Leaves swayed in the wind above the thin beam of bluish light, the only thing separating Eri from the wilderness. She stared into the darkness over the perimeter fence. The jungle stretched around her forever, more sinister than the vast vacuum of deep space. The dim lights of their transport ship only penetrated so far.
Rustling raised the hairs on the back of her neck. A stray leaf wafted toward the beam. The electricity zapped it and it sizzled, a burning smell tainting the air. Eri hugged her arms around her chest. Would the beam work?
“Don’t worry, strawberry curls; we’ve got it covered.”
Startled, Eri whipped around. Mars smirked, and then returned to the fluorescent miniscreen in her lap. She ran her finger along the keypad and passed it to Tank. “Ha! Beat that, starship destroyer.”
Anger simmered in Eri’s throat. They weren’t reviewing base camp conditions like Litus had instructed. They weren’t even paying attention. Who knew when the aliens would find them?
Tank’s fingers grazed the screen as he hurtled comets the size of raisins at virtual spaceships. The faint triumphant, techno music of
Galaxy Battlefield
played in the background.
Stupid thugs.
Grier had handpicked
these
people to meet a new intelligent species and represent humankind? Eri walked around the back of the scout ship and found a container wide enough to sit down. At least they wouldn’t bother her there.
Her legs kicked in rhythm against the plastic.
Thump, thump…thump, thump
. Litus had instructed the team to rest tonight so they could get an early start when the sun came up. She didn’t think she’d sleep a wink. In fact, all she really wanted to do was get back on the ship and seal the hatch.
Branches snapped. Eri checked over her shoulder, expecting some gray humanoid to dart from the forest. Instead, Litus rounded the corner. He brought an extra packet of soybean wafers and a bottle of mineral water.
“Feeling okay?”
“As okay as I can in a strange jungle with unknown beasts surrounding us on all sides.” Eri took the bottle and the wafer. “Thanks.”
“No problem.” Litus ignored her sarcasm and settled beside her. He unwrapped his soybean wafer and held it in his hand without taking a bite. She tore open her wafer and the wrapper crinkled in the wind. A stray piece of foil flew into the darkness, making Eri shiver. Would the jungle swallow the team just as easily?
“Have you talked to Aquaria?”
Litus’s question caught her off guard. Was it illegal to report to family members? “I just sent her a message on my locator saying we landed safely.”
“Has she written back?”
“Only to say good luck.”
“Oh.”
He checked his own locator and the screen remained blank.
For the
Heritage
’s Sake! He’s not checking up on me; he’s trying to get ahold of Aquaria.
Her sister had written to Eri before writing to her lifemate. Guilt trickling through her, Eri shrugged and pretended not to notice his disappointment. “She’s probably stuck in the evening Guide ceremonies.”
“Of course.”
An uncomfortable shiver crawled up her back, and she felt like she’d spit out the bite of dry wafer that rested on her tongue. She’d rather wander alone with the jungle than talk with Litus about Aquaria. Her mind scanned all the different excuses she could come up with:
I have to get my coat in the ship. My feet are asleep and I need to walk it off. Mars wanted me to review the readings with her
… But Litus spoke first.
“Aquaria’s been distant since our pairing ceremony.”
The thin beam of light buzzed in the silence, making it seem like eons passed before Eri could think of an appropriate answer. “Give it time. You need to get to know each other.”
Litus sighed, his broad shoulders slumping forward. “I wish she’d speak with me as openly as she speaks with you.”
Eri fidgeted with her wrapper. Of course. Aquaria was a closet rebel, and she couldn’t voice her thoughts to do-gooder Litus. Especially when he hadn’t opened up to
her
yet. The guy was destined for lieutenant-hood. He probably studied the Guide every night before bed. What could Eri tell him? Loosen up and you’ll be fine?
She shrugged. “We’re sisters.”
“Yes, but you have a special bond.”
Heat blossomed on Eri’s cheeks. “I guess I’ve never thought of it before. Or I didn’t think anyone else could see it.”
The corners of Litus’s mouth curved with envy. “Her love for you is plain as black space.”
“Aquaria’s taken a social beating to associate with me, illegal pairing and all. I owe her so much.”
“Listen.” Litus turned toward her and his voice grew low. “Like everyone else on the ship, I know about how your parents…” He looked like he had trouble even saying it. “How they paired outside of the system. But their actions have nothing to do with you. You make your own reputation. Not them. Besides, I think it’s kinda neat you were born of something that doesn’t always happen in lifemate pairings.”
“What?”
“What I’m trying to find with Aquaria: love.”
Eri almost fell off the supply container. Litus talking blasphemy against the system? Had the universe turned upside down?
It must have, because he’d just told her he accepted her for who she was. She smiled tentatively at Litus. Maybe Aquaria had underestimated him. All of a sudden she wanted to help him win Aquaria’s heart. “You know, you could be a little more—”
Movement blurred the leaves behind Litus’s head. A slender black shaft pierced the air, careering across camp to lodge in one of the soywafer boxes.
Litus stood and whipped out his laser. “Take cover.”
Another shaft whizzed through the air, knocking one of the perimeter poles to the ground. An ear-cracking
zap
made Eri cover her ears as the energy stream broke. A section of blue light fizzled out. Litus turned to Eri, his eyes alert. “We need to get back to the ship.”
This isn’t happening.
Eri ducked behind the supply container and fumbled with her laser, yanking the gun out of the holster. What was the code? Her brain blanked. Arrows rained from the sky, three piercing the plastic where she’d just sat with sickening
thump
s.
That would have gone right through my leg.
Litus returned fire, his laser light illuminating the darkness. Leaves and branches moved as if the trees themselves released the arrows. Maybe they did. Who knew what the aliens
really
looked like? They could have been spying on them this entire time while Mars and Tank played
Galaxy Battlefield
.
And we’re supposed to be the more advanced society.
The code: 66459. Eri finally remembered and keyed it in. Her laser buzzed underneath her fingertips.
Now or never.
She peeked around the side of the container, chancing another foray of arrows. Two more perimeter poles had gone down, making a gaping hole in their defenses, big enough for an alien the size of her wallscreen to run in.
“I don’t see them!” Tank shouted from the other side of the ship. “What are we firing at?”
“Anything!” Litus shouted. “Just hold them back. Get to the ship.”
Arrows hit the hull with
click
s and bounced off, raining on top of Eri and Litus. She covered her head with her arms as the shafts fell around her. One of the arrows bounced on the ground at Eri’s feet. She picked up the slender wood and ran her fingers over the carved rock tip. It looked so human, like something right out of her texts about Columbus conquering the New World. But these natives were conquering her team.
Dark figures trailing leaves darted into the perimeter and rolled behind a stack of supplies. Eri nudged Litus’s arm. “Over there.”
Using the supply container as a shield, two sets of feet carried it back into the jungle. Feet. The bunches of leaves had feet.
Eri whispered, “What are they doing?”
Litus’s voice hardened as his laser fire wove straight through their feet. “They’re stealing our supplies.”
Tank howled in pain from the other side of the ship. Litus gave Eri a hard stare. “We have to make it back. Are you with me?”
Her hands gripped her laser so tightly, she’d have to pry them off later. Eri nodded. “I sure as hell don’t want to stay out here.”
“On the count of three, we make a run for it. You stay on my right and use me as a shield.”
“What about you?”
“You’re much more important to the mission. Besides, Aquaria made me promise to protect you.” Litus gave her a wink. “We can do this. One, two…three.”
Litus pitched forward and tugged her with him. They ran against the hull as the arrows whizzed past, clicking when they hit the metal. As they rounded the corner, a member of the team lay on his back with two arrows protruding from his chest. Blood pooled around him. Eri’s stomach clenched as she realized she hadn’t even learned his name.
Litus crouched and felt for a pulse. He looked up at Eri and shook his head.
Dead.
Eri’s whole body shook with fear. She’d just seen the same man walking around camp twenty minutes ago. Anger sizzled inside her. These were the best the
Heritage
had to offer, and they’d already failed.
Was it really their fault? They were colonists not soldiers. For all their tough demeanor, her team had no real experience in combat. They’d lived their entire lives in a bubble in the sky.
Whoops and calls of triumph echoed from the forest around them. Litus grabbed her arm and dragged her forward. “We have to leave him.” He shot his laser sideways into the jungle as they ran. Arrows whizzed from all angles, and Eri ducked as best she could, feeling like a big target was painted on her back.
The front of the ship was empty, containers spilled on their sides with debris blowing in the wind. Smashed energy cells tainted the air with an acidic smell. Eri stepped around the glittering pools of battery acid. Two hours into their exploration and they’d already contaminated the scene.
The ramp lay open and unguarded. Eri huddled with Litus behind a row of water jugs.
“Where is everyone?”
For once, Litus looked overwhelmed, and his wide eyes scared Eri more than the arrows shooting from the trees. “I don’t know.”
“Do you think they made it?”
He shook his head. “They would have closed the ramp, or at least defended it.”
Eri couldn’t imagine those savage creatures firing arrows at their control screens or tearing through the wiring of the scout ship. There would be no way for them to get back to the
Heritage
. They’d have to wait in the jungle, in the dark, with no cover or reinforcements for who knew how long? “One of us has to get inside.”
“Over there.” Litus pointed to the edge of the jungle where a tangle of leaves dragged Mars’s and Tank’s limp bodies away.
“They’re taking them!” Eri’s voice croaked as fear suffocated her throat. “We’ve got to do something.”
Litus’s face turned solemn. “Head for the ship. When you get inside, close the hatch and buzz Commander Grier.”
Eri paused. That all sounded like the kinds of things Litus should be doing himself. “What about you?”
“I’m going to buy you time.”
The thought of an arrow piercing Litus’s heart flashed in her mind. “No. It’s too dangerous.”
“Someone has to report and get help.”
Scanning the empty camp, she and Litus were the only members of the team left.
“Tell Aquaria I love her.” Litus’s eyes burned with intensity. “Now go!”
He ran toward the jungle, firing in all directions. Eri scrambled, tripping over her boots. When she looked back, Litus had downed three clumps of leaves with legs and chased the remainder into the jungle. Eri zigzagged through the remnants of camp, trying not to look at the fallen bodies of her teammates. The air was ripe with the smell of putrid jungle rot and sweat.
Eri chanted the orders in her head.
Get to the ramp. Close the hatch. Notify the commander.
One clump of leaves lay unmoving at the bottom of the ramp. Eri circled around it, curiosity getting the better of her. Legs, much like human limbs, poked out from the leaves. The skin was tan as a leather hide, and its feet wore rough leather boots.
Wait a second.
Eri crouched down beside it, yanking off a fern. The leaves had been plucked and reassembled in a thick overgrowth, woven together with some sort of grassy reeds.
Her hands shook out of control as she dug into the leaves and pulled the covering free. A human face with a slight dusting of beard and brown eyes stared back at her, lifeless. He looked like the man who served vegetables in the cafeteria of the
Heritage
, missing a front tooth, with a very bad tan.
They’re people.
She felt betrayed, tricked, hoodwinked. The odds of another civilization evolving exactly the same on an entirely different planet were…almost impossible. If not
entirely
impossible.
Litus’s laser fire abruptly stopped, and Eri jolted into motion. Rainwater had made the ramp slick and she slipped, banging her elbow as she went down. Grime and green muck stuck to her hands as she scrambled. An arrow flew by her head into the loading bay.
Almost there.
She reached the top, forcing herself not to look back. The panel glowed dim green in the night, beckoning her. Sweat dripping down the sides of her face, Eri hid behind the corner and read the screen. Outside, one of the leaf-covered men yelled like a hyena closing in on its prey.
Her mind raced as she tried to remember the hatch retraction code.
Seven seven eight two. Wait, no. Seven one-one-eight-two…
She wiped her slimy hands on her pants and punched in the second code, her fingers shaking as they pressed the screen. The hatch moved above her head and she felt a wave of relief.
I’m going to make it. I’m going to get help.
A beeping sound vibrated the bottom of her stomach and the gears stopped. The computer’s monotone voice came on. “Warning. Object obstructing hatch retraction procedure. Please remove to continue.”