by Lisa Lace
"Not a chance," interjected Thiago. "Eden doesn't have enough experience to get out on the field, and she might hurt herself."
"Where is she going to acquire real-world experience, if not in a real situation?" challenged Ardela, folding her arms across her chest. "Don't tell me you're afraid of that little runt Salabar? We will both be there! It's the safest scenario for Eden. You don't think I'd let anything happen to her under my watch, do you?"
"Well, no, but it doesn't make sense to take unnecessary risks."
"Hey," Eden called out, exhaling in frustration as she turned to face them in her swiveling chair. "I'm right here."
"My apologies, Eden," said Ardela as she checked the contents of her satchel. "I just think hands-on experience is the best way to learn. I would be delighted to teach you everything I know."
"I find it incredible I need to repeat myself," Thiago rumbled, his voice thick with annoyance. "But Eden's simply not ready for it."
"You know what? I think I'd like to take Ardela up on her offer," said Eden churlishly. Her arched eyebrows practically merged at the center of her displeased, wrinkled forehead. She was frustrated with Thiago. Eden didn't like it when anyone took it upon themselves to speak for her. She wouldn't have tolerated it back on Earth, and she wasn't about to start now in space.
"Don't underestimate the Runics, especially Salabar and his crew," Thiago insisted, scowling at Eden. "They may look small, but they're swift and much stronger than their size would indicate. We aren't even halfway through your training yet."
"I know, but I think Ardela's correct. I'll need to step out of my comfort zone at some point." She looked at Thiago pointedly. "Granted, I could do with a little more target practice, but I think I know how to swing a windsor now."
Thiago shook his head, pulling down a lever to activate the shields.
Nothing happened.
He pulled the lever again, hoping that the same action would have different results this time, and made an exasperated sound when the shields refused to deploy. Pulling up a control panel on the dashboard screen, he began a troubleshooting procedure. He tried repeatedly but couldn't get the shields down. All his attempts resulted in irritating sounds reinforcing failure after failure.
"Unbelievable. The shields are not functioning," Thiago muttered, nearly crushing the shield lever in a last futile attempt. "That's strange. They seemed to have been working last night when I tested them."
"You should have gotten your ship checked out back at the station like I recommended," Ardela sang. She lifted up one side of her mouth. The gold flakes crusted on her lips shimmered under the cockpit lighting. Her face turned solemn. "There are a few ancient Runic tribes scattered all over the area. They are uncivilized, violently unstable, and don't need provocation to attack. Leaving Eden here without any sort of protection on your spaceship would be just as irresponsible, if not more dangerous, than bringing her with us."
Eden imagined a horde of angry Runics with bloodied spears, blasters, and bags of explosives strapped over their knobby little shoulders. Shuddering at the thought of a hundred slimy webbed hands pawing at her as they pinned her down, she leaped to her feet. The imagery was frightening and perhaps the product of a disturbed imagination, but she wasn't going to take any chances.
"I'm convinced now. I'm not staying here."
"Fine. I guess we're all going then," Thiago conceded. He took a quick look at Eden's outfit. It was a pink jumpsuit she had borrowed from Ardela. "You may want to change into something more water-resistant."
As if on cue, a brief burst of blinding lightning flashed outside the spaceship windows, followed by the ground-quaking roar of thunder. Waves of rain began pattering noisily against the ship top and windshields, solidifying his case.
"Thiago's right," said Ardela, reaching into her satchel. She switched on a computer and headed out the door without consulting anyone. "Let me see if I can get a head start. It's going to be difficult locating Salabar's cavern in this terrible weather. "
"Thanks. I'll round up Hercules."
"Thiago, wait," Eden called after him, hastily grabbing his arm.
"What is it?"
"I know you're worried," said Eden softly, squeezing his hand. "I'm scared, too. But I'll promise you something. I'm going to keep my mouth shut and my ears open. I'll listen to every word you say."
"You really want to tag along with me, don't you?"
"I do. I should probably contribute to society somehow, shouldn't I? Even if the people around me are aliens? If you're worried about splitting the bounty with me, don't be. I'm not interested in the money. Technically, we are married. Humans are barely people here, so you're morally obligated to make sure I don't die in your care."
"Equality laws don't apply to humans," said Thiago, laughing. "Okay. You've got five minutes to meet us in front."
"You know what? I'll be out in three. I promise I won't let you down."
"Good. I know you won't."
Chapter Seventeen
Eden shivered, sniffling her wrinkled nose as the pouring rain attacked her like a runaway shower head. Dragging her windsor behind her, she ducked under one of the swirling masses of overhanging leaves for cover. She adjusted the black protective helmet over her head. It projected a full-sized screen onto her retina behind the visor. The night-vision setting cast a spectral green glow on her surroundings. Ardela and Thiago's silhouettes also appeared on the screen. Their bodies were reduced to blobs of neon green and orange, allowing them to stand out from the thermal imagery.
"Got it!" Ardela declared, waving the tracking device over her head triumphantly.
Eden slung the windsor over her shoulder. She joined Thiago and Ardela around a brown, dead patch of vegetation. It was a sharp contrast to its surroundings: the slight incline of a green hill covered with moss. Thiago squatted on the floor, digging out a frayed end of a piece of rope sticking out of the ground. A droplet of sweat made its way down the center of his face as he gave it a hard pull. A hidden door swung open, and he toppled back onto the ground, knocked over by his strength.
Ardela picked up the dislodged door and lay it flat on the opposite side of a gaping 4-foot-wide hole. She tapped on the side of her helmet, which matched the stripes and color scheme of her spaceship. A bright shaft of light radiated from the headlight centered above her visor, illuminating the dark opening.
"It looks like a long way to the bottom. I think it's a thirty foot drop, at least. We're looking at the location of someone who wants to say hidden," remarked Ardela. "There's only one way to find out what lies beneath. I'll jump in and send a signal if it's safe to come after me." She gave them a quick thumbs-up, nodding determinedly.
"Don't be reckless, Ardela."
Eden tiptoed over to look down into the pit. "Oh my God!" she screeched, nearly losing her balance in her shock.
As Thiago reached out to steady Eden, Ardela hopped into the opening, yelling whoops of exhilaration that echoed down the shaft behind her. After pacing around for a few painful seconds, a square band around his wrist blinked twice. He pulled up his visor and whistled.
Hercules came scampering at his master's call. The bristles of his hair that carpeted his body matted together from the rain. He shook himself dry to get ready for action. Eden wasn't ready for the beast's attempt to dry himself off, and she experienced the brunt of the inadvertent attack; water splashed all over her body.
Thiago patted the creature twice on the leg. Eden watched the jumbo-sized Hercules shrink back his legs like a closing accordion, adjusting his build so he could squeeze down the hole. Thiago turned to Eden. The heels of her feet scuffed against the mud as he guided her towards the edge. Her palms were sweating as she peered down the stark black hole beneath her feet, wondering what was waiting for her at the bottom.
"Whatever you do, keep your hands at your sides at all times," Thiago instructed as he took the windsor from Eden. "Are you ready?"
"No, not really," Eden squeaked. She close
d her eyes and exhaled deeply, counting to ten. It was too late to turn back now. There was nowhere else for her to go. "Okay, I'm good. I'm as ready as I'm going to be."
She clamped her arms tightly against her sides. Keeping her eyes squeezed shut, she jumped. The jittery sensation in her stomach moved up her body, to her throat and head. Her back crashed against something solid, and she started sliding. She tried to take control of her descent, but there was nothing for her to grab. As she hurtled down the chute, her body smoothly skated down spiraling twists and turns. Her breath caught in her throat. She heard someone screaming, and she realized it was herself.
"Eden! Are you okay?"
She had stopped moving. A hysterical Eden quieted down immediately, trembling as she pushed up her visor. Ardela held out a hand, her pink brows knitted together with concern. Still shaking like a diabetic low on blood sugar, Eden looked around at the dark environment of the underground cavern. Hercules tilted his head, staring at her blankly.
"Herc, you're drooling all over me," Eden groaned. She reached up to accept Ardela's extended hand. "I'm okay, thanks. Who's that behind you?"
An airborne Runic with a crossbow slung over his shoulder appeared. It was swinging a baton with a tip ablaze with flames. Although she was disoriented, the sight of an enemy was enough to shoot adrenaline into Eden's system. Even though she didn't have any feeling in her legs, she dragged herself off the floor, tackling Ardela and shoving her off to the side.
Ardela helped Eden off the ground and brushed the dust from their bodies. Without looking back, she removed a snow-white weapon with a barrel tube from her satchel. Catching sight of the barrel of Ardela's weapon, the Runic sprang off the ground with his powerful hind legs. His webbed feet stuck onto the rocky walls of the cavern with suction cups, bits of gravel crumbling under his weight. Hercules clawed at the ceiling walls with his legs, snarling ferociously at an unseen assailant overhead.
Ardela trailed the Runic with the muzzle of her blaster as he leaped from wall to wall in an attempt to avoid her line of fire. She pulled the trigger on her weapon and a bolt of bluish-white light spurted out at her target. The Runic didn't have a chance. Ardela shot him in the center of his body. His entire body changed to a block of ice within seconds. Eden watched in horror as the ice sculpture fell from the cavern ceiling like a falling icicle and splintered into bloody fragments on the floor.
Something else tumbled out of the chute. It was Eden's windsor. She seized her weapon and hauled it out of the way, clearing an area for Thiago, who landed on the ground with a thud. Before they could orient themselves, a band of Runic underlings began swarming out from the south, charging towards them.
"Ardela, protect Eden. I'm going to find Salabar before the bastard tries to escape."
Hercules spread his opposable limbs, swooping in on the four unfortunate Runics leading the mob. There was a sickening crunch of bone as Hercules trampled and twisted their necks. Thiago clubbed a couple of aliens out of the way, darting into the hall and out of Eden's view. As Ardela blasted ice bolts at the Runics to their left, three minions wounded by Thiago started dragging themselves towards Eden.
Eden couldn't feel her legs any longer, but she managed to hoist her windsor over her head and start to swing. Her vision filled with blinding flashes of red. Her attacks knocked the three Runics back and forth. The windsor head pierced and gouged at the alien's sides, their shrieks of anguish resounding through the cavern as they held their maimed faces.
"Eden! You can stop now!"
Eden gasped as her haze lifted. Her eyes blinked in disbelief at the bodies littered on the ground. Ardela pulled up the visor of her helmet, displaying her hand and beckoning Eden to her side.
"It's time to go."
Eden nodded wordlessly. She lifted her windsor off the ground and raced after Ardela. The pair entered a series of winding tunnels, accelerating their pace as the sounds of a struggle grew louder.
Finally, they stumbled out of the closed tube. Eden needed to hold her thighs to keep herself standing upright. She took a deep breath to soothe her wheezing. Eden's frazzled eyes darted around wildly as she tried to locate Thiago.
"Watch your step. You don't want to fall over a cliff again," warned Ardela, holding an arm out in front of Eden.
"Whoa," Eden breathed. The core of the cavern in front of them consisted of rock formations forming natural bridges and footpaths, all suspended above a hissing pit of brilliant golden-red lava.
"Up there!"
Eden jabbed a finger towards Salabar and Thiago. The tussling pair was struggling on an unbarred footpath above them. Hercules snapped his pincers helplessly; he couldn't attack Salabar without hurting Thiago. He shifted uneasily across a path that was much too narrow for his size. He struggled to keep his balance, but he was devoted to his master and refused to leave.
Thiago grunted as Salabar wriggled free from his grasp. He spotted Ardela and Eden on the ground below them. He motioned towards his weapon, which lay just a few feet away from them. He scrambled after Salabar.
"Can one of you try to stun him?"
Eden dove into the corner, grabbing hold of Thiago's weapon. She tossed it to Ardela, who snatched it in midair with her gloved hands. Salabar had heard Thiago's instructions, of course. He narrowed his eyes as a look of surprise spread across his hideous features. He clenched his knotted fingers in their direction.
"You..."
Eden would never know what Salabar intended to say. Ardela fired, striking Salabar directly in the chest. Thiago's weapon was meant to kill, not stun or turn a victim to ice. A pool of red began to blossom on the thin fabric of Salabar's clothes. Small trickles of blood appeared on the corners of his mouth as he started to stagger backward.
Time slowed down for Eden as she screamed and reached out in a futile attempt to save the alien. Salabar's arms flailed as he toppled into the pit of lava.
Salabar was determined to take someone with him. His arms grabbed onto Thiago and Hercules in one final act of vengeance before his death, dragging them down with him into the fire below.
Chapter Eighteen
"Thiago! Hercules!"
The imminent danger woke Eden from her slumber and forced her to take action. The apparent time shift that had cemented her in place as she watched Thiago, Hercules, and Salabar tumble over the edge shattered as quickly as it came. All that remained now was an empty platform above them with a severely chipped edge. The sweltering sea of hot lava underneath swallowed every falling piece of debris.
Eden yanked off her helmet and flung it aside. The rooms of the underground cavern reverberated with her traumatized screams of despair. She grabbed clumps of her hair, wrenching and twisting as tears seeped out the corners of her bulged, panicking eyes. Her teeth were chattering in shock as she turned to Ardela.
"How did that happen? Are they dead?"
"I don't know." Ardela wasn't moving.
Eden stared at Ardela. She hadn't known the alien for a long time, but in her experience, Ardela kept her composure and never lost her head. Perhaps this was Ardela's way of panicking. The Arkadian woman's translucent skin had turned a pasty white. The expression on her face was equally hopeless. Eden's heart sank.
"We can't stand here! Isn't there anything we can do?"
"Eden!"
Their horrified eyes moved toward the edge of their path. A cry for help rang faintly from underneath them, coupled with the unmistakable whimpers of a distressed alien arachnid. Racing to the side, they peered over the edge.
In the thick, yellow billows of smoke rising from the simmering red lava pit, Eden spotted the hazy silhouettes of Thiago and Hercules. The creature and his master were huddled together on a narrow crag protruding from a rock formation. Their arms clung to invisible handholds around them to stabilize their footing.
Eden didn't see Salabar anywhere.
"Thiago, hold on!"
Eden looked around for anything she could use to haul them up. Ardela had already sprung
into action. She was stripping off thick, sturdy vines that grew wild on the cavern walls. Eden dashed off to help, positioning herself in front of another wall. She rested a boot against the rocks and wrapped her fingers around a vine as wide as a fire hose.
Her veins extruded from her neck and temples as she pulled with all her strength. She had to lean back and use both legs for leverage to make the vine finally give under her weight.
Eden carried over her small vine and handed it over to Ardela. The Arkadian bounty hunter had accumulated dozens of vines in the time it took Eden to obtain a single one, and had already knotted them all together, fashioning a makeshift rope. Thrusting one end of the rope in Eden's hands, Ardela tossed the opposite end over the cliff.
"Get ready to pull! I don't know how much longer we can safely stay on this ledge!"
Ardela positioned herself behind Eden, twisting the vines around her arms. Eden mentally ordered her uncontrollable, trembling fingers to clench, securing them around the vine. The minute, sticky fibers felt almost like velcro against Eden's sweaty palms, adhering to her flesh. Her eyes squeezed shut as the throbbing muscles in her arms started to burn from the exertion. She could feel the heels of her boots scraping against the ground. Whatever happened, she knew she could not let go.
Thanks to the alien strength built into Ardela's Arkadian genes, the women began to inch slowly backward. Incredibly, they picked up momentum, wheezing and panting as Eden passed back additional knots of the retracting vine. With one last jerk, the other end of the vine emerged. Thiago had tied it around Hercules' torso as he clutched the creature's tubby frame. Hercules grabbed at the edge, gravel crumbling under his slipping legs as he struggled to clamber onto the platform.
Thiago leaped onto solid ground. His hands never left his beloved companion's side. Ardela and Eden moved forward, each grabbing hold of one of the creature's eight limbs. Snapping his pincers gratefully, Hercules dragged himself to safety.