Princess Rescue Inc (15 page)

“Eat
this you bitch,” he said as the predator turned to look down. He brought it up
in a two handed grip just as the beast opened its mouth to bite. Its jaw and
teeth articulated out, almost like a shark or viper.

The
first shot went up into its soft mouth, ricocheted off a bone then bounced off
the spine and down its gullet. The second punched through the throat, right
through the back of the neck nicking the spine. His third shot severed a
carotid artery, spraying blood. It screamed, turning away from him. It clawed
at its side, thrashing about. One of the kicks knocked him over. He felt
stabbing pain in his shoulder and side.

He
felt hands on his wounded shoulder pulling at him. He sat up, and took more
careful aim. A thunderous boom made him turn, Edsfield had his Barrett out. The
round exploded into the animal's shoulder.

It
thrashed around, staggering, slamming into the vehicles. Its hind claws tore
into his exposed thigh and arm as he tried to dodge and roll out of danger.
Then Edsfield's second shot made the predator's head explode. The carcass
toppled to the ground in a welter of gore.

Ryans
spat out the blood and guts that had sprayed into his face. “Medic,” he said
lying back under the smelly steaming carcass. “Yo, medic!” He called and then
sighed. He felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up over his head to see
Deidra’s eyes under the truck.

“You
girls okay?” he asked trying to pull himself out from under the body. Zara was
hysterical, sobbing. Her sister patted her arm. She clutched at her in
desperation, hugging herself for comfort. The red and purple dresses were even
richer in color now he thought.

“Well,
I can say one thing, this is a camping trip to remember,” he sighed as he
rocked his shoulders back and forth, pulling himself out. Every move was an
agony of stabbing pain.

“Hang
on a sec,” Perry said looking over to him. Doc was busy with Galloway. The
Gunny and Master Sergeant were nervously eying the trees, muttering about more
of the damn things.

“Deidra.”
He looked up again to the trees then to the shaken girl. “Hey.” He patted her
thigh. His bloody hand brushed Zara's and she shrieked into fresh hysterics.
“Sorry, I don't mean to scare you hon, but we need to ask you some questions.”

“What?”
Deidra asked rocking her sister and patting her hair.

“Are
there any more of those? Is it a pack hunter?”

“No,”
Deidra said shaking her head. “It may be a female though. It may have a mate.
If it is a female then it may have young nearby.”

The
Terrans caught half of that, but enough to get the general idea of what she was
saying. “Great, that's all we need,” Perry said as he stepped closer. “Looks
like you could use some help.” He bent forward and helped to pull Ryans out
from under the carcass. “Looks like you need a shower...and a long one. Maybe
one of the ladies can help you get cleaned up?” he teased. The women ignored
them.

Ryans
snorted. “Try getting them out of there,” he sighed, leaning against the camper
and putting pressure on the arm and thigh wounds.

“Injured?”
Perry asked suddenly concerned.

“Ah,
yeah, bitch chewed me like a rag doll,” Ryans grunted, feeling the temporary
anesthetic of adrenalin wear off and the throbbing pain start to set in.

“How
bad, I can't tell where you end and it begins under that,” Perry said, looking
serious he turned. “Sergeant; medical kit here!” he called looking over his
shoulder. The Gunny grabbed a medical kit from the nearest hummer and came
over, still eying the trees.

“Looks
like you got sprayed. Sure your'e hurt?” he asked eying the greenish blood.

Ryans
snarled and pulled his shirt up. Claw marks raked his side and shoulder. They
started bleeding again the moment he pulled the blood soaked cloth away,
tearing at the short lived scabs. They weren't deep, but they were long.

“Yeah,
I'll say you did. Doc has her hands full with Galloway, he's a mess.
Fairfax...” he looked down at the fallen private and sighed. “You’re not much
better off.” He shook his head as he opened the case. “We better rinse you off
before I spray this crap, I don't want to leave any alien buggers in for sepsis
to set in,” he said looking around. “Corporal your canteen,” he ordered and then
pointed.

“Sure,”
Lewis replied and tossed him a canteen.

“Get
me more water and more bandages,” the Gunny called.

Doc
looked up. “Got another?” she asked, looking over to them. “One of the girls?”

“No
Ryans is your next customer Doc, he's just got to wait in line,” the Gunny
said, sprinkling water over the injuries. “Bit tore up, claw marks on his right
shoulder, right arm, thorax, both thighs, and right calf,” he said not looking
up. “Stable, Doc. Wounds are long but shallow. It looks like they didn't get
past what little fat he's got on him. Triage. ”

“Right,”
Doc said nodding. “Galloway is bad. He's lost a lot of blood and tissue. I've
got two cans of biofoam in him. I had to use forceps to clamp a few bleeders so
I really need to operate.”

She
looked like she was going to come over, so Ryans waved his good hand. “Stay
Doc. Perry is right. Triage. Get him stable then you can peek at me. The others
have me in hand.” His voice was rough with pain but firm. He indicated the
Gunny cleaning the wounds. “He may be an ugly ass marine but I trust him.”

“Cute,”
the Gunny said as he worked.

Ryans
gasped as alcohol wipes were slathered over the ragged wound. “You did that on
purpose,” he accused glancing at him. The Gunny smirked but continued cleaning
the wounds.

“Someone
want to get the girls out and into the camper. I don't think we should stay
here too long. According to Deidra this may be a nesting female. If it is she's
probably got babies around here somewhere.
Hungry
babies and maybe one
pissed off mate,” Ryans warned. He felt his energy draining. He knew it was
fatigue and blood loss.

“Oh
that's just peachy,” the Gunny said not looking up as he sprayed a wound with
biofoam. “I'm more worried about a mate.”

“That's
just what we need,” Perry muttered looking around nervously. His eyes locked on
the master sergeant. “Waters we may have more of them around. Tighten the
perimeter. Doc, get your patients stable and then we're hitting the road early.
Pack up people,” he ordered and waved. Fairfax's body was already stripped of
gear and bagged.

<==={}------------>

The
team got Galloway onto a back board and carried him into the camper. Doc kept
working on him as they moved. Nate the biologist was tripping over people as he
took measurements, pictures and samples of the beast. He muttered mournfully at
the destruction of the head until Wanda snarled at him to shut up. He just kept
going though, ignoring her.

“Come
on honey, let's get you two out of there and cleaned up,” Wanda and Charlie
urged. They hunkered down next to Ryans and the Gunny, hands outstretched.
Deidra looked up to them then down to her sister who was beginning to settle
down.

“Listen,
if it scares you, keep your eyes closed and we'll guide you out of there. You
don't have to look. It's safe now, and it will be a lot safer once we get you
in a truck.”

A
shrieking cry made everyone freeze. A second cry answered the first. Zara began
to shake and moan, sobbing and rocking back and forth once more. She shook her
head back and forth, going into hysterics again until her sister slapped her
hard.

The
fifteen year old looked at her in stunned surprise, choking back sobs.

“You’re
of the royal house. Act that way!” Deidra snarled. “This? This is nothing. We
need to go now!”  Her eyes flashed and held her sister's.

Zara
choked back her sobs, eyes wide. She nodded meekly, taking Charlie's hand and
letting her pull her out from under the camper. She was limp, eyes closed.
Charlie tried to lead her but ended up throwing the girl over her shoulder.

“Got
her?” Lewis asked concerned.

“Yeah,
she's light. Get the door,” Charlie said nodding her chin to the Stryker
nearby. Lisa pointed to the camper. Charlie grunted and turned back to it.

“Ah,
sure.” Lewis hot footed around the carcass then opened the door. She glanced at
it, feeling like it was going to get up and tear them apart at any moment.

Ryans
waved to the Gunny. “Let's go somewhere it's easier to work shall we?” he
asked. The Gunny eyed him. “I don't care for the decor. Besides, I'm getting
sore here and I think I got a stick up my... well you know,” he said with a
bemused grin. He reached up to move.

Perry
grabbed his hand and had another hand in his armpit. “Thanks,” Ryans said as he
helped him up.

“Hurt?”
Perry asked.

“Oh,
only when I breath,” Ryans answered, he moved slowly. “Or move,” he winced. “I
don't think anything vital got hit, most of it is superficial.”

“Yeah,
but it went right through the skin and fat layers and into muscle in some
places,” The Gunny cautioned.

“Are
you calling me fat?” Ryans asked as they helped him over to a bumper.

“All
civilians are,” the Gunny deadpanned. He had to admit though, Ryans wasn't an
ordinary civilian. The guy was ripped, he obviously worked out heavily. His
body was chiseled muscle. “Your wardrobe is going to need a good tailor,” he
said cutting the pants away.

“Yeah,
I think we can dispense with their services all together and just burn this
mess,” he sighed, relaxing and letting his head fall back.

Perry
glanced at him. “You still with us?” Perry asked worried.

“You're
not getting rid of me that easily,” Ryans said, eyes closed. “One bitch from
hell isn't going to stop me.”

“Good
to know,” Perry chuckled.

<==={}------------>

“Fortunately
you've got a thick hide so these superficial scratches should give you a nice
set of scars to impress the ladies,” Doc said dabbing at his arm sometime
later. They'd stopped and transferred him and the girl's to the camper. Well,
the girls and he had made it as far as the bumper so far. The medical hummer
was full with Galloway and an attending nurse. They hadn't gotten clear of the
forest and everyone was a bit jumpy about that.

“Gee,
thanks Doc,” he quipped and then grimaced.

“You're
a pint or two low, are you sure you don't want me to give you a boost?” she
asked.

He
shook his head. “Save it for Galloway. How is he?”

“Stable.
I'm going to have to operate, his intestine is perforated, left ulna is
shattered, and I don't like the looks of his scans. He's got bite marks on his
shoulder too, bit like these...” She examined his shoulder.

“Claw
marks Doc, I'd know it if it bit me. That thing's fangs were as long as my arm.
I would have known if she had believe me,” he said with feeling. He shivered.

“Oh,”
Doc nodded dabbing at a wound. “Well, this one will have to be sewn up. The
deep ones I want to clean again before we close them. The shallow ones can
wait, that biofoam is doing a good job keeping everything closed as long as you
don't move much.”

“Good,”
he sighed head back.

“Light
headed?” she asked concerned. He grunted an affirmative.

She
frowned. “Blood loss, you're kind of pale too. BP is low. I'll have Gunny set
you up with a saline IV and give you some fruit juice and a cookie. Maybe a
glucose IV as well.”

He
waved a dismissive hand. “Save the saline and glucose for later Doc, but I'll
take the fruit juice and water,” he said smiling.

“Stubborn
pain in the ass. I normally like that about you,” she chuckled.

“What's
the other breakage?” he asked softly, catching her arm.

She
looked at it then patted it. “We lost Fairfax. He was...” She looked away. “I
couldn't do anything.”

He
sighed, patting her arm in turn. “Not your fault Doc, mine,” he sighed. “And
the others?”

She
shook her head and pursed her lips. “Scrapes and bruises nothing major. The
princesses got a bit banged up, scraped knees and elbows going under the
camper. That was quick thinking by the way. Saved them and got them out of the
line of fire.”

“Yeah,”
he sighed rubbing his temples, eyes closed. He wished now he could have gotten
under with them. “You've got Galloway stable enough for us to move?” He opened
his eyes and looked around. The camp was cleared; everyone was nervously
looking at the tree line and the branches above. Occasionally a screech would
put everyone on alert.

“I'd
rather not, his insides are dicey, and I just patched that artery together, but
we need to get somewhere safe,” she said and then shrugged. “Perry said we're
moving out in ten.”

“Got
it,” he replied and then pulled himself up with a groan.

“Easy
there,” she said and pushed his good shoulder back down. “Go easy on those
ribs. I've given you something for the pain, but you've got a couple of cracked
ribs and if you move you'll tear those wounds open more.”