Escape from Endeavor

by Daniel A. Jones

  ***

  Daemon had a small fire going and was making some soup when Sara suddenly sat straight up and screamed. Daemon launched himself at her, knocking her over as he wrestled to get hold of her. He was able to get her in a bear hug with one hand around her waist the other higher around her shoulders.

  She struggled in his grip, clawing at his chest, lost in terror, and unable to think.

  Daemon held her as gently as he could without letting her go. He knew what would happen if she got away and ran off.

  Sara’s scream woke Angelica from her sleep. She took a moment to figure out what was going on. At first it had looked like Daemon was trying to kill Sara, but Angelica knew better. The waves of terror Sara was experiencing hit her as her empathic ability started working. Angelica had to focus to keep from going into a panic herself.

  Daemon sensed the effect Sara was having on Angelica and knew he had to do something fast. He squeezed just enough to make it hard for Sara to breathe, slowly cutting off her air until she passed out.

  Angelica slumped as the feelings of terror vanished. Once she had recovered, Angelica checked on Sara. Sara was breathing shallowly, but steadily, so Angelica tried to project calm, peaceful feelings to her. Angelica sat with Sara for a few minutes while Daemon went back to the soup he’d started.

  Daemon brought Angelica a bowl of soup and a chunk of bread from his pack. He was not a very good cook so the soup was bland, but it was hot. Angelica had just finished her second bowl when Sara woke up.

  Sara didn’t remember waking up the first time, but her throat was sore so she accepted that they were telling her the truth when they told her what had happened. The soup felt good, first soothing her throat, then warming her from the stomach out. She also had two bowls full before deciding she didn’t want any more. She felt a lot better, more relaxed and safer. She wasn’t sure if it was her true feelings or if Angelica was somehow making her feel that way. She really didn’t care; it was nice to not be afraid at least for a little while.

  Daemon was asking Angelica about what had scared them when Sara came over to join them.

  “How are you feeling?” Angelica asked.

  “All right, I guess. I am still sore and tired. Are we going to keep moving?” Sara asked, fully expecting Daemon to say yes immediately.

  “Yes, I would like to go a few more miles before we camp for the night. I don’t want to get too close to the city, but I’m worried I left a pretty easy trail to follow.”

  “You sure did.” A soft female voice interrupted Daemon’s explanation.

  16

  All three of them jumped at the sound of the stranger’s voice. Sara slipped behind Angelica, who was grabbing for her rifle. Daemon stepped forward to interpose himself between his sister and the girl.

  Mystique crouched a few yards away; she had Sara’s rifle lying next to her.

  Daemon didn’t advance; he just stood his ground waiting for Mystique to act.

  Angelica tried to get a read on Mystique, but could barely detect her presence, much less her emotional state.

  Sara looked frantically at the woods, expecting more people with guns to start shooting at them at any moment.

  “Though I don’t think Thomas will be here any time soon. Mind if I have some soup?” Mystique commented, trying to ease the tension a little.

  “Who are you?” Angelica asked, holding her rifle ready but not aimed.

  “Mystique Fairmont. I knew your father. You can call me Myst.”

  “Why are you here, Misty?” Daemon demanded, sarcastically changing her name. He didn’t sense any aggression in Mystique but he didn’t like being startled, either. “And what are you doing with my rifle?”

  Mystique was careful not to reach for the rifle when she looked at it. “I am returning your rifle. You seemed to have dropped it in your haste to catch up to your sister. I was also hoping to ask the spacer if I could buy passage on her ship.”

  “And if she says no, what are you going to do then?” Angelica asked carefully.

  “I don’t think she will turn me away. I can be very persuasive and I have this pack full of jewelry someone lost in the woods.” Mystique knew she shouldn’t tease Daemon but she couldn’t help herself.

  “Hey, that’s ours. You better give it back,” Daemon stated as he stepped toward Mystique.

  Mystique wasn’t afraid of many people but she did take Daemon seriously. So she released the energy she’d been holding in her legs, launching her clear of the camp. She jumped at least five yards into the woods. She landed with barely a sound and ran a few yards to the side behind a tree to watch what they did.

  Daemon tracked her jump, turning as she went flying over Angelica and Sara and landing back in the woods near a pine tree. Angelica and Sara watched, mouths agape, at how far and how fast Mystique had jumped.

  Daemon looked back at Angelica, who said, simply, “Alive.”

  Daemon didn’t jump; instead, he charged in the direction Mystique had jumped. He veered to the left of the pine tree, not sure why, but letting his instincts lead him.

  Mystique was expecting something like this so she darted to the side and circled the camp.

  Angelica pulled Sara close and tried as hard as she could to find Mystique.

  Daemon turned hard, grabbing a branch to help swing him around on his new course.

  Mystique got behind Angelica and turned into the camp, diving for Sara. She never saw Daemon until it was too late.

  He intercepted her lunge a mere three feet away from Sara, who shrieked in surprise. Daemon didn’t want to hurt Mystique so he twisted around as he fell, landing on the ground first, with Mystique landing on top of him.

  Mystique had not expected the hit or to land on Daemon. He had her by an arm and her waist but she had one arm free so she grabbed one of her knives. Daemon released her waist and grabbed for her knife hand only to impale his hand as she turned the knife at the last second. Daemon grunted in pain and stopped fighting Mystique but didn’t let go of her arm or the hand that was holding the knife. Mystique misread Daemon, thinking the stab wound had stunned him, when in fact it had almost made him lose control. Mystique struggled to get free but his grip was far too strong for her to break and too tight to squirm out of.

  Angelica tapped Mystique on the head with the barrel of her rifle to get her attention. “Be very still and don’t make him any more upset or he will tear you to pieces.”

  The memory of what had happened to Jed flashed through Mystique’s mind. She froze.

  A few tense minutes later Daemon released Mystique’s hands.

  She got off him and started to stand up when Angelica motioned for her to sit down, legs in front of her.

  Daemon sat up and grabbed the hilt of the knife and pulled it out of his hand, grunting a little as he did.

  “You all right?” Angelica asked, concern sounding in her voice.

  “Yeah, it’s only a little stab wound,” he replied, holding up his hand. “I wasn’t expecting it, so it annoyed me.”

  Angelica turned to Sara. “Would you get Mystique a bowl of soup, please?”

  Sara was feeling the dread and unease again and its sudden return had shaken her a little, so she was glad to have something to do. She wiped out the bowl she’d been using and filled it. She brought it over and handed it to Mystique, not realizing Mystique could attack her while she was so close. Mystique took the offered bowl and sipped from it.

  “Spoon,” Angelica said, projecting calming feelings to everyone present. Angelica knew Sara was near her limit and would collapse in on herself if too much more strain was put on her. Daemon seemed in good spirits, and then she realized he was feeling lust for Mystique, and shook her head. Mystique, she still couldn’t get a read on. Angelica hoped to keep the conversation as civil as possible. Sara retrieved a spoon and handed it to Mystique, who thanked her.

  “All right, Mystique, I want the bag of jewelry and I want to know how you found us.”

  Mystiqu
e set the bowl down, took off her backpack, and tossed it toward Angelica. “It’s inside. There’s a hole in it where it snagged a branch so I emptied most of my stuff to make room for it.” She looked at Daemon. “You wouldn’t have caught me if not for its extra weight.”

  “You’re good and very fast, I’ll give you that, but it will take a lot more than that to beat me.” Daemon held up his hand to show her the knife wound was fully healed already. “So let me know when you want to wrestle again.” He finished with a boyish smile, lightening the mood.

  “How did you do that? My knife was sticking all the way through your hand.”

  “He regenerates,” Angelica said, looking at the bruises on Mystique’s arms. “So how did you find us?”

  “I was with Thomas Smith, Jared’s dad, and the rest, tracking you. I wanted to join up with you and convince you to take me with you. When Daemon ambushed us at the gorge this morning, I went with three others that were sent to circle around him. Steven had us split up once we got close but Daemon must have spotted us because he surprised Steven. Eleanor had Daemon pinned down when I got there so I took her out but Daemon ran off before I had a chance to talk to him. So I ran after him. Thomas will try to kill me if we ever meet again. So now I can’t go back any more then you can. The posse is now hunting me, too.”

  “What made you think we would take you with us?”

  “Your father, he tried to get my mother to let me come live with you a few years ago. When she wouldn’t, he started teaching me things when he came to visit. He was the most decent man I’ve ever met, so I hoped you two would be like him and help me out now.”

  “Decent? He killed Alex and helped them capture me and the captain, and then he bought me like a slave! You got low standards for calling someone decent!” Sara screamed before she realized what she was saying. When she realized she’d just insulted Angelica and Daemon’s dead father, she dropped her head. ”Sorry.”

  “How do we know you’re not lying? What proof do you have you even knew our father?” Angelica asked.

  Sara and Daemon both gave Angelica questioning glances.

  “I have the proof,” Daemon stated as he held up Mystique’s knife for the others to see. “Dad took this knife away from me a few years ago and told me a little girl needed it a lot more than I did. I always liked this knife. It’s really well balanced and it’s the first knife I brought back from Discovery City.”

  “He gave that to me and showed me the basics of how to fight with it. He didn’t like that some of my mom’s visitors were starting to visit me. I’m not sure why he cared, but he did,” Mystique told them, leaving little doubt that she was not comfortable with the topic.

  “Sara, is there enough room on your ship for her?”

  “Yes, but I can’t say if Mac will let her on.” Sara didn’t bother lying; she knew Angelica would see through it.

  “This Mac guy better be a lot more friendly than you make him out to be or we’re going to have trouble,” Daemon stated.

  “What kind of visitors did your mother have?” Sara asked, hoping to change the subject.

  “The kind that spent their whole visit in her bedroom,” Mystique told her, amused at the shocked expression on Sara’s face as she realized Mystique mother was a whore. Daemon and Angelica exchanged looks of understanding. They had known their father was visiting someone in town.

  “Oh, I’m sorry. I had no idea,” Sara apologized.

  “It’s all right. We did what we had to in order to survive,” Mystique replied unemotionally, repeating the excuse her mother had told her, and leaving out murdering her mother before she left town.

  “You had visitors, too? But you’re so young. You can’t be more than fifteen or sixteen years old.” Sara was shocked again at how barbaric these people were.

  “So, it’s not like I had a choice. Mom made me,” Mystique stated defiantly, looking at each of them. “And I’m not doing it again, ever.”

  “Don’t look at me. You’re the one that wanted to wrestle,” Daemon protested with a smile as Mystique focused her stare on him.

  “I saw the way you were looking at me.”

  “Mystique, no one here is going to make you do that. You said Thomas Smith is leading the group chasing us. How many people are with him?” Angelica asked, getting back to a more important topic of discussion.

  “Steven Bosworth and Mark Bench are both injured so they might go home, but the way Thomas has been acting they probably won’t. Thomas has five others with him that aren’t hurt. They’re probably about three hours behind me, so we should keep moving for at least a few more hours.”

  “Won’t the injured guys slow them down?” Angelica asked.

  “If they do then Thomas will shoot them like he did Leo Burgemen. The guy is fanatical about killing you two.”

  “He what?” Angelica asked in disbelief.

  Sara was getting used to the people on this planet acting like savages so it didn’t surprise her.

  Daemon didn’t seem to care but he did care about the effect the news had on Angelica. “We are about eight hours from Discovery City. I don’t want to spend the night too close to the city. Creatures still wander around the city at night and sleep indoors during the day. We’re going to the spaceport; there are a few ships and maintenance buildings there. Sara shouldn’t have any trouble finding the part she needs there.” Daemon said, changing the subject before Mystique could say more.

  “Dad said the town was a week away from the city. How can we be that close?”

  “Dad said they ran for a week. They must have gotten turned around because it’s only a three- or four-day trip, normally. We went over the gorge instead of around it and have been pushing pretty hard for distance each day.”

  “What kind of creatures?” Sara asked nervously.

  “They are hard to describe. The ones I’ve run into have all been able to change shape. They disguise themselves until someone comes close enough, then they jump out and attack. Angelica and I will be able to sense most of them, so stay close to us. What you felt at the stream was a small one.”

  “The black oily blob thing in the water was a Rift monster?” Mystique interrupted, looking back down the path.

  “Yeah. Don’t worry. That type is very slow, so it won’t be chasing us. Angie, you’re going to have to keep everyone calm tomorrow while we’re in the city. The creatures are attracted to strong emotions, especially fear,” Daemon said.

  “How do you know all this?” Mystique asked.

  “I’m not sure; I just do. I’m going to be on edge, ready to fight, so don’t startle me or you may end up dead before I can stop myself. If Thomas follows us into the city I doubt like hell he’s going to survive long.”

  “All right, let’s get going. Daemon leads the way and says when we stop,” Angelica instructed, easily slipping into the role of leader.

  She kept close to Sara while they gathered their packs. Mystique took the pack of jewelry back and stuffed it back into her backpack. Daemon gave Mystique her knife back. Angelica came up to the two and reached out for Mystique’s shoulder, hesitating, to give Mystique a chance to pull away.

  Mystique wasn’t sure what was going on but she didn’t figure she had much choice, so she let Angelica rest her hand on her shoulder. A few seconds later she felt a tingle spread out from her shoulder. The tingle spread over her entire body, driving the fatigue out of her muscles.

  Angelica took her hand away and said, “You’re welcome,” before walking back over to wait near Sara.

  “How did you do that?” Mystique asked in amazement as she looked at where the bruises on her arms had faded away.

  “I can boost people’s healing,” Angelica replied simply.

  Daemon led the way through the woods, followed by Angelica, then Sara, with Mystique bringing up the rear. Mystique did what she could to hide their tracks. They hiked for about two and a half hours before Daemon had them stop while he looked around for a place to camp. A few minutes
later he came back and showed them the place he’d picked for the night.

  17

  Thomas had been leading the group since they’d left the gorge. He had only stopped for a short break at lunch because Alan had forced him to. The rest of the group was tired and weary from the long, forced march but they’d all wanted to catch Daemon before he got to Discovery City.

  Everyone had heard the stories or seen firsthand what the creatures would do to them, so they all pushed on.

  When they came to a small stream, Alan called, “Take ten and top off your canteens.”

  Thomas gave him a hate-filled look, but said nothing. He just filled his canteen and hiked down the trail some. The men spread out, looking for a good place to sit and relax. Craig Fitzgerald lay down and closed his eyes, hoping for a few minutes of sleep. As he lay there he thought about what had happened so far—the only good thing to happen on this whole hunt was that that wench had killed his brother, so this was the last time he was ever going to get talked into going on any adventures. Craig never had a chance against the creature that killed him.

  ***

  The creature had sensed the presence of a group and waited as they came closer. It slid up to the nearest one, careful not to be seen this time, and attached its pseudopods to his cheek and forehead. The creature’s skin fused into Craig’s flesh, bonding with it.