Impani felt a rush of warm air. “Is Lathi your daughter?”
“She is now,” Missus said. “Soldiers took her parents.”
Dread filled Impani’s stomach. She moved nearer her partner. Trace handed her a plate and lifted the lid. Steam burst upward. Impani stared at the dark stew.
“Vegetables,” Missus said, seeming to read her hesitation. “From the hydroponics lab. I don’t know what we’re going to do now that Avid is gone.” She stood and brushed her knees. “Stay inside. You don’t want to be walking around the paddock after lights out. I’ll see you in the morning.” With a nod, she walked into the night.
“Sounds ominous,” Impani said. She’d meant to be flippant and was embarrassed by the quaver in her voice.
Trace stared at her. “Are you all right?”
“Why doesn’t the ring come?”
“It will. We’ll get out of this.”
She bit her lip to keep the fear within her from finding its way out. Replacing the lid, she set the plate on top of the heater. “Did you hear what she said about them not sending Scouts to an established colony?”
“I suppose they think there’s no need.”
“But don’t you think they should? Just to be sure everything’s going well?”
“Expensive.”
“Not as expensive as human lives. These colonists are right. Scouts are responsible.” She looked at him. “But you’d think they’d fight back. They must have weapons.”
He spread a blanket before the glowing heater. “Come eat some of this food.”
Impani cringed. She sat beside him and stared at her plate. Trace ate as if ravenous. She tried not to watch. With the tip of her tongue, she tasted the stew. The gravy was rich with savory herbs. She bit into an unrecognizable vegetable. Chewing woodenly, she glanced around at the shed.
The metal walls were scuffed and battered as if the hut had been moved several times and hastily put back together. Rows of shelves stood from floor to ceiling, all of them crammed so haphazardly with crates and equipment she wondered how anyone could find anything.
Abruptly, the lights went out. She stiffened and nearly choked on another bite. In the dark, the coldness intensified. The frigid air laced with waves of heat and gave the semblance of a breeze.
“I wonder how long night lasts,” Trace said.
The question dug a hollow in her stomach. She set down her plate. “I can’t eat.”
He drew the edge of the blanket around them. She was aware of the nearness of his body, and found herself trying not to move so he wouldn’t lean away.
“I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “You told me that climbing down that hole was a bad idea. I should have listened. I could have gotten us killed.”
“If we’d refused to follow them, they just would have realized we weren’t ants that much sooner.”
“What do you think they’ll do with us?”
“I don’t know,” she said. But she knew very well what they were going to do. They were going to roast them until their legs curled and serve them on platters. Why didn’t the ring come? She hid her face in her hands.
“Cold? Here, lean against me.” Trace slipped his arm around her.
She pressed against his shoulder, but no warmth seeped through his skinsuit. She tried to relax but shivered instead.
“They must be looking for us,” he said. “I know my father wouldn’t give up. I’m sure your folks won’t either.”
Impani blushed. She felt like she’d been caught in a lie. What would he think if he knew what she was, where she’d come from?
He said, “You never told me why you hate enclosed spaces.”
She pushed away and looked at him.
He smiled. “It’s pretty apparent.”
“I was a kid,” she said, the words out before she could stop them, “and I was looking for food. I got trapped in a trash compactor. The lid snapped shut behind me. I spent the better part of a day and a night in there, darkness pressing down on me, things skittering over my arms. Next morning, they started up the compactor. Luckily, they heard my screams.”
Trace chuckled. “Yeah, right.”
“I’m not kidding.”
“But you said you were from the city.”
“City streets. I don’t have a home or parents. I was abandoned as a newborn—something I will never understand or forgive. An old woman found me at a bus stop. She said she’d thought I was a kitten. I’d been making mewing sounds. So she named me Impani after a cat she’d once had. We lived in a cardboard carton.”
“You were homeless?” Trace frowned.
“Yes, but I didn’t feel homeless, you know? It was as if the streets were my home. The old woman looked out for me, taught me right from wrong. Funny. I never knew her real name.”
“Where is she now?”
“She died. I was about ten. After the compactor incident, they sent me to an orphanage. I hated it there—so structured, so closed in. But one good thing—they taught me to read. I ran away two years later, but I kept reading everything I could. That’s how I found out about the Colonial Scouts.”
“Wait. You say you have no formal education. You’re totally self-taught. And you made it this far?”
She shrugged. Was he doubting or judging her?
He let out a low whistle. “You are nothing like what I expected.”
Impani felt his words crash over her, felt undeniable despair, and she realized that she had wanted him to like her—because she’d started to like him. “Sorry to disappoint you.” She turned to conceal her tears.
He caught her chin in his hand and tilted her face toward his. “You don’t disappoint me.”
Her breath trembled in her throat. She parted her lips, anticipating his kiss. But he hesitated. She looked away. What was she thinking? He was a farmer’s son. Rich and powerful. What would he want with a common girl like her?
“We’d better get some sleep,” he said, huskily.
She glanced at his shadowed face, wishing she could see his eyes, wishing she knew what he was thinking. He tucked the blankets around them then pulled her close. She laid her head upon his chest and listened to his heartbeat. His breath tickled her cheek.
He’d been about to kiss her. Even knowing she was homeless, that she had no family, no history. Would he be so free with his attentions if he knew the other half of her secret?
His breathing slowed as if he was asleep. The heater’s red glow tinted his profile. What if he could love her? What if she finally found someone to trust?
She snuggled against his side, lips still tingling with the almost kiss, thoughts drifting into dreams.
<<>>
A tumultuous crash shook her from sleep. Impani bolted upright, heart pounding, struggling to free herself from the blankets. She heard another loud bang as something large struck the side of the shed.
Trace threw open the door. Sunlight burst inside. Dazzled and confused, Impani stumbled to her feet and stood beside him. She heard shouts and the sound of running. And clicking.
“Bugs.” Trace strode into the yard.
Impani leaned out the door. People ran in all directions. An ant scurried over the roof of an adjacent hut.
“What’s going on?” Trace shouted as he stepped into the melee.
He grabbed a man who pushed him away and kept running. Trace walked deeper into the yard, waving for attention.
An ant moved up behind him.
“Trace! Look out!” Impani yelled.
The ant wrapped him in its four arms and lifted him neatly overhead. Trace kicked and screamed. Two other ants grabbed his legs.
Impani ran forward. She pulled out her stat-gun and pointed it helplessly. If she shot, she might hit Trace. She held the weapon in both hands, fingers on the trigger as the ants carried her partner from the compound.
Chapter 11
Impani stared as the ants carried Trace away. She saw his face, his eyes upon hers, saw his lips move. Calling her name.
“No!” she screamed.
She fired her stat-gun at the ant pinning Trace’s legs, knowing that her partner would feel the jolt as well.
Ice-blue energy enclosed the creature and crackled over its armored body. It fell away as if in a faint and twitched on the ground.
Missus called to her over the cries of the colonists. “Energy weapons won’t work. They just shake it off.”
To Impani’s amazement, the ant climbed to its feet and retook its place beneath Trace.
Impani bared her teeth. She shot the creature again. As it toppled, she ran toward it, resetting her gun as she had when she cut down the branches on the forest-fire planet.
“Shake this off!” Standing over the ant, she fired a narrow beam directly into its eye.
The creature’s head exploded, spattering her boots with yellow jelly. She looked up, ready to cut down the next ant—but they were already out of range.
“Trace!” She fell to her knees. Tears came hot and quick.
Behind her Missus called to the panicked colonists, “It’s all right. It’s over. They’ve got their two.”
Only then did Impani see a different group of ants carrying another man. She looked back, astounded to see the colonists still shrieking, still waving their arms, running back and forth.
Wouldn’t they fight to rescue one of their own?
She hunched her shoulders. A horrible sense of hopelessness crashed over her. All the fear, all the dread she’d been hiding came out in one long wail.
Fingers pulled her to her feet.
“Come away from it,” Missus said. “What were you thinking?”
“I hesitated,” Impani cried. “I should have saved him.”
Missus tugged her back into the paddock. “I’ll make us a cup of tea.”
Tea? How could she drink tea? “Where have they taken him?”
“Somewhere in the hive.”
They turned at a sound behind them. A pair of soldiers picked up the ant Impani had killed.
“They eat their dead,” Missus told her.
Sickness gnawed at Impani’s stomach. This couldn’t be real. As she crossed the yard, she glared at the now-silent colonists. “What is the matter with you people? Why don’t you fight back?”
“Movement and noise confuse them,” Missus said. “They’ll take you if you hold still too long.”
What kind of answer was that? “Maybe you should just hide.”
“We tried. They ripped off the roofs looking for us. Did a lot of damage—and we lost a lot of friends.” She motioned toward a small Quonset hut. “I live here.”
Impani recoiled. “You have flowers on your windowsill?” Cheerful yellow pansies peeked through the window as if mocking her shock and horror.
“They clean the air. Go in.” She pulled open the door.
Impani entered a sparse kitchen. Warmth enveloped her face. Lathi and Timothy peered at her from a doorway.
“Sit down. I put a kettle on before the attack.”
Impani collapsed into a chair and cradled her head on the table. “I can’t believe this is happening.”
“I don’t know what to tell you.”
“Why would you even come to a planet like this?”
Missus shrugged. “We were all going to be rich. This world is a cornucopia of mineral deposits. When we landed, everything was perfect. The only hardship was the cold. We had an electric perimeter guard. At first we used it day and night, then only nights, and after a while not at all. Didn’t seem to be a point. As far as we knew, we were the only ones here.”
“That’s what the Scouts told you?”
“They said they checked everything out.” She poured two cups of tea. “Anyway, we had contracted for a supply drop to arrive one year after we’d landed. The ship was right on schedule. We were having a big one-year anniversary celebration, and we invited the captain and her crew.
“Then the soldiers attacked.” She released a quavering breath. “Luckily, some of us thought to bring hunting rifles along. Bullets work well against them. For all their strength, they are rather fragile creatures. We forced them out of the paddock and raised the perimeter. The electric current kept them at bay, but even at full strength, it didn’t kill them. We spent several months with soldiers constantly circling, testing the barrier.”
“But you had the supply ship. You could have sent for help. Or drop everything and run.”
“The pilot and some of the crew ran for the shuttle, but it was too far away. Soldiers caught them before they got half a klick. Later, we watched them dismantle the ship. We were trapped within our own encampment. So our project leader, Charlie Cummings, took one of the creatures captive. He wanted to try to communicate with it, find a way to cohabitate. I was amazed at how quickly it learned our language. We named it Kkrick.”
“I’ve met him,” Impani said.
“Kkrick told us there could be no peace. Ever. Because we were on their land. And if we moved a bit to the west, we would be on another tribe’s land, and to the north someone else’s. There was nowhere we could go. And all the while we were questioning Kkrick, the workers were tunneling beneath the encampment.
“They came up inside the perimeter. Soldiers flowed out of that hole. No matter how many we killed, there were always more. Finally, we ran out of ammunition. They slaughtered us. We started with one thousand colonists. Half died in that single battle.”
“That’s horrible.”
“We didn’t give up. We had the explosive charges we were using to sink wells. Charlie used them as weapons. He held the line while the rest of us gathered what we could and fled. We set up camp here.” Missus stamped her foot. “Solid granite. They can’t tunnel through. But the perimeter guard was damaged in the move. We lost a power coil.” She paused to sip her tea. “The soldiers run a perimeter now—but this time it’s to keep us in. We have no way to defend ourselves, so we just wait. They take us by twos.”
“Every day?”
“No. Sometimes a month goes by. I think it depends on whether the queen is laying eggs.”
Impani looked at her cooling cup. “I don’t understand. You have power. Lights. Stoves. It’s warm in here. So why can’t you get the perimeter working?”
“Our generators run on solar power. It’s limited, so we conserve energy by cutting everything but heaters at night. The perimeter guard is different. It pulls natural electricity from the air. Unlimited energy.”
“Like my stat-gun.”
“On a larger scale.”
“But the coil itself is compatible.” Impani held out her gun. “You only need to rig it to fit.”
The woman’s gaze took on a faraway cast. “It would cover a much smaller area. I’d have to move the relays closer together. But it might work.”
“I’ll give you the coil. In trade.”
Missus raised a brow.
Impani leaned back in her chair. “Do you have more of those explosive charges?”
“We might.”
“I want them. And whatever ammunition you may be hoarding.”
Missus stared in a kind of appalled admiration. “You want to go after him, don’t you? You want to go after Trace.”
<<>>
“I’m going after them,” Natica told Ambri-Cutt outside the tech room. “And you’re going to help me.”
“All operations have been suspended. I’ll lose my job,” he said.
“That’s not all you’ll lose,” she said, “after they find out you’ve been following Impani and leaving gifts at her door.”
“That’s drel. You’ll never be able to prove it.” He turned to walk away.
“Wait.” Natica closed her eyes. “I’m sorry. It’s just… She told me you were her friend.”
“She did?”
“You’re the only one who can do this. You have the power. I bet you’ve already worked out the calculations.”
“They won’t listen to me. But I know every world she’s been to. I know where she’ll be.”
“Send me there. Help me rescue her.”
Ambri-Cutt tugged at his lower lip. Natica read the desperation in his eyes—and guilt. He blamed himself for losing her.
“They’ll recognize the energy drain,” he muttered.
“We’ll mask it. Somehow.”
He paused then shook his head. “No. I can’t send just one. The ring would be uneven. It would tear you apart.”
“That’s why I’m coming, too.” Robert Wilde stepped into the hallway.
Natica folded her arms. “Robert, I—”
“Have no choice,” he said. “Now, let’s go get my girl.”
<<>>
Impani slapped her hand on the kitchen table. “I have to get him. I can’t let him be eaten by those… those—”
“And how do you plan to do that?” Missus said. “It’s two klicks to the nearest hole. If you give your gun to us as you promised, you won’t even have a weapon. How are you going to get past the patrols?”
She covered her face. “I don’t know.”
“Let’s say by some miracle you do make it through them. What are you going to do then? Those tunnels are a maze. No one has ever come back out.”
“You d-don’t understand.” Impani wept.
“Of course I do. He’s your partner.”
“He’s m-more than my p-partner. He saved m-my life.”
“And now you want to save his. But you’re thinking like a young girl. It’s time to grow up. Face the facts. Your partner is gone. You have to take care of yourself now.” She placed her hand on her shoulder. “Give me the coil in your stat-gun, and in return I will give you a home as safe as any of ours.”
She sat up and wiped her face. I’m sorry Trace. So very, very sorry.
“He would want you to be strong.”
She sniffled and nodded.
“Good, then,” Missus said. “Let’s get that coil in place. Lathi, keep Timothy inside.”
Wearily, Impani got up from the table and followed Missus out into the cold. The frigid air slapped her face.
Missus spread her arms. “This is your home, now.”
What if it was? What if the ring never came for her again? How could she bear it without Trace?
Alien Worlds Page 10