The Genome Legacy

by Luna Wolf

  His gaze turns away from mine. "I'm ashamed to say I came during your second orgasm."

  If I wasn't already partially spent, I'd be ready to go again just from his words. He came because he was that turned on by my orgasms? "I think that's the sexiest thing anyone has ever said to me."

  "Please return to your seats, we're about to land on Earth 2, your new home."

  He stands and picks me up off the bin. I hurry to get my clothes back on. Once finished, he takes my hand in his. "Next time I'll be ready for you, I promise."

  Strapped in, the flight to land us appears to be going well. Just as rough as takeoff, but no hiccups or warning sounds. I still hold on to King’s and Octavius’s hands for dear life, but I don't think I'll faint this time. Just a few more moments and we'll be on our new home, and I'll never have to travel in one of these things again.

  A bang hits the side of the ship. We jerk to the side from the force. Red lights flash as the sirens scream over the sound of crunching metal. "System failure, system failure."

  The straps around my body release their hold and fall limp at my sides. I tumble into the air with everyone else before my body rams into the other side of the room.

  I gasp as all the air leaves my body. What's happening?

  Several people cry out in pain.

  "System failure, system failure."

  Rosie lands on top of me, her weight pressing me into the wall.

  We're actually going to die now. This is it.

  The side of the room rips away to reveal the outside as the air pulls us toward the opening. I hold onto Rosie and grab for anything that will anchor us to this side. One of the guys flies out of the ship.

  "Logan!" Rosie screams from on top of me.

  The sirens and lights have stopped, along with her voice. The ship is dead.

  My hold slips as we get closer to the hole, dragged closer and closer until I can't hold on anymore. I close my eyes. This is it.

  Octavius grabs my hand, pulling both Rosie and me to him, his bare feet planted firmly to the side of the ship still intact. We bounce as we make contact with the earth. Horrible crunching noises and screams fill my ears as I hit my head on the metal floor and lose grasp on my consciousness.

  "Grab all the weapons you can carry, same goes for water reserves and anything else you can find!"

  Arrow's voice rings in my ears. I frown against the intrusion. My head throbs with a pulse. Something warm rests at my hairline. Gingerly, I touch the spot, only to find sticky blood on my fingertips.

  "You're awake! Squeaks is awake!"

  I open my eyes to find Octavius staring down at me, my head in his lap. "Where's Rosie, is she okay?"

  Octavius strokes my hair. "Yeah, she's a little bruised, but she's with Pansy. The girl has a huge cut on her arm from almost falling out of the ship. Arrow's trying to stitch it up now because none of the medical sprays will heal something that bad. We're currently trying to get stuff to get out of here."

  I try to sit up, but my world spins. I may throw up. I lie back down and take in several deep breaths. "Why? Do we need to get out of here right away?"

  "I think we've landed way off course, right into a nest of tentacle monsters. They're everywhere out there. We got lucky the ship rolled and landed on where the hole is, otherwise we'd all be dead right now."

  Forcing myself up again, I stand.

  Octavius follows me, steadying my balance. "I don't know if you should be standing. You cracked your head against the floor pretty hard."

  "I need to help. A-are y-you okay?" My world sways back and forth as I try to focus my eyes on him.

  "I'm fine. Nothing my regenerative abilities can't heal in a matter of hours."

  I glance around the area, finding Arrow, but no one else.

  Trepidation fills my chest. "What about Echo and King?"

  Octavius grins. "They're fine, too. They went to gather the weapons from the cargo hold and anything else they can carry with the other survivors."

  My heart drops. I look around again. No Tibby. "Who di-didn't make it?"

  "Two of the twins' guys. I think one was Logan. I only talked to him once, back at the lab. I don't know the other one's name."

  "So, Tibby’s okay?"

  He nods. "Yeah, I'm not sure where she went, but Bach and Finn shielded her before the crash. As far as I know she's the only one without an injury of some kind."

  I nod only to cause more pain to sprint through my skull. I reach out for him to keep myself from falling over.

  "I really think you should sit back down."

  I want to shake my head but stop myself. "N-no, I need to hel-help gather things. Like the medical supplies."

  "I'm sure the others have it under control. There's at least ten people working on gathering things. Let's see if this will work for the cut on your head. It always works on mine." He breaks some of his spider web like hair and covers the cut with it. Instantly, the sting disappears. "Look, the bleeding stopped."

  "My head still feels like a thousand pounds, but the sting from the cut has gone."

  He smiles. "That's good. I'm glad it helps ease your discomfort some."

  Pansy lets out a yelp, making us turn to focus on them.

  "I'm sorry. Let me put more numbing spray on it. I'm almost done."

  I go to them, carefully taking each step for fear I'll tip over at any moment.

  Rosie has her arm wrapped around Pansy's shoulder as the other girl hides her face in her sister's neck. The gash travels from the underside of her wrist up to the bend of her elbow, deep enough that I can see the muscle from here. How did she not bleed out before Arrow sewed up more than half the cut?

  He glances up at me. "How are you feeling? You may have a concussion. I sent Tibby to get you some medicine."

  "I-I'll li-live."

  He sprays the numbing agent onto the rest of the gash and pushes an old-time hooked needle through the separated layers of flesh, before tying the thread in a knot and cutting it to start over. "You better. You're not allowed to die on me."

  "Yeah!" Octavius puts a gentle arm around my shoulder. He must sense sudden, jarring movements aren't the way to go with me right now.

  "Wh-what's the plan?" The ache in my skull makes it hard to focus on anything.

  "Gather as much as we can from the cargo hold, and then get the fuck out of here. I've been trying to reach my father back on Earth, but I can't get a signal, which tells me we're far from where we should be. There were signal towers placed around where the ship was supposed to take us."

  Does Dr. Langsting think we're dead?

  "Octavius, can you go gather as much of the medical supplies as you can? I'll keep an eye on Velma and the twins. I won't let them out of my sight. I promise."

  Octavius salutes before pulling me into a hug. "You stay here with him. If you move, I'll bind you to the floor with webbing. That's a promise." His hot breath ghosts over my ear.

  With the support of his body gone, I relinquish my pride and take a seat on the floor next to Rosie. She wraps her other arm around me and pulls me close. I’ve never had another girl care about me so much, but I guess us girls only have each other for sisterly support.

  Chapter Twelve

  Trapped

  Pansy's gash screams red with heat around the edges as Arrow finishes the last stitch. She cries into Rosie's neck before Emerson rushes in and over to where we sit huddled together on the floor.

  "I found some healing spray. I know it won't do much to meld her flesh back together right now, but at least it can keep it from getting infected." He slides a bag off his shoulder and pulls out the familiar canister.

  Arrow nods and takes the spray to administer it. "Which is what I'm most worried about right now with the environment we're in. Infection could set in a matter of hours if we're not vigilant. I wish they had developed a spray that could heal beyond surface abrasions."

  Emerson takes a knee, and runs his hand over the back of Pansy's head. "I'm so sorry,
Baby."

  She moves from Rosie's embrace into his. Her good arm going around his neck before she presses her head into his chest. He moves to sit on the ground and pull her into his lap.

  "How is the gathering of things going?" Arrow stands.

  "Good, I think. There's no way we're going to get all of it. We're going to have to come back at some point or forget about it. The rehydrator made it, but I don't know how we're going to use it to make food without a power source."

  "Hmm...I'll be back. I need to grab something I forgot to tell the others to grab, but it will help us in the long haul with food. Do not let them leave your sight. Guard them with your life." His grey eyes meet mine. "Will you be okay here?"

  I give him a small smile, unable to nod due to the pain in my skull. "Yeah. I'll be fine. Go."

  He curtly nods. "Okay. I'll be right back."

  With packs full to the brim with items; the guys carrying several at once, we shuffle out of the ship, careful to watch our footing. My head no longer wants to bust. Tibby came through with some anti-concussion medicine.

  Humid air hits us in the face, heavy and warm like the showers after training. I follow Arrow. Echo, Octavius, and King each take my side or back, keeping me barricaded from the surrounding jungles. The other girls are in the same position, protected by their men.

  A scream like the ones we heard in VR training fills the air. We still. One of the Tentacle beasts is near, but, where is it?

  Glancing around, I can't spot any massive thing with a mouth of tentacles, but that doesn't mean it isn't there, watching. We don't look like the A.I.s, so it might not be inclined to attack first and ask questions later.

  Something rustles the large-leafed plants next to us. Knives, arrows, ion pistols come out. At least they didn't skimp on the weapons they supplied us.

  I hold my pistol with a trembling hand. I'm a better shot with this than if I were to try and aim a dagger at one of the things. I got lucky during the last graduation challenge with Octavius against the water serpent.

  A small thing darts out of the brush and directly enters my group, latching onto my leg. I hold my hand up stopping the others from attacking it, it's not hurting me.

  I stare down at it, like a miniature version of the tentacle beasts. Its stubby arms hold onto my thigh as it stares up at me with large, black eyes. The tentacles hanging from its face flare up touching my skin.

  Octavius clears his throat. "What should we do? It looks like a baby."

  It screams making us all flinch. In an instant, it crawls up my body and rests its head on my shoulder, its tentacles explore my face. I force myself to stay still, I don't want to anger it and cause its parents to come after us, wherever they are. What are you? a small voice enters my mind. I jump causing the others to hold up their weapons again.

  "Don't hurt it. It just spoke, it my mind."

  "Using English?" King steps closer.

  "Yes."

  We've never seen your kind here. We want to know what you are.

  "We're h-humans, we ca-come from a planet called Earth ta-two so-solar systems over. W-we m-mean no harm." Damn my stutter for showing up at the wrong time.

  Those weapons you carry say a different tale.

  Well, its English isn't perfect.

  "We're n-new he-here we didn't know what to expect, and wanted to defend ourselves."

  Not entirely true, but it doesn't need to know we expected its kind to kill us on sight.

  I will let my tribe know of you. Your limp tentacles are pretty. Its tentacles reach out to brush over my hair.

  "Th-thank you."

  Octavius inches closer. "What is it saying?"

  "It likes my hair."

  Stay away from the Red tribes to the North. They won't be welcoming of anything new. I'll remember you, pretty tentacle and your tribe. Warning to you, do not attack our tribe. We do not show forgiveness once violence is thrust upon us.

  Something roars and rumbles several miles off in front of us.

  Beware the Red tribes. I must go.

  It scurries down my body and back into the cover of the plants.

  Arrow looks to me. "What was that sound, why did it run?"

  I shake my head. "I-I don't know. It said be-beware the Red tribe to the North. A-and to not attack Its tribe, they won't show forgiveness then."

  Octavius nods. "That's just great. There's just one problem. We don't know which way is North or if our compasses will work the same way here as they do on Earth. What if they point to the South and we just don't know it?"

  Arrow runs his hand over his hair and looks past me to the rest of the group. "You heard her. No attacking them unless they attack first. Perhaps they're more intelligent and peaceful than the scientists made us believe. Stay alert, but don’ attack on sight.”

  We all nod or mumble our agreement.

  He points to the top of the trees. “Can someone climb up to the top of the trees and figure out what direction we need to go to hit the mountains?”

  Herc, one of Tibby’s boys, raises his hand. “I will.” He heads to the tallest tree near us and begins to climb it with ease. I think I heard somewhere he was a bear hybrid, but I can’t be certain.

  We watch for several minutes as he travels hundreds of feet up before stopping somewhere near the high-middle of the trunk. His voice echoes down to us, but I can’t make out a word of it.

  Octavius peers around at us. “Did anyone get that?”

  “He said that we need to head to the east, or what he thinks is the east,” Echo supplies for the rest to the group.

  As Herc lands on the ground, veins popping in his massive arms, he points in a direction to the right of us. "The mountains are in that direction. "

  Rosie clears her throat. "Isn't that in the same direction as the tentacle beasts? "

  I nod. "Yes. But I didn't f-feel any ma-malicious intent from that ch-child. I d-don't think they'll attack first."

  Octavius goes to Arrow and clamps him on the shoulder. "So what should we do, oh leader of ours?"

  "We have no choice but to go towards the mountains. That's where the signal is. We should let them know we haven't all died. Just don't attack anything unless it does something violent first. I don't want to become enemies to those tentacle beasts. Group formation again, keep those gaps close, we don’t want anything else being able to get to the girls so easily.

  My group circles me, keeping their bodies as close as possible, so nothing can jump through the gaps. Arrow takes the machete of his back before facing the brush. "I'm going to cut a path in front of us. If anyone is in there, get out of the way!"

  Nothing rattles the plants, some type of creature chirps all around us. It's a little eerie how quiet this place can be. I expected more sounds coming from things that can only be found in nightmares.

  With a slash, he cuts through the plants and steps forward, creating a path for us to follow behind him. With four guys circling me, it makes the path narrow and bumpy to get through. Every so often one of them reaches out to steady my balance.

  The heat drapes over me like a wet blanket. I retie my hair in a high ponytail before taking off my long-sleeve shirt, leaving me in only a thin undershirt, which clings to my sweat covered skin.

  Octavius leans in toward my ear. "Are you trying to drive me crazy?"

  Internal-heat scorches my neck and cheeks. "It's just so hot, I couldn't breathe with this shirt on." I wrap the long arms of the shirt around my waist and tie them in a knot.

  "Arrow, can we take a break soon? Tibby is having hard time walking," Finn calls up to us.

  Arrow glances over his shoulder before stopping. "What's wrong?" He turns around and heads to the back of the line.

  Tibby huffs. "I'm fine. Just leave me alone."

  Finn growls. "She's limping and stumbling, she's not fine."

  Arrow points to where a fallen tree lies behind her. "Sit on that log over there and let me look at it."

  The other and me gather around
them. She rolls her eye before taking a seat. Kneeling, he grabs her leg gently.

  I frown at the ire that bubbles in my stomach at the sight of his hands moving over her leg with such care. Why am I jealous? That's not like me. Besides Tibby doesn't want anything to do with any of them.

  "You have a sprain in your ankle, but no break or fracture, which is good. You'll be fine in a few days when we can stop for longer."

  She pulls her leg back from him. "I told you I was fine. A little physical pain is nothing to me anymore."

  Someone screams off in the distance, we all whip around.

  "Where's Rosie?" Arrow pushes himself to the front of the group.

  "She went with her group to use the bathroom," Pansy murmurs before rushing forward and going off the path we've started.

  We follow her before coming to a clearing where only a lone, large tree stands. The area around it dirt. From one of the lower branches hangs a net, several feet off the ground. Mikala, Derek, and Hunter stand under it trying to grab at the rope. Rosie screams from the inside, her body weight rocking the net back and forth.

  Running up to them we stare up at her. “What happened?”

  “Rosie had to go to the bathroom, so we brought her over here. She was going to go behind the tree, and we turned away to give her some privacy when she screamed. We weren’t expecting traps to be here. Not like this.”

  Arrow motions to her. "Someone get up there and cut her down. You all have knives on you."

  Mikala shakes his head. "We can't. The tree is slippery, we can't climb it."

  I go to the tree and touch the surface, smooth like metal. Is this thing man made?

  Rosie thrashes in the net. "Get me down from here!"

  Derek pats on his shoulders. "Someone get on my shoulders. That should make us tell enough to cut the bottom of the net, then someone else can catch her."

  Octavius touches the tree and slowly pulls his hand away the flesh of his fingertips sticks to it. "No need, I can climb up the tree and cut her down. Be ready to catch her." He uses the pads of his feet and his palms to push and pull his way up the metal tree. "Shit this rope is old. Looks like this trap has been here a while. Get ready to catch her."