till there were some babies born back in Treetown.”
“ Babies? How long have you been here?”
“ Three years maybe? Easy to lose track of time, no real seasons where we’re at and the days kinda turn into one another. Some lawyer lady that survived the research station said the kids were natives and as long as no intelligent life was found, they owned the planet by TCS law.”
Else clipped her knife back into its sheath and wiped more of the blood from her view plate. “I still need to find my unit, I had ‘em on my radio a little bit ago, but my suit’s out of power, I need to recharge it.”
Tarn laughed. “Don’t bother, it’s beat to hell and even if it would work, it won’t last long.”
“ Why not? Each part is independent and modular.”
He shrugged. “Suit yourself, but I’m telling you technology don’t last long here. Otherwise why’d you ditch your gun?”
She turned to see where the broken weapon lay on the ground. A black spot on the side of it showed where the ruptured energy cell had destroyed the weapon. Faulty power packs weren’t uncommon, but she hadn’t heard of one bursting into flame in decades.
“ My team will wait for me.”
“ There’s something up there that you don’t want no part of. If Kira and Fiona can rescue them, they will. Otherwise we’d best stay clear of it.”
“ Fiona?” Elsa mused. The name was familiar. She went through the names of the researchers assigned to the outpost but came up blank.
“ Fiona Kate, Lance Corporal,” Tarn said. “She was part of the Marine force assigned to defend the research outpost. Ain’t much defending to be done against a Megasaur though. Like I said, only a handful survived.”
“ What’s so bad up there, the Megasaur? And is that what these were, baby ones?”
“ Naw, this are just screechers. The adults get a little over 20 feet tall. A Megasaur is damn near twice that.”
She turned to stare at the dead screechers. They were toddlers then, each around six or seven feet tall. She shook her head. “They’re Marines, they’ll find a way and they’ll wait.”
Tarn sighed. “Fine, let’s go.” He glanced behind him. “Can’t believe their momma left them alone this long. Unless maybe daddy got eaten by something bigger.”
She stared at him. Something bigger like the Megasaur, she wondered. She had a lot of questions but if Tarn was right, time and distance were more important. “If something’s bigger than daddy, I really don’t want to meet it.”
“ Momma’s bigger than daddy, and you’re right, you don’t want to meet her. The female of the species on this rock are bigger and meaner than the males.”
She’d read about some animals in Terran history being like that. Some societies had been matriarchal as well. Among her team she might have made a joke about penis envy, but with Tarn, an unknown man who looked like he could have wrestled one of the screechers into submission, she stayed silent. “Lead the way, Tarzan.”
Tarn chuckled before turning and heading deeper into the ravine.
Chapter 13
“ So why’d you come after me? And why didn’t you show up a little quicker, I had a few close calls!”
“ I didn’t have no power armor to help me climb that cliff.” Tarn tested a couple of rocks where the two walls of the ravine came together. It was angled harshly but enough broken rubble remained to allow hand and foot holds. “I killed that baby screecher you stunned with your ULF grenade.”
She’d thought the grenade had finished the screecher off, she’d been too busy to check on it. A glance at the spear he’d slung across his back with a piece of rope showed a few darker blood stains on the barbed point, confirming his claim.
Her broken arm ached where she held it against her side. There were several purplish spots on it from the bruises caused by the screecher and the near compound fracture. “How’d you get up the cliff?”
“ There’s a
“ Babies? How long have you been here?”
“ Three years maybe? Easy to lose track of time, no real seasons where we’re at and the days kinda turn into one another. Some lawyer lady that survived the research station said the kids were natives and as long as no intelligent life was found, they owned the planet by TCS law.”
Else clipped her knife back into its sheath and wiped more of the blood from her view plate. “I still need to find my unit, I had ‘em on my radio a little bit ago, but my suit’s out of power, I need to recharge it.”
Tarn laughed. “Don’t bother, it’s beat to hell and even if it would work, it won’t last long.”
“ Why not? Each part is independent and modular.”
He shrugged. “Suit yourself, but I’m telling you technology don’t last long here. Otherwise why’d you ditch your gun?”
She turned to see where the broken weapon lay on the ground. A black spot on the side of it showed where the ruptured energy cell had destroyed the weapon. Faulty power packs weren’t uncommon, but she hadn’t heard of one bursting into flame in decades.
“ My team will wait for me.”
“ There’s something up there that you don’t want no part of. If Kira and Fiona can rescue them, they will. Otherwise we’d best stay clear of it.”
“ Fiona?” Elsa mused. The name was familiar. She went through the names of the researchers assigned to the outpost but came up blank.
“ Fiona Kate, Lance Corporal,” Tarn said. “She was part of the Marine force assigned to defend the research outpost. Ain’t much defending to be done against a Megasaur though. Like I said, only a handful survived.”
“ What’s so bad up there, the Megasaur? And is that what these were, baby ones?”
“ Naw, this are just screechers. The adults get a little over 20 feet tall. A Megasaur is damn near twice that.”
She turned to stare at the dead screechers. They were toddlers then, each around six or seven feet tall. She shook her head. “They’re Marines, they’ll find a way and they’ll wait.”
Tarn sighed. “Fine, let’s go.” He glanced behind him. “Can’t believe their momma left them alone this long. Unless maybe daddy got eaten by something bigger.”
She stared at him. Something bigger like the Megasaur, she wondered. She had a lot of questions but if Tarn was right, time and distance were more important. “If something’s bigger than daddy, I really don’t want to meet it.”
“ Momma’s bigger than daddy, and you’re right, you don’t want to meet her. The female of the species on this rock are bigger and meaner than the males.”
She’d read about some animals in Terran history being like that. Some societies had been matriarchal as well. Among her team she might have made a joke about penis envy, but with Tarn, an unknown man who looked like he could have wrestled one of the screechers into submission, she stayed silent. “Lead the way, Tarzan.”
Tarn chuckled before turning and heading deeper into the ravine.
Chapter 13
“ So why’d you come after me? And why didn’t you show up a little quicker, I had a few close calls!”
“ I didn’t have no power armor to help me climb that cliff.” Tarn tested a couple of rocks where the two walls of the ravine came together. It was angled harshly but enough broken rubble remained to allow hand and foot holds. “I killed that baby screecher you stunned with your ULF grenade.”
She’d thought the grenade had finished the screecher off, she’d been too busy to check on it. A glance at the spear he’d slung across his back with a piece of rope showed a few darker blood stains on the barbed point, confirming his claim.
Her broken arm ached where she held it against her side. There were several purplish spots on it from the bruises caused by the screecher and the near compound fracture. “How’d you get up the cliff?”
“ There’s a
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