pressed in. Scouting on the Eastern ridges of Tyver a month earlier, looking for the rich vein of vientamite the Explorer Scope had told them was there.
She had been the one to find the body, the bones picked clean. More. She’d reached out and touched the skeleton and it was dry and brittle. Like it had been drained a hundred years ago instead of days before. Because that’s what the Hunter Gatherers did. It was not enough to kill. They sucked the body clean. The marrow, the blood, the cells. They fed on the warmth, used it to survive on this cold planet. They mined life itself.
She’d known how it worked. She’d seen it in the logs. But to see it up close had been another thing altogether.
She looked through the scope again and watched as the figure struggled to get up. Even if she could get to him, how could she get him up here with her before the Hunter Gatherers came? He was badly injured. Her mind scrabbled for solutions other than lying here in this icy cave and watching him die. Die like that skeleton had died, alone and wholly consumed. She stuffed the scope back in the bag and as she did her fingers grazed the medpack.
Narcan.
It might be enough. It would certainly get him moving for an hour or so.
But could she get to him in time?
As she fingered the cylinder inside the pack, the transmitter buzzed.
Don’t do it, Tab.
Symon.
She hesitated, her finger hovering over the responder pad.
It buzzed again.
You’re a scientist. We need you.
Another buzz.
Fuck that, I need you.
She pressed her fingers over the unit in rapid deception.
Don’t stress, little brother. I never liked Avengers that much. Arrogant flyboys. Then: Signing off now to conserve battery life. I need to guide the rescue pod in when they get here.
She was pressing her finger down on the exit button when the receiver buzzed again.
If I lose you too, I really will be an orphan.
Tabi rolled her eyes. Blatant appeal to her protective instincts. She grabbed the scope again and checked on the survivor. Now there was someone who needed her protection.
She responded to Symon quickly. Get back to the controls, nerd. I’ll see you in a couple of hours.
Tabi stepped lightly across the ground. Already she could feel the tiny vibrations fibrillating the snow beneath her feet as the Hunters moved towards the craft. They were minutes away, and they would come quicker now. They could feel her footfalls on the snow, just like they had felt this most recent crash.
She dashed, low and fluid, to the patch of snow where the Avenger in his red suit lay. He was still wearing his helmet, so it was impossible to tell if she’d seen him before, but he was enormous against the blank canvas of the snow. Tabi crossed her fingers that the slim vial of Narcan would do the trick. She was strong, but there was no way she was going to be able to heft him up the cliff.
She knelt beside him and put her face to his mask. It was misted over, but she could make out breathing through his aspirator. It was coming in short, laboured bursts, with a tell-tale crackle at the end of each inhalation. Tyverian barbs. That’s what had brought his ship down.
And they were killing him.
She grasped the Narcan firmly, held the syringe high above her head and drove it hard and fast into the centre of his chest, to ensure she punctured suit, clothing and skin and got to his heart.
One one thousand, two one thousand, three one thousand.
The Avenger sat up like a cartoon robot and babbled incoherently as he tore at his mask. Tabi tried to hold his arms but, even messy with the after effects of barbs and Narcan, this Avenger was strong.
He settled a little and pulled at his helmet, ripping it from his head and throwing it into the snow. He took long, hungry gulps of sweet Tyver oxygen just as all of Tabi’s breath whooshed from her lungs.
Oh no.
“You.” The word was wrenched from the deepest, most secret place inside her. It burned her throat as it made its bitter way
She had been the one to find the body, the bones picked clean. More. She’d reached out and touched the skeleton and it was dry and brittle. Like it had been drained a hundred years ago instead of days before. Because that’s what the Hunter Gatherers did. It was not enough to kill. They sucked the body clean. The marrow, the blood, the cells. They fed on the warmth, used it to survive on this cold planet. They mined life itself.
She’d known how it worked. She’d seen it in the logs. But to see it up close had been another thing altogether.
She looked through the scope again and watched as the figure struggled to get up. Even if she could get to him, how could she get him up here with her before the Hunter Gatherers came? He was badly injured. Her mind scrabbled for solutions other than lying here in this icy cave and watching him die. Die like that skeleton had died, alone and wholly consumed. She stuffed the scope back in the bag and as she did her fingers grazed the medpack.
Narcan.
It might be enough. It would certainly get him moving for an hour or so.
But could she get to him in time?
As she fingered the cylinder inside the pack, the transmitter buzzed.
Don’t do it, Tab.
Symon.
She hesitated, her finger hovering over the responder pad.
It buzzed again.
You’re a scientist. We need you.
Another buzz.
Fuck that, I need you.
She pressed her fingers over the unit in rapid deception.
Don’t stress, little brother. I never liked Avengers that much. Arrogant flyboys. Then: Signing off now to conserve battery life. I need to guide the rescue pod in when they get here.
She was pressing her finger down on the exit button when the receiver buzzed again.
If I lose you too, I really will be an orphan.
Tabi rolled her eyes. Blatant appeal to her protective instincts. She grabbed the scope again and checked on the survivor. Now there was someone who needed her protection.
She responded to Symon quickly. Get back to the controls, nerd. I’ll see you in a couple of hours.
Tabi stepped lightly across the ground. Already she could feel the tiny vibrations fibrillating the snow beneath her feet as the Hunters moved towards the craft. They were minutes away, and they would come quicker now. They could feel her footfalls on the snow, just like they had felt this most recent crash.
She dashed, low and fluid, to the patch of snow where the Avenger in his red suit lay. He was still wearing his helmet, so it was impossible to tell if she’d seen him before, but he was enormous against the blank canvas of the snow. Tabi crossed her fingers that the slim vial of Narcan would do the trick. She was strong, but there was no way she was going to be able to heft him up the cliff.
She knelt beside him and put her face to his mask. It was misted over, but she could make out breathing through his aspirator. It was coming in short, laboured bursts, with a tell-tale crackle at the end of each inhalation. Tyverian barbs. That’s what had brought his ship down.
And they were killing him.
She grasped the Narcan firmly, held the syringe high above her head and drove it hard and fast into the centre of his chest, to ensure she punctured suit, clothing and skin and got to his heart.
One one thousand, two one thousand, three one thousand.
The Avenger sat up like a cartoon robot and babbled incoherently as he tore at his mask. Tabi tried to hold his arms but, even messy with the after effects of barbs and Narcan, this Avenger was strong.
He settled a little and pulled at his helmet, ripping it from his head and throwing it into the snow. He took long, hungry gulps of sweet Tyver oxygen just as all of Tabi’s breath whooshed from her lungs.
Oh no.
“You.” The word was wrenched from the deepest, most secret place inside her. It burned her throat as it made its bitter way
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