Authors: Jason Halstead
“I’m old enough to understand,” Kelsey pouted.
Sasha smiled at him. “I know you are, but I don’t know what they want to talk about. It might be something secret.”
Kelsey’s pout turned into a full-fledged scowl. Sasha gave him a kiss on his forehead then motioned the others to back out so she could follow them.
“He’s getting big,” Sharp observed. “Looks like he’s about ready to start thinking girls are worth the trouble.”
Sasha smiled and glanced at the swaying hide. “They grow up fast here,” she admitted. “And it’s not just the hard living. By all rights he’s barely more than a toddler, let alone a boy wondering about the birds and the bees!”
Sharp chuckled but a glance at his two companions showed they weren’t interested. Sasha followed his eyes and let her gaze fall on Kira. She smiled at her, the curve of her lips held a little too long, and said, “Kira, I don’t see much of you. Or rather we all see a lot of you, which is why I’m not fitting you very often.”
“You do a fine job,” Kira said, her words cordial but clipped. “Clothes just get in my way. The more time we spend here the more it’s a foolish custom. We could use the hides and thread for better things than pointless modesty or vanity.”
Sasha’s eyes widened. Kira wore a short skirt, her one concession to the misplaced values many still held, though the prowler hide was cut over both hips all the way to the waistline of it. Her spear rested across her back, held in place by the rope that slipped between her athletic breasts. “Pointless?” She echoed.
When Klous had first arrived he’d made no attempt to hide his admiration of the muscular woman, even though Kira would just as soon given him the same treatment she’d given his psychotic brother when she’d killed him. Sasha couldn’t compete with Kira’s athleticism or abilities in the wild, but there was no one else in Treetown that matched her when it came to raw beauty. She went out of her way to accessorize and add mystery to her otherworldly proportions with the primitive material at hand.
“You’re a beautiful woman. There’s not a person on this planet that’ll deny it. But you play games with your beauty and try to use it to your advantage. Accept yourself as you are. Revel in it and don’t be ashamed of showing it. Only when everyone comes to accept that we are as we are will we stop wasting time and resources on things that don’t matter.”
Sasha’s mouth had fallen open at Kira’s blunt accusations. She snapped it shut, her eyes searching the faces of the others for inspiration or support.
“Where’s Klous at?” Tarn growled, sparing her the confrontation. He had little interest in the small talk, although at any other time the thought of seeing Sasha naked would have been near the top of his priority list.
“What? Klous? I don’t know. He said he needed to do something with Ling. I didn’t ask, I’ve got much work to do, especially with another baby coming.” Sasha glanced down at her swollen belly. “This place is amazing, I can’t believe I’m showing already. I wouldn’t even have known if I hadn’t felt the movement and seen this.”
Kira’s eyes narrowed as she studied Sasha’s stomach. “How far along are you?”
“I’m not sure. A couple of weeks maybe? It doesn’t seem possible.”
Kira frowned but said no more of it. The first round of children had been born premature, by human standards, yet they’d all looked and acted full term. As Kelsey gave proof, they were aging nearly three to four times as fast as they should be. It was a good thing, as far as Kira was concerned. Like most animals in the wild their young had to grow up fast or be culled from the heard. On Vitalis humans were just another potential food source.
“You don’t know what they had to talk about or where they went?”
Tarn brought the conversation back around.
“You know Klous, he’s always scheming about some way to turn this planet into the next big thing for humanity,” Sasha said with a shrug. “He has so many plans and dreams. I can’t begin to guess what he was on about this time.”
Sharp spat over the edge of the railing. “We work together here. He needs to learn that and stop with his selfish nonsense. Somebody else wants the job of running things around here and keeping everyone safe a top priority, all they have to do is come knock on my door and we’ll talk. Klous isn’t that guy. He’s too caught up in what’s best for him – no, don’t stop me. I know he’s keeping what’s best for you and your boy in mind too, but the rest of us are just pieces on a chess board to him.”
Sasha frowned. She opened her mouth to retort but Kira made her hiss and snap it shut when she reached out and touched Sasha’s distended belly. “Sasha, please…can I touch you?”
“You just did!” Sasha snapped, put off by the woman’s behavior.
“No, I mean beneath your shirt.”
Sasha’s eyes narrowed but she grudgingly reached down to pull up her shirt to show her curved stomach to them. Kira placed her fingers on it and then let her palm rest, cupping the smooth flesh of her pregnant belly. She moved it around slowly, then pulled her hand back and smiled. “Twins,” she said.
“Twins?” Sasha echoed. “How can you tell? I mean, that explains why I’m so big so soon. Well no, not really, but it almost explains it. Twins…Klous will be thrilled!”
“They feel right,” Kira said, then shrugged. “I’m happy for you. It seems Vitalis has taken to you.” The huntress paused a moment then let a genuine smile slip through. “I may not think highly of your husband but I’m happy for you. Perhaps envious, I can’t have any children. I know you don’t like me, but if you ever need anything, just let me know.”
Sasha clamped her lips shut again, the smiled and nodded. She blinked back the moisture that glistened in her eyes and turned to see
Tarn and Sharp both watching her. She cleared her throat nervously. “I’ve got work to do and Kelsey’s either worried and doing everything he can to hear what we’re saying. I don’t know any more about where Klous might be, I’m sorry.”
Sharp nodded then gave her a smile of his own. “Go ahead. And good luck with everything,” Sharp gestured towards her belly, uncertain of what all the pregnancy entailed.
After they’d walked back across a bridge to distance themselves from Sasha and Kelsey Sharp stopped and rapped on the tree, checking to see if Aran was in.
Tarn
grunted when he realized who’s place they were at. “Captain, Aran’s at the pits with Ben. They relieved me and Elsa earlier tonight.”
“Good,” Sharp said. “We need to find out what Klous is up to. I can’t imagine it being all that harmful to us, but all the same…”
“I’ll find him,” Kira vowed.
“How?”
Tarn blurted. “You got no idea where they went!”
“No,” Kira said. “I’ve got an idea.”
“Where?” Tarn demanded.
“I’ll let you know if I find them there.”
Tarn swore before looking at Captain Sharp. Jonathan shrugged his shoulders. “There’s a reason why I stay single.”
Chapter 5
“You sure you know where we’re going?” Ling asked from where he sat in the middle of the stream.
“Get up,” Klous snapped. “And watch where you step next time! Yes, I know where we’re going. I used to hunt up this way when it was my turn.”
“Aran used to go with you, didn’t he?” Ling asked, picking himself up and checking his hands for cuts from where he’d fallen. “And why are we walking through this stupid stream!”
“Harder for them to track us,” Klous said. “Kira’s got a nose on her like a prowler.”
“You think she can smell where we went?”
He shrugged. “I wouldn’t put it past the nosy bitch.”
Ling’s eyes widened. When Klous approached him with his latest idea he’d seemed excited, but the more time passed the more his former captain seemed on edge. “Why isn’t Aran with us, from what you told me I’m sure he’d be interested in helping out.”
Klous paused. Ling watched the blond man take a deep breath and let it out before he turned to face him. “I can’t trust Aran anymore.” Klous turned around without saying any more.
“That’s it?” Ling asked.
Klous didn’t respond.
“It’s been three months since those shuttles crashed, you can’t expect anything to work still,” the former engineer tried a different track.
“Then why are you with me?” Klous turned and snarled at him. “I’m sick and fucking tired of living under the Sharp’s golden rule! This planet is more than big enough for all of us, we need to use it to our advantage!”
Ling nodded. “I just wanted to make sure you thought this through. Sure things break down fast, but I’m better with electronics than Eric or Gresham. As long as I can find some parts that aren’t damaged I’m sure I can rig something up that’ll put you in touch with the fleet.”
“That’s what I need. We have to establish ourselves and make some deals. I know I can get more support from them, but I can only ask for so much while Sharp and his people are listening.”
“They’re gonna be pissed when they find out I’m not at my post.”
Klous shrugged. “Human life is too important,” he said in a parody of one of Sharp’s speeches. “You’ll be fine. When things go the way I plan, you’ll be with me and you won’t need to worry about it ever again.”
Ling nodded. “Just so long as you don’t forget that.”
“Since we’ve been stuck here, have I turned my back on any of my crew?”
“What about Aran?” Ling brought the topic back to the man who had once seemed to be as close as anyone could be to the Captain.
Klous opened and shut his mouth, snarling in the process. He jerked his head, shaking it once almost violently. “He made his own bed to sleep in.”
Klous started off again, following the stream into the soggy marsh to the southeast of Treetown. The bottom turned from rocks and sand to sucking mud. The water grew deeper, rising to their knees.
“There’s some nasty critters in here,” Ling whispered.
Klous nodded and made his way to the reed and wildflower covered bank. He climbed up, taking care to avoid some of the most beautiful tropical flowers, and waited for Ling to join him. “Be careful,” Klous whispered, “some of these plants are poisonous.”
Ling’s eyes widened as he tried to minimize his tall frame. He’d been out hunting a few times himself — everyone took turns — but he’d stayed in the jungle or near the beach. He’d never come south before. Since the spitters took over the research colony that area had been forbidden to anyone other than Kira and her team of scouts. Now one of them was missing.
Watching where he stepped as best he could, Ling let his thoughts wander back to Aran and Klous. Aran had been hired on as The
Black Hole
’s pilot, though saying he had a mercenary’s nature was too kind. He’d never been caught up in the thrill of being a pirate, for him the thrill had always been greed.
Ling forced his mind back on Aran, trying to spot any unusual behavior. He hadn’t noticed anything. Lizzie, his girlfriend, spent a lot of time with Sasha and she’d never mentioned anything either. He wiped the sweat off his brow and the worrisome thoughts away at the same time. He emerged from the weeds and stepped up next to Klous so he could enjoy the faint breeze that reached them. The sun burned an orange fireball in the western sky as it dipped towards the ocean.
“We’ve got to go up there?” Ling followed Klous’s outstretched hand to the tall ridge of hills ahead of them.
“There’s lots of passes, don’t worry.”
“Why would I worry?” Ling muttered. He had to hurry to catch up to Klous. “Oh wait, maybe because the sun’s going to set and it’ll be dark soon?”
“We’re out of the bog and the jungle, we’ll be fine.”
A small herd of stocky four legged animals ran through the knee high grasses to the east of them, followed a moment later by a screecher. The predator lived up to its name and shrieked at them as they ran away. One of the animals, dubbed bulldogs because of their proportionally short legs and short snouts, tripped on a rock and rolled across the ground. It stumbled back to its feet but not in time. The screecher was on it, pinning it down with one heavy foot then dropping its toothy beak to silence the bleats from the trapped animal.
“Yeah, we’ll be fine,” Ling muttered.
“You don’t have to be the fastest thing out here,” Klous advised him. “Just faster than something else.”
Ling stared at him, his eyebrows raised almost to his hairline. Klous grinned and headed off towards the hills. A screech from the victorious predator spurred Ling into action. He grabbed his spear tightly and hurried after his companion.
Even with night falling fast around them they had no problems. Twice they scattered small herds of what they’d taken to calling Vitalian deer. They were smaller than the bulky beast that had been attacked and killed by the screecher, but still as tall as a man and four legged. The males had a twisted horn on their head that looked like a corkscrew and a tail that was thin and able to strike out like a whip. As fearsome as they looked, they were timid beasts that bolted when Klous and Ling stumbled into the areas where they’d bedded down.
“Defenseless animals just accepting that at any time they could be hunted down and killed by a predator,” Klous had remarked after the second such occasion.