Wendy.
“I have my rifle with two extra mags, my knife, a canteen that’s half empty, and my mini binos,” said Sheridan.
“Kobak and I are carrying ceremonial daggers under our clothes,” added Katin.
“This isn’t good,” said Cole. “I suggest everyone place their weapons on semi-automatic and make sure that you take the time to aim at your target as we can’t afford to waste a single round.”
Sheridan could see his friend slipping back into his more familiar role as a veteran senior NCO. “Okay, let’s get moving. Alan and I will lead. Kobak and Katin will be in the middle while Tarina and Wendy pull up the rear. Stay alert and stay sharp. We don’t want to bump into anymore large prehistoric carnivores if we don’t have to.”
With Cole leading the group, they began their march through the jungle. The tangled undergrowth made any attempt to move faster than a snail’s pace an exercise in futility. The jungle canopy was so thick that little or no light penetrated down from above, plunging the trail into darkness. They watched as several small, greenish lizards darted out onto the path, raise their backs, and hiss loudly. Their bodies glowed bright red as if warning the intruders to keep away before they scampered away under a rotting log.
Sweat poured like rivers down the four humans’ faces. Their clothes turned dark and sticky from the perspiration. The royal siblings fared better as they were more acclimatized to a similar warm and humid environment on their home world.
After almost two and a half grueling hours, they reached the top of the hill. Cole raised his hand, signaling a stop.
Sheridan brought his arm up and wiped the sweat from his face. “This place is worse than a sauna. Water. We’re going to need a lot of fresh water if we’re going to survive.”
“Apart from what we have on us, we don’t really have a lot of water,” said Tarina.
“Thank goodness for Kurgan Army ingenuity then, as each one of our water bottles has a bio-filter on it to clean out any crap there may be in the local water,” said Cole.
“The problem’s going to be in locating a decent source of fresh water,” added Sheridan.
“Leave that to me,” said Cole. “After we build ourselves a makeshift shelter, I’ll take Wendy and find a stream we can use to refill our canteens.”
Sheridan slung his weapon and walked to the edge of the hill. Sheridan could see for kilometers. The problem was the jungle canopy. A person could walk within a few meters of them and nobody would be the wiser. Sheridan regretted not going back to the pool to retrieve the lost tracking device. A thunderous roar from somewhere in the distance instantly erased any thoughts of heading back to the pond. He walked back and found his comrades cutting down some tree branches to make a lean-to shelter for the evening.
“Major, what will we do about food?” asked Kobak.
“A human and, I suspect, a Kurgan, can go weeks without food before dying,” explained Sheridan. “With help only days away, I doubt any of us will starve to death. If we can catch something to eat we’ll cook it until it’s almost charcoal. But we must be wary of what we put in our mouths as it could be toxic.”
“Come on, brother, no more talking. Let’s help build our new home,” said Katin, drawing her knife.
Kobak nodded and drew his as well.
Sheridan and Cole stood back and checked out the shelter.
“Well, it won’t win any awards for beauty,” said Sheridan. “But it should keep us warm and dry tonight.”
“Since one or more of us will have to be on sentry at all times, it should be quite comfortable under there,” said Cole.
“I guess all we have to do now is sit back, put our feet up, and wait to be rescued,” said Tarina.
“I wish I would have thought to bring a deck of cards,” said Wendy.
Sheridan looked at his friends and smiled. He doubted there were a better team of people in the fleet. The war had created a bond between them he knew would never be broken.
“Mike, hand over your water bottle to me,” said Cole. “It’s time for me and Wendy to find us some fresh water.”
“While you two do that, Tarina can keep guard, and I’ll see if I can trap us something to eat for supper.”
“Don’t wander too far from camp,” cautioned Cole. “It’s easy to get disoriented in the woods. I’ve known people to get lost less than a hundred meters from their campsite and never find their way back.”
After all they had been through, Sheridan found it amusing that his friend still fretted over him. “Trust me. I don’t want to die. I’ll be careful not to lose sight of our camp.”
“What about us?” asked Katin. “What can we do to help?”
“Gathering some wood from nearby trees for a fire would be helpful,” said Cole. “Once you’ve done that, clear away the deadfall and foliage around the lean-to in a two-meter radius.”
“Why?” asked Katin.
“Because it will keep the snakes and other creepy crawlies from coming too close to us while we sleep.”
Katin shuddered. “Thanks for that. Now I’ll never close my eyes.”
Sheridan unslung his weapon, making sure with his thumb that the safety was off. “Okay, I guess we’ll all meet back here in an hour or less.”
“An hour and not a second more or you’ll have to answer to me,” said Tarina, wagging a finger at her husband.
“Yes, my dear,” responded Sheridan before heading off to look for a game trail.
On the very edge of the Ki-9A’s no-go zone, a slender two-man reconnaissance ship prepared to jump away to search another star system when the crew detected a distress beacon’s signal coming from the largest of three moons orbiting a long-dead planet. The ship’s navigator confirmed the location of the signal and encoded it before relaying it back to Kordus’ ship via the Kurgan Empire’s vast satellite system.
Within minutes, a message appeared on the craft’s computer system.
Carry on to the moon and locate Admiral Kaar’s shuttle. If the occupants are found alive, they are to be eliminated. A second team is on its way to your location to assist you. All restrictions on entering the star system Ki-9A have been lifted. An edict declaring a holy war has been issued to allow you freedom of action.
Good hunting,
General Kordus
The pilot read and re-read the communique to ensure he wasn’t breaking one of Lord Kurgan’s most sacred laws before entering the distress beacon’s location into his flight computer and activating his sub-light engines.
The hunt was on.
Chapter 12
Sheridan’s stomach rumbled loudly. His traps had failed to capture anything other than a couple of small lizards, which he gave to the siblings to eat after carefully gutting and cooking them. He sat on a log with his rifle resting on his lap. The sun began to dip below the trees, painting the sky with a bright pink hue.
“Penny for your thoughts?” asked Tarina, taking a seat beside her husband. She slipped her arm under his and took his hand in hers.
“I was just wondering what life’s going to be like when the war is behind us and we can get on with our lives.”
“Peace an
d quiet is all I want and a couple of kids.”
“Kids?”
“Yeah, you know, little versions of you and me.”
“Ha, ha,” replied Sheridan. “I know what kids are. I sort of thought you’d want to wait a while before starting a family.”
Tarina snuggled closer and leaned her head on Sheridan’s shoulder. “Michael, if I’ve learned anything from this war, it’s that our time together is precious. Anything we put off to a later date may never happen, and I want children.”
“I think you may have something there.”
“I know I do.”
Sheridan chuckled and turned his head to kiss Tarina on the forehead.
A bright red bulbous light floated up from the jungle, followed by dozens more, filling the sky.
“My goodness, what are those?” asked Tarina.
“They’re a kind of flower found on the Kurgan homeworld,” explained Katin.
“They’re beautiful,” said Tarina. “What are they called?”
“We call them Kyris.”
“Why are they floating up into the sky?”
“They are getting ready to spread their seeds.”
With a delicate pop, one of the flowers burst, scattering thousands of silver-colored seeds back to the ground.
“Amazing,” said Tarina as more flowers burst. The fading rays of sunlight danced off the silver shower of seeds, dropping from the heavens.
“Breathtaking, isn’t it?” said Katin.
“If those plants are also found on your planet, I wonder what else around here can be found back home?” said Sheridan.
“When the sun rises in the morning I’d like to look around to see if I can find some non-poisonous fruit or vegetables that we can eat,” said Katin
“That’s actually a good idea,” said Tarina. “I’m famished and would love to have some fruit to eat for breakfast.”
“A whole pig would suit me just fine,” stated Cole.
“I see you’re thinking with your stomach again,” quipped Wendy.
“At least I’m thinking.”
“Yeah, okay. You can keep telling yourself that but we all know the truth.”
Crimson Fire (The Kurgan War Book 8) Page 6
