Aria quickly got her rifle off of her back, bringing it up to cover the inside of the ship. The scent of human blood faded from her nostrils, but the rush of adrenaline didn't fade. Her heart was racing now, and she had to force herself to focus on the task at hand. Jack was somewhere inside the ship. She didn't know the first place to look, and would have to follow her nose. She knew his scent well by now, enough to be able to pick it out from the other human scents that filled the ship. Keeping her rifle raised, she started into the ship.
******
Captain Bennett leaned back, her arms crossing again. Jack, still breathing heavily with sweat beading on his upper lip, watched her and tried to figure out what she was thinking. The other male commando, Ramsey, was pacing behind him. Jack glanced over his shoulder, then back at Bennett. She was regarding him with an impassive gaze. He'd told her the whole story, hadn't left anything out at all. For damn sure, he didn't want to get shot again. One time in his life was definitely enough.
“So, that's it, then?” Bennett finally said after what seemed like an eternity.
Jack hung his head. “That's it.”
“Not quite.” Bennett held up a finger, rubbing her chin with her other hand. “You've left out an important part. Where's the cat now?”
Jack looked back up, clamping his mouth shut. He felt his defiance returning despite his fear of what the commando leader might do. He shook his head, refusal evident on his face. No matter what, Jack wasn't going to give up Aria like that.
Bennett smiled at him. “How about this, then? I'll make you a deal.”
“A deal?” Jack narrowed his eyes, suspicious but curious.
“Yes. It's quite a good deal.” The woman stood, clasping her hands behind her back. “This unit is due to head home after we're finished up here. You tell us where the Ailian is, and if we can take her alive, you get a ride home with us.”
Jack's heart sank into his stomach. Of anything Bennett could have offered him, she had to offer that. It was the one thing Jack wanted more than anything: to go home. He almost couldn't bear the thought of not getting there, and to be able to ride home with these commandos, even after what they'd just put him through...Well, it was better than staying on this planet forever.
But could he trust what this woman was saying? She wanted something from him, and Jack was willing to bet that she would say anything to get it. Jack didn't believe for a minute that they were going to try to take Aria alive. They'd showed him what they were about when they tortured him to get information. He was certain that Bennett was planning on killing Aria as soon as Jack told her where to find her. And when Aria was dead and Bennett had what she wanted out of the wreck of her ship, there'd be absolutely no reason to keep Jack alive, and he'd be dead as well.
But what if Jack was wrong?
Bennett clapped her hands, jolting Jack out of his inner turmoil. “Time's up!” she snapped. “What's it gonna be, Squier?”
“I...”
Loud gunfire made all three of them look towards the door. Bennett ran for the door control, and paused with her hand over it. She looked back at Jack and the male commando. “Ramsey, keep him in here. Anybody but me comes through that door, kill him first.” She ripped her sidearm from its holster and slapped the door release, running out to the sound of more gunfire.
Ramsey stepped to the far side of the room and leaned against the wall, his arms crossed, looking unconcerned. Jack stared at him, unblinking, while he stared right back.
Aria, what are you doing...
******
Aria waved her hand, swiping away the faint smoke from her rifle shots, and stepped over the two bodies lying in the hallway. All pretense at stealth were gone now, and she was looking for more targets. She knew what path Jack had taken through the ship now, could follow the smell, and she ran. At each corner, she would pause only for a moment, making sure she could go around without being shot down. She'd been in patrol ships for a while, but she hadn't forgotten her tactics learned in military training. She also hadn't forgotten what fighting trained soldiers was like; these were no mere pirates, even if they were only human.
Aria was rushing down a long, straight hallway now. Doors lined either side, with one straight ahead of her. Jack's trail led right this way. She snarled, ready to advance, but behind her she heard loud, running footsteps, and shouting. Glancing over her shoulder, she skidded to a halt and turned around, one arm slapping out and opening a door beside her. Aria slipped inside, half in and half out of the doorway, lying in wait like the predator that she was.
The footsteps halted before anybody came around the corner at the end of the hall. Aria kept her aim steady, waiting. After a few moments, a head slowly edged its way into view. Aria squeezed the trigger, and the head snapped back, accompanied by a pink-and-gray cloud of blood and gore. She growled a challenge.
Another man came around the corner, swinging his arm out and bracing a rifle against the wall. He sent a one-armed burst of fire down the hall towards Aria, and bullet fragments peppered her leg as the rounds impacted the wall near her. Aria ignored the stinging pain and fired back, striking the man in the torso. As he fell to the floor a man and a woman came into view, opening up on her with their own rifles. She jerked out of the line of fire and into the open room, feeling a brush of air as a pair of rounds zipped through the space her head had occupied half a second before. Aria popped the magazine out of her weapon, grabbing and inserting a fresh one. She waited for a lull in the firing outside and then emerged again, kneeling.
Four humans were advancing down the hallway towards her, their rifles up and aimed at her. Aria shot at them, had the satisfaction of seeing two of them crumple before their companions returned fire. There was a white-hot searing pain along her left hip as a bullet sliced against her, a glancing blow. Snarling, she rolled to the side, coming up against the opposite wall and firing again. The other two humans fell, leaving the hallway ahead of her clear. Aria slowly lowered her rifle, breathing hard, her head spinning with the battle high.
A shot rang out behind her, and Aria's body spun around as a bullet tore through the meaty part of her left shoulder. As she fell to the floor, she saw a human female dash past her. Roaring, she hauled herself to her feet, firing after the fleeing figure. The human was too fast for her, and the bullets thudded into the wall at the end of the hall as the person made it around the corner. Aria ran after her, forgetting about Jack in her rage.
The female was running towards the rear of the ship, where the engine area was. Aria didn't care if she was being led into a trap, she wanted that bitch dead. They were running through a labyrinth of passageways, taking turn after turn. Aria was losing track of where she was going, but that was fine. She could find her way back when she needed to.
A minute later Aria came around a corner into what had to be the engine room of the ship. The female she'd been chasing was standing inside, near a bank of computer controls. She had her the index of one hand pressed down hard on a button, her other hand holding a pistol pointed at Aria. Baring her fangs, Aria raised her rifle, sighting directly on the woman's head.
“Stop!” the woman yelled. Her expression was mostly neutral, but there was a touch of fear to it. Aria let the corners of her mouth turn up in a grin. She liked seeing fear in an enemy's face. It was a welcome sight to her. “I know you can understand me. If you shoot me, my hand's going to come off this button. If I release it without typing in the right command, the ignition circuits in all of the engines will fry.”
Aria's fingers tightened on her rifle grip. “So what,” she hissed.
The female swallowed, a bead of sweat rolling down her forehead. “If that happens, this ship will be a useless pile of metal. We'll all be stuck on this planet, no way to get off. Do you want that to happen?”
“No difference,” Aria growled, advancing a step towards the female. Her aim didn't waver one millimeter. “Stuck here now anyway.” Her tail twitched dangerously, showing her barely contained rag
e. The fur on the back of her neck was raised.
“Be reasonable,” the woman pleaded. The hand in which she was holding her pistol was shaking now. “Tell you what. You let me live, and I'll give you Squier and the ship. I'll be your prisoner, just-”
Aria squeezed her trigger. The pleading woman's voice was cut off as the back of her head exploded onto the control panel behind her. For a few long seconds, her body remained standing, shaking erratically with death spasms. Then she collapsed, her pistol clattering to the floor of the engine room. Her hand came away from the button, which popped up with an audible click. There was silence for a few moments, then Aria heard a deafening crackling sound as electricity surged through the circuitry in the engine room. All of the status lights flickered, and then the room went dim as the engines went completely dead.
Aria lowered her weapon, gazing at the dead woman in front of her. “Much to learn of Ailians...”
Then she turned her back on the corpse and left, running to try to retrace her steps to where she could find Jack.
******
The male commando who had been left to guard Jack was pacing again, appearing impatient. The sound of gunfire had stopped, and now everything was mostly quiet. He stared at the door, paying little attention to Jack. Jack took the opportunity to test the strength of the handcuffs holding him to his chair. Like one might expect, they were solid steel and quite strong. But the commandos had been a little careless in fastening them. The cuff on his right hand had been left loose enough that he thought he might be able to wriggle his hand out of it.
Jack started working, twisting his hand while making his fist as tight and small as possible. It helped that he was sweating profusely with a combination of fear and pain, which made his skin slick against the metal. Before long, his hand was halfway through the cuff. Every time the commando glanced back at him, he'd still his movements.
A rumble shook through the ship, and the commando jumped. Jack winced, recognizing the feel and sound of a capacitor bank frying. This ship wouldn't be flying anytime soon. There went one option for leaving the planet.
“Son of a bitch...,” the commando muttered. “What the fuck is going on out there...” He opened the door, glanced out, and swore. “Shit! It's like a slaughterhouse out there!” He closed the door again, stared at Jack for a minute, then crossed the room and leaned against the wall. The tapping of his foot betrayed his anxiety.
“If you're so eager to go investigate, then go do it,” Jack suggested.
“Shut up,” the commando said. He rested his hand on his holstered sidearm. “Captain Bennett said I had to stay in here with you. She didn't say anything about you being alive when she got back. So keep your mouth shut, if you know what's good for you.”
Not having anything else to say, and kind of not wanting to end up with another bullet hole in him, Jack kept his mouth shut and continued working on getting his hand free. He almost had it out now, if he could just ease the cuff over his knuckles...He'd probably wind of scraping most of the skin off them, but still...
Jack looked up as the door suddenly slid open. His heart leapt as he saw Aria standing in the doorway, blood streaking her flight suit and her face contorted into a snarl. The commando froze in place, staring at her in shock and terror. Aria looked Jack over for a second, and she saw where he'd been shot in the leg. She turned her eyes to the commando, and her jaws gaped open as she let loose a deafening roar full of pure rage.
The commando's face went pale as all the blood drained from it, but he managed to draw his handgun from its holster as he darted over to Jack. With admirable speed, he'd wrapped his arm around Jack's shoulders and pressed the muzzle of the pistol to the side of his head. “Alright, cat, h-here's how it's gonna go down. You put the gun down, and-”
With an effort, Jack ripped his right hand out of the loose cuff and reached up, grabbing the commando's gun hand and jerking it down. In that second where the gun was pointed away from Jack's head, Aria fired her rifle. Her shot took the commando in the arm, and he dropped his pistol as his body spun away from Jack, falling to the floor.
Before the man could try to get up, Aria was on top of him, her rifle forgotten as she ripped at him with her claws. Blood spattered the walls as she tore at him, alternating rakes of her claws with brutal punches. She was in a true blood rage now, and all her prey could do was lay there as she beat and clawed him to a bloody mess. Long after the man was dead, Aria kept beating him, shrieking and howling in disjointed phrases of her own language.
“Aria!” Jack shouted, horrified at the carnage he was watching. “Aria, he's dead, stop! Aria!”
Her ears twitching back at the sound of his voice, Aria spun around and lunged at Jack, grabbing his collar. Holding his breath, Jack stared into her eyes as she stared back at him, her lips quivering as she bared her clenched teeth. She was growling at him, rage in her eyes, looking as though she didn't even recognize him. Her nostrils flared and she whipped her tail behind her.
“Aria, it's me,” Jack said, his voice shaking. “You know me.”
For a long time they just stared at each other, the only noise being Aria's heavy breathing and low rumbling growls. Her hands grasped his jacket tightly, stretching the material. Jack was absolutely terrified. The look in her eyes was something he'd never seen before, something he'd only ever heard about. It was the battle high, the almost narcotic effect of combat that made an Ailian fearsome in battle. The veterans who'd survived hand-to-hand fighting that Jack had talked to in the service had described it to him with looks of pure terror on their faces, and now he knew it for himself.
“Aria, it's me,” he repeated. He raised his free hand slowly, shakily. He touched the side of her face with it, feeling the fur against his skin. The Ailian's eyes flicked to the side, then back to his face. Jack swallowed, holding her gaze. “Come back, Aria, come back...”
Aria blinked, looking confused. Then the awareness slowly came back into her eyes, and her breathing slowed, her lips closing. She sucked in a sharp breath and leaned back from him, sitting back on her haunches. She clutched her head in her hands, huddled into a ball for several long minutes before she looked up again.
“Jack?” Aria blinked again, then shook her head as though to clear it. She looked around, spotted a key glinting on the belt of the man she'd just killed. She snatched it up and quickly released Jack's other hand from the chair.
“Thanks,” Jack said, still a little wary of her. He rubbed his wrists, feeling the soreness where the handcuff had dug into his left wrist. Then his hand went to his leg, probing at his wound. He unfastened the tourniquet, relieved to see only a little blood leak out. The bleeding had mostly stopped. Taking a deep breath, Jack tried to stand up, but his leg wouldn't support his weight and he collapsed back into the chair. “Can we get out of here? I've had enough of this ship...”
“Ah...Yes...” Standing up, Aria lifted Jack from the chair easily. She started to carry him out, but he stopped her.
“Don't forget the radio.” Aria turned and saw the portable radio that Jack had detached earlier. She picked it up and Jack took it, holding it in his hands as she carried him out of the room. Picking their way around the bodies on the floor, they both went down the hallway towards the exit to the commando ship and left death behind them.
- 10 -
“Lie back. Be still.”
Doing as she instructed, Jack laid himself down on the floor of the tent. After leaving the commando ship, he and Aria had appropriated the camp the privateers had set up outside for their own purposes. Aria had gotten several of the generators running to provide heat to the camp, and had found several tents set up with sleeping pads. They decided to use one of them as a treatment area so that Jack's wound could be tended to.
Kneeling next to Jack, Aria unfastened his pants and drew them down his legs. He winced as the fabric dragged over the bullet wound in his thigh, and some bleeding started again. After removing his boots, Aria pulled the pants completely off
and examined the wound closely. The flesh around the ragged wound was blackened slightly, burned by the heat of the contact shot from the commando's pistol. She probed gently but firmly with her fingers, and Jack choked back gasps of pain as the Ailian dug a finger in. The wound was bleeding freely now, disturbed by her examinations.
“Bullet still inside,” Aria said, looking up at Jack's face. “Could try to take it out, yes? But might cause more damage. Better to leave it in.”
“No, take it out,” Jack managed, the pain starting to increase as his adrenaline wore off. “I don't want a bullet in my leg. Be careful about it.”
“Yes, I...oh.” Aria looked around, her eyes widening in a sudden realization. “I forget. Leave our packs up on ridge when I come down. Not have any medical supplies with us.”
Giving an exasperated sigh, Jack placed a hand over his eyes. “You have got to be kidding me. Well, what about on the commando ship? I remember Captain Bennett saying something about there being a sick bay in there. You ought to be able to get a few supplies from there.”
Nodding, Aria stood up in the high-ceiling tent. “Yes. You give me code to enter, and I go. Will not take long.” Jack told her the code, and the Ailian left the tent. Her footsteps faded away from the tent, and Jack heard the sounds of the hatchway opening and closing a few minutes later.
Trying not to think about the pain, Jack lay there and waited for her to return. With blood slowly streaming down his leg, though not as much as right when he'd been shot, he picked up his pretty-much ruined pair of pants and pressed them hard against the wound. The pressure hurt like hell, but he managed not to pass out.
Nearly half an hour, by Jack's estimation, passed before Aria made it back to him. When she re-entered the tent she had a full ship surgeon's kit slung over her shoulder and a bundle of clothes under one arm. Aria knelt next to him again, setting the clothing aside and shucking off the surgeon's kit. While Jack watched her, she opened the kit up and withdrew some disinfectants, numbing agents, and bandages.
Transmission Lost Page 16
