“They are merely children,” the man wheezed as they approached. He was tall and gaunt, with grayish skin and red-rimmed eyes. A Pau’an mercenary, Milo realized with a shudder. What had the woman called him? Corin?
“But what are they doing out here?” a second man asked as he strode toward them, his face gleaming with sweat. “Did you ask them that?” Slung over his shoulder was the biggest blaster Milo had ever seen. This must be Bort.
The red-haired woman looked expectantly at the children. “Answer him,” she said sharply. “What gives you the right to land on my planet?”
Lina snorted defiantly. “No one owns a whole planet.”
The woman stiffened. “This is Wild Space. Out here, whatever you find, you keep. I found Xirl, and I intend to keep it. My name is Gozetta, and out here, I’m the boss. So I ask again, what are your names, and what are you doing here?”
“Don’t tell her anything, Lina,” Milo hissed. Then he gulped, realizing what he’d said.
Gozetta smiled thinly. “Lina, is it?” she asked. “And what’s your name, little boy?”
Milo considered inventing something, then realized it probably wouldn’t make a lot of difference. “Milo,” he told her. “And I’m not that little.”
The woman laughed. “A brave boy,” she said. “Your parents must be proud. Where are they?” She scanned the tree line expectantly.
“They’re out hunting,” Milo said. “They’ll be here any minute, along with the rest of our party. They took all the weapons and went to catch dinner.”
“Sorry, kid, I don’t think so,” Gozetta said. “I saw your ship. It’s a four-person craft. And you both look…lost. What parent would allow you to dress in such filthy rags? I could’ve picked up your scent a kilometer away, even without this.” She gestured to the mask clipped to her collar.
“Just let us go,” Lina said. “We’ll leave this place and never come back, I promise.”
Gozetta’s eyes narrowed. “With no hyperdrive? No, you’re up to something and I intend to find out what. It’s no coincidence that you show up just as my people mysteriously go missing and all this happens.” She waved at the devastation surrounding them.
“What could have done it?” Milo asked, unable to stop himself.
Gozetta shook her head. “There’s a long list of possibilities,” she said. “You see, this planet isn’t like any other.”
“You mean the creatures?” Milo asked. “That was a veermok back there, wasn’t it?”
Gozetta inspected him closely. “You’re a sharp little thing, aren’t you?” she said. “Yes, you’re right. At last count, I have two of them, plus two rancors, a krayt dragon, and four gundarks. They must be the ones responsible for the damage to the Venture. Those things have quite a leap.”
“I never heard of gundarks attacking a ship in flight before,” Milo said. “On the ground, maybe, but the Venture had already blasted off. And besides, it’d take thirty gundarks to make that hole in your fence.”
The woman shrugged. “Biology’s not my specialty,” she said. “Meggin’s the man for that. It’s his job to keep them alive. I…do the opposite.”
“You hunt them,” Lina said, realization flooding over her. The mask, the cages—it all made sense. “We saw all those heads in there. This is your hunting lodge, isn’t it? You’re bringing these creatures here and then you’re going out and killing them.”
Gozetta put up her hands. “You got me,” she said. “I am a hunter, just like my father and his father before him. Those heads in there are the result of a lifetime of work, on hundreds of worlds.”
“My dad told me game hunting at the reservations is a big business,” Milo said, narrowing his eyes, “for anyone mean and cowardly enough to want to do it.”
“Your father’s a smart man,” Gozetta agreed. “I hate those big game hunting reserves. The creatures are under constant guard. You’re only shooting what they allow you to shoot. That’s not hunting; it’s child’s play.”
She gazed out across the tree-covered hills. “Here it’s just me and them. No one tells me what or how to kill. When I’m done, this planet will be crawling with critters that are breeding, thriving, and ready for the hunt. Xirl is the perfect world for it, too. There’s no indigenous life bigger than a tree snake.”
“And you’re sure about that?” Milo asked, looking again at the hole in the fence.
Gozetta’s expression darkened. “Like I said,” she snarled, “gundarks.” But he could tell she wasn’t fully convinced.
Suddenly, there was a scurrying noise from behind them. Gozetta whipped around, drawing her rifle. She fired off a shot and smiled coldly. “Got you.”
She strode to the top of a pile of debris and Milo followed close behind. A small creature lay on its back, feet in the air. It was about as long as Milo’s forearm, with scaly skin, an extended segmented neck, and a triangular head.
“Did you have to kill it?” Milo snapped at Gozetta.
Gozetta shrugged. “I told you, kid. That’s what I do.” She nudged the creature with her toe, wrinkling her nose in disgust. “I guess we know where that revolting smell has been coming from.”
Milo crouched down to get a closer look. “It must secrete that sticky stuff to mark its territory,” he said. “I wonder where you came from, little friend. And if there are any more of you around.”
“Um, Milo, look up,” Lina said. He lifted his head.
On the far side of the lodge was a tall structure with a wide base and narrow top. It was tipped with a long silver spike. For a moment Milo thought it was alive, because the whole surface seemed to be moving. Then he realized the entire thing was covered in the little creatures, swarming over each other like insects in a hive.
“I think I’m going to be sick,” Bort said, staring up in horror.
The structure had begun to lean beneath the creatures’ combined weight. The metal struts groaned loudly.
“Is that what I think it is?” Milo whispered to Lina as he leaned closer to his sister.
“A transmission beacon,” Lina nodded. “Did you hear Gozetta before? She said ‘my people.’ There must have been others working at the lodge, too.”
“Get out of here!” The huntress cried, striding toward the tower. She raised her rifle and fired off three shots in rapid succession. Several of the creatures dropped dead in the dirt, but the rest ignored her and continued to scurry up and down the creaking structure. “What horrible little stinkers!” Gozetta shouted, and fired her rifle again.
“Boss, are you sure that’s a good idea?” Bort asked. “That thing doesn’t look too stable.”
Gozetta ignored him and continued firing away furiously. A shot struck the metal of the tower, and it let out a long, grinding groan.
Gozetta sprang clear as the beacon fell over, flattening more of the creatures beneath it and kicking up a large cloud of dust.
For a minute there was silence. Then Gozetta screamed in fury and frustration.
“I have had enough of this!” she shouted, stomping her feet in the dirt. “I’ve spent months building this place. I spent all of my credits….” She raised her rifle, shooting blindly into the air. “This is my planet!” she cried at the top of her lungs.
Lina pulled the comlink from her pocket, but it emitted nothing but static. “So we know the signal came from that tower,” she said to her brother in a low voice.
“Now we just have to figure out who sent it,” Milo added.
“Everyone, look,” Corin called out. The dust was beginning to clear, and they could see past the wreckage of the transmission tower. There was a second, even larger hole in the perimeter fence. Beyond it, a trail of devastation and fallen trees led along the ridge and into the jungle.
They watched in horror as the creatures swarming over the tower began to spring free and head toward the gap in the fence.
“Where are they all going?” Bort asked, scratching his head.
“I don’t know,” Gozetta said, h
er eyes narrowing into angry slits. “But something tells me they’re going to lead us directly to whatever destroyed my lodge.”
“You don’t think it’s the gundarks anymore?” Corin asked.
Gozetta shook her head. “No. The boy’s right,” she said. “Nothing I brought here could cause that kind of damage. It must have been here all along. We just didn’t see it.”
“Whatever it is, it’s brought down a whole ship and ripped a hole in a durasteel fence,” Bort protested. “Correction, two holes. It must be big.”
“Of course it is,” Gozetta said, slinging her rifle over her shoulder. “But like I said before, this is my planet and I intend to keep it. I won’t let some dumb creature come in and take it from me.”
“So what are you going to do?” Milo asked.
“What my father taught me to do best,” Gozetta said proudly. “I’m going to hunt. I’m going to trap. And I’m going to kill. So get ready, because you’re all coming with me.”
“I DON’T LIKE THIS, Mistress Lina,” CR-8R rattled through the comlink. “I don’t like it at all.”
“Neither do I, Crater,” Lina whispered. “But what are we supposed to do? They may not be the Empire, but they still have blasters.”
“As long as you and Master Milo are safe,” the droid said.
“He’s fine,” Lina said. “I think he’s actually starting to enjoy himself with all these new life-forms to discover. I told him to keep Gozetta distracted so I could talk to you.”
She glanced up the slope to where Milo and Gozetta were making their way through the jungle, or at least what was left of it. The creature had made a trail of destruction, uprooting trees and digging big holes in the ground. And the little stinkers had followed it, their foul stench lingering in the hot air.
Lina could see a group of the creatures now, chattering to one another as they dragged what appeared to be an entire leg of cured bantha meat along the trail. They had raided Gozetta’s storeroom and littered the jungle with half-chewed fruit and empty plastic packets. She couldn’t help thinking of an old story her mother used to tell, about the children who followed a trail of candy into the woods and got themselves into trouble.
“Well, I do have some news,” the droid told her. “I have managed to cut myself free and am about to begin transporting the hyperdrive parts back to the Whisper Bird.”
“That’s great.” Lina grinned. “How long will the repairs take?”
“Several hours,” CR-8R told her. “Longer if Master Milo’s furry companion doesn’t stop getting in my way.”
“Morq’s okay, then?” Lina asked.
“Unfortunately, yes,” CR-8R said ruefully. “My wish that he might encounter another loose hull plate remains unanswered.”
“Crater, don’t be mean.” Lina laughed.
“Hey,” someone called from up the track. Lina’s head shot up. Bort gestured to her with his gigantic blaster. “Pick up the pace.”
Lina gave him her most innocent smile. “Right behind you,” she called out. “I’m just a kid, remember?”
The short man frowned, but he turned his back and trudged after the others.
“I’ll be in touch,” Lina whispered to CR-8R. “Make what repairs you can. We’ll be back soon, I promise.” Then she clicked off the comlink and hurried up the path after the others.
“Just a kid,” Bort said as she drew alongside. “I’ve heard that before. My little girl used to say it, right before she told me something that would get her in a load of trouble….” His voice trailed off as he smiled to himself.
“You have a daughter?” Lina asked, surprised.
“What, you don’t think mercenaries have families?” Bort asked. “She’s going to the Academy this year for officer training.” There was pride in his voice, and a slight hint of doubt.
“I bet she’ll do great,” Lina assured him.
“Of course she will,” Bort grunted. “The Empire knows what’s best for all of us.” He fell silent for a moment, gazing off into the trees. “Come on, let’s catch up to the boss.”
“…and I thought it seemed strange that this planet had no top predator,” Milo was telling Gozetta as Lina and Bort came up behind them. “Every ecosystem should have one, right?”
“I guess so,” Gozetta said. “But why didn’t it show up on my bio-scans? And why haven’t we seen it before now? It took weeks to build the lodge, and we didn’t see anything.”
“I’ve got a theory about that,” Milo said brightly.
“Of course you do,” Gozetta muttered.
“Back at the lodge,” Milo explained, “those…whatever they are, those stinkers were all over the transmission tower. If the little ones and the big one are related somehow, maybe the large creature was drawn to the tower, too, like they were. Maybe there’s something in the signal that attracts them, like sonar.”
Gozetta nodded. “That makes sense. The communications only went online last week,” she said. “Sata, my tech expert, was running some tests.”
“That would explain it,” Milo said, and he shot Lina a knowing look. They needed to find this Sata, if she was still alive.
The air grew thinner as they climbed higher, leaving the clouds behind. They ascended toward a tall plateau of black volcanic rock that jutted out of the surrounding jungle. The sun beat down, and Lina could feel the sweat trickling down her back.
All around them she could hear the chatter of stinkers and smell their foul odor. She saw now that they hadn’t raided just Gozetta’s storeroom. The small creatures were carrying everything from medkits to hydrospanners, the shinier the better. One especially well-organized group was carrying an entire dinner set, and a line of golden plates and goblets bobbed their way up the trail.
Two stinkers were fighting over a filthy torn-up shoe, hissing and growling at each other. The smaller one snatched the shoe from the bigger one, guarding its prize fiercely.
“Have you noticed there are two different types of stinkers?” Milo asked, stopping beside Lina. “The bigger ones have more arms than the smaller ones. But I think they’re the same species. It’s pretty weird.”
Looking closer, Lina saw that he was right. The smaller stinker that was clutching the dirty boot had four legs and a stubby tail, with pale leathery skin. The larger one had two more limbs, with snapping claws at the ends. Its skin was darker, hard and segmented.
The big stinker attacked and the other scrambled backward, hugging the shoe to its scrawny chest. As Lina watched, the large one reared up, its mouth yawning open to reveal rows of pointed teeth.
Then, without warning, something came shooting out. The creature’s tongue was long and pink, moving quickly as it wrapped around the boot and yanked it free.
The little stinker jumped up and down, shrieking furiously, but the big stinker had the shoe now and wasn’t about to let go.
“Hey, I recognize that!” Gozetta said.
She reached down, grabbing the shoe and shaking the stinker loose. It looked up at her, screeching and puffing up its body. Gozetta kicked it and the stinker flew into the bushes with a surprised cry. The little one smirked and scampered away.
Gozetta frowned. “Meggin’s other boot,” she said, turning it over in her hands. “I guess that solves that mystery.” The shoe was torn from top to bottom, splattered with stinker goo and another, darker liquid.
“You think that…thing took him?” Bort asked, unable to hide the tremble in his voice.
“I certainly hope so,” Gozetta spat. “And the same goes for the others at the lodge.”
“You…you hope so?” Lina asked, shocked. “Why?”
Gozetta smiled coldly. “Because the other explanation is that they deserted their posts and ran off into the jungle. And I can’t stand cowardice.” She shot Bort a pointed stare.
Lina had to look away. She’d met self-centered people before, but Gozetta was on a whole new level.
“Up here,” someone called.
Corin was beckoning
to them from farther up the trail. The steep plateau loomed above him, rising menacingly from the greenery of the jungle.
As they drew closer, Lina saw what he was pointing at. There was a high and narrow cave, set deep into the side of the cliff. The entrance was covered in vines that clung to the black rock overhead.
“Well, that sure looks like the lair of a creature to me,” Gozetta said in a low voice, drawing her rifle.
“And it would explain why nothing showed up on your scans,” Milo agreed.
The clearing outside the mouth of the cave was littered with trash left by the stinkers. Lina could see more of the small creatures in the entranceway, struggling to lift a huge cooking pot over the rocky terrain, screaming and motioning wildly to one another.
“What’s this?” Corin asked. He approached the cliff and brushed back the vines with his bony hand. “Look. We are not the first to find this place.”
Something had been carved into the side of the cliff. A pattern emerged as Corin swept some vines aside. It showed a large, crude figure with four arms and two legs, and a dagger-shaped head. Its mouth was filled with rows of pointed teeth. Humanoid shapes cowered before it, their heads bowed.
A gust of wind blew through the mouth of the cave, prickling the hairs on the back of Lina’s neck. “This cave must be very old,” she whispered.
“Yes.” The Pau’an’s bloodred lips drew back, showing sharp teeth. “It is an ancient and sacred place of worship.”
Lina touched the wall with the flat of her palm. Despite the heat of the day, the smooth stone felt cold.
Our parents would have loved this place, Lina thought. Sites like this were the reason the Grafs had gone to Wild Space. They were fascinated by the relics that might be all that remained of a once proud civilization or world.
Lina felt a wave of frustration rise in her. Her parents were out there somewhere, in the clutches of the Empire. And here she and Milo were, wasting their time on this ridiculous hunt when they could be out finding them. But what choice did they have? They had to figure out who sent that transmission. This was their best option at the moment.
Star Wars: Adventures in Wild Space: The Nest Page 3