Lucinda

 

She needed water but wasn’t about to ask Halliday. Her red and raw eyes stung in the sunlight and her lips cracked. All she could focus on was her parched throat and how it hurt when she swallowed.

Hours passed. Maybe. Lucie had a hard time keeping track of time with the pounding in her head and her ankle smarting with every step.

The sun rose and warmed the air, but the shadows under the trees remained chilly. Lucie’s thin scrubs, ripped and torn, provided no protection against the environment. She wasn’t worried about the cold. She felt too warm, actually, like she was running a low grade fever. Her body was dehydrated and every step made her thirstier and warmer. She should be marveling at the wonders of an alien world, but all she could think about was thirst.

So far her forced march exploration of the alien planet revealed that trees were trees and grass was grass. The animals, though, those were different. They scurried away and darted under cover, but Lucie could sense animal eyes on her and something else. Something big. Dangerous. Hungry.

Halliday kept them moving towards the mountain and did not venture far into the forest. Still, she felt the hungry eyes on her.

Finally, Halliday left the tree line and headed towards the river. Crouching at the edge of the riverbank, he fished out two water bottles. He drained the contents of one in a big display.

Lucie stared, eyes riveted on his swallowing throat and licking her parched lips.

“See if the water is good, Lucky,” he said, wiping the back of his hand across his wet mouth.

Lucie fell to her knee in thanks, scooping up water before she could worry about alien bacteria. Dysentery would suck, but she’d take her chances. The water evaporated quickly off her feverish hands. She wanted to dunk her entire self in the water and let the coolness take the edge off her heated skin.

Soot and grime steamed off her hands when she plunged them into the cool, clear water. She carefully unwrapped the bandages before rubbing her hands together, trying to clean as best as she could without soap. Being this close to relief from her thirst was torture but she had to be patient. Gulping down water with unknown bacteria would be bad enough. She didn’t need to ingest a lifetime’s worth of dirt and carcinogens.

“Just drink already, Lucky. Stop being such a stuck-up bitch.” Halliday gave her an impatient shove with his boot, not forceful enough to knock her flat in the water but enough to piss her off. She was the test subject and he wouldn’t drink until she proved the water safe.

“Well, this feels like water.”

“What else would it be?”

“Acid.”

“Drink.” Another prod, this one more forceful.

Lucie swallowed her retort that she wouldn’t know for hours if the water was safe. Halliday didn’t care. He just wanted to know if the water would hurt them immediately. If the water gave them both dysentery, she wanted him to suffer with her.

Bending down, she scooped up a handful of the water to her lips. The water was cool and just a bit sweet, surprisingly. Not bitter or salty or fishy. “It’s fine,” she said.

Halliday refilled the bottles and drank, over exaggerating every swallow.

Lucie ignored him, content to sip one handful of water at a time. Mud soaked through her pants but she couldn’t possibly get any filthier. Once she took the edge off her thirst, she’d rinse away the worst of the soot and blood. Especially the blood.

A small, cautious part of her worried that predators in the river could be drawn to her blood, but the same cautious nature also knew that predators in the forest would be drawn to her if she didn’t rinse away the blood. Damned if she did, damned if she didn’t.

Large insects darted along the water. They hovered briefly, golden wings flapping, as if inspecting her.

Lucie slowly extended a hand, bright scarlet beads of blood on her palm. Now able to get a good look at the creatures, she could see there were more bird-like than insects, but that was generous. They were lizards with wings and plumage with large black eyes and teeth that went on forever. Long, curved claws extended from their feet, good for clutching tree branches or plucking fish out of rivers. They were small, though, no bigger than her fist, and beautiful, their golden wings catching the sunlight. What was the purpose of those wings? They were hardly inconspicuous; attention grabbing even. Maybe to dazzle their watery prey? Fishing lures on Earth were bright and shiny for the same reason, not that she spent much time fishing.

“Don’t foul your water supply,” Halliday said. “Even animals know not to do that.”

She ignored his taunts but drew her hand back, plunging it back in for another drink. “I thought you said you were going to let me go.”

“You think that just because we’re on another world you’re somehow absolved of your crimes? Did those sixteen people come back to life when we crashed?”

Lucie flinched at his words. Crashed spaceship and alien planet aside, nothing had changed. She was still a prisoner and those people weighed on her soul. “So you lied to me when you said you’d let me go?”

Halliday crouched down next to her, arms relaxed over his knees. His posture made her nervous. “No, Lucky. I was going to let you go. I expected you to have about an hour’s freedom before the police picked you up again. A girl like you doesn’t have any survival instincts. Look at you, sitting in the mud, drinking dirty water. It’s pathetic. You barely survived prison and you won’t survive this wilderness.”

“Can I at least have a water bottle?” She realized her mistake as soon as the words left her mouth. Never ask Halliday for a favor, for anything, as it showed weakness and he preyed on the weak.

“I don’t think so.” Quicker than she could avoid, he grabbed the back of her head, pulling harshly on her hair. “You seemed just fine drinking out of the river like an animal. Go ahead, Lucky, have another drink.”

He pushed her forward, driving her face into the water. She slapped at the surface, trying to find something—anything—to push back, to save herself.

Roughly he yanked her back. She gasped, river water trickling down her nose and the back of her throat. “Still thirsty? Drink up.” He pushed her back again, adding all his weight to pin her down.

Lucie clawed at the water, struggling to hold her breath and failing. He was going to kill her. He always promised he would but there had been enough semblance of law and order on the Concord to keep him from straight up murdering her. Now, there were no consequences, no law and order. Only survival.

“Stupid beasts. Get off!” Halliday released her to swat at the tiny bird-creatures as they battered themselves at him, claws tangling in his hair and raking against his face. One squealed, far louder than a tiny creature had a right to.

Something much larger answered from the forest.

Lucie had exactly three heartbeats to decide to flee or curl up in a ball before a massive beast crashed through the trees. It was greyish-white and had far too many—six!—legs, thick hide and muscles rippled with each land-devouring stride, and snatches of scarlet coloration peeked out, and it was pissed. Lucie was barely able to form a coherent thought and that thought was, “It’s a dinosaur. A dinosaur. A—”

And it was headed directly for Halliday.

Correction: it was headed directly towards them.

Something large and heavy knocked her back into the water and mud.

 

Ertale

 

Of course the goldwing’s cries summoned an ak’rena and, of course, the ak’rena headed straight towards the little female. The Shaper’s plan worked too well.

Ertale moved on instinct, a thousand years’ worth of neglected protocols screamed for him to protect the female Creator, or who he assumed to be the female. The larger, aggressive Creator ran.

The ak’rena swayed in a moment’s indecision, wedge-shaped head bobbing on a long neck. He could chase and run down the male. The creature’s blood yearned for the chase. Or he could feast on the small female now.

Ertale didn’t give the creature the opportunity to choose. He covered the female with his body, his plate armor shifting to form an impenetrable shield. The ak’rena could claw and bite and never harm the delicate female inside.

His heavy form pressed over hers. There was little doubt this one was female. He felt the soft fullness of her breasts and hips. It was… intriguing. He suspected he would feel desire if the heartstone had not hollowed him out. He had never had a mate, but he remembered the females of his tribe. They shared the same compelling characteristics.

The female Creator stared up at him, outrage in her eyes. It was not his place to feel intrigued or compelled by the creator. She would be well within her rights to destroy him.

The air crackled with static and electricity, as just before a storm, and fire encased them.