by Leslie Chase
That wasn’t the only worry. While I could find plenty of prey in the strange, alien forest, neither of us knew anything about these animals. Nor did we know if any of the plants were safe to eat. Sooner or later we were bound to either eat something toxic or find that our diet was missing vital nutrients. The emergency rations we’d found helped with that, but we couldn’t rely on them. For one thing, they were prytheen rations — for all I knew they were missing something Tamara needed to survive.
Another reason to get to the ship with its food stores.
Despite the dangers, there was something viscerally satisfying about hunting to feed my mate. It was a pleasure I’d never experienced, and one I came to treasure.
There were plenty of other pleasures for us to share, too. We had to be careful to leave enough time for sleep.
It was almost a shame when we reached the hills where the ship had come down. Our journey was nearing its end, and I expected that the end would be final. We would be facing a fortified position. And there were only the two of us, armed with fire-hardened spears, against however many prytheen had gathered to follow Zaren in his conquest.
We hadn’t discussed tactics. I didn’t want to worry Tamara, and she didn’t seem to want to think about it. Besides, there was little we could decide before we saw what we were up against.
Now that we were nearly there, though, I had to make some decisions. And that meant gathering more information. The Wandering Star had come down near here, and I thought it would be visible from the high ground. But taking my khara on a scouting mission? No. Far too dangerous for me to risk.
“I will climb the hill and see the lay of the land,” I told my mate. “You stay back here.”
“But—”
I cut off her protest. “No. I am a trained warrior and a hunter. I can approach unseen where you would draw the eyes of sentries. And there will be sentries, Zaren is no fool.”
Tamara glared, but there wasn’t much she could say to argue. While the days of travel had toughened her up, she hadn’t picked up enough woodcraft to avoid being spotted.
“Fine,” she said, throwing up her arms. “I guess I stay here and get eaten by tengers while you’re scouting.”
I smiled but shook my head. “Your ultrasound will protect you from the wildlife while I’m away, just like when I’m hunting.”
“And what then? I just sit here until you’ve gone in and gotten yourself killed?”
“No.” I reached out and squeezed her shoulder. “No, my khara. I will find a place from which we can observe in safety, then return and fetch you. I would not abandon you.”
She frowned, then looked at the ground. “I know that, Auric. It’s just hard to really believe it, when that means waiting here on my own.”
I drew her to me, holding her tight. Breathing in her scent deeply. “I would never abandon you. I could not if I tried.”
She melted against me, but I could tell she wasn’t convinced. Not fully. I shall just have to prove it to her.
Kissing her gently, I released her and stepped back into the strange forest. The sooner I found a place to watch from, the quicker I could be back at my khara’s side.
The hill was steep, rough terrain to climb. And worse if I wanted to keep quiet, which I had to. Zaren’s men would be listening as well as watching. It took me hours to climb to the top of the hill, guided by the smell of smoke from beyond it.
Gray rocks rose from the ground at the top of the hill, and the trees nearby had been flattened. Splinters lay everywhere, as I approached the crest and, hiding myself amongst the rocks, looked over into the valley beyond.
There I saw a scene of utter devastation. Whoever had been at the helm of the Wandering Star had managed a nearly miraculous landing, but that hadn’t been enough to make it neat.
The giant ship had plowed into the ground between two hills, scattering earth and rocks and bits of ship everywhere. The impact had knocked over every tree in sight. It must have come in slow, because the ship was still mostly in one piece, but the damage was extensive. Getting it spaceworthy would take a lot of work that I doubted could be done on this planet.
The hull was torn open on one side and half the superstructure had crumpled. The drive section looked bent. And the prow of the ship was buried in the hill. It was no longer a ship so much as a building.
But it had been designed for that possibility. This was a colony ship, intended to become the heart of the community. Even after this rough a landing it was still functional as a base, and I could see the telltale shimmer of the forcefield in the air. It was safe from the predatory wildlife, which would be worth a lot to any colony.
This would make a good base for the survivors of the crash if there were enough of us.
I frowned at that thought. Of us? When had I started to think of myself as part of whatever community formed here?
An image of Tamara flashed into my mind, and I knew. It had happened when I accepted that she was my khara and our fates were intertwined. If she couldn’t get back to Earth and her people there, then this planet would have to be our home.
I would make it a good one.
Below, around the ship, figures moved. Wishing I had binoculars, I tried to make out what was happening. Humans, I thought. Humans digging at the prow of the ship, excavating some of the sensor pods which had been buried in the crash.
For a moment I hoped that meant the humans had regained control of the ship. But no, standing back from the work party I saw the taller, bulkier forms of prytheen warriors. Three of them, watching the humans work.
One of the humans stumbled and fell, and a prytheen was on him instantly, lashing him with a whip until he screamed loud enough for me to hear at this distance. My hands tensed on the rock, and I fought down the urge to rush to his rescue. I had to be smarter than that — one of the warriors held a rifle, and I had no hope of crossing the distance between us without being seen and shot.
So this is how low the Silver Band has fallen, I thought. Slavery of weaker races.
It was like something out of the tales of our distant past, the horrors the Code had been written to escape. We only fight equals. Treat defeated foes with respect and dignity. Turn our hands to the work that needs doing.
Below me I saw the results of Zaren’s turning from that path. He sought to be the Alpha-of-Alphas, the ruler of us all, and seeking that he’d break every part of the Code if it helped him.
This will not stand. I promised myself that, and I knew that even if I failed, Zaren’s reign wouldn’t last long. Unbound by the Code, his followers would turn on him soon enough. Dishonorable leaders made for dishonorable followers, ones that would seize their moment to depose their alphas.
However short his reign was, though, it would be hell for the humans who had to suffer through it. As another alpha of the Silver Band, it was my obligation to stop that from happening.
In theory I had as much authority over the Band as Zaren. In practice, he’d built up far more support than I had amongst the warriors of the Band. At the time I’d put that down to his successes in battle and raiding.
Now I had begun to wonder how he’d been so successful. Whether he’d ignored the Code and struck at unlawful targets, getting rich off the suffering of the weak rather than using his power to protect them.
It didn’t matter how he’d gotten this far, though. Here we were, and now he had let go of the honorable ways of war to install himself as Alpha-of-Alphas.
As I watched, another group of prytheen approached from the north. Three of them, cautious and careful, making their approach obvious. They didn’t want to be seen as a threat.
I recognized one of them, a lieutenant in Terasi’s clan. No friends of Zaren, usually. I wondered how they’d be greeted.
Warriors hurried out to meet them, and I could see the tension in the trio of newcomers. They looked hungry, tired from their trek and nervous about this meeting. But the warriors from the Wandering Star greeted them as old friends, with
warm embraces and gifts of food.
Yes, that would be effective, I judged. Who could say no to food when they were starving? A warrior might face death in battle without fear or pause. Hunger was a harder foe to stare down, and not every warrior was a hunter.
Soon they were all moving back to the ship, and I knew that Zaren had three new warriors. Bribes of stolen food to buy the loyalty of hungry warriors who couldn’t hunt their own meals.
How far have we fallen? I shook my head at that. Zaren was gathering the weaker members of the Silver Band to himself, that was all. The stronger hunters would serve other alphas and keep to themselves. There might be any number of clans forming elsewhere on the planet. Some of them, perhaps even most, would follow the Code.
But if Zaren could gather enough warriors into an army, he would be able to bring down the other alphas with raw numbers. With the Wandering Star as a base he had the strongest position, and his boundless ambition would be the death of honor on this planet.
Even if he lost, he could kill all hope of survival for the humans. My khara’s people would suffer and die for Zaren’s dreams of conquest unless I stopped him somehow. That uncomfortable thought filled my mind as I crept back towards the tree line, and my Tamara.
Together, we’d come up with a plan.
17
Tamara
With Auric gone the forest felt dangerous. No, more dangerous — it had never felt safe, even with him at my side. Huddling in a small clearing, my back to a tree, I waited for him to return.
The eerie silence of the forest just made it easier to imagine all kinds of monsters creeping up on me, and I clutched my spear tight. Would it actually help if something came hunting me? I didn’t know, but I wasn’t about to let myself get taken without a fight no matter what.
I had to hope that the ultrasound my wristband was putting out would keep any predators at bay. Unfortunately, there wasn’t any way of testing that apart from waiting for something to try to kill me. Maybe the silence meant it was working and all the animals were avoiding me. I hoped so.
I wish I could speak to Mr. Mews. If I couldn’t have Auric with me, at least the virtual cat would be some company. But I couldn’t risk the battery drain of switching him back on.
Somewhere in the woods a twig snapped. My head whipped round to look where that had come from, but I couldn’t see anything through the thick undergrowth. That was, of course, the point. I was in a hidden dell, out of sight of any passing hunters.
Taking deep breaths, I tried to keep still and silent, listening intently. Voices, hushed and low, carried on the breeze. Voices speaking a language I didn’t know but recognized as prytheen.
Wonderful, some of Auric’s comrades were here. Far too close for comfort. I hoped that they’d miss me and pass on by.
“Let go of me!”
The English words startled me, and I bit back a gasp. That was a male voice, one I didn’t recognize — but then again, I didn’t know any of the colonists. I could hardly imagine what it must be like for them, waking from stasis on the wrong planet and being captured by aliens.
A prytheen laughed coldly and I heard the meaty sound of a slap. The human cried out in pain, other voices joining his protests. I winced, unable to resist creeping closer. While the prytheen might have better senses than humans, their captive was distracting them, and that gave me a chance to get a look at what was happening.
Parting the purple undergrowth, I watched a ragged group marching by. Two prytheen and four humans, the humans leading the way and pushing through the brush. They wore the green jumpsuits of the Arcadia colonists and they looked confused, frightened, desperate. The prytheen laughed amongst themselves as they drove their captives on.
The aliens didn’t look too well, either. In fact, they looked worse off than their prisoners. Wherever they’d crashed, it hadn’t gone as well for them as our landing had — both were injured, one with a blood-stained bandage around his head, the other limping along using a metal spar as a crude crutch.
Despite their wounds they were still clearly in charge, driving the prisoners on. The humans… they looked like a family, parents and their teenager children, a son and a daughter. Bruised and battered, they still looked healthy, but I doubted that would last long.
The son had tried to put up a fight, it looked like, and one of the prytheen held him pinned to a tree by his throat, his face darkening as he scrabbled helplessly at the alien’s hand.
The other alien held the rest of the family at bay as they tried to help. Unarmed, even with the weight of numbers they couldn’t hope to do anything. Even injured, the prytheen were still warriors, still killers, and the colonists weren’t.
Neither was I, but I had a weapon. I had the element of surprise. And I had a duty to protect the colonists. I was crew and that meant that I was supposed to keep the colonists safe until they reached Arcadia.
If that ever happens, I thought. It seemed like a distant dream now, but I couldn’t ignore their suffering.
“Leave him alone,” I shouted in my crude Galtrade, stepping out of the undergrowth and brandishing my spear. The prytheen warriors turned to me, surprised, and for a moment I had the advantage. I knew it would be my only chance.
I lunged, aiming for the one with the head wound. If I could even the odds quickly, I might manage to win this fight.
My spear tip nearly reached his throat before he reacted, twisting aside and dropping the colonist. The spear missed by inches and he bared his teeth in an eager snarl. A clawed hand swiped at me, forcing me back as I ducked out of the way.
No, it wasn’t going to be that easy.
“This human has teeth,” Crutches chuckled, switching to Galtrade. Maybe he thought it would intimidate me, but all it did was piss me off.
“Cowards,” I spat at him, glad I’d built up my vocabulary over days with Auric. He’d had plenty to say about his former comrades on our journey. “You attack the weak; try someone who can fight back.”
Behind them, the colonists helped their injured son to his feet and looked around uncertainly. I hissed at the aliens, doing my best impression of an angry cat. Anything to keep their focus on me and off the helpless family.
What I’d do next, I didn’t know. Keep them busy while the others escaped? Great plan, Tamara. What then?
The one with the head wound darted forward, grabbing for the spear, and it was all I could do to keep it out of his hands. I ducked back, stabbed, and the tip caught him in the forearm.
It glanced off. Fire-hardened wood wasn’t going to cut deep, not unless I landed a perfect hit.
The alien laughed, his comrade stalking around me. I looked between them, keeping the spear moving.
“Two against one?” I tried to laugh but my mouth was too dry. It came out more like a croak. “What honorable warriors you are.”
A look of rage flashed across the face of Crutches, and he snarled something in his own language. I smiled as sweetly as I could, feinted in his direction, then swung the spear like a club at his friend.
The wooden shaft connected with a dull thwack but before I could follow it up, they were on me. Crutches swept my legs out from under me and Head-Wound pounced, pinning me to the ground with his weight. As quick as it had started, the fight was over. I’d lost.
“You will make a fine prize,” the injured prytheen said, his face inches from mine. I growled and snapped my head forward, slamming into his nose and sending him reeling back howling.
Sensitive nose, check, I thought, scrambling for a weapon. The other warrior slammed his crutch down on my arm with bruising force, driving me away from my weapon.
And then the others rushed him. Rather than fleeing as I’d hoped, they’d come to my aid. I was caught between gratitude and frustration — what was the point of me helping them get away if they didn’t run?
A small part of me spotted the irony. This must be how Auric felt when I came back to help him.
The four colonists hit the injured pryt
heen warrior at once, a tidal wave of humanity that carried him to the ground and let me grab my spear. Their weight was enough to hold him down and the father smashed at his head with a rock.
I didn’t have time to watch, not with Head-Wound rushing me. He charged in blindly, roaring as he came. In desperation I dragged the spear up, bracing it against the ground as the prytheen warrior pounced.
His weight hit the spear tip before he could react, and with a wet squelch it buried itself in his belly. Clawed hands swung weakly at me as I dropped the weapon and backed away.
He tried to follow, but only made it a couple of steps before falling to his knees. Looking at me, he cursed and struggled weakly to pull the spear from his body.
It seemed to take forever for him to sink to the ground and stop moving. I couldn’t tear my eyes away. That was the first time I’d killed, and as awful as the prytheen had been, it still felt terrible. That I’d had no choice didn’t make it feel any better.
I wonder how Auric deals with this, I thought distantly as the light went out in the eyes of my enemy. Finally I could look away.
“Thank you,” the father of the family said, panting as he dropped the bloody stone he was carrying. He looked like he had a thousand questions but settled for just one. “What the hell is going on?”
His family clustered around him, looking horrified at what they’d done. They were no more prepared to kill than I was. Pulling myself to my feet, I looked at the alien bodies. Swallowed, wiped my hands on my pants, and shook my head.
“We have to get moving,” I said. “I’ll explain on the way, but we can’t be here when the next lot of aliens come by.”
The father looked like he was about to demand answers now, but his wife put her hand on his shoulder. He took a deep breath and nodded. “Okay, you’re right. Where do we go?”