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Episode 45: Intervention
"It's been over twelve hours since they were supposed to report in." Derek said to Mark under his breath.
"Yeah, what's going on down there?" Venture replied.
"Sandor, where is Lieutenant Forrester and science officer Rowland?" Avatar asked the XO.
"I'm not sure, Captain." Sandor replied, "I can only pick up the survey ship's signal intermittently and I've lost IQ's signal altogether."
"Can you track their life signs?" the Captain asked.
"No, Sir." Sandor replied, "There appears to be something blocking me from finding them. We didn't notice it before because we thought there were no life signs on the planet. Whoever's down there, they're hiding from something."
Avatar nodded thoughtfully, "In that case we'll have to go after them. There's no way of telling what's befallen the Lieutenant and her assistant." Avatar looked at Derek, "Wildstar."
The gunnery chief quickly turned to look at the Captain. "Yes, Sir?"
"Take a team down to the planet and find out what's happened to them. Take nine others with you. That should be enough to get them out of whatever trouble they've fallen into. However," the Captain held up a cautioning hand as Derek rose to obey, "If you find that you cannot safely extract them, do not go in on your own. Notify us here onboard ship and we'll come up with another plan to retrieve them."
Derek nodded reluctantly. Knowing that Nova was probably in danger was making him more nervous than it should have. What was it about that girl that made him want to help her whenever he could? He didn't even like her sometimes, much less agree with some of her crazy notions.
"Yes, Captain." Wildstar nodded, then quickly moved to leave. Just before he left the bridge though, he stopped and asked, "Can I take Sandor, Captain? I'm sure his help would be invaluable."
Avatar nodded, "Very well."
Derek gave the captain his thanks and exited the bridge, going over a list of possible candidates for his rescue team as he did so.
"How long have we been down here…?" Nova thought as the darkness in the cell seemed to curl around her, threatening to choke the life out of her. It was so dreary and cold that she felt like she was trapped inside a freezer.
"It has to be getting dark above ground by now… That must be why the temperature's dropping." She reached over and touched Daniel's shoulder. At least he wasn't shaking from the pain of his injuries now. The herbs Wen had administered seemed to be working.
"How are you feeling?" Nova asked the science officer who still lay on the floor where Wen had left him.
She received a groan, and then Daniel replied, "Better, I think. I don't feel like I'm gonna die anymore." He gave a half-hearted chuckle.
"Well, that's an improvement." Nova replied, "How long has it been since Wen left?"
"Don't know." Daniel said quietly, "At least an hour I'd say."
"I think it's been longer than that. How did he even get in here anyway?" she asked, voicing the question she'd been thinking about since the strange bee-keeper disappeared from their cell.
"Probably some kind of vent – or maybe a waste removal chute. I can't feel any air coming in from anywhere, so wherever he managed to come in, it isn't connected to the outside." Daniel sounded dejected.
"Don't worry, Rowland." Nova replied, giving his shoulder a pat, "We'll make it out – or the crew'll find us. They have to know by now that something's wrong. They've probably already sent out a rescue team."
"I hope so…" Daniel sighed, "But how are they going to find us down here? We don't even know where we are? And where's IQ-9?"
Nova let out a sigh of her own, "IQ's sitting in the corner, deactivated. I tried turning him back on, but in the dark I can't see him well enough to know what I'm doing. I might break him instead of fixing him. And I've never done any maintenance on him, so I don't even know what I'm looking for."
"I wouldn't know either. Sandor's always the one who does the diagnostics and maintenance. Dr. Sane's done a few things with him too, but none of the rest of us really mess with him. We've got enough to do without having to worry about keeping an eye on a robot."
"Well, when we get back I'm going to have Sandor show me how to maintain IQ." Nova said, "I don't want to be stuck in a situation like this again. If I could get him back online IQ could send some sort of signal out to the ship – assuming the Zögii's shields wouldn't block it."
"Yeah…" Daniel replied absently. "I just hope Wen decides to get back soon – assuming he was telling the truth about getting our stuff back."
"I hope he was." Nova said, "But there's a bigger question here. What was he talking about – those three ships? Shambleau, Dezaria, and Aquarius. They're from Earth, they have to be. He said they came from the Point of Creation."
Daniel rolled his eyes, "Oh yeah, you're one of those."
"'Those' who?" Nova asked.
"One of the Christians, like Sandor. You believe in the whole God created the world thing." Daniel replied, wincing a little as he tried to sit up, then finally deciding it was better to stay where he was.
"Yes, I am, and I do." Nova replied, "And obviously there are others who believe the same thing." She stopped talking as the sound of clicking footsteps met her ears again. "Shh. Someone's coming." She whispered.
Daniel didn't reply. He needed no chiding to wait in silence. After all, if the rest of their "hosts" discovered that one of their own had helped him and the Lieutenant… it most likely wouldn't go well for any of them.
They waited in silence. The clicking footsteps stopped several times, seeming to come closer, then fade away over and over again, like a pacing guard.
Finally, the sound disappeared.
Nova sighed in relief. At least they wouldn't have to deal with another round of questioning right now.
Just before she was about to stand up Nova felt a hand on her shoulder. She nearly shrieked in surprised, but caught herself just before she yelped.
"I'm back." The voice of Wen whispered into her ear, "But we must be quiet. The patrols are near this area right now. We can't alert them to my presence." The Zögii set something in Nova's lap, "Here are your things – what I could find of them anyway. I couldn't drag your suits down here, so you'll have to leave them, but you will be able to breathe outside without trouble."
Nova carefully undid the small bundle and felt for the tiny light she carried. Finding it, she switched it on, dimming the beam so as not to blind herself or Rowland. "Thank you, Wen." She whispered, handing a second bundle to Rowland.
The science officer unbound his bundle and fished through the contents, making sure nothing was missing, "Hey, where's the map I got from the ship?" he asked.
"I'm afraid the Queen still has it. There is no way for me to retrieve it without trouble. Now come, we must get you out of here."
By the luminance of Nova's dim light Rowland and Nova both saw Wen motion for them to follow him.
"How are we getting out of here?" Nova asked as she helped Daniel stand.
The science officer gritted his teeth in pain as he got up. The bandages that held the herbs over his aching kidney stayed on and he was thankful for that small mercy.
"We have to use the…. um… disposal chute." Wen replied hesitantly.
"Disposal of what?" Rowland ventured, dreading to hear the answer.
"Bodies." Wen replied, "Most prisoners don't leave here with their lives."
Nova shivered at the thought of leaving this way, but if it was their only option, there wasn't much they could say about it.
"Is it safe?" Nova asked. "And what about IQ-9?" She pointed back at the robot slumped in the corner.
"Well, there aren't any security measures along the chute since dead bodies typically don't put up much of a fight. I came in the same way, but the only reason I could is because I have a pass code to open the grate. You wouldn't have been able to leave on your own if you'd tried to." Wen directed the pair to the back of the cell. "I will dump your robot friend in after you've both landed safely. Once we're down I think I can get him back on. I watched when they turned him off."
There, in the floor in the farthest corner of the dark room was a hole. It was closed, but as Nova watched, Wen reached down and tapped a seven character combination into the face of the grate. The bars disappeared.
"Let's go." Wen said, perching on the edge of the hole, ready to slide down. "We will have to go one at the time." He looked at Rowland, "Do not let your bandages get stuck on the chute walls. If you do, they will be ripped off."
Rowland nodded and winced at the thought.
Wen directed Nova to sit down on the lip of the opening. Pocketing her light and tying the rest of her sparse belongings around her neck, she slid down into the chute. The man directed Daniel to do the same, watching carefully as the science officer hesitantly pushed himself off the grate frame and into the black maw below.
Wen waited, then got up and hauled IQ-9 over to the opening and shoved him in. Once that was done, he went through too.
"Hey! It's the Seagull!" Derek announced triumphantly when he and Sandor flew over the abandoned survey ship.
"Yeah, but there's nobody down there." Conroy replied over the radio. "At least, nobody we can see in the dark."
"I hope there aren't any huge meat-eating creatures down there." Derek could hear Royster whining in the back of Conroy's fighter.
"Ah, don't worry, Royster, if there are any we'll be sure to let them know you're the slowest one in the group." Derek joked.
"Hey, I'm not slow!" Royster whined back.
"Wildstar, I think I found something else." The voice of Jefferson Hardy, another of the Black Tiger pilots, came over the radio. "It's a bit east of your position. Looks like an old wreck. Best I can tell anyway."
"Send everyone the coordinates and find a place to land nearby. Sandor and I will check out the Seagull, then we'll meet the rest of you at the wreck." Wildstar replied. "And keep your lights handy. I don't want anyone getting lost in the dark."
"Aye, Sir." Hardy signed off, his Southern accent still ringing in Wildstar's ears.
Clemens, Hardy, Sandor, Royster, Conroy and Derek, along with Feria, another pilot and two of the gunnery crew made up Wildstar's team. He'd wanted Royster along to help Sandor if the need arose and Clemens had already proven he was good in a firefight. The pilots could provide air support if necessary, but all of them were good shots with a rifle or pistol if need be.
Then there were the two from the gunnery crew.
The young crewman – and woman – had both been the first to volunteer for this mission. Wildstar liked their eagerness, and had seen the fight in their eyes. The man, Paul Henderson, and his friend, Gina Reyes were both from what used to be southern France. Both Henderson and Reyes were casual friend with either Nova or Daniel and neither one wanted to see their friends come to harm.
Derek circled the Seagull a few times, looking for a good place to set down. He finally found a spot to his liking where he could easily take off if he were in a rush.
Once he'd set down and popped the cockpit he and Sandor hopped out, immediately on the alert for anything out of the ordinary.
Slowly they approached the survey ship.
Sandor and Wildstar both had weapons drawn. Their EVA suits prevented them from moving as stealthily as they would have liked, but they soon discovered that silence wasn't needed. The ship was empty and there were no signs of anyone having disturbed the area after Nova, Daniel, and IQ had left.
In the light of their head-lamps they spied IQ-9's tread marks in the dirt and traced them to the edge of the trees that surrounded the small clearing they'd landed in.
"The tracks go off in the direction of that downed ship." Derek said through his suit-mic to Sandor.
"Um hm." Sandor replied, "They must've seen it too. Maybe they're still there. If they're inside that ship, their communications equipment may not be working properly."
"But wouldn't they have come out by now to report in?" Derek asked.
"Probably, but if they're trapped inside, they wouldn't have been able to." The XO replied.
"Hopefully that's all that's going on." Derek said as he and Sandor gave the Seagull another once-over, then got back into Derek's plane and took off, headed for the coordinates Hardy had sent them.
Soon, they landed next to the four other fighters, sitting in the very cramped space between the wreck and the trees surrounding it.
"Well, I guess we know why they didn't land here." Derek quipped, "They wouldn't have been able to get the Seagull down without ripping off a wing."
"Hey, guys, over here!" Clemens called from over near the wreck, "Found some equipment. Is it theirs?" he pointed to several objects lying on the ground near the old ship."
"Yes. Those are from the Argo." Sandor confirmed, "And it looks like Miss Forrester and Mr. Rowland were taking samples of some things." The XO stepped over to one piece of equipment that looked like a big box with several compartments. A couple of the spaces were sealed and housed specimens of what looked like algae.
"Th – th –" Royster stuttered, pointing towards something out of Derek's line of vision. "The door's open." The short science officer finally managed.
Wildstar turned to look at what Royster had seen. Verifying that it was indeed a door, he said, "Well, let's see what's inside."
Derek started moving towards the opening in the ship's hull.
"But – but what if something's in there?" Royster wailed.
"Then have your laser pistol out." Derek replied, "Just don't get trigger-happy. And that goes for everyone."
A chorus of affirmations came over the radio.
"Alright then, let's take this slowly. If Nova and Daniel are in here, we should know pretty soon." Wildstar drew his weapon and slowly peeked through the opening, noting that the lock had been jerked off the door without much ceremony.
He looked into the pitch black cargo hold, his light illuminating the space and casting an eerie, harsh light over everything. Seeing nothing too strange, he motioned for the rest of the team to follow him.
"Clemens, keep a watch outside with Hardy." Derek directed, and thought he heard Clemens mumbling something about always getting left outside. "Let us know if anything happens, or if either of you see anyone out there."
"Yes, Sir." Came the reply.
"Okay, gang, let's see what's in here." With that Derek climbed up into the old ship.
Nova stifled a gag when she landed in a pile of rotting material and… other things she'd rather not think about.
She held her breath and quickly scrambled out of the pile about ten seconds before Rowland came crashing down into the same pile.
"Oh, yuck, what is this?" he asked in disgust as he struggled to climb out of the reeking mess, grunting in pain as he did so.
IQ landed in the pile a few seconds later and Nova struggled to pull him out of the stinking heap just before Wen landed.
"You probably don't want to know." Wen said in response to Daniel's question. "Just be glad that the smell doesn't carry far past this chamber."
Daniel grimaced at the thought of having to smell this stinking odor for any length of time.
"Your light." The tribesman directed Nova over to IQ's deactivated hulk and looked at the back of the robot carefully. A moment later he had the robot's dome lit up again.
"What is going on?" the robot demanded, "Where are we?"
"Shh!" Nova hissed, pocketing her light once more, "Turn your volume down, IQ. We're underground, trying to get out of a city of people who want us dead."
The robot blipped a sarcastic-sounding response, but did as he was asked and stayed silent, not asking anything else.
"This way." Wen motioned for the three to follow him. "There is a secret exit not too far from here."
"So why are you helping us escape?' Daniel asked as IQ-9 helped him along.
"Because I cannot let them kill you." Wen replied, "I've seen enough death here. And I know that, if they killed you, you would have died wrongfully. I cannot live with that." He stopped, a fork in the tunnel looming before them. Wen looked one way, then the other before taking the left passage. "I have helped others before."
"Hasn't anyone suspected you?" Nova asked.
Wen chuckled mirthlessly, "The guards often forget about prisoners once they've been in the prison for a while. After that, I can safely get them out. But I only help those I know to be of no harm to my people, all others I am happy to let fend for themselves in those dark cells."
"Thank you." Nova said as they followed Wen as well as they could with Daniel's injury. "We are indebted to you."
"You can pay me back by showing me that book you said you had once I get you out of here." Wen replied.
"That I can do." Nova said, a small smile spreading over her face, but, in the dark, no one else saw it.
In a few minutes they'd made it to the exit. The door was covered by another grate and, just as before, Wen put in another series of characters. The grate slid open, allowing them all to leave.
Nova and Daniel slowly stepped out into the night followed closely by IQ, then Wen.
The Zögii tribesman closed the grate silently, leaving no sign of their passing.
"It's so dark out here." Daniel commented.
Nova reached into her pocket to withdraw her light, but Wen caught her hand.
"No! Don't do that." He cautioned, sounding strangely afraid of something.
"What? What's wrong?" Nova asked in a loud whisper.
"Don't do anything that might draw attention to any of you. There are predators in this jungle at night. If they catch your scent, they will hunt you down." Wen said.
"So how do we get back to our ship without being spotted by one of those things?" Nova asked, then wished she'd hadn't.
Without warning Wen smeared something that smelled worse than cow manure all over her face and bare hands. He did the same to Daniel who gagged at the smell.
"There is a better chance that they will leave you alone now." Wen put a hand on Daniel's shoulder, "Your wounds may pose a bit of a problem. They are too fresh. The animals can smell blood and if they catch a whiff of it, they will come for you, despite the… other smell on you. I will come with you back to your survey ship."
"Let's get going then. The sooner we get moving, the faster we can get out of this jungle." Nova declared, then looked back at Wen, "So…which way is our ship?"
This section of "Cure Seekers" was inspired by the song, "The Lord Is My Light" by Ron Hamilton. click here to listen.
Episode 46: Shadow of Death
Derek cautiously entered the old ship. He swept his helmeted head from side to side, making sure that he hadn't missed anything in his initial estimation.
So far, he didn't see anything out of the ordinary – at least, nothing more out of the ordinary than it should have been.
He slowly took a few steps farther in, giving his team room to come aboard.
He turned his headlamp towards one wall of the cargo hold.
He saw nothing but gray plating and a number of sealed, box-like containers. He was just about to turn around and look at the other side of the hold when one box caught his eye. Unlike the others, this one was… open?
"What's this?" he thought, stepping over to the box and leaning over it.
He reached out to touch the box. He couldn't feel it through the thick material of his suit's glove, but his sensors told him that it was something akin to glass. He picked up the box, looking for a lid. When he found none he studied the thing more closely.
In the light of his lamp he noticed a small panel set into what he assumed was the front of the box.
He touched it with the tip of one finger and nearly dropped it when suddenly the top of the box melted closed.
"Hey, Sandor, come look at this." Wildstar called the science officer over.
Derek held up the small box so that Sandor could see it.
"Watch this." Derek said, and touched the control panel again. This time, the lid disappeared, reforming itself around the rest of the box.
Sandor studied the thing thoughtfully, and then asked, "Was there anything in it when you picked it up?"
"Nope." Derek replied, turning the box upside down and shaking it just to make sure it was empty. "Nothing in it."
"Let me try something else." Sandor held out his hand and Derek passed him the odd box.
The XO stared hard at the thing for a few seconds, then announced, "They were here."
"How do you know that?" Derek asked, taking the box back and setting it in its place once again.
"Traces of the same materials used to make up our EVA suits are on that box. Unless there's someone else here with suits like ours, it has to be them – or at least, one of them." Sandor explained before turning and walking farther into the dark ship. A moment later he made a triumphant announcement, "Dust!"
"What about dust?" Derek asked, following the other man farther inside the ship.
Sandor was pointing at the ground near another door, this one circular instead of square. It opened, not from the right or left, or even from the top or bottom like a normal door might. Instead, this one opened from the center, swirling outward to open and inward to close.
"That's a weird door." Derek said without ceremony, "And whose footprints are those?" he pointed at the very thing Sandor was indicating.
"I can't say for sure, Wildstar, but they look like they could be Nova's. They're a lot smaller than ours, and the boot-print is just like the ones made by our suits."
"What would Nova be doing over here by this door?" Derek asked, "Do you think that Nova and Daniel are stuck on the other side of it?"
Sandor studied the door thoughtfully, then replied, "No… I don't think so. There's no evidence that this door has been opened for some time." He reached out and touched one of the plates that made up the strange door. He withdrew his gloved hand and held it out for Wildstar to see.
"Dust." Sandor repeated, "Just like the rest of this hold – all except for that box you found and the footprints on the –" The science officer stopped mid-sentence, eyes widening, "Everyone stop!" he exclaimed, turning back towards the entrance.
Thankfully most of the team was still near the entrance.
"Don't move." The XO instructed again, then he proceeded to stare at the ground around the door.
"Uh, Sandor, what's going on?" Derek asked, confused at the other man's actions.
"Hey, can we just leave now?" Henderson piped up, "This place is getting' kinda creepy."
"No." Sandor replied, eyes still turned downward, studying the floor.
As Derek watched, Sandor slowly took first one step, then another back towards the entrance.
Finally, he came to the place where Derek had picked up the empty box.
Sandor looked up, helmeted head turning back to look at Derek as he said, "Nova and Daniel were here, but they weren't alone."
"What?!" a chorus of confused fear rang through the radio until Wildstar broke into the melee saying, "Everyone be quiet!" then he addressed Sandor, "What do you mean, they weren't alone? Do you mean IQ-9 came in with them? How would he have gotten through such a narrow door?"
Sandor motioned for Derek to join him near the open box.
Wildstar complied and came, stepping carefully just as Sandor had, though he still didn't know why.
"IQ-9 never came into the hold." Sandor said, pointing down at the floor. "Look at this."
Derek looked down, but all he saw was a mess of disturbed dust. "Yeah, so they walked through here. So what?"
"They wouldn't have made this much of a disturbance." Sandor replied, "Look at all the moved dust. And look at the entrance. There aren't any tread marks at all anywhere in this hold. If IQ had come in, there would be at least some indicator that he'd stood near the entrance, whether or not he came any farther than that."
"But there's almost no dust right in front of the door." Derek replied.
"Exactly, Wildstar." Sandor replied, "The lack of dust in so many places indicates the presence of more than just our two crewmembers." Sandor turned his lamp back to the floor and began sweeping this way and that, as if looking for something. Suddenly he exclaimed, "There!" and pointed to an odd marking on the floor.
Derek looked where the other man pointed and saw… a shoeprint?
"What's that doing in here?" Derek asked, "And what's with the weird shape?"
Sandor shook his head and studied the mark for a moment before replying. "It's like a group of people – with some sort of modified shoes – came through here not long ago." He stopped to look up at Derek, "And did you notice the large mark on the floor near that second hatch? It looked like someone fell on the floor."
"Exactly what're you saying, Sandor?" Derek asked, eyes narrowing as he tried to make sense of the science officers' observations.
"I'm saying that I believe both Daniel and Nova were here, but they were taken by another group of people."
"You mean they were kidnapped?" Conroy suddenly interjected, "How're we going to find them now?"
Sandor held up a hand as the entire group started to express their trepidation, "Don't worry, I'm sure we can figure out which way they were taken. There are most likely tracks outside that we can follow, and if not, we always have the planes. We can do an aerial search in the morning if it comes to it." He looked at Wildstar, "Do you agree?"
"Oh – yes, that sounds like a descent plan." Derek replied, the surprise of the discovery still settling on his mind.
"Kidnapped…?" he thought, "Are they even still alive…?" The dark thought ran through him as he pictured his crewmates lying dead on the jungle floor somewhere, perhaps being picked at by the local scavengers. The thought made him feel a little sick, then he shook himself out of his morbid musings and made himself think more positively. Maybe they'd find Nova – and Rowland – soon and they would be fine. Maybe nothing bad had happened at all. Perhaps they'd run into some natives who were curious and had found a way to communicate with them. Maybe they'd been offered help finding food.
Derek took a deep breath. "Alright, everyone out of the ship. Don't go too far away from the door once you're out. We don't want to trample over any tracks that might be out there."
The group uttered their acceptance of his direction and hopped down into the tall grass one by one.
Finally, Wildstar, Sandor, and everyone else were back out in the cool night air.
Derek looked to Sandor for guidance, "How about you take the lead." He said to the XO. "I think you're the one who has the most experience with this sort of thing."
"Actually," Sandor looked back at the rest of the group and said, "Royster, I believe you are the foremost authority on tracking aboard the entire ship."
The short young man inched his way over to where Sandor stood. If he hadn't been wearing the EVA suit, Derek was sure that Royster's knees would have been literally knocking together.
"Just show us where to go." Derek offered, trying to give the guy just a little bit of confidence. "We'll all be right behind you."
"O – okay, r – right." Royster stuttered, then, with a little more encouragement from Sandor, the timid officer started examining the area, the XO staying within a few feet of him at all times.
Nova and Daniel, assisted by IQ-9, followed Wen through the thick jungle, trying as best as they could manage not to make any unnecessary sound. Wen's warning about predators still rang clearly in Nova's mind as they plodded on towards where the tribesman assured them their ship was.
What if they ran into some big reptile or carnivorous bird?
Wen hadn't been very specific about the types of predators that lived here, but Nova was sure that they had to be something at least akin to what they might have on Earth.
She kept walking, keeping her eyes on the ground so that she wouldn't trip on anything. Suddenly, just when she'd stepped over a giant tree root she ran right into Wen's back.
"Hey!" she whispered loudly and was instantly shushed by Wen.
The tribesman was looking around, wary, ears straining to catch the hint of some sound only he had heard.
Nova didn't say anything else. She stood utterly still, waiting for Wen to either move forward again, or warn them off in a different direction. Thus far, they had had to adjust their course several times to avoid what Nova assumed were animals.
Nova heard something break through the thick silence. She didn't know right away what it was, but when she figured it out, it chilled her.
"People!" she whispered just loud enough for Wen to hear her.
"Yes." He whispered back. "My people hunt at night sometimes. It sounds like one of the parties is in trouble."
A wail of fear tore through the night and Wen's head jerked towards the sound. "I have to help them! Stay here. I will return for you."
"Wait, Wen! No! I'm coming with you!" Nova called after him, motioning for IQ-9 to follow her as well as he could. The robot scooped up Daniel and travelled as fast as his treads would carry him, following Nova who determinedly trailed Wen.
It was less than a minute before the tribesman and Lieutenant broke into a small clearing.
Nova's eyes widened when she saw the devastation laid out before her. A group of maybe ten men, wearing knee length, brown tunics were fighting with at least five giant, black cats. The animals' eyes glowed with angry fire as they swiped at the faces, and bare arms and legs of their attackers. Each cat was easily the size of a polar bear and their teeth just as sharp as any blade Nova had ever seen. Their claws flashed wickedly in the moonlight.
"What's going on?" Nova called to Wen who was just about to join the fray.
"Leave! They'll see you! You aren't safe here!" he tried to make her leave, turning around and pushing her back into the undergrowth that surrounded the area. "The cats come when they think they can get an easy kill. I have to help my people!"
"I'm helping too! Find me something to fight with!" Nova shouted over the noise of battle.
"Why are you doing this?" Wen asked.
"Because you saved us. The least I can do is help you." She replied, "Let me do this."
Wen grudgingly accepted her help and quickly found two sharpened poles lying nearby. They probably belonged to the two dead men lying several feet away. The sight saddened the woman as she imagined their families receiving the news of their deaths. Then, setting her sadness aside, and brandishing her new weapon, she and Wen charged into the fight, fending off the beasts as well as they could.
"If only I had my pistol." Nova thought, as she dashed through the clearing and engaged one giant cat who had two tribesmen cornered against a boulder. Wen joined her a moment later.
They got the cat's attention, distracting him from his intended prey. The two men they'd saved flew upon the feline with a vengeance, taking it down quickly with Wen and Nova's help.
The tribesmen looked at Nova's bright yellow clothes, brown-smeared face and blonde hair oddly, but when Wen placed a hand on her shoulder and nodded to the other two, the men gave her a nod of appreciation and seemed to accept her into their group.
The battle wore on for some time until, finally, the beasts were routed and the three living cats sped off into the jungle, yelping as they went.
The danger now over, Nova turned clandestinely to Wen, "I think we should get out of here as quickly as we can." She whispered. "They're bound to figure out that something's not right."
"I agree." Wen replied, silently slipping away from the other tribesmen. He and Nova, still holding on to the spear-like weapons, disappeared back into the trees and met up with IQ and Daniel who were still waiting for them right where Nova had left them, just outside the clearing.
"Come on, let's get out of here." Nova whispered to IQ-9, who followed her and Wen as they wove their way back into the jungle, heading once more towards their ship.
Once they were far enough out of ear-shot of the wounded tribesman, Daniel said to Nova, "Didn't know you knew how to fight with something like that." He indicated the wooden pole.
"I don't." she replied, "But I couldn't just stand by and watch them die if I could do something to help."
"I thank you." Wen said to Nova, "It would have been much harder without you. I have no doubt that, though they did not know who you were, they were very happy to have you on their side."
"What will they do with the dead cats?" Nova asked.
"We make use of everything we can in this jungle. Those two cats will provide us with several coats or blankets, not to mention the sheer amount of meat that each one will give us. They are beautiful creatures, and I am sorry that we had to kill them, but sometimes there is no other choice."
Nova nodded sadly, "I know… I wish we never had to make that choice – to kill or to die…" she felt tears start to well up in her eyes as the face of the Gamilon pilot, Melda, sprang unbidden into her mind, "If only there were another way that didn't involve killing them…" she thought about all the things that she'd learned from Melda about the Gamilon people. "If only things were different…"
She followed Wen in silence for a long time, listening to the night-song of the insects and other nocturnal creatures all around her. Every once in a while she turned around to make sure that IQ-9 was still there, carrying Daniel, who looked like he'd fallen asleep.
Once, she looked back and nearly fell over Wen again as he stopped right in front of her, just like he had before.
Nova needed no shushing this time. She listened, straining her ears, trying to hear whatever Wen had heard.
Everything around them was dead quiet.
Her heart dropped into her throat as she realized something was very wrong.
A giant shadow whisked across her vision and she whirled towards the phantom, spear at the ready.
Nothing.
Wen too turned towards something – maybe he'd seen a shadow too.
The armed man and woman quietly slipped into place, one in front of IQ and Daniel, and the other behind them.
They stood as still as they could manage, both hoping that Daniel didn't wake up while they were trapped here.
"They're out there…" Nova thought, gripping the spear just a little bit tighter, "But why did they follow us?" She slid her hands a bit farther down the spear, getting a better grip on it. Both of her hands stuck to the wood and she had to pry them off of it before she could move them.
"Why…?" She looked down at her hands. They were dark, still covered in whatever Wen had smeared on them before they'd set out, but whatever it was, it hadn't been sticky before.
Nova peeled one hand off of the spear again and raised it to her nose. She hesitantly took a whiff.
"Blood..." The thought sent a jolt of fear through her. "I still have the other cats' blood on my hands, and who knows where else." She returned her hand to her weapon and gripped it firmly, waiting, listening.
Another shadow passed by, not ten feet away. In the dark, it could have been anything, but Nova knew deep down that it had to be one of the three cats from the hunting party. She could feel the growing malice in the air as it swirled around her, reaching out to strangle her in the dark.
She strained to see farther than three feet in front of her. The jungle here was so dense that even the light of the moon struggled to fight its way through the thick canopy above.
She glanced upward, hoping that somehow the light might find its way through, even for just a moment so that she could see their pursuers.
Just when she moved her eyes, she knew she'd made a mistake.
The air changed in an instant and three enraged roars tore through the night.
Nova braced herself for the impact of the assailant she couldn't see, but just when she thought she would die at the claws of an angry predator, a shriek ripped through the air, making Nova's ears feel like they would explode.
She screamed in pain and fell to the ground, instinctively covering her tortured ears.
She regretted the action instantly as a heavy, fur-covered body slammed into her.