On one of their breaks, while they sat in the shade of a tree, Aria even started talking to him in a conversational way. “So, Jack. You from Earth, yes? Or born on a colony?”
Jack was a little taken aback by this friendly line of speech. “Uh...I was born on Europa, but my family moved back to Earth when I was five. So both, I guess.”
Aria nodded. “Which you like better, colony or home planet?”
“I dunno,” Jack said, shrugging. “I don't really remember Europa all that well. I grew up on Earth, and that's what I'm used to.” He leaned back against the tree.
“Have family on Earth?”
Jack nodded. “Some. My mother and father are still there. My brother lives on Mars, working in the mining industry there. I have a sister, too...She's in the Navy somewhere out there, I'm not sure where.” He paused. “I'm not sure I'd want to tell you where, actually, even if I did know. I probably shouldn't even have mentioned that.”
“Is okay.” Aria waved a hand. “Ascendancy already knows most of where human military is. No harm.”
Jack relaxed a little. Of course, he thought. After all, it's not like she can do anything about it. We're stuck on this planet. He turned his head to look at Aria. “What about you, Aria? Where are you from? You have any family out there?”
She looked away from him, off into the distance. Jack was about to repeat the question when she stood, hefting her rifle and swinging her pack back onto her back. “No more talk.” She nodded up to the sky. “Sunset in a few hours. Need to keep moving before dark.”
Blinking, Jack stood as well. “Uh, yeah...Sure.” He picked up his backpack. “On your lead.”
******
About two hours later, they came to a flat area with a wide river running through it. Jack set up their campsite near the water while Aria refilled their canteens. When she came back, Jack saw that she also had a few strange-looking fish in her hands. They sort of resembled salmon, but they were longer and had far more fins than fish on Earth would have. Still, it would be nice to have something to eat other than canned rations, for a change.
Aria got a fire going and cooked the fish, and they ate. The fish had a pleasant, nutty flavor to them when they were cooked, and they were very tender and flaky. For a little while, Jack could almost imagine that he was just on a camping trip with a friend, instead of on a march for survival with what should have been his worst enemy. There was no more conversation as there had been earlier in the day, but at least there wasn't any hostility.
When the meal was finished, Aria took the remnants and carried them down to the river, tossing them into the water to be carried away. The sun was very low, almost below the horizon, and it was nearly time for bed. As Aria walked back, Jack was setting up his bedroll outside to sleep.
“Bedtime, yes?” Aria asked. Jack nodded, stifling a yawn. “Good. We sleep, ready for more walking in morn-!”
Jack fell backwards in shock as an animal, nearly identical to the one that had attacked him the night before, leaped over his head. One of its tails smacked him as it passed, and he was sent sprawling as it made a beeline for Aria. Taken by surprise, Aria was tackled to the ground by the beast. Jack sat upright, his head spinning, as Aria hissed and roared, fighting with the creature.
His heart racing, Jack scrambled to his feet, taking a few steps towards Aria. An echoing howl, not so far off, froze him in his tracks.
Jesus Christ, more of them? he thought frantically. Now he was terrified. Aria heard the howl too, and a second later there was another howl, closer this time. She dealt the beast a punishing blow to the side of the head, stunning it momentarily. Right before it recovered, she looked at Jack, baring her fangs.
“Go!” she snarled at him. The predator snapped its fangs at her, and Aria jerked her head away just in time to save her nose. “Go! Before more come. Run. I follow when done!” The animal whipped a tail around at the side of her head, and Jack made a motion towards Aria. But she caught the tail in one of her hands and pinned it down, looking back at Jack once more. “Po'krai! Do not stand there like a fool! Run!”
Shuffling his feet in indecision, finally Jack turned and ran as fast as his tired legs could carry him. The howls of what sounded like a pack of those creatures were behind him, along with the snarls and roars of Aria as she fought. Jack kept running, not looking back, terrified for his life and trying not to think about what would happen if any of those animals caught up with him.
Before long, the sounds faded until all he could hear was faint echoes. As the skies grew darker, Jack felt his legs burning, but he just kept running as fast as his weary muscles would allow.
- 4 -
As Jack ran, he could still faintly hear the sounds behind him of Aria and the fight she was having with the pack of wild animals. He was running through the trees, almost directly back along the path they'd come from during the day. Darkness was falling, and he was having trouble retracing his steps, tripping over roots and slipping on leaves. Every now and then he looked over his shoulder, but a howl would freeze his heart and he'd put on a burst of speed. Before long he could barely hear any more, could barely hear anything except the sound of his own breath.
“Okay, I...,” Jack gasped, gradually coming to a stop, bending over with exertion. “I can't run anymore...” He leaned back against a tall tree, fighting to catch his breath.
For several long minutes, Jack just stood there breathing and listening to the thudding of his heartbeat. He was shaking with terror. Fighting in a ship up in space was one thing, but Jack had no idea how to fight hand-to-hand. He could shoot a gun alright, but against creatures that could tear him to shreds in a flash, he wasn't sure what he could do.
He wasn't like Aria. Last night, when she'd come looking for him and had pulled that animal off of him, she'd demonstrated much better fighting skills than Jack had ever dreamed of having. It had taken her only seconds to put that predator down. Now she was fighting an entire pack of them by herself. Jack knew she was tough, but he had no idea if she could...
Standing up straight, Jack blinked, looking around at where he was. “What the hell am I doing?” he asked aloud. “I just abandoned her!”
Jack wasn't all that fond of Aria, but at the very least he felt some sense of gratitude to her. After experiencing what the planet had to offer for a few days, he was certain that he would not have survived this long if it hadn't been for her help. In fact, just the night before she had literally saved his life, when he'd been attacked by one of those creatures. Sure, she had really let him have it for going off alone so far into the woods, but the Ailian had patched up his wounds afterward. Obviously she cared enough to want to keep him alive, even if she did have self-serving reasons for it.
Which was more care than he'd showed, just running off like a coward, just like Aria had thought he was from the beginning. He was proving her right. Jack would be goddamned if he'd let her be right about one more thing.
Jack turned back around, running right back in the direction he'd just come from. She saved my life, and I ran off and left her there. I don't give a damn what she told me to do, I'm going back there.
The human wasn't sure what he'd do once he got back, but he had time to think while he ran.
******
Back at the campsite, Aria was in serious trouble. Three of the demon-like creatures lay dead at her feet, oozing dark blood from claw wounds and bullet holes in their bodies. Jack's sidearm lay cast aside on the ground, slide locked back on an empty chamber. Aria cursed at herself for having forgotten to take the spare magazines from his belt. She desperately wished to be holding her own rifle in her hands, but it was at the tent along with the human rifle she'd taken from Jack, and four of the ravenous beasts stood guard between it and her. They'd been there ever since the first time she'd tried to make a break for her weapon. They may have looked like dumb animals, but it seemed they possessed more intelligence than she'd previously thought.
Aria growled, wiping blood from a c
ut above her eyes. Five more creatures were circled around her, whipping their twin tails against the ground, anxious for their turn to get at her. She slowly turned herself around, looking among them, evaluating which one was the weakest link, the easiest to take out before setting in on the others. Aria drew her knife from her belt, fitting it in a backhanded grip, blade facing out.
“Sus kal-fe a'lash...,” she hissed, trying to goad the animals into making their move. She flicked her tail, the fur on the back of her neck raised and her teeth exposed.
In a flash, the predator in front of her launched itself through the air towards her. Aria drew her arm back and then thrust it forward, plunging the knife deep into its chest. The demon howled in agony, its tails hanging limply. Aria withdrew her knife, ready to stab again, and then another beast jumped on her back from behind. With a howl, it reared its head back and then clamped its jaws over her right shoulder. The Ailian screamed and her right arm went numb, the knife dropping from her hand. She swatted her left hand across her body, raking her claws over the offending creature's face. It barked, releasing her shoulder, and she clutched its neck and hurled it off of her.
Gasping, Aria clutched her shoulder. There was no feeling in it whatsoever, but the sensation of fire was spreading across the rest of her body. She gritted her teeth and looked around on the ground for her knife. Before she found it, a third demon leaped at her, planting its front paws on her chest and taking her to the ground. With barely any time to catch her breath, Aria wrestled with it, trying to ignore the burning feeling spreading over her body.
A-...Ara ke na me'resh..., Aria thought to herself. I cannot take much more of this...
With as much strength as she could muster, Aria unsheathed the claws from her left hand and grabbed the predator atop her by the throat. She dug her claws in, piercing its neck deeply. Twisting her wrist she opened up its neck, and there was a trio of sharp cracks as its spine splintered. Blood drenched her front and the animal went limp. Panting, Aria rolled its body off of her, sitting up with great difficulty. Her vision was growing cloudy as numbness washed over her body from her shoulder, but she surveyed the area as best she could. Three more demons lay dead around her. Two left out of the group that had surrounded her. If Aria was careful and swift, she thought she could manage that.
And then two of the animals from the group blocking access to the tent joined the pair still facing her. Aria groaned, getting shakily to her feet. Weaponless, one arm completely useless, she got herself into as much of a fighting stance as she could manage.
******
Stealthily, Jack made his way down from the trees. Aria had thrown the beast from her back, and he watched as another tackled her from the front. He wanted to charge the pack, to distract them from Aria enough for her to do something, but he knew he had to be smart about it. From where he was he could see their packs sitting next to the tent, along with both of the rifles. The human knew he had little use for Aria's rifle; it might have been useful as an anti-vehicle rifle in a human's hands, but in a stand-up fight he wouldn't have any chance of wielding it. If he could just get to the rifle Aria had taken from him, though...He wasn't as good of a shot with a long gun as he was with a pistol but he figured he could hit the animals from close range with automatic fire.
Jack moved carefully. Aria had killed the animal mounted on her chest, but there were still two around her and four on the far side of the tent from him. Hunched low to the ground, he crept up, watching his feet and being careful not to step on any twigs or clumps of leaves. He was watching the nearby predators closely, but they seemed not to have heard him. As he looked, two of the animals left the tent at the same time, heading for Aria. With only two still guarding the camp, it was now or never. Abandoning stealth, Jack flat-out ran the remaining ten meters to the tent, throwing himself at his gun. He wrapped his fingers around the grip and tried to pick it up, cursing as he realized it was still clipped to Aria's pack.
One of the creatures turned its head, baring its fangs and snarling as it saw Jack with his hand on a weapon. His eyes widening in terror, Jack fumbled for the clip, his fingers finding the correct position and unfastening it. Barking, the animal whipped around and lunged at him. With barely a second to spare Jack brought the rifle up, ripping off a three-round burst right into the predator's chest. The rounds were smaller than most pistol bullets, but the high-powered projectiles were designed to tumble and fragment when they contacted flesh. The beast collapsed dead on the ground as a massive exit wound exploded out of its back.
Jumping in surprise, the other animal nearest to Jack almost managed to turn around before he dispatched it in a similar fashion. The smoke clearing from the gunfire, Jack looked up from the corpses to survey the area. Aria had somehow managed to kill another beast, but there were still three left.
“Aria!” Jack yelled, standing up and raising his snugging the rifle in tight to his shoulder.
The Ailian wiped blood from her face, looking around for the source of the voice that had called her name. She seemed very disoriented to Jack, and was wobbling on her feet. One of the beasts looked towards Jack, but whether it had not seen how he'd killed both its packmates or it just didn't care, it turned its attention back to Aria.
“J-Jack?” Aria called back. She took a step in his direction as she seemed to see him. “What you...!”
Jack watched in horror as one animal whipped its tails, and Aria jerked forward as a tail blade slashed at her left leg, stabbing clear through it. Screaming, Aria stumbled to the ground, landing flat on her face, blood gushing forth from the fresh wound.
“Damn...,” Jack hissed. He dropped to one knee and flipped the rifle to automatic fire. Aiming carefully, he directed a long burst towards the demon that had its blade through the Ailian's leg. Four rounds rippled along its body, and it jerked its tails away from Aria as it shuddered and collapsed on the ground. The two remaining predators turned towards Jack, forgetting Aria in light of this new threat. Jack stared them down, trying to keep his breathing under control as they stared back. They seemed to be considering their options, shuffling their feet on the ground.
Apparently reaching a decision, both of them turned tails and ran off, disappearing into the night.
After making sure they were gone, Jack slung the rifle over his shoulder and ran towards the fallen Ailian. “Aria!” He knelt next to her, rolling her over. The Ailian was very heavy, no surprise for a three-meter-tall being of pure muscle. He looked her over. Aria's eyes were closed, and her breathing was rapid and shallow. He lightly slapped the side of her face, but got no response. “Dammit...” Jack looked around, trying to think. Aria was wounded terribly, and he had no doubt that she would die if he didn't act quickly.
He leaned down, hooking his arms underneath her armpits, wrapping around her chest. Standing up, he started to drag her back closer to the fire, into the light. The process was slow for him, but he heaved and strained and eventually managed to get her there. He laid her out parallel to the flames and turned his attention to the heat source. The fire was beginning to die, and the first thing Jack did was to throw wood onto it. Aria was shivering and he knew he needed to keep her warm. He rushed over to the tent, weaving around the dead animals, and retrieved the medical kit and one of their canteens. Returning to Aria's side, he contemplated how best to start his work.
There was nothing for it. “Sorry about this, Aria,” Jack said. He removed her belt, then started unzipping her flight suit. “If you make it through this, you can kill me later.” With some difficulty, Jack got her undressed. He gazed at the expanse of light orange fur on her body, her underbelly cream-coated. Her fur was matted all over with blood.
Jack opened the canteen and quickly washed as much of the blood off of Aria as he could. The wounds on her leg and her shoulder were the worst, and were still bleeding heavily. Jack frowned. Even with the amount of blood she had lost, he couldn't imagine that she would be in the state she was in. Aria was too tough for that. Jack touc
hed the wound on her leg, bringing his hand up to look at it in the firelight. Apart from the Ailian's blood, a blackish, thin liquid clung to his skin.
Immediately, Jack felt his finger start to tingle with numbness. Biting back a curse, he grabbed the canteen and furiously scrubbed his hand off. The numbness started to subside, and Jack had his answer. Obviously the species that had attacked them possessed some sort of toxin. He searched in the medical kit, and after several frantic seconds he withdrew a large syringe with a capped needle. Inside was a powerful wide-spectrum antitoxin designed to adapt and fight a large number of venoms with a wide range of characteristics. Jack knew it probably wouldn't cure a toxin that the designers hadn't known to exist, but maybe it would bolster Aria's immune system enough to give her a fighting chance. He uncapped the needle and jabbed it into her arm, depressing the plunger and injecting it into her bloodstream.
With that done, Jack pulled out the wound sealer Aria had used before and got to work closing up the worst of the injuries on her body. Before long the bleeding was cut off, and Jack bandaged up the wounds. He definitely wasn't as good at this as Aria was, but he did the best he could. When he was finished with that, he surveyed his work. Aria looked like hell, but at least she wasn't covered in open wounds anymore. He watched her, reassuring himself that she was still breathing. Fast and shallow, but yes, still breathing.
Jack got himself to his feet and retrieved an emergency blanket from his pack. He covered Aria and then picked up her flight suit, which he carried down to the river to rinse off. No sense in her having to wear bloodstained clothing when she was fit again.
******
Slowly, painfully, Aria's eyes drifted open. Her head was throbbing, and her entire body still felt a slight burning sensation. Soft, early daylight hit her eyes, and she blinked. Even that felt difficult to her. The Ailian tried to lift her head, but she found that she couldn't, so she settled for turning it to one side. To her right she saw Jack, stretched out on his bedroll a short distance away from her, his rifle cradled in his arms as he slept.
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