Lunar Eclipse

by Gun Brooke

The closer Beaux came to the fallen being, the more she realized the intricacies of its makeup. The skin looked more like a thick membrane, and behind it she saw what looked like veins carrying different liquids. Blue, green, gray, white, they streamed through the being, and to her dismay, they all leaked into the ground.

  “Is it dying?” Somas said when he joined her, sprinting toward the crouching Kragh who was busy scooping up the fluids.

  “It may be, but I hope not.” Beaux couldn’t imagine what losing a formidable creature such as this goddess-looking one would do to Dancer’s kind…or this part of Haven.

  The whirring sound started coming in a chopped sequence, and then large hands swooped over Beaux’s and Somas’s heads. At first Beaux thought the creatures were attacking them, but then they saw them press their hands against the wound on the injured one’s hip. Kragh fell backward, but two of his men were suddenly at his side, pulling him toward one of two caterpillar bikes. Growling, Beaux ran as fast as she could, but she saw the men ride off on the roaring vehicles. The sight of a fourth man lying tied to one of the cargo holders behind the second bike made her realize that Drak was still alive. What was it with these men from Minor? Were they indestructible or just lucky as hell? And how did Kragh and Drak think they’d be allowed to take alien tissues into Territorial space, let alone to Cimeria Prime? The risk was too great, and anyone smuggling bacteria, viruses, fungi, or tissue from alien creatures incurred harsh sentences on any of the prison moons. Beaux was certain now that Kragh had thought of a way to circumvent that law, but how? He knew Beaux could never leave him or any of the other passengers behind or refuse to transport them back to where they had embarked. Even if she had to keep them all in the brig, her contract was clear. If she wanted to keep her license and not be forced to deal on the fringes of what was legal or not, that was her only option. But she could make them leave behind anything she deemed illegal or dangerous, so how would he manage to hide the fluids he had just stolen?

  Turning to look at the frantic measures the two beings were taking, Beaux placed her rifle on the ground as she stepped closer. The downed creature was not hemorrhaging so profusely anymore. Whether that was due to diminished volume or if they were applying pressure to its wound, Beaux had no idea. She wanted to go back to Moon and also have a quick meeting with her crew to hash out a plan how to deal with Kragh and his goons, but she had to make sure about what happened to the beings.

  She felt, rather than heard, movements behind her, and pivoting, Beaux saw Silver and the other elders stand in a semicircle, watching the creatures with sorrowful eyes. Of course. They had to have summoned them, which had endangered the life of one of the beings. Perhaps if they’d had more time, the beings might have been able to deal with Kragh. The thing was, these beings, and Dancer’s kin, knew nothing of projectile weaponry. How could they?

  Silver came up to sit next to Beaux and pushed her nose against Beaux’s hip in an oddly comforting way.

  “Thank you,” Beaux whispered. She guessed that patting Silver the way she felt free to do with Dancer would be a mistake. Instead, Beaux merely nodded and kept watching the injured being. After a few minutes, the beings removed their hands, and the wound was…gone. They helped it to its feet, and when the creature opened its eyes and looked down at the busy people and up at the shuttle hovering at two hundred meters, it blinked slowly, as if trying to understand. Backing toward the open crevice behind them, the three of them stepped into it and then gazed at Dancer’s gathered people. Twirling their fingers in the air, they created a sound that reminded Beaux of tiny silver bells. Dancer’s kin grew rigid for a fraction of a moment and then relaxed, some sitting down, others nuzzling each other, pushing gently with their noses.

  As she watched in awe, the three beings slowly descended to the sound of a faint roar mixed with the chiming. Once they were fully immersed, the ground closed over them, and all the sounds died out. Beaux stared at the clearing, which showed no sign of the ground having been disturbed. It was as if the amazing beings had never been there.

  “I didn’t dream that part, did I?” Somas asked, sounding dazed.

  “Not unless we shared the dream,” Beaux said. “Gather the crew. I need a sit rep. I just have to check on—”

  “Moon and Dancer. Got it.” Somas hurried toward the crew, who had a couple of people restrained by the tree line. Beaux ran toward the scuttle when she saw the hatch open. Moon stepped out, and the broad smile on her face told Beaux what she needed to know. As she reached Moon, Dancer sauntered out of the scuttle, followed by Doc. He looked entirely himself, which was such a relief.

  “He’s all right,” Moon said and threw herself into Beaux’s arms. “He suddenly came to, and if he hadn’t looked totally shocked at having Doc hover over him with a scanner, you wouldn’t have thought he was barely breathing just a moment before.”

  Beaux returned the embrace, not unaware of her crew’s interest but not really caring. “I’m glad. The beings healed their, um, friend…family member? I have no clue. It seemed fine.”

  “But where are they?” Moon looked over to the part of the clearing where the beings had stood.

  Beaux quickly explained what had happened. “So you understand why my crew and I have to go locate Kragh and make sure he doesn’t take any of the being’s tissues aboard my ship.”

  “I do.” Moon stepped back. “You still need a guide?” she asked quietly.

  Beaux saw a trace of what she interpreted as pain sweep over Moon’s face. “Are you kidding? Of course I do.” Relieved that Dancer was back on his feet, she twirled a finger around his ear. Dancer gave a muted “mo-h” and placed his nose in her hand. As if Moon’s brief pain hadn’t tugged enough at every emotional string inside Beaux, his affection nearly made tears rise in her eyes. “I’m going to form six teams. You and I will take point, and the others will fan out on either side of us. That way, we lessen the risk of missing them. Veyar will supervise from the shuttle above us. Once you and I reach the Rapidfire, if we haven’t found them yet, we can extend the search.”

  “Good. Bet you can’t wait for that part, eh, Dancer?” Moon said, a faint smile back on her lips.

  Dancer huffed in the most dignified of ways and then ruined his presence by snorting.

  Beaux walked with Moon toward her crew that had gathered around the rest of the caterpillar bikes. This gave Beaux another idea, and she eyed the bikes closely. “All right, people,” she said, stopping in front of them. “We have only one objective now. I have concluded that Ilienta’s mission here—to drill and blast for ores, minerals, and such—was a cover. Their true objective, as Kragh and Drak risked their lives to come here once the darragons were upon us, was to gather samples of the cave walls, which look very much like the fluids leaking out of the wounded being, only hardened. When Kragh managed to harm it, he got his hands on the fluids, and as you know, no way in hell can we take that back to Territorial space.”

  “Hell, no.” Tracks glowered. “We’d never see the light of day.”

  “I have another theory,” Somas said. “Doc, what do you think of this? Can those creatures have healing powers…and what if Ilienta knew some of this from its extensive scans and wants to capitalize on it?”

  Doc was resting her hip against one of the bikes, and now she stood and walked closer. “That theory is as good as any. I can’t find any evidence against it. I just talked to another crewman, and I estimate that Dancer regained consciousness in fine shape just as the wounded being was healed and got to its feet. Hind legs. Whatever.”

  Beaux looked at Moon and Dancer. That was extraordinary. “I see.” Beaux didn’t see, really, but at least she was starting to put some of the pieces together. She explained her plan for capturing Kragh and his people. Her crew nodded eagerly, and it warmed Beaux to see how loyal they were to her and to each other. The fact that they seemed to count Moon as part of the Empress family as well didn’t pass Beaux by.

  “Take two minutes to go over your bac
kpacks and restock what you need from Doc’s scuttle if you need to.” Beaux had turned to talk to Veyar and Somas about the teams, when she heard Moon clear her throat.

  “Excuse me?” Moon stepped into the midst of the crew. “I just want to say, if you run out of water, look for these flowers.” She walked over to the plants Beaux recognized from the cave and knelt next to them. “Don’t pick them, but tilt the flower, which is this ball-shaped petal here, and drink from the small opening at the top.”

  “Really?” Nia said and crouched next to Moon. She sipped from the flower and then made a big production about how good the liquid tasted. “Now that’s what I call water. Wish we could bottle some of that when we go back.”

  Moon’s smile died, and she stood abruptly and walked over to Dancer, who pressed his side against her hip.

  As Beaux kept talking to her senior officers, she glanced over at Moon, who stood patiently waiting but looking remote and…off, somehow. Nia’s words about the Empress departing had stung Beaux as well, but she could tell that Moon was devastated.

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Moon walked in front of Beaux, heading toward the area she regarded as the only home she’d ever had. She hadn’t said anything to Beaux other than one-syllable words since she divided the crew into teams. It seemed to have been obvious to the crew that Moon and Dancer would team up with Beaux—and that assumption on their part hurt. Did the Empress’s crew see her as one of them? And if she analyzed this situation further, did they regard her and Beaux as a team—or more?

  Moon could still feel the sensation of Beaux’s lips against hers. Beaux couldn’t possibly realize this was Moon’s very first kiss, just as holding Beaux’s hand had been a first, as well as the hugs. After they had apprehended Kragh and Drak and the Empress broke orbit to return to the Territorial space and Cimeria Prime, how would she survive? Not knowing about holding hands, hugging, or, perish the thought, kissing, Moon had been oblivious and not missed such things. At least, not the way she felt when she thought of never experiencing them again, ever. The fear seared through her veins and collected in her chest, constricting every heartbeat.

  Dancer knew she was struggling. Of course he did. He walked next to her, close to her hip, and after every few steps he looked up at her. She wanted to reassure him, but she had never lied to him, and besides, she didn’t want Beaux to overhear.

  Beaux seemed lost in thought and reluctant to converse, which in part probably had to do with not revealing their position as they made their way through the forest. That was a blessing.

  Dancer stopped and gave a low growl. He wrinkled his already-flat nose and then sneezed. Curious, Moon knelt next to him. “What’s up, little man?” she murmured.

  “Hmm-t.” Dancer was trembling now, not from fear, Moon surmised, but rather as a warning.

  “Home tree?” Nervous now, Moon turned to Beaux. “If I climb a tree, I can see my home from here. It’ll only take a minute.”

  Beaux had joined them and now placed a hand on Dancer’s head, twirling a finger around one of his ears in a way that seemed automatic. “All right. I know better than to ignore our guy here.”

  Our guy. As if they truly were a unit. The pang of agony made Moon curse inwardly before she flicked her wrists and deployed her hooks. Climbing the narrow tree fast, digging into the barks with the toes of the military boots she had received only this morning after using the cleansing tent, she reached the top and clung to the thin branches as she looked down over to her tree. “No,” she whispered, staring in disbelief. “No!” She slid down the tree, the rough surface of the bark hurting her newly healed palms, but she could barely feel the pain.

  “What?” Beaux stood close to the tree and caught Moon as she jumped the last two meters. “What’s wrong?”

  “My house. They’re there. They’re just below my house, setting up a tent in my clearing. Kragh. Drak. One of their men has found my fishing rods. It’s a matter of time before they find the rope ladder.”

  “That was fast…and hell, what are the odds they’d come through here?” Beaux’s eyes darkened to a blackish blue, making her look dangerous.

  “Something of a path created by Dancer and his people passes close to my tree.”

  “I’m so sorry, Moon.” Beaux took her by the shoulders. “They have no right, but they don’t care. If they can brazenly try to take back illegal alien tissues and so on, they’re not going to think twice about breaking into your house.” She paused and pressed her lips to Moon’s forehead. “What’s worse is that if they do, Kragh, being shrewd as hell, will draw his conclusions and realize that the dwelling belongs to you.”

  “We need to move in and chase them off!” Moon bristled, yet some part of her still felt Beaux’s touch acutely.

  “That’s what I’d like to do as well, but we have to be smart about this. Now we know where they are. They’re not going to move from there since they need a base for their procedure to conceal the tissues and fluids they stole from…from that being. Damn it. You need to think of a name for those beings.”

  Moon took Beaux’s words at face value. “All right. I think they look like the sea creatures in the children’s books. The Mer’Idians?”

  Beaux blinked. “You’re incredible. Of course they do. I remember reading all those books as a kid. I assume you did as well?”

  Moon nodded, but it wasn’t true. She had read the books about the Mer’Idians to the passengers’ children when she was on babysitting duty. That was one of the few times aboard the cruise ship she had been closer to contentment and less afraid than usual. The children, at least the youngest ones, were yet unspoiled and loved hearing about the magical creatures.

  “Anyway,” Beaux said, continuing, “Kragh stole fluids and tissue from the Mer’Idian, and he has to have a way to conceal it when he embarks onto the Empress. It won’t matter that he’ll spend the entire voyage in the brig for his crimes. When we get back to Cimeria Prime, Ilienta will bail him out, using their vast contacts, and he’ll be free to hand the illegal tissues over to his company.”

  “So, we stop them.” Moon rubbed her face with both hands and then tugged at her ponytail and rolled it around her hand. “Now.”

  “We will, but we have to find a place to regroup and page the other teams. No matter what course of action we take from now on, we can’t do it alone. And, besides, it’s getting dark.” Beaux looked at the sky. “And fast, as usual. Damn it, I’d hoped we’d make it farther before it did.”

  “But that can be to our advantage. They won’t see us coming.” Moon realized she sounded desperate, but that was how she felt. Her home was in the hands of not only her personal enemy, but the person who could mean the destruction of Haven.

  “True, but none of my crew is used to the area and its inhabitants. We have too many unknown variables to risk going after Kragh in the dark.” Beaux took out a small tablet with a map grid of the area. Clicking the communicator twice, she spoke rapidly. “Lestarion to crew. Hunker down at these coordinates, respectively. Find a secure place, preferably in a tree or a shallow cave. Remember the beasts that tore through our camp.” She rattled off the information to each team. “Teams one and two, you’ll be the closest to the area where Kragh and his men have settled in for the evening, which happens to be around, and in, Moon’s tree house. Keep the surveillance going throughout the night. Use this channel if you see any sign of Kragh moving out.”

  The teams confirmed and Beaux pocketed the communicator. “All right. Now we do the same. Where do you suggest we settle in?”

  Moon was still set on going down to her tree house and running Kragh and his men out of there, but that wasn’t going to happen. Intellectually, she understood Beaux’s decision to wait, but emotionally, she loathed to think about the men going through her carefully constructed rooms and touching her things. If she was lucky, some of the intruders would move out too far on the branches and fall off. That would take care of business. As for where she and Beaux should tak
e shelter for the night, the obvious choice was not the easiest. “I know the best place. You’ll approve,” she said darkly and began walking, not ready to even look at Beaux. She hated feeling powerless and not in command of her own situation. After more than four years of independence, the Cimerians were in control of her again, at least to some degree. Stalking in between the shrubs, Moon shoved at the branches, anger simmering under her skin like brushfire.

  Dancer joined her, and so did Beaux. Moon didn’t know if Beaux had picked up on her mounting rage, but she kept her distance. Probably smart. Going downhill, Moon didn’t bother to look back to see if Beaux kept up, but rather picked up speed. Dancer hurried along next to her, a deeper frown than usual marring his forehead. Of course. He knew her well, and her unease was bound to affect him. A pang of guilt at worrying Dancer after what had happened to him over by the caves made her fight back sudden tears. Steeling herself against this bout of softness, Moon set her jaw and kept walking.

  “I understand, better than you think,” Beaux said from behind her, much closer than she expected. “Strangers are invading your home. Enemies, even. It’s a violation, no matter how you look at it.”

  Moon didn’t answer, not trusting herself to remain calm.

  “I know it doesn’t compare, but I’ve never had this situation happen before, when my ship and my crew have been in danger because of an unscrupulous company that places themselves above the law. I’m as angry as you are.”

  “That’s not true.” Moon spat the words. “The tree house is my home!”

  “Yes, I realize that,” Beaux said firmly. “The Empress is mine. I have no house, no other home.”

  “But you have family. Relatives.” Moon stopped and turned around, glowering at Beaux. Beaux halted but remained well within Moon’s personal space.

  “I do, and I don’t. Parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, yes, but they’re not in my life.” Beaux looked uncomfortable, shifting where she stood next to a bush full of blue flowers. “The crew’s my family, and I’m theirs, in many ways.”