Star Splinter

by J G Cressey

  Although used to jungle trekking, it pained Cal to admit that it was he who was most likely to slow them down. The battering he’d taken during the crash combined with the long trek had aggravated an old injury in his lower back that had occurred four years previously when the snapping jaws of a Panthelon ice lizard had forced him off a high cliff. Fortunately, a deep snow drift had broken the worst of his fall, but his back had paid the price. A constant string of follow up missions had left him no opportunity to have the injury dealt with.

  As he called the others over, he couldn’t ignore a pang of envy at their youth. He was only thirty-five, but the current state of his body made him feel twice that. Kneading his knuckles into his back, he made a resolution to get the injury seen to as soon as he made it back to Earth. He just hoped to God they could fix it. “I think it’s time we found somewhere to rest up. It’ll be dark again soon,” he said, looking at each of them in turn. He’d briefly considered taking advantage of the cooler temperatures and continuing on through the night but had quickly dismissed the idea. So far, they’d been extremely fortunate not to have encountered any large predators. The darkness of night, however, was hunting time for many of the Big Game residents. If they remained on the move, their luck would likely run out.

  “Maybe we should light a big fire, eh, keep any beasties at bay?”

  “Usually, you’d be right, Toker. But certain beasties around here aren’t put off by fire. It would just illuminate their dinner. We're best off doing the same as last night and scaling a tree. This one will do nicely.” Cal pointed to an enormous tree that was covered with rugged green bark. “It’s a couching tree. Plenty of hand and foot holds in the bark, so it should be an easy enough climb. Any objections?”

  “Course not, Cal, you know best,” Eddy said as she stared up at the tree. “You’re the leader.”

  Cal winced. Just get them to the headquarters.

  “Want me to get up there and scope it out, Cal?”

  Cal looked up into the ominous tangle of branches that seemed to stretch endlessly into the rapidly darkening sky. “Okay, Eddy. Shout once you’ve found a good place to rest.”

  She gave a quick salute, which almost landed her beloved scalpel in her right temple.

  “Oh, and Eddy, try to take it slow, eh?”

  The girl nodded and, gripping the little blade in her teeth, completely ignored the suggestion and practically ran up the tree’s thick trunk to the first branch.

  “She’s like a little squirrel,” Toker said, sounding genuinely impressed.

  “She’s certainly agile,” Cal agreed as they watched her ascend out of sight.

  “So, Toker, you didn’t finish telling me how you ended up on a military starship.”

  Toker frowned. “Kinda hoped you’d forgotten about that,” he said, looking around to check that the boy and the synthetic weren’t listening in. Viktor was sat on his broken hovercase on the other side of the clearing with Melinda standing tall over him.

  “How could I forget?” Cal replied. “You’ve got me intrigued.”

  Toker sighed but cracked a little grin nonetheless. “Okay, bro, where did I get to?”

  “The holo-show. Nine Live Nutters.”

  “Oh right, yeah, can’t believe you never seen it.” Toker paused as if expecting Cal to suddenly recollect the show. “So anyway, there’s nine of us, right, four girls and five guys, an’ it’s like a competition show. Basically, we all have to come up with a stunt, then every Thursday night, each of us attempts to pull off that stunt, and it’s shown on live holo-screens everywhere, even the fringe space colonies apparently. It’s a popular show. I’m actually quite famous, bro,” he said, flashing another of his big, white-toothed grins. “So anyway, the winner gets a prize, right, a new speed board or Flint Fusion hover boots, something like that. Thing is, none of us do it for the prize. We do it for the love of the rush. I’m talkin’ adrenalin pumpin’ through your veins ‘till they feel like they’re gonna pop. You ever experienced that, Cal?”

  “Sure, once or twice.”

  “Right, then you’ll know how addictive it is. Thing is, lately, it’s been getting harder and harder to come up with a winning stunt, you know, one good enough to top the last.”

  “So who decides on the winner?”

  “Not who, bro, but what.” Toker snatched up his backpack and started digging around inside.

  “Used to be that the public voted on the winner, but that didn’t last because you know what, all the chicks watching voted for one of the girls because of all that girl power stuff, an’ the guys voted for one of the girls too because they bloody fancied them. Just wasn’t fair. Not until they came up with this…” Toker pulled a small device with an electronic dial and a short smart-strap from his bag and held it out with a grin. “It’s an Ando Adrenalin Cuff, the best damn invention since the surfboard.”

  Cal took it and gave it a quick study. “Measures your adrenalin levels?”

  “You got it in one, bro. It measures both the level and length of the high. Best reading goes home a winner.”

  “Sounds fair,” Cal said, handing back the cuff. “So…”

  “Oh, so yeah, still doesn’t explain being on the starship, right? This is where the story gets kinda embarrassing,” Toker continued, once again having a quick look around. “Like I said, it gets harder and harder to come up with a stunt to top the last, right, and it was the season finale, so the pressure was really on. I tell ya, I was seriously struggling. My head was empty like a cracked coconut. So I decide to go visit a mate of mine. He lives in the desert, the one in the old zone of California. The desert helps me think, you see. So there I am, sitting in this bloody desert on the top of this huge bloody dune, no one around as far as the eye can see, which is pretty damn rare on Earth, right? So anyway, that’s when it came to me: the orbit death jump!”

  “Huh.”

  “Uh huh,” Toker agreed with an enthusiastic nod. “See, when I was sitting on that dune, searching for my inspiration, it only went and flew right over my bloody head.” Toker took another pause, seemingly lost in thought. “You ever seen one of those big ass military supply vessels, Cal? Those humongous bloody great things that take all sorts of crap out to the starships and colonies?”

  “I have.”

  “Yeah, course you have—”

  Toker’s words were cut short as a long, hissing shadow suddenly dropped between them from above. Both men jumped back, Toker with a small cry of terror. The python hit the ground hard then slithered hurriedly over the couching tree’s protruding roots to disappear into the thick undergrowth.

  “Heads up,” came Eddy’s faint voice from somewhere high in the darkness.

  “Damn that bloody chick,” Toker blurted. “Teeth. Everywhere I turn, man, frickin’ teeth, goddamn pointy bloody teeth.”

  Cal checked to make sure the snake had gone. He wasn’t overly fond of them himself. “So?” he said, turning back to Toker.

  “Right, yeah,” Toker replied, straightening himself up and attempting to regain some sort of composure. “So the supply ships…well, it’s one hell of a display when they take off, right? So I figured if I could hitch a ride on one, then I could jump out of the thing just before it left Earth’s atmosphere. I could retire from the show a bona fide legend.”

  Cal rubbed his injured back and briefly mused how surreal his life had suddenly become. “Sounds like a winning stunt to me.”

  “Too right. I was prepared too, right down to the last detail: state-of-the-art jump pack, heat proof body armor, oxygen…hell, I even had four hover cameras programmed to follow me down.”

  “So what happened?”

  “Well, turned out the military were less than keen for me to hitch a ride on one of their precious supply ships, so I had to do it on the sly. Didn’t even tell the producers of the show. To tell you the truth, it was a lot easier than I thought, sneaking onto that ship. I hid amongst the livestock. Not a great idea though, bro, cow crap everywhere,
plus I had wads of time before the launch, so I decided to take a little nap, you know, calm the nerves.”

  “Uh oh,” Cal said with a grin.

  “You catch on fast. Damn right, uh oh. There’s only one thing that I’m better at than stunts, and that’s sleeping. Next thing I know, I’m waking up in zero G with nothing but a bunch of floating cows for company.”

  Cal laughed out loud. His life was in turmoil, but at least he was entertained. “Lucky you hid in the livestock section. Oxygen’s always handy.”

  “Reckon I’d have been better off without it. That ship took five damn weeks to get to your starship. You any idea what it’s like eating chicken and cow feed for five weeks in zero G? An’ you know the worst thing? My adrenalin cuff didn’t go higher than three bars the whole friggin’ trip.”

  Cal’s laughter suddenly caught in his throat as a distant shout from Eddy echoed from above. “Somethin’s comin’ our way, an’ it’s movin’ fast.”

  The whites of Toker’s eyes grew a little larger in the darkness. “If you’re messing with us, little chick, I swear—”

  “Quiet,” Cal said, laying a hand on Toker’s shoulder and peering into the surrounding trees. There was a rustling of leaves and snapping of dry twigs. The sounds seemed to be coming from more than one direction and were fast becoming louder.

  “Viktor, stay close to Melinda. We might have trouble,” Cal shouted, looking towards the boy who was already caught up in the synthetic woman’s protective embrace.

  A fast-moving shadow suddenly shot across Cal’s peripheral vision. Grabbing Toker’s arm, he threw himself to the ground, taking the young man with him as the shadow tore through the space where their heads had been. The dark attacker let out a blood-curdling roar and landed with a thud the on the other side of the clearing just a few paces from Viktor and Melinda.

  Ignoring an explosion of pain in his lower back, Cal got to his feet. “Viktor, stay completely still.”

  “What the hell is it, Cal?” Toker whispered as he backed up towards the base of the huge couching tree.

  “Not a bloody clue,” he whispered back. The creature was similar to one of Earth’s silverback gorillas but for two alarming differences: Firstly, the beast had no fur. Instead, it was covered with jet black scales that glimmered hauntingly with each aggressive movement. And secondly, in place of forearms and fists, it had dark, crab-like claws that it was using to scuff the ground with frightening force. The creature looked at each of them in turn, noisily snorting air in and out of its flattened nose. Cal couldn’t judge whether it considered them a threat encroaching on its territory or prey doing a poor job of running away. The silvery drool dripping from its long fangs suggested the latter.

  Toker was shaking his head and mumbling. “Teeth, more bloody teeth. Can my life get any deeper in the shitter?”

  As if in answer to his question, two smaller, but just as vicious looking, creatures of the same breed slowly emerged from the surrounding darkness to join their companion.

  The largest of the trio fixed its menacing eyes on Viktor.

  “Viktor, I think it’s time to give Melinda instructions.”

  “No need, Cal,” the boy replied, sounding confident despite the tremble in his voice.

  With a ferocity that outdid even that of their earthly counterparts, the lead creature bolted towards Viktor. Without hesitation, Melinda grabbed the boy by the back of his shirt, swung him once around, and threw him with incredible precision into an overhead branch. Despite executing the move with lighting speed, the synthetic woman barely had time to turn and meet the attacking creature head on. There was a titanic clash, and the two became a strange blur of black and blonde as they rolled, punches flying, into the surrounding trees.

  “Toker, get up the tree,” Cal shouted then turned to see that the young man was already above him, scrabbling desperately up the trunk. Cal had an overwhelming urge to bolt up after him, but his rational brain overruled it. These beasts were sure to be efficient climbers, so instead, he pressed his back against the tree’s mammoth trunk and braced himself. As predicted, one of the two remaining creatures launched itself towards him in a kinetic bust of fury that sent dark chunks of mud flying. Cal stayed put until he was sure he could feel the creature’s hot, snorting breath on his face. Then he threw himself clear. There came a satisfying crunch as the creature’s head connected with the unforgiving tree trunk. Hitting the ground in a roll, Cal sprang to his feet as fast as his protesting back would allow and span around. To his great relief, his attacker was slumped unconscious among the tangle of roots.

  The third creature, perhaps having learned from its companion’s mistake, came at Cal with more caution but no less aggression. Seizing a nearby log, Cal attempted to raise it threateningly above his head, but another explosion of pain in his back forced him to abort the effort. Clutching his back and retreating slowly, he cursed his own stupidity while his eyes and mind searched franticly for options, an escape, a weapon, any bloody thing…

  Then Eddy dropped from the sky directly in front of him.

  Oh fucking hell.

  “I got him,” the girl growled, wielding her little scalpel in front of her as if it were a four-foot-long broadsword. The creature paused for just a second, possibly bewildered by the lack of fear in its prey. It was all the time Cal needed. Reaching forward, he pulled Eddy towards him just as the creature took a swipe at her head with one massive, razor sharp claw. Stumbling backwards, Cal caught his retreating heel on a root and fell to the ground. Her arms flailing, Eddy followed him down, winding him with her skinny shoulder as she did so. Seeing its chance, the creature leapt, bloodthirsty rage emanating from its eyes as it swung its great claw downwards in a killing blow.

  Fortunately, the blow didn’t come.

  There was a loud thud and a splintering of roots as Melinda hit the ground, the creature’s thick neck clasped tightly between her powerful, cybernetic hands. After a brief and confusing tussle, the synthetic managed to slip behind her opponent and wrap all four of her long limbs around it, instantly putting a stop to the lashing of its deadly claws. Witnessing what he thought to be a stalemate, Cal surged to his feet. Then he stopped short; the synthetic woman’s long, blonde hair had begun to lengthen. Not only that but it started to snake its way around the creature’s neck and tighten.

  Seconds later, the beast was unconsciousness.

  “Holy shit, she did it. She used her hair,” Viktor shouted triumphantly as he clumsily tumbled from his high perch and bounded towards Cal. ‘What did I tell you, Cal, my girl kicks arse.”

  Cal watched with fascination as Melinda’s long hair unravelled from the unconscious creature’s limp neck and retracted back to its normal length. He nodded at the boy, feeling a little dumbfounded. “She really does,” he mumbled in reply. Rubbing the throbbing ache in his back, he turned to see Eddy climbing to her feet while Toker reluctantly crawled back down the tree.

  “That’s the first chance she’s had to use it,” Viktor said as he sidled up to the synthetic woman. “Other than making her look gorgeous of course.”

  Melinda, despite being covered in mud, did indeed still look gorgeous as she smiled down serenely at the boy.

  “I used some of the latest Claxo smart-sync nano threads, modified slightly of course. What d’ya reckon, Cal?”

  Cal continued rubbing his back. It felt like a red hot poker had been pushed into his lower spine. “I reckon, Viktor, that it’s the most impressive hair I’ve ever seen.”

  The boy gave an impossibly wide smile and looked about to reply when a loud voice rang out from the darkness of the surrounding trees. “You used to say that about mine.”

  The sound made all of them, bar Melinda, jump in fright. Cal turned to see a tall black man with undeniably impressive hair emerge from the shadows to step into the moonlight. “Jumper Decoux,” Cal said with a sudden grin. “Well I’ll be damned.”

  Chapter Seven

  FRIENDS REUNITED

  W
ith warmth from the early morning sun against his face and a sweet jungle chorus filling his ears, Cal slowly roused from a deep, dreamless sleep. His eyes fluttered open to a radiant sunrise pouring over a blanket of mist that spread to the horizon and beyond. As he stretched and breathed in the fresh, fruity air, some of his boyhood memories flooded into his mind and brought with them a wide smile. With so much of his time spent in the cold, silent expanse of space, he’d sorely missed the jungles of Mars. And now he was back, albeit unexpectedly, and was adamant he’d enjoy it while it lasted. Closing his eyes, he took a moment to let the medley of birdsong swim through his ears and cleanse his mind. God knows it needed a damn good cleanse.

  Cal had only been thirteen for one week when he’d first arrived on Mars and been introduced to his hunting mentor. The tall man, who’d introduced himself as Jumper Decoux, had seemed intimidating at first, but then Cal had seen the kindness in his eyes. The year that he’d gone on to spend in Jumper’s company before being carted off to military academy held some of his fondest memories.

  Opening his eyes, Cal marvelled at the spectacle before him. The view from the massive, twisted branch on which he was perched was nothing short of spectacular. The previous night, Jumper had led them through the darkness to a tree so large it seemed a trick of the eye. Its mammoth trunk soared, skyscraper-like, through the jungle canopy while its multitude of branches spread far and wide like the outstretched arms of giants. Cal had never seen its like. It made the surrounding jungle look like a garden of mere bonsai trees in comparison.