by Theresa Kay
I shuffle—yes, shuffle because that’s the best my legs can do at this point— across the tent and step past the flap. Oh hell, isn’t this just great? The only good thing I can say is that the bozos managed to find a clearing to set up camp in and thankfully the ship’s survival pod appears to have been well-equipped. There are ten other tents and maybe twenty people wandering about in the clearing, more than I expected of both. Past that, there’s nothing but trees. There’s nothing remotely resembling a city, a town, or any form of civilization anywhere in sight.
One of the sturdy survival tents will be for supplies and that’s the one I need to find. Being enemy number one to these people certainly has its perks. Except for dirty looks, no one pays much attention to me as I ramble around the camp and in and out of tents. I snatch a backpack lying beside a cot in one tent and am relieved to find the next tent filled with boxes. Foil nutrition packets are stacked inside a box in the corner and I start jamming them into the backpack. I’ll be damned if I’m sticking around here with these civvy idiots.
If the corps did shoot at them, they did it for a reason. It’s not like attacking innocent civilians is protocol. In fact, I’d say it’s highly against protocol and I’d rather not be caught in the crossfire when someone heads down to investigate. Based on the looks of the forest, this planet’s had at least rudimentary terraforming done. That means there’s a signal station somewhere and I’m going to find it.
I’m loading up some hydro packets when someone comes up behind me. “Look,” I say without turning around. “You guys want to be rid of me probably as much as I want to be gone. I’m only taking a couple days worth of supplies. That’s the least you guys could do after nearly leaving me to die.”
“Leaving you to die? I distinctly recall saving your life.” Oh great, the one person here who might actually take issue with my plan.
I turn around with my hands up. “I just want to find the signal station and get out of here. I—”
“What makes you think there’s a signal station here?” Alex’s gaze darts around the area and uneasiness creeps into his features.
“That,” I say, gesturing at the forest around us. “One of your cronies said this was an uncharted planet, but you don’t get jungle like that naturally. Terraforming means that the corps would have put at least one signal station here.”
He looks around and raises his eyebrows. “What are you talking about?”
Stupid civvy. “Look at it as a whole, not at the individual trees. See how there’s a pattern to it, how the trees and leaves are almost like a repeating background? That’s terraforming.”
This time, he squints his eyes and looks closer then makes a non-committal grunt in the back of his throat. “You’re not leaving. Sure as hell not to go run off and signal the corps. It was pure luck that we survived at all. I’m not letting you go broadcast our location.”
I cross my arms and look him up and down. He’s covered in soot and barely standing up straight, probably much like me. But I’m corps. I know how to work through weakness. He doesn’t.
“It’s been fun and all, but how exactly do you plan on stopping me?” I ask with a mocking smile.
He snorts and jerks his chin over my shoulder. “I’m not. They are.”
A hand wraps around each of my arms and I’m tugged backward. “Hey! Let go of me!” I manage to break one arm free and send an elbow back into what I hope is someone’s kidney area. I think I just hit him in the butt. There’s a grunt and my arm is captured again, this time a little more tightly and I’m lifted slightly off the ground. This time, no matter how much I curse and jerk my shoulders around, I’m stuck.
Alex just stands there and smirks. Asshole.
Chapter 3
After tossing me into an empty tent, one of the two doofuses that dragged me over here walks off and the other posts himself outside the entrance like a guard dog. I plant myself on the single cot in the corner for a while and let my mind wander. This isn’t helping! The urge to move, to do something overtakes me and I jump back to my feet. I walk around the perimeter of the tent a few times, my muscles gaining more and more stability with every lap. That damn stasis really took something out of me. Honestly, I probably shouldn’t be traipsing off alone on this half-assed terraformed planet anyway, but I have things to do. Friends to see. People to…mourn.
My hand goes to my stomach. I swallow back the creeping sting of tears and grit my teeth. No time for that now.
On my next circle, I study the walls. Stupid reinforced canvas survival tents. Of course. Looks like my luck today is just about crap. No weapons. No supplies. No allies. I let out a frustrated scream and punch the flap of canvas that covers the entrance. I’m rewarded with an oomph from outside. Well, at least someone can be witness to my displeasure.
“Move your ass and let me out!” I pound on the canvas again.
The guy pulls the tent flap to the side and walks in. He scowls down— pretty far down actually— at me with his arms crossed. What is this ogre doing with these civvy geeks? He’d have fit right in with my boot camp regiment. Most people are taller than me, but this one towers over me and he’s about as wide as two of me put together. Close cut dirty blond hair and light blue eyes complete the picture, but it’s the flash of good humor in those eyes that sets him apart from most corps guys I know.
“Behave.” His voice is a deep rumble, no surprise by the size of him.
Batting my eyelashes, I pitch my voice up and say, “Sure thing. I’m always so well-behaved for idiots that manhandle me for no reason.”
He narrows his eyes. I send a scathing look back at him and pretend to scratch my nose with an extended middle finger. At that, he runs one hand over his chin. Clearly trying to hide the smile forming on his face.
“Come on,” I say. “Look at me. I don’t eat that much. Just let me take a day’s worth of supplies and get out of here. What do you care?”
Alex steps into the tent. Doesn’t my luck just keep getting better and better? He’s soot free now and wearing clean clothes, probably even had something to eat and drink while he left me here wrapped in filth to starve. Must be nice. “We care that your plan is to bring the corps right to us. Not gonna happen,” he says.
I huff and roll my eyes. “I don’t want to be here most likely more than you all don’t want me here. And what’s your issue with the corps coming to get me anyway? I mean, I get that you’re all on the run and stuff, but I won’t tell if you won’t. After the fiasco…” I trail off and my eyes dart to the ground. “I wouldn’t want it to get out that I’ve somehow ended up in the company of some weird rebel faction. I’ve got enough to deal with.”
“About that…” Alex steps forward. “Care to explain how exactly you ended up in that stasis tube and why the corps is so very interested in you?”
Considering I have no idea myself, there’s nothing for me to say. I’m not telling him that, though. If this laughable interaction is his idea of an interrogation and he thinks I’m going to give him any information that could be used against me, he’s wrong. “Nope,” I say, putting an extra pop on the ‘p.'
The muscles at the sides of his jaw pop out. He glances at the big guy beside him and raises his eyebrows. Bozo gives him a skeptical look and a slight shrug.
A laugh bursts from my mouth and I shake my head. “Is this the part where you threaten me?” I beat a fist against my chest and lower my voice. “Me big man, beat you up if you no talk.” Returning to my normal voice, I continue. “Please. I went through boot camp with twenty guys bigger and tougher than both of you put together. I held my own then. I can do it now.”
Okay, so maybe they weren’t truly bigger, but most of them were true jackasses who liked to pick on me just because I was a girl, not just silly men untrained in anything remotely resembling interrogation techniques. The two of them share another look and then turn their eyes to me.
“How about this, you tell me what you’re doing here and I’ll tell you what you wa
nt to know. You show me yours, I’ll show you mine.” I grin and watch them fidget. “I’m waiting.”
The big guy is pressing his lips together so hard they’ve almost completely disappeared and Alex’s face is a mixture of embarrassment and anger. Turning on his heel, Alex snags the other guy by the shirt and pulls him out of the tent. I waggle my fingers at them as they go. And then promptly let out a huge sigh of relief once they’re out of sight. I can’t imagine that the guy who could be swayed by his little sister’s begging would have the heart to actually have me tortured or anything, but you can never be too sure.
I walk a few more circuits around the tent before giving into the exhaustion that’s been creeping up on me since I left the bed in the medical tent. I collapse onto the cot and lie back to stare at the ceiling with my hands clasped underneath my head. It’s only a matter of time before they see through me.
For right now, I’m solid. But as my return to reality continues to stretch out before me, my brain is starting to recover more details from that night on the training station. Unpleasant ones. Thomas’ blood raining down on me. Nathan’s frantic goodbye. The white hot pain of a Greesal stabbing me through the stomach. I shudder and clench my hands into fists. I’ll have plenty of time to dwell on all that once I get off this godforsaken planet and away from these people.
Things might have changed out there, but I’m pretty sure I’ll still have my pilot position. If not, I’ll deal. What I really need is my friends. I’ve spent most of my life with those boys and right now the absence of all three of them eats at me. I’ve never felt more alone.
I run a hand over my face and my fingers come away wet. Great, I’m crying. Running my sleeve over my face, I wipe away the rest of the blasted tears. Now is not the time for weakness, it’s the time for action. Lying here is doing me no good whatsoever. I need to get out of here. I need to get to the signal station. I need—
“Hello?” It’s the girl, Liz, her voice hesitant.
“Yeah?” I sit up and swing my legs over the side of the cot. There’s just enough time for one more swipe of my sleeve across my eyes before she pokes her head into the tent.
She walks to me and holds out a hydro pack and some of the freeze dried nutri crap they’re always stocking in the survival kits. “I thought you might be hungry,” she says.
I squint my eyes at her and glance down at the food. This group is hardly the type to drug me or something, so it’s probably safe. I take the packages from her. “Thanks,” I mumble.
The sound of the foil tearing is loud in the silence between us. As is the sound of my chewing and swallowing. Why is she just standing there?
“What?” I ask.
She shuffles her feet and twists her hands together, her eyes darting around the tent. “Alex wanted to know if there was anything he could get you.”
“Anything he can get me?” This is an interesting tactic. I raise my eyebrows. “How about out of this shi… place?”
She laughs quietly. “I talked to him. He’s had a long day and hasn’t acted quite like himself. He apologizes for…being a jerk.”
“If he’s the one apologizing, why are you here?” She does the foot shuffle again and stares down at the ground. “He didn’t send you at all, did he?”
A quick shake of her head.
“So what do you want?” I lean forward and tilt my face up until I’m looking at her. “You can talk to me. I’m not the big bad everyone here makes me out to be.”
She gives me a shy smile. “I know that. I’m not an idiot.” She glances back at the tent flap and lowers her voice. “It’s just that everyone around here is pretty freaked out about this whole crash landing thing and they’re driving me insane. They keep trying to ‘manage’ me like I’m some little baby.” A huff and an eye roll. “You’re the only one, except maybe Alex and Brett, who has their head on straight.”
“So you’re hiding?”
“Yeah,” she says, sending me a pleading look with her big, brown eyes. “Is that okay?”
I shrug. “I guess so. It’s not like I have anywhere to be.”
Her face brightens and she plops down on the cot next to me. “Great!”
She must take me at my word about being able to talk to me because that’s definitely what she does. Her stream of chatter is filled with what I imagine is typical teen girl stuff, hair, makeup, and the like, but there’s obviously more to this kid than I thought. She talks about ships and engines like she was born to it. She babbles on about flight plans and even gives me a detailed explanation of Alex’s attempted slingshot maneuver. Apparently she’s the one who suggested it. I can’t say that it had the best results considering we ended up down here instead of wherever the ship was supposed to be going, but the ingenuity behind it astounds me.
“If I’d had more time with the calculations, I just know it would have worked. And I probably didn’t compensate enough for pilot error.” She taps one finger against her chin. “Next time I’ll know better, though.”
I may be a pilot, but I’d never looked at flying like she does. Hell, math was probably my least favorite subject. “How old are you anyway?”
“Thirteen.”
I nod. That sounds about right. “How did you end up involved in this…whatever it is?” She opens her mouth, but then slams it shut again with a glance at the tent entrance. “It’s okay, you don’t have to tell me.”
“It was supposed to be just a supply trip,” she says quickly. “Pick up some cargo at this little no name planet and jump back home. But then someone stumbled across your stasis tube when we were loading up and asked about it. The guy said you’d arrived dressed in a corps flight suit with no identification. Our bank of stasis tubes was, err, lost a while ago and Alex thought it’d be a good idea to take yours along. He sent a com to Dad to let him know what we’d found and then an hour later we were attacked.”
“So your brother has no proof that it was my presence that brought on the attack?” My breath explodes from my nose in a huff. I shake my head and flex my hands a few times.
Liz wrinkles her nose. “There was no other reason…they never pay any attention to us.”
“Never say never.” I shoot her a look from the corner of my eye. “Your brother was awfully concerned about what would happen if I made it to the signal station and the corps came here. I’m pretty sure that means that whatever he normally does isn’t something they’d approve of. Maybe it was only a matter of time before they caught up with him.”
She squares her shoulders and stands up. “The corps doesn’t approve of anything these days. The normal people like my parents get shoved aside while they make way for—” A sound somewhere between a scream and a squeal cuts through the air and her eyes widen. “What was that?”
The next sound is definitely a scream— a human one.
Chapter 4
Wide brown eyes meet mine as another scream rips through the air and a subtle tremor starts in Liz’s hands. Do I stay here with the kid or do I head out there and see what’s going on? My gaze slides from her to the tent flap. To hell with it, it’s not like I can protect her from whatever’s out there when I’ve got no weapons.
“Stay. Here.” I raise my eyebrows and tap one finger against her collarbone with each word.
After the way she showed up here and how she pouted at her brother back on the ship, I expect an argument. I guess those awful noises coming from outside are enough to cow any attitude out of her, though. She nods quickly and sits back down on the cot without another word.
I pull one side of the tent flap back slowly and peer out into the gathering darkness. Damn, it gets dark early here. Good thing I hadn’t wandered off earlier. Alone is one thing, alone at night is completely different. I slide out and around the side of the tent, keeping my back against the canvas.
There’s no more screaming, but other noises are coming from behind the medical area. No one’s in sight. Where the hell is everyone? Did all the civvy wimps run into the woods or
something? There’s a yell to my left and I spin around to face the two men running toward me. Not exactly my ideal backup, but it will do.
“What’s going on?” I ask.
Alex’s eyes frantically scan the area around us. “It just came out of the woods and snatched her. I didn’t have time to get a single shot off.” He’s obviously scared, but still in control as he studies the woods around us.
“So it’s gone?”
“Yeah, whatever it was took off,” says the big oaf from earlier. From Liz’s assessment, I’m assuming he’s Brett.
My gaze goes to Alex and I quirk one eyebrow up. “Then what’s he so bothered about?”
Alex’s gaze stops roaming the area and swings right to me, two cold, dark marbles boring into me. “What am I bothered about?! Some animal took one of my people and injured two others before it ran off.” His upper lip curls into a sneer. “Figures you wouldn’t give a damn. Mindless drones, all of you.”
If my back weren't already pressed against the tent, I’d have stumbled backward with the force of his words… As it is, I’m fighting the urge to take a swing at him. Mindless drones? Is that what these people think of the corps? We protect them and this is the thanks we get? It’s not like I had much of a choice in the matter. It was either boot camp or some menial janitorial job on M-Station. Anger heats in my veins and I narrow my eyes. “Stupid fucking civvy.”
Once the words are past my lips, I regret them. His face hardens and his mouth drops open. Not to mention the fact that all the color drained out of him too. “You…” He shakes his head and breathes out noisily through his nose. “My dad lost most of his leg and almost lost his life fighting in one of your stupid, senseless wars.”
So maybe I don’t feel so bad after all. “One of my wars? I didn’t ask for this life. My parents were corps, making me the same. I may have worked my ass off to get a pilot position, but I’m still not much more than a grunt.” I pull back my shoulders and advance toward him. “You say your father fought with us? That means he was corps…but you’re not.” Venom creeps into my voice. “That makes him what? A deserter? Is that why you don’t want the corps here? You don’t want them finding out about your coward of a father and how his son is following in his footsteps?”
