Stranded (ESS Space Marines Book 7)

by James David Victor

  “No,” Andy replied immediately. “Hell no. You people aren’t trustworthy, and you’ve spent a lot of time trying to kill me and mine.”

  The Arkana opened his mouth to reply, but then the clouds passed thickly overhead again and everything was cast into deep shadow. The man’s eyes widened and he looked up at the sky with fear.

  “Major…” Roxanna began.

  Andy turned to look at her sergeant, but the Selerid was staring up into the trees.

  “They’re coming…”

  “Marines!” Andy shouted, grabbing her rifle from where it had been slung back to her hip while she worked.

  The group looked up in time to see forms as big as men falling seemingly from the sky. Guns pointed up and shots were fired, but the creatures fell so fast that most of the shots didn’t even have a chance to land their targets. The next move was to try to get out of the way, but that was also only partially successful.

  Andy hit the ground hard, forcing her weight into a roll that brought her back onto her knees. She spun to face the three beasts that had landed in front of their shuttle. In the dim light and with their constant movement, it was hard to get a clear view of them, but she saw they were big and…had four arms?

  It didn’t matter what they looked like, just that they were here and attacking her Marines.

  She brought up her rifle and took aim at the nearest one, who was using all four arms to swipe at Roxanna. The bullet flew across the interceding space and hit the beast in the side. It let out a loud sound, somewhere between a howl and a growl, and its body jerked, but it didn’t fall. She shot at it again, as did the sergeant, but the thing still flailed and growled and stayed upright.

  Andy gritted her teeth and sighted the beast’s head again, tracking it as it bobbed and swung. She pulled the trigger and the shot hit, which still did not drop the beast but it did get its attention. Howling again, it whirled around and charged for her with all four arms outstretched.

  Steadying her feet, she took aim as the thing came for her.

  Before she pulled the trigger, a pale body threw itself in front of the beast’s legs. The Arkana hit the ground like a log, and the monster tripped over him. It skidded forward on its gruesome muzzle, the nose almost touching Andy’s boot. It was already snapping its jaws again, trying to regain its feet and lunge at her at once, as she put the tip of her gun to its head and pulled the trigger.

  This time, it fell.

  Then, Andy fell.

  One of the other beasts gotten free of its fight with the others and came for her, apparently out of vengeance. Andy’s head smacked back into the dirt and she saw the proverbial stars, but she pressed against its bulk to keep it from getting close enough to bite. Its second set of hands, however, grabbed at her sides and she heard her armor tear. It was a highly resistant material, and this monster shredded it like paper.

  Andy felt a spike of fear.

  Then the sun broke through the dim light and the creature howled. It was off her in an instant, leaping over her head. She saw it grab its fallen compatriot, and then take off into the trees.

  8

  Andy wasn’t happy about the decision that she had made, but she had made it.

  Roxanna had said she felt “many” now, and they were no longer just curious. The Marines and the Arkana had clearly been deemed to be threats. They were intruders. And these creatures were going to make sure they knew it, and left or died.

  Of course, she would have been perfectly happy to leave, but there was that issue of her ship being grounded. And if the Arkana soldier—Viator—was to be believed, then their ship was in even worse shape. So, no joy there. Their best hope was the emergency beacons each ship had been able to send out, although which rescue that would end up bringing to them was open to the whim of the universe.

  That plan hadn’t always been one to work out so well for them.

  She had agreed to meet with the other Arkana. If Viator was to be believed, there were four “okay” Arkana soldiers and two that were too injured to be moved. Plus one dead. Roxanna would be able to sense the truth of it once they got a little closer, but Andy was worried that the natives were clogging her senses. They had to work with what they had, though, and that now apparently included four Arkana soldiers.

  Maybe. This meeting would be the deciding factor on that. This meeting could also end up with everyone dead.

  Andy had left Anath and Jade at their shuttle with the pilot. The pilot and Jade were still working on fixing whatever they could. Anath was a decision made between the two of them. Andy and Anath were basically the most hated people for all Arkana. They were traitors to the race, after all, but as much as they hated Andy, she was only half-blood. Anath was full blood, and she didn’t want his presence at the meeting to make it all end before it even really began.

  They were following Viator through the trees, guns up and senses open. She wasn’t sure that they weren’t being led into an ambush, but Roxanna had not sensed deceit from Viator. Anath said his people were not good at deceit. Too arrogant. They were capable, of course, but generally chose not to, and thus didn’t have a lot of practice.

  She still did not trust the Arkana, but she trusted her Marines.

  “We’re close,” Viator said, stopping just inside a clearing. Every couple of minutes, he looked up at the sky, waiting to see if there were more clouds and if it would get dark again. After her own short experiences with this planet’s creatures, she couldn’t blame him. “Wait here a moment.”

  Andy looked at Roxanna, who nodded. He still wasn’t showing signs of deceit.

  “Alright,” Andy said, watching with trepidation as the Arkana slipped into the trees and the Marines waited, guns up.

  “They’re coming,” Roxanna said a few moments later. “I sense three of them. Apprehensive, but no ill intent that I can read.”

  “Let’s hope for the best,” Andy said in a low voice, “but let’s not lower the weapons just yet. There’s only so far I plan to trust their lack of experience with emotional subterfuge just yet.”

  Andy and Roxanna stood facing the direction the Selerid said all three Arkana were coming from, while Anallin and Dan stood facing outward, one in each direction to cover both sides of the group’s flank.

  Viator was the first to emerge. He held his hands up to show that he was unarmed. The other two didn’t do that, but they didn’t take out their weapons either. As they stepped into the clearing, everyone just stared at one another for a long moment.

  “This is Enzo and Marthe,” Viator finally introduced, gesturing to the man and then woman. Each one nodded once when their name was said, but kept silent and wary. “They have agreed to come speak with you.” He looked at each stony face.

  “We don’t like the idea any more than you do,” Andy took a shot and said, “but the natives don’t like us too much, and neither of us are in good shape to fend off the beasts and try to survive while waiting for help. So I agree with the logic about teaming up. The enemy of my enemy is my friend and all that.”

  Enzo tilted his pale head. When he did, she could see the dark, dried blood on the side of his face and neck that he had obviously attempted to wipe off. She could see finger marks in the dried spots. “That is an…interesting phrase,” he said. His voice was so deep that she almost couldn’t hear it. “Is it common among humans?”

  “It is,” Andy said. “It’s a pretty ancient one. Given your origins, I’m surprised you haven’t heard it before.”

  “Many things from Earth did not stay with us as we traveled and evolved,” he said.

  Well, that was pretty freaking obvious, she thought. Things like…compassion and humility seemed to have been left by the wayside of interstellar travel.

  She did manage to keep herself from saying that out loud, however, much to her credit. “You know who I am, I’m sure. You know who my brother is. He’s with us. Are he and I going to be a problem for us working together?” She heard the unspoken challenge in her voice, b
ut couldn’t reel it back without appearing weak before the enemy.

  Marthe pursed her white lips. “We will have to get used to it,” she said with cool practicality. “Will we like it? I won’t insult you by lying and saying we’re happy to. You have been branded as traitors to our whole race. That’s hard to get past.”

  “I imagine it is,” Andy said, just as coolly. “But so long as you don’t stab us in the back, we can handle your distaste. Hell, if it makes you feel any better, we don’t like you either.”

  Marthe smiled mirthlessly. “At least that puts us on even footing.” She gestured in a sort of half-wave. “If you do not shoot us, we shall not shoot you. We agree to this in the interest of our mutual survival. A cease-fire, for the time being.”

  Andy nodded once. “The only question is of rescue. We have equal chances of our people being the ones here…so what do we do then?”

  “We do not wish to be killed just as we are rescued,” Enzo said. “So, we propose we agree that each group can choose. They can either surrender to the rescuing group, to assure their departure from the planet, or the rescued group can agree to not speak of the other group and let them remain here awaiting their own rescue.”

  “I suppose that’s reasonable,” Andy said. She couldn’t imagine ever surrendering herself or any of her people to the enemy, but the idea of staying on the planet by themselves wasn’t great either. She’d figure it out if the Arkana ship was the one to find them. “We agree to these terms.”

  Viator bowed his head. “We are glad,” he said. “Our scanners are good, but your weapons are better. And numbers alone shall aid our cause. We have already lost one of our number, and we do not desire to lose any more.”

  It was one thing that both groups could agree on. “Then we are agreed. Neither of us will lose any more of our people.”

  9

  “Let me suggest that we begin with a review of our shuttle,” Enzo suggested, although he looked like he was sucking on a lemon as he did. Andy could sympathize, though. You were trained to keep the enemy away, not invite them in. “You can see its state for yourselves and it will help establish where we stand. We also need to check on our injured friends.”

  Andy nodded. “Sounds reasonable,” she said. She wasn’t quite ready to make the leap to vocalizing that they view the ESS shuttle. She knew there was a level of hypocrisy to that, but she didn’t really care. She turned to her Marines and once again met Roxanna’s eye, but she gave the approving nod and so Andy gestured. “Move out. We’ll follow.”

  The other three nodded their acknowledgements and they turned. They did not release their weapons, although they were careful to not let it look like they were aiming them at the Arkana. But given that those…things were still out there somewhere, they didn’t want to take the chances.

  In the dim forest, the three Arkana soldiers almost looked like ghosts drifting through the trees. They were incongruous to their surroundings, and Andy found something unsettling about that.

  It didn’t take long to reach the first signs of the Arkana’s ship. “Signs” in that there was a long trail of wreckage, skid marks of torn up dirt, pieces of pale composite to either side, and broken trees that made a very clear ‘WE ARE HERE’ sign leading up to the Arkana’s ship. If the Marines had just searched a little further, they would have found it easily.

  “Is there anything left of your ship?” Dan asked from behind them.

  “Not as much as we would have preferred,” Viator admitted. “Our pilot is one of the ones badly injured and that happened during our…skirmish. She wasn’t able to do much on our descent, but we’re lucky to at least be alive. Most of us.”

  Andy had to work to keep herself watchful of their surroundings the further they went, her eyes being drawn to the pieces of debris growing in size the closer they got until a hatch door was laying crinkled on its side beside the Arkana shuttle. Well, half of it at least. If she had to guess, what was left of it by the end hit something too big to knock down and it half-spun so they saw its side as they approached. Which also meant they could see that almost the entire front half was gone, leaving something more like an open canister than a ship.

  “Damn,” Dan said simply.

  “Indeed,” Viator agreed.

  Enzo and Marthe immediately walked inside their canister-shelter and moved to the far back, which wasn’t too far, all things considered. Andy couldn’t see inside from where she stood, but she’d put bets on them going to check their crewmates.

  “We haven’t had a lot of time to look for and evaluate all of our equipment,” Viator, who had remained outside with them, explained. “We’ve been trying to keep Odila and Riad alive. We lost a lot of our stores in the crash too, so we’ve been searching for food and water.”

  “We can help search through the debris in and around the ship, even on the trail up to it, and see if there’s anything viable,” Andy offered, her mind working fast to figure out how best they could be useful. They might be the enemy, but they had an agreement now and she would hold up their part, unless the Arkana gave her reason not to. “You said your scanners were good, so finding those and figuring out which ones work will be important, as well as any other supplies. We have some in our shuttle, but splitting between both groups will make them run out fast.”

  Viator nodded.

  Another Arkana came out of the shuttle. This one must have been left as guard and caretaker for the injured ones.

  “So, you agreed,” he said flatly, looking from Andy to the three Marines behind her.

  “It was logical,” she replied simply.

  “Don’t be wretched, Ingo,” Viator said wearily. “We have a cease-fire and we are temporarily allies. We are going to need to work together and having a bad attitude will not help that.”

  The other one—Ingo, apparently—grunted, but then he nodded. “Odila seems to be doing a little better, but I don’t know about Riad.”

  Marthe stepped out of the shuttle then, nodding at Viator. “Odila is asking for you.”

  Viator nodded and went inside, while Ingo remained and Marthe turned to them. “I heard you say something about searching the wreckage,” she said, half-statement and half-question. Andy nodded. “I think that’s a good idea. We haven’t searched as much as we should have.”

  Andy tilted her head, looking over the remains of the Arkana shuttle. “Will you be safe inside that thing when night comes?”

  “We weren’t last night,” Ingo said bitterly.

  “It’s not like we have much option,” Marthe said, although she sounded more tired than bitter.

  Andy let the thought bounce around for a while and then, grudgingly, said, “I suppose we can offer shelter…”

  Marthe stared at her for a moment, white brows knitting slightly. “Thank you,” she began, lips twisting slightly, “for the offer. That must have hurt.” The twist turned up a little at the corners. “But I don’t think either of us are comfortable enough in this arrangement to sleep beside each other.”

  “You’re probably right,” Andy agreed wryly, relieved that they had declined. “Maybe we can help set up something around your shuttle here to act as a defense.” She looked back to the shuttle again, squinting one eye as she thought. “I don’t know what, but we’ll see what we can do. My technology specialist can also come over and maybe try to get some things working again. It looks like the majority of your engine and computer systems are housed toward the back?”

  “You’re observant,” Ingo said, and she couldn’t tell if it was a compliment or accusation. She wasn’t going to worry about it either way.

  “Yes,” Marthe said simply.

  “Martin might be able to do something with some of it, then. It’s worth trying.”

  Marthe knit her brows again. “You are very generous,” she said, with a hint of surprise in her otherwise impassive tone.

  Andy snorted in a sort of laugh. “We have a deal, and the ESS Marines keep their deals. You help us, and we’ll hel
p you. Somehow we’ll both get off this damned rock so we can get back to shooting at one another in a more civilized arena.”

  No one laughed. The truth wasn’t always funny.

  10

  Dan and Anallin returned to the Marine shuttle to fetch Jade. It didn’t really take two to do that, but Andy didn’t plan to let any Marine go around alone. Between the uneasy truce with the Arkana and the creatures still lingering just at the edge of everyone’s awareness, she wasn’t going to take any chances.

  While they were doing that, Andy and Roxanna teamed up with Ingo and Viator and they began combing through the wreckage.

  Naturally, most of it was too broken or burnt to be of any use, if it could even be recognized in the first place, but they did manage to find two scanners in a lockbox that hadn’t been entirely pulverized by their terrible landing. Viator immediately tested the devices, finding that one had survived and was still functioning properly. The other one got tossed back into the wreckage.

  Closer to the ship, the pieces were larger and their luck a little better. They found another working scanner—and two that didn’t work—as well as a crate with some emergency supplies. It was primarily medical, as Viator informed them when they didn’t recognize much, but there were a few pouches of food. They carried these back to the shuttle so that the medical supplies could be put to good use.

  “How’re things feeling?” Andy asked Roxanna after a little while, keeping her voice low.

  “The Arkana still do not show any sign of deceit or planning to betray us,” the Selerid replied, her voice just as low. “Ingo is very hostile toward us in general, but has self-control. Viator is the least aggravated by our presence. He seems curious about us.”

  “Interesting,” Andy commented quietly. The Arkana believed in their own genetic purity, and they detested the plurality of the ESS and Allied. So for him to be more curious and less hostile… Well, it was interesting.