10 Saleuk
Sjeking kilors. They were oversized insects that loved a good chase. Their tracks were deep and devastating to the soil and therefore easy to follow.
Perhaps Sam looked small and digestible, but I wasn’t. The moment I heard her screams, I was sprinting through the woods, pistol drawn. I didn’t hesitate to fire at the Kilor. I’d hoped that the first shot would scare it off so I wouldn’t have to kill it, but it just turned on me. the damn thing must have been hungry because it came at me next. It delivered a swift blow to my midsection with one of its bony legs, sending me flying backward into a tree.
Shaking off the disorientation, I stood and fired at the damn thing again. Then again.
Finally, it fell motionless, three burning holes from my pistol sizzling against its leathery flesh. I looked up as Sam crept out from behind a wall of thick tree roots, her eyes so wide I thought they’d pop out of her head.
“Saleuk?” she said, her voice breaking.
I kicked the kilor’s leg aside, panting and sore. Running through woods at full speed and then getting kicked in the ribs by one of Phesah’s predators took it out of me a little. Seeing Sam, alive and unhurt, made the trouble worth it, though. I holstered my pistol and took a step toward her, prepared to hear some snarky remark about how I didn’t tell her it was me behind the tinted helmet the whole time.
“Look,” I said, putting my hands up in surrender. “I would have told you who I was, but you—”
She suddenly stumbled forward and came at me in a jog. I thought she was going to kick my shin with those little feet of hers until I saw her eyes well up with tears. When she reached me, she leaped up and slammed into my body, locking her arms around my neck. Instinctively, I wrapped her up in my embrace. She buried her face against the crook of my neck, her body trembling.
“Sam,” I said softly, rubbing a hand up and down her back.
Her scent was fearful. Stressed. She’d been terrified, trekking through an unknown world alone. And understandably so since she was only there because that damn researcher had assaulted her.
“Oh my God, I can’t believe you’re here,” she sobbed.
I gently released her, letting her slide down my body and onto her feet, but it was clear she didn’t want to let go of me.
“I need to look at you,” I said. “Make sure you’re not hurt.”
“I’m ok,” she said.
“I’ll be the judge.”
I cupped her face between my hands, lifting her eyes to meet mine. They were all red and puffy and glistening with moisture. I turned her face to one side and then the other and then scanned her body to look for injuries. Aside from a couple of rips in her suit, she looked unharmed.
“What are you doing here?” she sniveled.
I chuckled and went to grab her little pack off the ground, handing it and the little light device to her.
“I was assigned to keep all of you from doing exactly what you did. Getting lost in Phesah’s wilderness. You’re as much a handful now as you were before.”
She slung her bag on her back and shook her head.
“It was fucking Hemburg,” she spit out.
I paused, envisioning the creep. “What’d he do?”
“He wanted something from me I didn’t want to give and when I hurt his precious ego, he got pissed, like most men do. I threatened to show everyone our conversation from my OxyMask feed, so he took it from me, and next thing I knew I was tumbling down a hill.”
I almost threw my fist at the rock wall imagining how he’d attacked her.
“I should have been there. I should have been watching more closely.”
Sam narrowed her eyes up at me and then punched me in the arm with her fist. “About that. Why didn’t you tell me who you were?”
“Because last time we saw each other, you said ‘I hate you’ eighteen times.”
“I do hate you. I mean, I did. I mean,” she shook her head. “I never hated you. That’s something people say when they’re annoyed and you were so annoying.”
“Annoying? You think it was fun watching you cough and sneeze and complain? Not only about me but about a planet I consider a home. You were all full of germs and you yelled so much, I thought my ears would bleed.”
She pursed her lips and pointed her finger up at me. “You couldn’t stop making fun of me. All you did was speak with words I couldn’t understand, probably telling everyone how much you hated having to keep an eye on me while my best friend was getting laid, falling in love, and spending time with a nice man who just wanted to take care of her. Meanwhile, I felt like I was dying and all you could ever do was stare at me and make snide remarks. You could hardly even use my name. All you did was call me that stupid name.”
“It was hard to take care of you when every time I got close, you acted like you were going to bite my hand off. Like a geshi.”
Her arms folded over her chest and she adjusted her weight to one leg, popping out her hip in that annoyed fashion of hers. My eyes skimmed down her small form, glimpsing the soft curves of her feminine physique. Her face was sharp with irritation for a moment and then it eased again and she sighed.
“Ok, I’m sorry.” Her voice cracked like she was about to cry again and she waved her hand in front of her face like she was swatting at a bug. “I really am happy to see you. I thought I was going to…” She stopped, swallowing hard. “I thought I was going to die.”
Agh, the soft spot I had for this woman and her damn tears. I was used to her biting tone and her feistiness, but this Sam was in need of comfort and security, and stars above, I wanted to give it. Instinct screamed at me to protect her.
“Sam,” I muttered. “You’re not going to die out here. They’ll be sending someone to get us soon.”
Her face lit up with hope. “Really?”
“Yes. I have a comlink. I just need to call for…” I trailed off when I reached behind me to pull the comms device off the back of my belt, but it had been smashed to bits when the kilor slammed me in the side. “Sjek,” I swore, holding up the device and turning it in my hand. I watched as little components spilled out of its bent frame onto the ground. “Well, I had a comlink.”
“That’s the only one you have?”
“It doesn’t matter,” I shrugged. “They’ll come back no matter what. I just said I would call when I found you. Either way, we just have to wait. But we should find shelter. Night is going to bring out a lot more than one kilor.”
“Where do we find shelter?”
“We’re not far from that compound I mentioned. It’s mostly ruins, but there are a couple of buildings still intact.”
“Really? We’re close?” Pride slapped a big smile on her face. “That’s where I was going. I can’t believe I was going the right way.”
“I figured that’s where you were headed. I saw your markings on the trees.”
“You followed my markings? Hmm. Maybe I’m ok at this survival thing.”
I started walking, the corner of my mouth curling up. “You think so? Should I just go then?”
“No! I said I might be good at it. Doesn’t mean I like it. I ran through water so I can’t tell, but I’m pretty sure I pissed myself.”
I almost broke out laughing at her lack of modesty, but a few steps into our journey, I felt a little rush of dizziness sweep over me and I wavered on my feet.
“Saleuk?” Sam said, putting a hand on my back.
Quickly, I glanced back at the kilor corpse lying behind us and then took a quick look at my body. Sure enough, two tiny barbs were stuck in the side of my hip. I lifted my arm to look at them and heard Sam gasp at the sight. They were no longer than her fingers and no thicker than a needle, but they were there.
“How did you not feel that?”
“Because they’re tipped with a paralyzing agent,” I said with a groan. “Aww, sjek.” I dropped my pack from my shoulders and then unholstered my pistol, handing it to Sam. “See this? That’s the release. Flick it with your thumb when you want to fire. This is the trigger. It’s just a recharge pistol, so it fires slowly, but it hits hard enough. It’s UV beams, so there’s no kickback like your human guns have.”
“What the hell, Saleuk? Please don’t tell me you’re about to die on me.”
True terror flooded her face as she shakily took the pistol in her hand.
“No,” I slurred, feeling my limbs tingle and then fall numb, “I’m not dying. I’m just…”
Like a log, I fell backward, my ability to control my body completely gone. Sam reached out, doing her best to break my fall.
“Saleuk!” she screamed.
First paralysis, then unconsciousness. Kilor’s dismantled their prey while they were alive and lost interest in the feast as soon as the heart stopped. But that wouldn’t happen if I didn’t get eaten. Sam just had to keep us alive until the venom wore off. I wished I could say all that aloud and ease her mind a little. By her stressed whimpers, she was growing dangerously anxious. I showed up to save her and now I was on the ground losing consciousness and night was upon us.
Come on, geshi. I have faith in you.