Betrayal: Starship Renegades, #3

by S. J. Bryant

  "And I'll smell like a low quarter toilet."

  Atticus shrugged as he held up his arms—mosquito free.

  Another mosquito landed on Kari's nose, settling the decision for her. She raked the root over her arms and neck until a rank smell encased her. Ryker and Piper used it too, so at least they all smelled as bad as each other.

  "That's horrible," Kari said. But the mosquitoes were thinning already.

  Birds called in the trees above and other animals scurried, unseen, in the undergrowth. It sounded as though the whole forest were alive around them.

  How did people live with so much noise? Kari was sure she would go mad before morning came. She couldn't keep her ears strained for sounds of Wren because every little rustle made her jump, but if she shut off her senses entirely, then Wren could sneak up and slit her throat without her even realizing it.

  While she thought, true night descended around them until the dark was so complete that Kari couldn't make out her companions.

  "I'll keep first watch," Ryker whispered. There was something about the darkness and the oppressive closeness of the forest. Kari didn't want to break the silence either.

  She squinted but Ryker remained the vaguest of shadows, lit only by a thin beam of moonlight that squeezed through the trees.

  "Wake me in a couple of hours," Kari said, voice low.

  They didn't dare risk flashlights and so by unspoken agreement, Atticus, Piper, and Kari squeezed and cursed their way into the narrow shelter and lay on the ground. They used their bags and arms for pillows. In the warm forest air they didn't need blankets.

  Kari wanted to go to sleep. A bone-deep exhaustion filled her along with aches and pains from the wounds Wren had inflicted. But she struggled. Every noise and scuffle outside made her eyes snap open, even though she couldn't see anything. She worried. What if Wren found them and killed Ryker while Kari lay sleeping? What if she woke to find all of the others dead and she the only one alive?

  Or what if Wren found her and dragged her into the forest, somehow stifling her ability to cry for help or even to breathe…

  Kari pushed down panic and tried to calm her racing heart. There was no point worrying about things that hadn't even happened. Wren was good, and she had incredible senses, but Kari doubted that even she would be able to track anything in this darkness. And if she risked a flashlight then the chances were good that Ryker would see it.

  Kari had to believe that for the moment they'd reached a stalemate. But she knew as soon as the first shine of dawn hit the horizon, that Wren would be back on their trail. Which meant they had to get moving first.

  She finally managed to close her eyes but it felt like only minutes later that Ryker shook her awake, telling her it was her turn to keep watch.

  Kari would have liked to argue, roll over and beg another five minutes, but it was her fault they were all in danger. She could at least take her turn to keep watch.

  Besides, if Wren did find them in the darkness, Kari wanted to be the one to confront her. Better that she deal with it—and possibly suffer the consequences—than one of the others get hurt on her account.

  Damn Wren. Why did she take the job? She could have said no. She could have just said no.

  CHAPTER 14

  Kari glared into the darkness, trying to ignore her stinging shoulder and the ache in her back. The rotting log didn't make for a comfortable seat and her few hours of broken sleep hadn't been nearly enough. She was so damn tired. Tired, and sick of running. Couldn't Wren just leave them alone? She could go back to her precious Guild and claim she'd killed Kari. And who would ever know?

  But no. Wren would rather see Kari dead than lie to the Guild. And didn't that speak volumes.

  A rustle in the trees made Kari's head snap up, ears straining. There were a hundred forest creatures moving all around her, including in the trees above her head, but this had sounded… bigger.

  She squinted but she could barely see her own legs, let alone anything deeper into the trees. What if it was Wren? But no… Wren would have some kind of light on her, she had to. She couldn't actually see in the dark. Could she?

  Kari eased herself up from the crumbling log and laid a hand on the pistol at her belt. As soon as she was sure it was Wren, she'd shoot. Although that was assuming she got a chance. Wren moved with the speed of a viper, only twice as deadly.

  The rustling came again, closer this time, and louder. Whatever had made that noise was big… bigger even than Wren… and it was coming this way.

  Kari's heart hammered as she pulled her plasma pistol from its holster. The blue barrel cast a weak, ethereal glow over the nearest trees. It would make her a target for Wren, but if there was something coming at her through the trees, then that didn't matter.

  A scrabbling, then pounding footsteps and snapping branches. Something hurtled through the forest toward Kari and the camp. Something big and fast.

  "Ryker!" Kari said.

  Movement in the shelter behind her and the light from another, larger, gun flared to life. The glow from the orange plasma cannon lit Ryker's face from beneath.

  "Is she here?" he said.

  "No. Something bigger."

  The large circle of light from Ryker's gun illuminated the trees and caught a flash of movement. A shadow whipped through the branches, making the trees shiver and quake.

  "What is that?" Ryker said.

  Kari tried to track it with her pistol but it moved too fast. It circled behind them. She twisted, trying to keep it in sight. She wanted to fire off a few warning shots, but the noise would let Wren know exactly where they were—they might as well send up a flare.

  Atticus and Piper took up smaller weapons from Ryker's arsenal, aiming at the trees. Their hands shook.

  "Two hundred pounds," Piper said. "Furry. Four legs. No… two legs and two arms but it can run on all fours…"

  Kari glanced at Piper. The skin of her face pulled tight and her glazed eyes stared at the forest with a fixated glare.

  "Piper," Kari said. "It's okay."

  "It's important," Piper said. "Recently ate. Meat."

  "It's okay," Kari said. "That's enough."

  "But—"

  "Enough!" And it was. Kari would never have been able to make out that much information from the vague shadow darting between the trees.

  A two-hundred-pound animal that had recently eaten meat? That didn't sound good.

  "It's coming!" Ryker bellowed.

  Kari turned in time to see a mass of teeth and claws barreling through the trees toward them. Its brawny shoulders broke through the branches and undergrowth as if they were little more than twigs and the forest parted before it, giving way to the creature.

  It snarled, revealing sharpened teeth and two huge tusks that protruded from its lower jaw, pushing its lips out. It lunged across the tiny clearing, front legs outstretched. Sharp talons reflected the light of Ryker's gun.

  Kari darted to the side, taking Piper with her. She shoved Piper to the ground, turned, and fired at the beast.

  Blue bolts of plasma lit up the trees and the sharp pop of the weapon echoed about the forest, breaking the buzz of insects and the gentle scurry of animals. When the boom died away, it left the forest in real silence, as if all the animals had frozen, listening or watching to see what would happen next.

  All except the tusked creature, which had dodged each of Kari's blasts and landed on all fours on the other side of the clearing. It spun on her and growled, spittle flying between its sharp teeth and spattering the leaf litter.

  Thick brown fur covered every inch of its skin and its muscled shoulders bulged behind its head. Yellow eyes reflected the glow from Ryker's weapon.

  In the low light, Kari could almost have mistaken it for a wolf—of the kind she'd read about in fairytales—only this was much bigger than any of the stories suggested. But Piper had been right; its front legs did look more like arms and they ended in fingers instead of toes. Fingers with claws.

  Th
e beast snarled, snapped its jaws, and darted forward. It leapt the distance to Kari in a single, short bound.

  She brought her gun around but its front paws—hands—landed on her chest before she could fire and knocked her to the ground, forcing the air out of her lungs. The weight of it squeezed her ribs so she couldn't breathe, and threatened to crack her sternum.

  The creature lunged, jaws snapping, toward her neck.

  Kari let go of her gun and grabbed the beast's head in both hands. She buried her fingers deep in its fur and shoved, only just managing to keep its teeth away from her throat.

  It snapped and snarled, and the stink of rotting meat wafted over Kari's face along with a shower of hot spittle that dotted her cheeks.

  She strained, trying to toss it aside, but it was too heavy. It pushed her into the leaf-litter so that she sank at least half an inch, and she still couldn't breathe. Her pulse pounded in her ears as stars flashed across her vision. How much longer would she stay conscious? How much longer could she keep it away? And where the hell—

  A shadow appeared behind the beast and then the animal jerked back. Ryker had grabbed a handful of fur at its scruff and hurled it to the side.

  Kari sprang up—not wasting time to catch her breath—and brought her gun down. But the creature was already gone, into the cover of trees.

  Kari stood with her back to Ryker. Atticus and Piper huddled a short distance away, partly shielded by the shelter they'd made.

  "Alright?" Ryker said.

  "Yeah," Kari said. She suspected that the beast and ripped open the wounds in her shoulder, but she didn't have time to worry about that now.

  "It's still there."

  "Yeah," Kari said.

  For its size, the creature was quiet, but Kari caught the occasional snap of a twig as it circled the clearing, staying just out of the circle of light.

  "What is it?" Ryker said.

  "I don't know."

  They waited. Kari's nerves thrummed like a tightly pulled string, urging her to fire wildly into the trees. She could still smell the creature thanks to the spittle on her face, but she didn't dare take the time to wipe it off. She'd seen intelligence in those yellow eyes and if she dropped her gaze for even a second… it would strike.

  "What if there are more of them?" Ryker said.

  "I'm really trying not to think about that," Kari said.

  "There's only one," Piper said. "At least nearby."

  "You're sure?" Kari said.

  "Yes. I can smell it."

  "Me too," Kari muttered, although she knew she couldn't sense it the same way Piper did.

  The sound of snapping twigs stopped and true silence descended over the clearing. Kari strained her eyes and ears but outside of the circle of light, nothing moved.

  "Do you think it's gone?" Ryker said.

  Kari shook her head. It was waiting. Trying to trick them or lull them into letting their guard down. "It won't work," she said, although why she was trying to talk to some deadly forest creature she didn't know.

  Whether it was coincidence or it had understood her, Kari couldn't be sure, as a sudden flurry of movement caught the corner of her eye and the creature lurched through the trees, jaws snapping.

  It flew like a furry ball of teeth and claws out of the forest, toward Ryker.

  Ryker tried to raise his gun but it was too bulky and the beast knocked it aside with one massive claw.

  Kari leaned out of the way, turned, and fired.

  Three bright blue bolts shot out of her gun and slammed into the creature's side, knocking it off course. It landed hard on the ground, staggered, and lost balance.

  Kari fired twice more.

  The burning plasma bolts bit into the creature's fur, chewing black holes through to its chest. It let out a whining howl before careening into a small tree which toppled under its weight.

  "Take this!" Ryker said. He fired a single blast from his massive weapon. The shot hurled the creature into a thick stand of trees. It whimpered, slid to the ground, and lay still.

  Kari and Ryker gasped ragged breaths, both of them still aiming at the beast.

  Kari inched forward and nudged it with her boot.

  "Dead," she said.

  CHAPTER 15

  The dead beast gave off the rank smell of wet fur, mixed with singed flesh and blood. Kari turned to the trees. The circle of light from Ryker's gun only lit up the nearest branches but would be like a beacon to anyone watching them from deeper in the forest—like Wren.

  Kari shivered and shoved her gun into its holster. "Put it away, Ryker."

  Ryker killed his gun and the glow of the plasma dulled, eventually fading to nothing. But while they'd been fighting, the light of dawn had crept over the trees to cast a gray light over everything so that Kari could make out Ryker's silhouette beside her.

  "We have to leave," Kari said.

  "What if there are more of those things?" Atticus said.

  "All the more reason to get away from this one."

  "And Wren would have heard us," Ryker said.

  "Collect your things," Kari said.

  Minutes later, they trudged through the trees. The light was just bright enough to avoid smacking their heads against low-hanging branches, but they could have been walking in circles for all Kari knew. She strained her eyes to watch the ground but still her boots caught on roots and she stumbled every few steps.

  They didn't speak. The cloying silence of the forest pressed on them, urging them to quiet. A few birds called overhead, but even the animals were silent. Leaves crackled beneath their boots and Ryker's thick body snapped twigs and branches out of their way.

  The sun got higher in the sky until Kari didn't have to strain to see her feet, and the darkness cleared around them, revealing the dense undergrowth of the forest.

  "Do we have any kind of destination in mind?" Ryker said. "Because now that we know what's out here, I don't exactly feel like sticking around."

  Kari searched for something to say. But how could she respond? It had been her idea to come into the forest, but it was becoming clear that she hadn't thought the plan through. Now that they were here, what happened? Did they stop in the middle of the trees and wait for Wren to come along? And just hope that they came out on top? Ryker was right. There were creatures in the forest, creatures with teeth. What if she got them all killed by some bear while trying to avoid Wren?

  "I don't know," Kari said at last.

  "Well at least you can—"

  "Quiet," Piper said. Her high-pitched voice cut through their small group. Ryker's mouth snapped shut.

  They froze, ears straining.

  Kari turned in a slow circle, scanning the trees. She hadn't heard anything, and she couldn't see anything through the dense forest. "What is it?" she whispered.

  "We're not alone," Piper said.

  "Wren?"

  Piper shook her head, eyes locked on the trees a short distance ahead and just to the side of their path.

  Kari straightened, laying her hand on her plasma pistol. "Who's there? Show yourself."

  Silence. She felt ridiculous, yelling at the forest, but if Piper said someone was there… well, Kari knew better than to ignore her.

  "Come out, I say," Kari said. "We won't hurt you."

  More silence, and then it was as if the shadows of the trees morphed into the shape of a person in front of Kari's very eyes. What she'd assumed were leaves moved, revealing themselves to be eyes, and then the figure stepped into a shaft of sunlight. A dark-skinned man stared at them, his body painted in stripes and dots to mimic the dappled light of the forest. He carried a spear in one hand, held loosely in his fingers. Taut muscles snaked over his body, disappearing beneath a brown and green speckled cloak that had tassels and wisps that blended with the forest even as Kari watched.

  "He's not alone," Piper said.

  Kari squinted at the forest behind the man but she couldn't see anyone. Still, Piper had been right about him, so Kari didn't doubt the
re were others.

  "Hello," Kari said.

  The man tilted his head to the side, never blinking.

  Heat crept up Kari's cheeks. What was a man who looked like he'd stepped out of the pages of a history book doing here? Was it some kind of joke? Could he even understand the common tongue?

  She placed a hand on her chest. "Kari. You?"

  He scanned the rest of the group, his posture never changing.

  "Do you understand?" Kari said. What the hell were they supposed to do now? She hadn't counted on running into a tribe in the trees.

  "I understand," he said, with only the barest trace of an accent. "You killed the scrag."

  "The scrag?" Kari said. "Was that the creature?"

  The man nodded. "We don't get strangers in the forest often."

  "We're just passing through," Kari said. "We don't want any trouble."

  "Neither do we. Why are you here?"

  A hundred excuses passed through Kari's head. She could say they were explorers, or out camping for some fun, or scientists studying the local wildlife. But there was something to the man's gaze, a deep and penetrating stare that made her believe that he'd know if she were lying. And then what? He might be armed with only a spear but if he had a half dozen friends hidden in the shadows then they could kill Kari and her group just as easily as if they had guns.

  "We're running," Kari said.

  "From what?"

  "From a woman."

  He raised an eyebrow.

  "It's hard to explain. But she wants me dead."

  "Did you kill her family?"

  "No."

  "Did you steal her food?"

  "No."

  "Then why does she want you dead?"

  Kari shrugged. Wasn't that the million-dollar question? But the answer was simple in the end. "Money. It's a job."

  The man frowned. "We know the ways of the city people are strange, but that seems very wrong."

  "You're telling me."

  "You will come to our village and tell us about this job."