by S. E. Smith
“You speak English?” the man said more than asked, carefully rising to his feet and taking a step back.
La’Rue shook her head. “I don’t know this English, but I know how to speak the universal language just as well as you do,” she said, warily reaching for the stun rod.
“Don’t,” he warned, his head barely turning in the direction she was reaching.
La’Rue glared back at him. “Can I get up? The mud is freezing my ass,” she stated.
The man softly chuckled and nodded. “Just don’t try anything. I’d hate to have to finish what your friend there started,” he replied with a nod toward the assassin.
La’Rue rolled forward onto her feet, her right hand bracing her left arm. She sneered down at the Turbintan. In that moment, she knew for sure that this new man wasn’t an assassin, which meant he was here for the same reason that she was – to collect the credits for the pod.
“I’ll give you twenty percent,” she stated, straightening.
“Twenty percent?” he repeated.
La’Rue’s gaze narrowed on his face. It would have been better if she could see his expression. Then she would know what he was thinking. Impatience burned through her. If there was one assassin who had discovered her, there could be more. She needed to get off this planet.
“Alright. I’ll give you thirty percent and not a credit more,” she countered.
“What will you do with the other seventy percent?” the man asked.
“Disappear someplace away from this war, if I’m lucky. You might want to do that as well. It’s going to get worse before it gets better,” La’Rue bit out.
She bent over and picked up the stun rod, surprised when he didn’t say anything this time. She made sure that she kept it turned away from him. Her gut was cautioning her to be careful. There was something off about this man.
“What war?” the man asked.
La’Rue turned and looked at him with a disbelieving frown. He must have been in some Turbintan prison if he didn’t know what was going on. After the devastation done to Jeslean, everyone in the galaxy was terrified.
“Where have you been? Haven’t you heard what the Legion did? Director Andronikos ordered the destruction of all major cities on Jeslean. He murdered hundreds of thousands of people,” she said, staring back at him with angry tears in her eyes.
“Why would he do that?” the man softly demanded.
La’Rue could feel her lips twist into a sneer. She jerked her head in the direction she had been traveling before she had been attacked. Her eyes flashed with anger.
“Maybe because he can?” she replied in a sarcastic voice. “He wants whoever was in the capsules that fell from the sky. Whoever was in this one is gone, but he has offered a reward for the pods as well. I’ll take even Andronikos’ credits if it means being free,” she said, her eyes flashing in warning. “I claim the pod. I’ll give you twenty percent like I promised, but I’ve claimed it first.”
“You said thirty percent a moment ago. There were others…,” the man stated, taking a step toward her.
“I know. I followed two signals to this planet. I found this one first. The other… it is in a difficult to reach area. I don’t think I’ll be able to get to it, especially now,” she said, searching for her discarded blaster.
“What of the other three?” the man demanded. “Where are those?”
La’Rue grimaced as she picked up her blaster. She frowned at the man as she slid the useless weapon back into her holster. How did he know there were three more? If he knew there were that many, he should have known about the war – unless….
“How did you know there are three more pods?” she demanded as she slowly lowered the stun rod in her hand.
“We need to find the other one before anyone else does,” he said.
She shook her head. “I told you it is too dangerous. The scans show it is out in the open,” La’Rue rejected with a wave of her hand. “I’m going to get the capsule in the woods and get off this planet.”
“Not until we find the other one,” the man stated, reaching out and grabbing her right arm.
La’Rue swung around, aiming the pointed end of the stun rod toward the man’s chest. He moved with surprising speed, catching the rod at an angle and deftly removing it from her hands. Her breath caught when she found herself pinned against his taller frame, the business end of her only weapon against her throat.
“Why do you want to risk your life for one pod? I’ll give you fifty percent,” she offered in a strained voice.
“Where is the other pod located?” he quietly demanded in her ear.
A shiver ran through La’Rue. Her fingers gripped the rod on each side of his hand, straining to hold it away from her throat. Her head tilted back when he pressed a little harder against her pharynx.
“That…that way. Nearly two hundred clicks,” she gasped, pointing to the west with her right hand.
“Close your eyes and count to one hundred. If I see your eyes open, I’ll slit your throat,” he warned.
Anger flashed through La’Rue. In defiance, she lowered her eyelids and began counting out loud and very quickly. He hadn’t said how she had to do it; just that she had to do it. His soft chuckle brushed across her cheek. She held the stun rod even after she felt him move away.
The second she reached one hundred, she twisted around to face him. She blinked when she didn’t see anything. Muttering curses under her breath, she gripped her injured arm and slowly followed the tracks until they disappeared among the boulders. She took a deep breath and shook her head in disgust.
“Well, his loss! I keep one hundred percent since he’s not here,” she defiantly muttered.
Turning away, she walked back to the hover lift. Opening a storage compartment, she retrieved a small first aid kit and doctored the wound on her shoulder. Ten minutes later, she was heading toward the pod she had located.
Chapter Four
The skimmer craft Sergi had scavenged from the dead alien sped across the wide open plains. He leaned forward, protecting his face and body from the icy shards of freezing rain. The wind along the open rocky surface buffeted the bike.
He had figured the man had to have some kind of transportation. The alien had been too clean to have walked in. Sergi had found the hovering bike on the other side of the boulders from where the man had been hiding. It hadn’t taken him long to learn how to use it. The principle of operation was similar to that of a motorcycle; twist the handle for power and use the foot pedals for changing gears and stopping.
What had amazed Sergi was that the bike was virtually silent when powered on. It reminded him of the hybrid vehicles that were so popular back home. It must have some type of electric propulsion system.
Leaning to the side, he swept by an outcropping of rocks. His gaze moved to the reading on the woman’s tracking device. For a moment, a surprising emotion swept through him – regret.
He focused on the projected path to the signal that the device was displaying even as a part of his mind turned to the unusual woman he had left behind. He had been shocked when she spoke – the husky, feminine tone defiant.
Small strands of dark auburn hair had peeked out from under her hat when she had removed her goggles. She had smooth, tan skin with a faint line of dark spots running from her neck up along one side of her face before fading on her brow. Her eyes were dark brown, almost black. When he’d held her, he had noticed that the wound to her shoulder was superficial.
The top of her head barely reached his chin. He had thought she was taller until he held her close. He briefly glanced down at the device he had taken from her. He hoped she wouldn’t need it.
After several kilometers, he slowed the bike. Scanning the area, he made sure he was alone. The wide expanse of rocky plateau was devoid of life. The screen showed his target approximately three hundred meters from his position.
Sergi slowly moved in the direction of the signal until he came to the edge of the plateau. S
witching off the power to the bike, he swung his leg over the back and stepped off. He walked around the bike and looked over the edge of the plateau. On the opposite side of the river far below, he saw one of the Gliese’s emergency pods resting on a narrow ledge, approximately fifty meters down.
His throat tightened when he saw the number on the side. The pod belonged to Mei. He needed to find a way down over the edge and to the capsule.
He turned back to the bike. There hadn’t been time to check if there was anything useful stored in the bike’s storage compartments. Now, he hoped there was, otherwise it was going to be a challenging climb down.
Sergi searched the vehicle, opening several compartments. The guy who’d had the bike before him had definitely been a trained assassin. There were enough assorted weapons and equipment for just about any mission requirements. A grin curved his lips when he wrapped his hand around one of the items and pulled it free. The sharp point made him feel relatively positive this was not just for shooting prey. He turned the device over in his hand, studying how it was made. A soft whistle of appreciation slipped from his lips and he nodded as he realized how it worked.
Closing the compartment, Sergi turned back to the cliff. The rain was still falling, but at least not as heavily as it had been a short while ago. He scanned the area once more before pointing the device at the large rock face above Mei’s pod. Pulling the trigger, he grunted in satisfaction when he saw the long, thin wire shooting out from the grappling gun.
The sharp point spiraled, piercing the rock. Kneeling, he ejected a small cylinder from the side before holding the butt of the gun against the rock. Flicking off the safety, he depressed the button on the top. A powerful jolt ricocheted up his arm. He tugged on the grappling gun, but it didn’t move.
He stood up and turned the small cylinder over. There were two buttons, one on each side. While the top had grooves for fingers, the bottom had a series of rollers. He walked over to the wire and attached the cylinder to it. Pressing one button, then the other, he confirmed that it activated a pulley system function.
“I could definitely have used this on more than one occasion,” he murmured.
He walked to the edge and squatted. Testing the wire one more time, he hoped it could handle his weight. Turning over onto his stomach, he slowly slid over the edge. He braced his feet on a narrow ledge – facing the capsule – and reached for the cylinder. Wrapping his hands over each other, he pressed the button on the left-hand side.
His breath caught when he was pulled forward and his feet left the ledge. He glanced down into the deep ravine filled with jagged rocks. Nearly a kilometer below him, a raging river churned.
Sergi refocused his gaze on his target. In less than a minute, he was closing in on the pod. He was almost there when a dark figure stood up on the boulder he had shot the grappling hook into and looked at him. A curse slipped from Sergi’s lips when he saw the man aim a weapon at him.
With a flick of his finger, he hit the reverse. His body swung wildly with the sudden change in direction. His strategy worked. The blast swept in front of him. Pressing the switch again, he moved forward once more. Below the ledge the pod had landed on was another wide shelf. Using his forward momentum, Sergi released his grip on the cylinder and fell just as the man fired again. A searing heat cut through the sleeve of his right arm.
He landed hard on the edge of the shelf with a muted grunt, bending his knees, and falling forward. His hands grappled for a hold when the rock began to crumble under his feet and he started to slide. He frantically searched for a stable hold, his feet slipping on the deteriorating rock as it continued to disintegrate. A hissed curse slipped from him as more of the rock fell away beneath his lower body.
Sergi dug his fingers into a crevice. The muscles in his arms bulged as he pulled his lower body up and over the remaining ledge and rolled over. Above him, a rain of small debris warned him that the man who had shot at him was descending from his perch on the boulder.
He waited, remaining frozen until he heard the sound of footsteps above the roar of the water below him. Cautiously rising to his feet, he pressed his back against the rock behind him and looked around as he listened to the man moving overhead.
With grim determination, he turned and worked his way along the edge of the rock. He had to test each grip and foothold as the surface sometimes crumbled under his touch. Moving one foot and hand at a time, he searched for a way to leave his position.
It seemed to take him forever to find a safe route up the side of the rock face. He was finally able to reach a section where he could pull himself over the edge without being seen. Rising swiftly to his feet, he withdrew his pistol, stepped out from behind the rock, and fired.
The man’s body stiffened before he fell forward, his body folded over the side of the open capsule with his head and torso inside. Sergi moved cautiously forward. He had counted the number of times the woman shot the other creature. Stepping closer, he could see the pool of blue-green blood slowly sliding from the man’s right temple.
He yanked the man away from Mei and froze. The interior of the capsule had a body inside, but it wasn’t Mei. The large, partially decomposed body of an alien male lay against the white material.
A frown creased his brow, and he looked around the immediate area. Where in the hell was Mei and how in the hell did she get off this island in the middle of a ravine?
His gaze returned to the capsule. There would be a recording of what had happened to Mei. He reached in and removed the camera.
Sliding the camera into his pocket, he shoved the body of the man he had just killed into the already occupied capsule and closed the lid. A grim smile curved his lips. Let’s see what the aliens thought when they found the emergency pod stuffed with their own dead men.
Sergi steadied himself with a hand on the lid of Mei’s pod when the ground under him violently shook. A distant rumble grew louder and closer. Jumping up onto the top of the pod, Sergi pulled himself onto the large boulder above him and looked around.
His eyes widened when he saw a wall of water rushing down the ravine toward him. He turned looked toward his bike. A dark mass of churning water was rushing for it across the wide barren plateau. Even if he reached the other side, there was no way he would be able to outrun the flood waters.
Deciding he didn’t have another option, he bent his legs and was about to jump back down to the ledge and try to get across the ravine when a blast of air hit him. Looking up, he saw the dark underbelly of a medium-sized ship appear through the driving rain. He steadied himself as it came closer and hovered overhead.
Sergi blinked when the curved doors of a circular hatch slid apart and a platform lowered, revealing the woman he had saved earlier. A sardonic smile twisted her lips before she spoke.
“Get on,” she ordered.
“I need to get to the bike,” he shouted.
She shook her head. “It is too late,” she yelled.
Sergi stumbled and knelt as the boulder under him trembled. He braced a hand on the wet rock as he looked toward where the roar was getting louder. She was right, there wasn’t time. He briefly glanced over at the bike, and saw a wall of water hit it. The bike, along with his survival pack and rifle, tumbled like a toy before it rolled over the edge of the cliff and disappeared into the rising waters in the ravine.
He looked up again. The woman had disappeared. Surging upward, he grabbed one of the support bars on the platform as the ship began to rise. He pulled himself up, barely rolling over the side as the initial wave of water hit. As the platform rose, he looked over the edge. The boulder he had been standing on leaned as if resisting the surge before another wall of water hit the large rock. He watched the boulder topple onto Mei’s emergency pod. Below him, there was churning dark water as far as he could see. His view was cut off as the platform closed, and he found himself sealed in an alien spaceship.
Chapter Five
Muted red lights lit the interior of the ship. Sergi hel
d onto the bar of the platform when the space craft rocked at a crazy angle, then his body slammed back into the metal grating of the platform when the ship suddenly rose.
A soft curse escaped him when the vessel veered to the left and he felt himself sliding. He held onto the bar as everything tilted. His body twisted when the craft turned the other way. For a moment he wondered if he was on a spaceship or a roller coaster without a seat belt!
His hands slid up the bar as his body floated upward when the ship dropped out from under him. Sergi swore his stomach was in his throat. He couldn’t help but think that he would have had a better chance of surviving the rushing flood waters.
The sounds of alarms warned him that his gut feeling might be right. Gritting his teeth, he pulled himself up and braced his feet against the floor. The vessel jolted to a stop. The force of it was enough to rip his hands free from the bar and send him careening across the narrow room. He came to a stop when his back hit the far wall.
Shaking his head, Sergi released a long string of expletives in his native language. He took advantage of the brief stability to rise to his feet and sprint across the long, narrow room to the ladder leading up to the next level. His fingers wrapped around the bars at the same time as the spaceship surged forward. Once again, his feet left the floor. It was only his will to survive that kept his fingers locked around the bars, bearing the full weight of his body plus the momentum of the ship.
After less than a second, his booted feet slammed back to the deck of the ship. He quickly climbed the ladder, emerging into a long, narrow corridor. Alarms continued to ring and the lights flickered. He had an ominous feeling that they were about to lose power – which meant they would crash.
Sprinting down the corridor, Sergi focused on the open doorway at the end. Through the doorway he could see the exterior landscape. Well, he could see the driving sheets of rain and dark gray rock formations that made up this hostile, wet planet.
