The valley emptied into a large bowl.
No trees.
Flat land.
Developed land.
Someone would be there.
Several miles away.
She worked her way slowly down the tree, watching her step and using vines to swing down faster.
She landed in the mud next to a trail of Coppice ants. Brown and green like the forest floor, they marched in a long line.
She jumped away.
Poisonous ants.
Not the way to start a survival trip.
Something snapped nearby.
A twig.
Leaves rustled.
She narrowed her eyes.
Her hand went to the handcoil on her belt.
Footsteps.
Leaves crunching.
A snarl.
Something.
Something not human.
She grabbed the handcoil, cocked it.
The noise drew a response—a nearby cluster of branches parted and a fiery orange shape pounced out.
A cat. Copper-colored and striped like a tiger, with a spiked ridge of fur running down its back, the Coppice Ocelot stalked around her. It was twice the size of a house cat.
Devika backed away.
But then behind her—more rustling.
Growling.
Two more cats leapt out, their fangs bared.
“Great,” she said.
The cats circled her.
In a split second, she pulled the trigger as they jumped at her.
Chapter 3
Splinters cut into Devi’s hands as she gripped a wooden stake.
She was in an arena. In a circular sandpit. Other children surrounded the pit, watching her silently with sad eyes. Arguses were peppered among them, cheering.
On the walls, diagonal windows displayed hyperspace.
They were on a starship.
Devi was barefoot.
Rough sand needled the soles of her feet.
A scream drew her attention forward.
A little girl, probably less than a year younger than Devi, ran at her with a stake. Her blue eyes were wild and desperate.
Devi took a step back. Chains around her ankles jangled. Shackles rubbed against her skin.
“Aaaah!”
The girl swung her stake.
Devi raised hers in defense—
CRACK!
The Arguses roared.
Devi came eye-to-eye with the girl.
“I don't want to hurt you,” Devi said. “I-I just want to see my family again.”
“You think I don't?” the girl asked.
And then Devi felt a kick to her chest.
She landed on her back.
A deeper voice spoke to her.
“You shouldn't hesitate.”
A teenage boy with red hair stood over her.
“When are you going to learn that this isn't like the movies?” he asked.
The girl screamed again.
Devi rolled away as the girl jabbed the stake at her face.
Devi jumped up as the crowd cheered. The yelling and squealing and roaring swelled around her and she couldn't think.
She ran.
The chains yanked at her ankles and she tripped.
She was chained to the wall.
Her stake flew forward.
Out of reach.
The teenager yelled to her.
“Go ahead and die,” he said. “If you never want to see your parents again, go ahead and die!”
She wished for Rajinder.
She needed him.
But she had never seen him again since that night in the forest.
For all she knew, he could be dead.
Across the arena, another teenage boy coached the little girl.
“Aim for her throat,” he said. “Make the kill quick and you'll earn the pigs’ favor.”
Devi’s eyes widened.
The little girl didn't hesitate. She charged.
Devi reached for her stake, but it was too far away.
“No,” she said weakly.
She thought of her mom.
She could hardly remember her face. Just a red and gold sari. A warm smile and a stern voice.
Her mother’s face was a blur.
“Mama,” Devi said, a tear in her eye. “Mama.”
A voice from the crowd shouted. “She's crying for her mommy!”
Laughter spread through the arena.
The little girl jumped into the air with the stake.
Devi screamed, rolling out of the way.
The little girl’s stake stuck in the sand. The girl landed face-first just behind it.
Devi took the stake.
“Do it!” her teenage coach said. His eyes were bright with rage. “Do it!”
All around the arena, voices shouted.
“Do it!”
“Do it!”
“Do it!”
Her fingers twitched around the stake.
“Do it!”
An Argus on the front lines squealed.
“Bok bok! Do it bok!”
The little girl lay still, crying. Tears drenched the sand.
Devi tightened her grip around the stake, raised it and screamed.
***
Devi bent over the starship’s metal floor with a dirty, sudsy rag.
She was on the bridge of the Argus ship. A fat Argus sat in a chair as they flew through space, oinking every few moments.
Her knees were numb, and she had spent the last hour scrubbing the floor under the supervision of a female Argus who had already kicked her to the floor several times.
“Bok pa-bok!” the Argus shouted.
Devi felt the pig’s hoof on the back of her head.
POW!
Her head landed on the metal floor.
Her cheek landed in a pool of blood.
Blood.
She thought back to the arena.
She'd never seen a spaceship with an arena in the center.
It existed only for one purpose. For slaves to fight.
And she'd already experienced it.
Hated it.
Hated what she had done, what the pigs forced her to do.
She spit out blood and the Argus commanded something to her.
“Just be quiet and wash the floor,” someone said.
A black kid in a t-shirt knelt next to her, wiping the floor with a rag.
The pig squealed.
“She's telling you to wipe faster,” the kid said.
“You understand them?” Devi asked incredulously.
“I've been around a while,” the kid whispered. “You pick up the language. Once you learn it you never forget it. It's all about the intonations.”
Devi scrubbed the floor harder, which apparently gained the approval of the Argus, who moved to another section of the bridge.
“Where are you from?” Devi asked.
“Quiet,” the kid said. “You want them to make us fight again?”
Devi fell silent.
“I'm from Gargantua,” the kid said after a while. “I was outside a shopping mall, waiting for my mom. That's when they took me.”
The admission made Devi’s heart hurt.
“What about you?” the kid asked.
“I'm… a nobody,” she said. “I lived on the streets. I guess we were easy targets. I haven't seen my parents since I was five. It’s been a long three years.”
The boy shook his head.
“Sorry,” he said.
“I'm Devi,” she said.
“Wilmer Boles.”
Devi looked away.
“You lost someone, didn't you?” Wilmer asked.
“My friend,” Devi said. “I haven’t seen him in a long time.”
“Well, I hope he's alive,” Wilmer said.
“Where are they taking us?” Devi asked.
Wilmer shrugged. “Just keep your head down. It’s only a matter of time before we get rescued.”
&nb
sp; “You think so?”
“Know so. Those guys at the Galactic Guard, this is what they look out for. Haven’t you seen the documentaries?”
Devi shook her head. The Argus passed and she lowered her eyes, scrubbing more. She dipped her rag into the bucket of dirty water, then wrung out the rag.
“They’re gonna come,” Wilmer said. “And these pigs are gonna regret it.”
Silence fell between them. Starlight shone on Wilmer’s face as he worked his way across the floor.
“What was it like living on the street?” Wilmer asked.
“I learned to survive.”
“What happened to your parents?” Wilmer asked.
“They… abandoned me.”
Devi winced as she thought of her mother and father leaving her at the doorstep to the orphanage. She hadn’t remembered it that way. She remembered going to sleep in her own bed, in the family’s pod, and then waking up in a strange new place, with a strange headmaster who assured her everything was going to be okay.
She had been groggy. So groggy.
“It’s okay, baby,” the woman said. She was plump and wore a three-piece suit. “My name’s Bethesda, and I’m going to take care of you.”
That’s when she noticed the bunk beds everywhere.
“Your parents have abandoned you,” Bethesda said. “But it’s okay, sweetie. We’re going to make sure you find a new home.”
Devi had cried. She asked to speak with her parents.
“They’re gone, sweetie,” Bethesda said. “We’re going to find you new parents…”
Wilmer shook her.
“You okay, Devi?”
Devi pushed him off.
“You can’t daydream here,” Wilmer said. “Gotta pay attention.”
WHACK!
A leather boot hit Wilmer in the ribs and he started to cry.
“Bok bok!” the Argus cried.
Wilmer sputtered. And then words came out of his mouth that Devi never thought she’d hear a human say.
“Bok bok,” the boy said. “Bok…”
The Argus glared at Devi and then bent over, snorting in her face.
Devi shook.
The pig grabbed her by the throat.
Wilmer sat against the wall, panting.
“Say bok,” Wilmer said. “Bok bok.”
“Never,” Devi said, staring the Argus in the eye.
The pig squeezed.
Wilmer lowered his eyes and focused on cleaning the floor with more vigor than before.
The Argus bared her teeth at Devi.
Devi felt the leathery hands tighten further on her neck. She grabbed at the hands and tried to beat them.
She couldn’t breathe.
The wet rag fell down her shirt, soaking her. It splashed into a nearby bucket.
The Argus laughed as it squeezed her neck harder.
Her neck swelled.
All of this, it was a scene out of a nightmare. She just wanted to wake up.
She wanted to close her eyes and open them again, and be back home. In a normal family! On a normal planet!
She closed her eyes.
Opened them.
The Argus was still there, and she was all alone.
“Bok bok!” the Argus said, laughing.
An alarm sounded and lights in the cockpit flashed red.
Devi flew through the air and hit the wall.
The female Argus turned to the pilot, who was grunting as a blinking dot appeared on his star map.
“The Galactic Guard!” Wilmer said. “They’ve come for us!”
Devi clutched her throat.
The Argus stomped across the bridge and grabbed her again.
Devi closed her eyes, expecting the pig to finish the job.
But instead the Argus took her to a seat next to the pilot and strapped her in.
A blue joystick rumbled on the instrument panel.
The pilot pointed to it.
Devi looked at the pilot curiously.
SLAP!
The female Argus slapped her across the cheek. The blow stung. Devi grabbed the joystick and it stopped rumbling.
An optical sight extended from the ceiling and the female Argus positioned it over Devi’s eyes.
The sight displayed outer space, and in the distance, she saw a gray ship approaching. The sight zoomed in on the port of call on the side of the ship.
GGC Lovelace
The pilot took her hand and positioned it around the joystick. He inched her thumb toward a button on the top of the stick. Unlike the female, he touched her gingerly, like a father showing a child how to use something for the first time.
The pilot grunted.
The ship’s radio opened up.
“Attention. This is the Galactic Guard. You have entered Rah space. Please identify yourself and make ready for our boarding.”
It was such a relief to hear those words.
The pilot shifted in his seat. A sly grin spread across his lips.
The gray ship appeared closer. Regal and circular, it looked like something out of a movie—an army of soldiers coming to save the day.
The pilot took her hands again.
In the crosshairs of the optical sight, an orange circle appeared, blinked, and then locked onto the approaching ship.
Devi tilted her head.
“Wait a minute—”
The Argus pointed to a button. When she hesitated, he raised his hand to strike.
“Ong-pa,” he said.
Devi winced and hit the button.
The ship rumbled.
In the optical sight, she watched as three fiery torpedoes rocketed toward the Galactic Guard ship and connected.
An explosion erupted from the Guard ship.
“No!” Devi cried.
The Argus pointed to the button again.
“Ong-pa!”
Devi shook her head. She couldn’t take her eyes off the smoldering ship.
The Argus drew a handcoil and held it to her head.
Again, she shook her head.
Then the Argus laughed and pointed the gun at Wilmer, who was cowering in the corner.
Devi’s hands quavered on the joystick. She closed her eyes and hit the button again.
And again.
And again.
Chapter 4
A Coppice Ocelot lunged for Devika’s arm, but she moved away at the last second and it sank its jaws around her handcoil.
BLAM!
A needle-like bullet ripped through the back of the cat’s head, and it slumped to the ground.
Grabbing the cat by the tail, she swung it and struck another ocelot, knocking it backward.
A third crept up behind her and bit her on the arm.
“Agh!” she cried.
Whipping around, she pointed her handcoil at the cat on her arm.
BLAM!
It fell quickly.
The second ocelot landed on its feet and she aimed at it.
BLAM!
She missed.
The ocelot jumped out of the way and prowled around her.
She aimed.
The cat hissed and bared its fangs.
She put her finger on the trigger.
She couldn’t afford to miss. She only had a limited supply of bullets.
The cat leaped into the air, its claws extended.
She waited.
The cat seemed to approach in slow motion…
Closer.
Closer…
Just a little closer…
BLAM!
The cat fell out of the air and crumpled to the ground. Its body twitched and a pool of blood formed below it.
Devika looked all around.
The three Coppice Ocelots lay dead on the forest floor.
A sharp pain radiated down her arm.
Two long grooves of skin and blood traced across her forearm near the elbow.
The cat had bitten her. Bad.
She gripped her arm, wincing. From what she could tell
, the teeth hadn’t hit the bone. Or an artery.
She wasn’t far from the ship. There were supplies there.
If she had been thinking, she would have taken the first aid kit.
But she hadn’t been thinking. She didn’t expect to run into blood-hungry animals.
She had to take care of her wound or it would attract even more animals.
She sighed.
Minor setback.
Shaking her head, she tucked her handcoil onto her belt and made the trek back toward her ship.
***
The ship was exactly as she had left it, like a dull gray tooth in the middle of the forest.
She hadn’t thought she’d see it again. But it was a pathetic sight—such an expensive waste of time and money.
She’d bought the ship for a small sum on a junkyard planet. She needed something that was fast, and worked. A corsair always did the job.
But she wasn’t married to it. Some people customized their corsairs, bought custom paint jobs, or even bought them in exotic colors. She never understood that. She’d never been attached to much in her life, and everything she did have an attachment to seemed to be taken away from her.
Just like this ship.
Shot out of the air.
She kept thinking what a wasted investment she’d made as she made her way up the hull of the corsair.
She climbed into the broken ship. Walking slowly and delicately through the hallway, she re-entered her bedroom.
There was a first aid kit in a backpack under the bed.
She cleaned her wound with antiseptic, grimacing as the chemicals stung her skin. Then, she wrapped her arm in bandages and tied a tight knot near her elbow.
She realized the backpack could be useful, so she slung it over her shoulder.
As she started to climb out of the ship, she noticed that the forest had darkened.
Storm clouds rolled through the sky. Thunder loomed. The trees swayed in the pre-rain breeze.
“Great,” she said.
At least she had shelter.
She made her way to the kitchen—a plain galley kitchen with old, warped cabinets that were in serious need of repair—and dug into her garbage bin.
Old tuna cans.
A bottle of soda.
She grabbed a bundle of trash and set it at the base of the window.
If anyone came in, she’d hear them step in the trash.
Poor woman’s security system.
As a thunderstorm began, she sat on her bed and stared at the wall, waiting for the rain to pass.
Zero Magnitude (Galaxy Mavericks Book 3) Page 2
