Deuces Wild Boxed Set: Books 1-4: Beyond the Frontiers, Rampage, Labyrinth, Birthright

by Ell Leigh Clarke

  Nickie was cut off when the background rumble suddenly increased to a roar, and the ground rippled beneath their feet and threw her off-balance. She pitched forward into the nearest rockpile. Without a thought, she put out the arm she’d broken earlier to save herself. It buckled, and she slammed into the rock face-first with a scream of agony as the bone in her arm parted yet again. “Fuck!”

  Grim helped her up when the contraction had passed. “Are you okay?”

  They had to almost yell to be heard above the grinding complaints of the volcano. “I’m fine. It’s just a cut.”

  She held a hand to her head, probing gently through her hood. Her busted eye had opened up in a ragged gash where she’d scraped her face. She wiped the blood away and turned back to the bridge. “Shit, more of the bridge has fallen away.” The cavern swam in her vision, and Grim caught her again as she stumbled. “Maybe I banged my head a bit harder than I thought.”

  Your ulna has rebroken, and you have the beginnings of a concussion. You need to take it easy while your brain heals.

  Yeah, ‘cuz there’s plenty of opportunities to kick back and relax right now, Mere.

  Whatever you are doing, you need to hurry. That was a massive spike in the seismic activity since my last report. Get the plant and get the hell out of there, Nickie.

  Keen and Adelaide arrived at a jog. Keen took one look at the bridge and began to shake his head emphatically. “There’s no way we can cross that.”

  Nickie waved him off and tottered toward the bridge. “We can, and we will. Where’s John?”

  Adelaide frowned. “I thought he was with you and Grim?”

  “No, or I wouldn’t be asking. Didn’t you pass him on your way here?” She turned in the direction of the last place she’d seen him. “You all wait here, and I’ll find him. Try to figure out how we can get across that bridge without dying while I’m gone, okay?”

  Nickie set off without waiting for a reply. John was not at the spot she’d left him. She called his name, but there was no way he’d hear her over the growing roar of the volcano. She looked around and spotted his binoculars on the ground, then saw his foot protruding from behind a boulder.

  She hurried over and found him propped up against the rock with his head in his hands. “John, what’s going on?”

  He looked up at her with confusion. “Nickie? I climbed up to get a better view and slipped.”

  She held out her hand. “Come on, we’ve found a way across.”

  He pointed at his foot, which was at an awkward angle to his leg. “It’s broken.”

  Nickie sighed. “No shit. Can you get up?”

  John struggled to his feet, and she wrapped an arm around him to support him as they walked back to the bridge.

  The others were still debating the options when Nickie guided John over to sit against a rock. “What’s the problem?”

  Keen’s face was the reddest Nickie had seen it. “This is suicidal! That bridge won’t hold any of us.” He pointed at Nickie and John. “You’re both too damn injured to be of any use, and the fucking thing will collapse if either Grim or I even attempt to cross.”

  Grim nodded in agreement. “We might have to just call it quits, Nickie. We can’t win every one.”

  Nickie bristled. “I don’t quit.” She laughed as her vision swam again. “Okay, I don’t quit anymore. The point is that I’m not leaving without that plant to save John’s dad.” She took a wobbly step toward the bridge.

  “I can do it.” Adelaide’s voice was a whisper in the thunder of the cavern.

  Nickie heard, and she eyed Adelaide suspiciously. “I suppose you’re light enough to get over without the bridge collapsing, but you haven’t got training for this. How will you cross the gap?”

  Adelaide shook her head to dislodge the strand of sweaty hair from her face and half-shrugged. “I have some gymnastics skills. Same thing.” She turned and ran toward the bridge. “Just watch!”

  She vaulted up onto the rocks and gained the bridge. “See?” she called back. She hurried over the wider part but slowed as the rock narrowed closer to the middle before ending abruptly. Adelaide brought her arms out for balance as she placed her feet carefully to avoid falling to her death.

  Back on the far side, Nickie stayed by John and held her breath as she watched Adelaide’s progression. Keen and Grim called encouragement from the edge to keep Adelaide’s confidence high while she climbed around the rubble in her way.

  The bridge narrowed to just a few paces wide. Adelaide halted. “Guys?” She looked back at them, her face completely drained of color. “I don’t know. I can make the jump, but what if it doesn’t hold me?”

  The bridge shook minutely, and Adelaide almost lost her footing. “I’m going to try.” She backed up a few paces, sprinted at the gap, and vaulted over to the other side.

  She landed at a run and pelted toward the vegetation around the vents without stopping.

  Nickie came over to stand with Grim and Keen. She handed over John’s binoculars wordlessly while Adelaide swerved around the continuous jets of steam the vents on the other side were emitting.

  A few tense minutes later, Adelaide returned to the bridge and gave them a thumbs up.

  Grim turned and called to John, “She has the plant.”

  John nodded and slumped against the rock. They shared a relieved grin as Adelaide made her way back to them.

  Their relief was short-lived.

  As Adelaide reached top speed to jump the gap, a keening roar came from the tunnel behind them. Adelaide lost her footing on the jump, and she screamed as she missed her landing.

  Nickie moved like the wind to reach her, pushing through the dizziness that washed over her from the sudden movement.

  Nickie, no!

  Nickie didn’t listen. The bridge crumbled with every panicked step she took. She dropped to her stomach as the dizziness returned and inched her way along until she reached the edge and found Adelaide hanging on grimly to the rock. She reached out with her good arm as Adelaide cried with relief. “Take my hand!”

  She grabbed Nickie’s hand, and Nickie slid backward on her stomach to pull her up one agonizing inch at a time.

  Adelaide sobbed as they crawled to safety. “Thank you! Thank you!”

  “Don’t thank me, just hurry up before the fucking monster gets here and cuts off our escape.” She grabbed Adelaide and pulled her along, the dizziness threatening to overwhelm her completely.

  They clung to each other for support as they reached the other side. When they reached solid ground, Adelaide collapsed to her knees and let the tears flow. She undid the pouch on her suit and passed the plants she had stuffed inside to John.

  John’s eyes shone. “Thank you. I can’t tell you what this means to me…”

  Another roar came from the tunnel, and the cavern vibrated as the monster approached.

  Nickie turned tiredly toward the tunnel. “Nope, you can’t. We haven’t got time.” Meredith, get us out of here now!

  The route map is ready, but you need to hurry. There is another activity spike, this one ten times any of my previous readings. The eruption has begun. Take the path I’m overlaying in your HUD. It will lead you to an exit partway up the volcano from which you can escape.

  A blue line appeared over Nickie’s vision just as the monster appeared. “Grim, take John, and everyone follow me. We’re getting the fuck out of here.”

  Grim hoisted John over his shoulder and ran after Nickie as if his life depended on it.

  Even inside their suits, the heat was becoming unbearable as the magma overflowed the aperture. The monster paid it no attention, too focused on the group to notice its encroaching death. They dodged behind the rocks to stay out of its line of sight, but it still came after them, screeching as it smashed the rockpiles with its remaining arm.

  They ran.

  A rockpile exploded right next to the monster, and a jet of lava spewed out. The pressure knocked the monster into the aperture, ending it f
orever and ticking one item off Nickie’s “things to worry about” list.

  Nickie led them along the route Meredith had given her, screaming encouragement at them as they went. One of the vents exploded in a hail of shrapnel that only just missed Keen and Adelaide.

  Nickie looked back and saw they’d slowed. “Do not stop putting one foot in front of the other until we are safe and sound, do you hear me? Now fucking run! There’s the tunnel.”

  They picked up the pace again once they’d squeezed into the tunnel. It shook around them, the walls and roof showering them with ash and dust. It twisted and turned, and they ran in labored silence for what felt like eons as the volcano shook itself to pieces around them.

  As they neared the exit, the rising magma began to gain speed. The imminent eruption was no longer imminent.

  Nickie’s enhanced vision picked up the increase in the light level just before they rounded another bend and found themselves in a large cave.

  Adelaide cheered exhaustedly. “We made it!”

  Nickie took a moment to check everyone over. Grim was clearly running on empty but still carried John resolutely. Keen leaned on a rock and heaved in grateful lungfuls of air, but appeared to be fine otherwise. She glanced back at the tunnel they’d just left and saw the familiar dull glow of the approaching magma. She pointed to the tunnel. “We haven’t made it yet. Let’s go.”

  Nickie recognized their location as soon as they stepped outside of the cave and she saw the bare rock below. They’d dismissed this cave as an entry point since it would have been a bitch to ascend the smooth slope.

  However, as an emergency exit, it couldn’t have been more ideal.

  “Just like a slide,” Keen chuckled. “Only if we get stuck on this one, we die.”

  “Best get going then,” Nickie replied.

  Chapter 18

  Nickie

  Rebus Quadrant, Planet Zuifra, Reinek, Outside the Volcano

  They began the descent, doing what they could to stay in control of their speed. Gravity and the urgency of the approaching lava flow won out, and they arrived at the bottom of the volcano in tangled heaps of bruised and battered limbs.

  The group scrambled to their feet as the biggest rumble yet shook the ground beneath them, and a dark cloud appeared at the edge of the caldera.

  Nickie didn’t give anyone a chance to freeze up. “Grab each other and run!”

  The pyroclastic cloud spilled down the volcano toward them, and they raced for their lives once again. The boiling ash began to pick up speed, and Nickie didn’t know if they were going to make it. Visibility was down to nothing, and all she could hope was that they could all hold on until they reached the ship.

  The blue line in her HUD cut out suddenly. Meredith, where is our exit?

  Look up.

  Nickie shielded her eyes against the hot ash rain and saw the Penitent Granddaughter coming in to land. Thank fuck for that. She let out a long, slow breath as the relief of seeing her ship set in.

  The others were just as happy to see Durq open the ramp to let them in. The ramp stirred the ash as it landed with a soft thump and they all piled onboard. As the ramp began to close behind them Grim’s legs finally gave way, and he lowered John to the deck

  Keen came over to help John, who stumbled on his broken ankle and fell backward toward the door. Keen grabbed him and pulled him back, then stumbled from exhaustion himself as he took the other man’s weight.

  John hung onto Keen to steady himself and they laughed as they hugged and backslapped. “Appreciate the assist, man.”

  “Any time,” Keen replied. “But you know you owe me now, right?”

  They laughed again and set off for the med bay, using each other as crutches.

  Nickie sat on a crate getting her breath back when Durq almost knocked the wind out of her again with a bearhug. He released her and nodded without making eye contact. “Glad you’re okay.”

  Nickie got up, and for the first time, the little Skaine didn’t flinch away from her. She grinned and gathered him in a return hug. “I’m happy to see you, too.”

  Rebus Quadrant, Aboard the Penitent Granddaughter, Mess

  Nickie sat back in her chair, already feeling half-healed.

  The Yollin whiskey probably had a lot to do with it, although having good company to share in the victory was actually pretty sweet as well.

  They were all clean, fed, and rested, and the meal Grim had prepared, as well as the amount of alcohol they had washed it down with, had left them relaxed and companionable. Keen and Grim were up to their usual pastime of competitive story-telling for the group’s entertainment.

  Nickie sipped her whiskey and smiled at Grim’s recounting of how Keen had shoved him into the crevice and blocked his view of Nickie’s fight with the rock monster. “What about you, Adelaide?”

  Adelaide looked at Nickie with the eyes of a woman who’d had a long day and just a smidge too much to drink. “Huh?”

  “What made you step up like that at the bridge?”

  Adelaide’s eyes widened in comprehension. “Oh, that! I just decided to take Grim’s advice. Life’s too short to quit when it gets hard. I had value on this mission I hadn’t expected to.”

  John clapped in agreement. “Well said! So, what happened on the other side of the bridge? I couldn’t see a thing from where I was.”

  Adelaide gasped. “It was the strangest place! Like…” She sniggered as it came to her. “Like another planet! I couldn’t see a thing above my waist once I headed into the steam, and it was too hot to stand anyway so I had to crawl along until I found the plants. I just grabbed them and got the hell out of there.”

  Grim turned to John. “Will your father be okay now?”

  John nodded. “He will, and I couldn’t have done it without all of you.” He raised his glass. “A toast to teamwork!”

  They all joined the toast, and the storytelling resumed. Keen launched into an anecdote that required a lot of space to tell. Grim, Adelaide, and Durq moved to the end of the table to get a better viewing position, leaving Nickie and John to chat at the quieter end.

  John sat next to Nickie, picking at the remainder of his food. He pushed his plate away when Nickie upended the last of the whiskey into their glasses. Half his face was obscured by a large dressing over the broken cheekbone he’d gotten fighting the monster, and he sat slightly twisted to keep his broken ankle elevated on the chair between them.

  Nickie nodded at his plaster cast. “Bet that didn’t go as easily as my shoulder.”

  John chuckled. “That’s putting it lightly. I meant what I said about teamwork. I really couldn’t have succeeded without you.” He ran his finger through the puddle of condensation caused by his glass. “That’s what I learned from this. It’s okay to lean on others when you need help. I thought I understood that when I decided to come looking for you, but I didn’t. Not really.”

  Nickie glanced over at the others as they burst out laughing again. “I think you’re right. They’ve gotten under my skin, whether I like it or not. I’m trying not to push them away because I care.” She broke off while she dealt with the lump forming in her chest. “I just don’t know why it has to be so damn hard to trust people.”

  John looked at her thoughtfully. “You must trust me to tell me this.”

  She looked away. “You’re just easy to talk to. Anyway, it’s not like you’re sticking around, so…whatever.” She got up and drained her glass. “I’m gonna call it a night, get some sleep before we get back to the colony. You want a hand getting back to your quarters?”

  John smiled. “That would be great, thanks.”

  She hooked his arm over her shoulder and waved to the others.

  “Night!” Adelaide called cheerily.

  Keen continued his story as they left the mess and headed down the corridor toward the sleeping quarters, laughing and joking until they reached John’s door.

  Nickie shrugged his arm off and stepped back to give him space to get
to the door. The alcohol she’d consumed had left her feeling contemplative, and his comment about trust hit home. As he turned to say goodnight, she gave in and stopped denying herself the chance of a connection. “You could stay with me tonight.”

  John’s dimple appeared at the edge of his dressing. He took her hand. “I could… And I want to. But no.”

  Nickie frowned. “Why, if you want to?”

  He grinned. “Because I just watched you make the decision. I want you to think on it for a while first, okay?” He leaned in and kissed the corner of her mouth. “But when you’re ready…” He stepped inside his quarters and closed the door.

  Nickie stood there for a moment, totally unable to process what had just happened. She regained her composure and continued to her quarters. She got inside and leaned on the door after she’d closed it behind her. Meredith?

  Yes?

  What the fuck just happened?

  I don’t know what you mean, Nickie.

  I mean, is John really for real? She stared at her empty bed. Most guys would have taken the wild night and been done. Fuck, why did he have to be one of the respectful ones?

  You don’t want to be respected?

  I think a certain amount of healthy fear is okay, but this scares the shit out of me. What do I do with a good guy? What if I break him or something? She changed into a t-shirt and climbed into bed. A thought slipped across her consciousness as she passed into sleep.

  What if he changes me?

  Rebus Quadrant, Themis Colony, Mess Hall

  Nickie felt a little bit like she’d come home. She was surrounded by people she knew and didn’t hate. People who had been glad to see her return. That had surprised the hell out of her since she hadn’t gone to any great lengths to fit in. Her actions had apparently spoken for her, however, because the colonists had welcomed her back yesterday with open arms.

  The continuing improvement in the colony’s quality of life now they had the food situation in hand was a big deal to them, and last night she’d been dragged up on stage by Raynard, along with the other workers, to celebrate the success of the biomes.