It was hard not to watch Axtin as he dove headfirst into battle. For someone so huge, he moved with an unexpected grace as he fought. He took down that first Xathi like it was nothing. He was so in his element. So…himself. Mesmerizing. I was once again reminded of how grateful I should be that Axtin and the others were on our side. I would hate to go against him on the battlefield.

I skittered around the edge of the clearing, using the pink smoke from the grenades to my advantage. I was glad I’d gone with that color. It was harder to see through as opposed to regular smoke. And if I was going to be in the business of weapon development, I was going to stand out. Nothing wrong with a little marketing.

I forced myself to look away from Axtin. From what I’d already seen, he could clearly handle himself. I had to trust that he would do his part.

The people were being held in a pen that looked like braided and twisted wire, but wicked-looking razors punctuated each length. There were perhaps a hundred or so people in total, all trying to push themselves as far away from the Xathi as possible.

For the most part, it didn’t look like anyone was seriously injured. There was a woman in the center of it all, trying her best to comfort and calm the frantic crowd without being too loud. Several children clung to her legs, though none of them looked biologically hers.

She was older than me, I think. But not very. Her hair was strikingly white against her sun-tanned skin. Her blue eyes showed worry though a smile was fixed on her face. She was quickly whispering to someone else while rubbing the back of a crying child. Whoever she was, she was in charge. Or, at least, she was before the Xathi showed up.

Taking advantage of the Xathi distraction, I examined the pen, frowning. If I touched it, it would slice me apart. But between two panels there was a narrow gap, maybe, just maybe enough. I slid off my overshirt and used it to tie one wire back, just a bit more.

Almost...

Maybe it was a good thing I’d been too worried to eat recently.

As it was, I barely made it through the gap before the wire cut free of the restraint, a whisper of space behind me. Quietly, I wove between the panicked throng of captives. No one noticed me except the woman.

“Who are you?” she demanded, her eyes narrowing with suspicion.

“I’m with the guy currently pounding the Xathi into the dirt,” I said with a smile, trying to seem as non-threatening as possible.

“The alien,” she said, looking skeptical.

“Yes. He and others are here to fight the Xathi. They rescued me and my sister when the Xathi first fell through the rift,” I explained. “My name is Leena Dewitt.”

“Vidia,” the women said. I assumed she was purposefully leaving out her last name. “Can that alien really kill the Xathi?”

“Axtin. His name is Axtin,” I said with a small smile. “And, yes, he can. He’s taken down scores of those monsters. Believe me, it’s good to have him on your side. If it wasn’t for him, I would be dead three times over.”

“You speak highly of the alien,” she said, giving me a look of appraisal. “Why were you out in the forest at a time like this?”

“We’d just come from Duvest,” I explained. I wasn’t sure how much I should tell her, but I needed her to trust me if I was ever going to get everyone out of here. I decided that full disclosure was the best option. “We’ve been working with a team to develop weapons against the Xathi. Axtin and I were delivering prototypes to Fraga when we heard screaming.”

A deep sadness filled her eyes for a brief moment, then it was gone.

“Can you get them out? We’ve tried before, but they just keep catching us, herding us back.” Vidia gestured to the panicked people around her.

“That’s why Axtin’s fighting,” I said. “He’s buying us time. I’ll get the gate. You tell everyone to go as quickly and quietly to the east, where the jungle is thickest. Axtin is going to meet us when the Xathi are dead.”

“He can truly kill that many?” Vidia asked, her eyes widening. If I didn’t know better, I’d say she looked impressed.

“Absolutely,” I beamed, hoping the doubt didn’t show in my voice. Axtin was a strong, powerful, and talented warrior, but he was extremely outnumbered.

Vidia gave me a nod, and I quickly made my way back through the swarm of frightened civilians. I surveyed the pen. It had been quickly constructed from barbed wire braided together. Just touching it with my hands would tear off my flesh.

But what I did have was a surgical laser that I’d grabbed at the last minute aboard the Vengeance. I’d thought I’d need it for vines, not barbed wire and steel.

The laser worked just as well as if it had been used on vines. Before long, I’d weakened a section of the fencing and sliced away enough of the blades to make a small handhold. I gestured for the man next to me to hold it into place while I moved to the next joint. A small gap would slow us down, thin us out. We needed something larger. Much larger.

Vidia was quickly going around from person to person, whispering the plan to them. Children trailed behind her, their eyes wide and shining with fear. My heart broke for them.

One by one, more people looked to me with a sense of hope and understanding. They moved closer as I worked at the strands holding the pen together. There was a gate to the pen, but if we went through it, we would be running right into the thick of the fight between the Xathi and Axtin.

“Vidia, you’ve lost your mind!” A man’s voice said abruptly. I quickly looked towards the clouds of pink smoke, hoping the man hadn’t alerted the Xathi.

“Lower your voice this instant, you fool,” I heard Vidia hiss. She was standing toe to toe with a man several inches taller, and at least fifty pounds heavier. He looked angry, but not as angry as Vidia.

“I’m ‘the fool?’ You want us to go with an alien!” He was still very agitated, but, at least, he’d lowered his voice. He jabbed a finger at me. “How do you know she isn’t working for them? We could be walking into a trap!”

“We’re already in a trap, Anton,” Vidia sighed.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I muttered. I tucked the cutter away, and strode over to Vidia and the angry man, Anton.

“If you really want to take your chances with the Xathi, I’ll happily leave you here,” I snapped in a harsh whisper. “But I know exactly what they will do to you if you don’t come with me. If the Xathi take you to their ship, you will spend the rest of your brief time on this planet wishing you’d never been born.”

Anton paled several shades. Of course, I didn’t know exactly what happened to humans once they were put on a Xathi ship. But I did know that those who went in never came back out. Axtin had mentioned something about the Xathi using people as resources. I didn’t know exactly what that meant, but I never wanted to find out.

“Anton, do not allow your fears to put us all in greater danger,” Vidia said, her voice softer, almost motherly. Anton sighed deeply, before nodding. Vidia turned to me.

“I apologize for Anton,” she said. I could tell she was being genuine. “We’ve all been through so much, and…" I held up a hand to stop her.

“Say no more,” I said. “I completely understand. It took me a while to warm up to the idea of aliens as allies as well. But Axtin and the others are here to help us.” Vidia nodded.

Several people held the side of the pen in place, waiting for my signal. I looked toward the dissipating clouds of pink smoke. We didn’t have much time. I was hoping for a glimpse of Axtin, but I didn’t see him. I did, however, hear the sickening sound of something heavy shattering the Xathi’s crystalline body. I took that as a good sign.

“On my signal,” I said as loudly as I dared, “drop the fence, and run to the east. Try to stay together if you can. Be aware of your surroundings at all times.” There were so many ways this could go wrong, but I forced myself not to think about it. My control over this situation was minimal. I simply had to do the best I could.

“Ready?”

They nodded.

“Go!” They dropped the fence segment, and everyone bolted through the gap. It was chaos. Vidia secured herself a spot near the front of the stampede, so that she could direct everyone and keep them all together as best as possible. I hung back. I wanted to be the last one out. Partly to make sure everyone had a chance to escape, and partly because of Axtin. I know we agreed to meet when the dust settled, but I would feel better if he escaped with us.

A small scream from somewhere ahead of me grabbed my attention. A little girl had lost her footing and had fallen. The fleeing survivors were so panicked that not a single one stopped to help her. Most had managed to avoid stepping on her, but not everyone. The little girl curled up in a ball, paralyzed with fear. I glanced back once more looking for Axtin before dashing towards the little girl.

I shoved a fleeing adult to the side to ensure he didn’t trample the child. He was in such a state that I don’t think he noticed he’d been shoved. I crouched down by the little girl, and gently touched her back. Her arms were covered in small scrapes from landing hard on the forest floor. There were twigs, dead leaves, and dirt clumps caught in her long dark hair.

“You’re okay, you’re okay,” I whispered to her. She peeked up at me, one dark eye shiny with tears. “You’re going to get out of here. I promise. Okay?” She nodded. I bent down closer to her. “I need you to put your arms around my neck. Can you do that for me, little one?” She nodded again, before raising her thin arms and wrapping them around me.

I maneuvered one of my arms under her knees, and the other around her back. “What’s your name, sweetie?”

“Calixta,” she whispered.

“Pretty name. Alright, Calixta, are you ready?”

She nodded once more and I lifted her and took off running. She cried quietly, but I think it was more out of fear than pain. We ran together into the thickest part of the forest. Every so often, I would catch a glimpse of another survivor running. I listened for signs of the Xathi coming after us, but didn’t hear anything.

Twenty minutes passed before I found Vidia and the majority of the survivors.

“Are you missing anyone?” I asked, my lungs burning.

“A few,” Vidia said grimly. “Some probably ran in the wrong direction, or ran too far.”

“Hopefully, they’ll find their way back to us,” I said, though it sounded weak. Vidia nodded.

“What about your alien?” she asked.

“I’m going to send our location to his nav unit,” I said. I thought about correcting her when she said my alien, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I sort of liked the way it sounded. “Which means I’ve got to put you down for a second, okay?” I said gently to the little girl. She shook her head vehemently.

“A friend of mine is going to come help us,” I explained. “But I have to tell him where we are first. I’ll pick you right back up as soon as I do that. I promise.” The little girl pulled back to look at my face. I almost gasped. At first, she looked just like the child depicted in the hologram lure. But, after the surprise wore off, I noticed several differences in the shape of her face and size. This was a different child. The other child was probably dead.

After scanning my face for a few moments, she nodded in agreement. I set her down gently. She immediately wrapped her arms around my waist and held on tightly. I smiled a little as I fished the nav unit out of my back pocket. I sent Axtin my coordinates, and picked the little girl back up.

“Now what?” Vidia asked.

“We wait,” I replied.

From somewhere behind me, the plantlife snapped and rustled. Something big stalked through the forest, and it sounded like it was headed right toward us.