Title: Shore Leave
Author: Anna McLain
Rated: G
Disclaimer: Andromeda and its characters are the property of Majel Barrett Roddenberry and Tribune Entertainment. The author is making no money from this work.
Archive: Yes, just let me know where and please keep my name attached to it.
Feedback: Please? Pretty please? I love detailed constructive criticism. Thank you kindly for taking the time to read this. Thank you for any comments.
Note: This is a vignette that woke me up this morning. It has not been beta read.
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SHORE LEAVE
By Anna McLain
"I can't believe this is your idea of relaxation. I mean, sheesh, I saw some be-u-tee-ful beaches as we landed, jam packed, I'm sure, with gorgeous women. And where are we? Sweating, getting the daylights bit outta us by who knows what kinda bugs, hunting something that could turn around and maim us."
"Harper, if you don't be quiet I'm going to maim you," Dylan Hunt glanced over his shoulder at his diminutive ship's engineer. "You're scaring away the picachoo."
"Yeah." Harper scoffed, switching his Viaaz rifle from one shoulder to the other. "So, what're you gonna do with this little piggy if we find and off it?"
"Barbecue."
"What, sandwiches?"
Dylan stopped stalking through the dense palm fronds so abruptly that Harper bumped into him. Dylan held up one finger, indicating silence.
Harper rolled his eyes and peered around him. Palm fronds waved at him. Bugs buzzed and distantly the ocean beckoned. Then he noticed a soft sound, growing louder: snuffling, scratching, and snorting. He grinned. Good, the hunt was almost over and they could make a beeline for the golden sands and aquamarine waves.
The snuffling grew louder. Dylan inched forward. Suddenly they broke from the thick palms into a clearing. Harper blinked in surprise as the bright sun blinded him.
Dylan raised his rifle and shot off a round, then another and another. An inhuman shriek echoes from the trees lining the clearing. Harper felt goosebumps rise on his arms, the tiny hairs on the back of his neck stand up and quiver.
"Uh, not good," Dylan mumbled.
Harper peeked around the large man's arm. The lumbering beast stood nearly to his shoulders. The sickly stench of its thick auburn fur and putrid breath carried all the way across the clearing, making his stomach lurch. "That's the little piggy?" he said with a whimper.
The behemoth glared at them with glassy black eyes and charged. Its pounding footsteps shook the smaller leaves from the trees.
"Run," Dylan ordered.
Harper heaved his rifle at the beast and followed close on Dylan's heels. They raced through the palms. Leaves tore at their bare skin. The wind shrieked in their ears. Behind them the beast crashed through the underbrush trampling bushes and small trees. It growled deep and rumbling like thunder.
Dylan leapt over a fallen tree. Harper, looking over his shoulder, crashed into it. He flipped over the tree carcass, landing on his face. The soft, rotten leaves on the ground shook with the power closing on them. Dylan grabbed Harper's feet and flipped him over until he stood.
"Trees." Dylan bolted for a nearby tree with low branches.
Harper dashed after him. He leapt for the tree branch, missed. Dylan extended a hand. Harper jumped for it, caught hold. Dylan yanked him up. The beast crashed into the tree trunk, enraged.
Clinging to the thick trunk the two men could hear the beast's wheezing exhalations through razor sharp teeth. It smashed into the tree over and over, furious that its prey had escaped.
Harper dug his fingernails into the soft bark, praying to the Most High that the tree wouldn't break in half. His cheek bruised as the monster hit the trunk, bouncing his face off the bark over and over again. Harper wailed in fear. The thing reminded him of a Magog, a mammoth fat four legged Magog.
Suddenly a shot rang out. Harper started and nearly lost his grip. Another shot and another.
"Blast," said Dylan, perched on a thick branch above him. "It's got to fall. I've hit it six times." He aimed and fired again. The beast grunted then snarled.
"Why didn't you bring a force lance?" Harper asked.
"Too easy." Dylan reloaded then fired again catching the beast between the eyes.
The monster gurgled. It fell with a massive crash. Silence descended. Harper's ears rang. He gasped from breath, fingers numbed from clutching the tree.
"It's dead," Dylan said.
"Naw, it's just waiting for us to come down so it can eat us."
"Nonsense. Go check."
"No way!"
"You're on the bottom."
"Uh uh, you're the boss."
Dylan scowled and climbed down, carefully scaling the branches around Harper. He leapt to the soft ground beside the creature and knelt.
After a moment, he smiled up at his companion. "Looks like dinner!"
Harper's stomach did a flip-flop. "You're gonna eat something that smells like that?" He wrinkled his nose.
"Yep. If you don't want any that's fine. More for me."
Harper willed his fingers to release and he climbed down. His hands shook as he took the rifle Dylan extended to him. "How we getting this thing back?"
Dylan removed a small communicator from his pocket. "Part of the vacation package. You kill the beast and they come a get you."
Harper stared, mouth hanging open. "You had a way to save us and you didn't use it?"
Dylan shrugged, his blue eyes twinkling with good humor. "I had faith in us." He called in to their hosts.
Fifteen minutes later they sat comfortably in a lush helicopter speeding back to the resort. The helicopter dropped them off. Dylan waved at the pilot and guest coordinator as the chopper took off.
"They said we can pick up the meat at the processing station in four hours. We can even keep the pelt for a rug."
"Yuck! That stinky thing?"
Dylan laughed and clapped him on the back. "Souvenirs, Harper. I'm having them treat it with a pleasant scent. Do you want the tusks?"
Harper shuddered. "Not a chance."
The next morning Harper sat in the pilot's seat of the Eureka Maru tapping the arms of the chair impatiently. Beka Valentine, on the Andromeda Ascendant, should have responded by now.
Static burst from the receiver. "Maru, come in Eureka Maru."
"Hey Boss!" Harper called.
"What's up Harper? What's this about a barbecue? Dylan's ordering us all down to the surface?"
"Yep. He's got this pig cooking...get this...it's buried underground in leaves and stuff."
There was a long pause. "Sounds...yummy."
"Yeah, at least it smells better now."
"Terrific."
"Boss man says you're all to be down here as soon as you can. Bring swimming suits and a big appetite."
"Will do."
Two hours later the Andromeda Ascendant was safely parked on a pad in the Spaceport connected to the resort. The crew, dressed casually over their swimsuits, met by Harper, boarded a shuttle that took them to the beach.
The tantalizing perfume of roasting meat greeted them. It mingled with the scents of salt water and sweet flowers. Dylan smiled broadly at them all, his cheeks painted red by a long day at the beach.
Beka strolled over to him and plucked at his flowery shirt, furrowing her brow and smiling. "You're out of uniform."
He smiled. "Thanks for insisting I go on shore leave."
"What's this party all about?"
"Just sharing the wealth. Couldn't think of anyone more like family to share this with."
In wonder, Beka watched him stroll over and greet the others then motion everyone to a seat on the amber sand.
The sun slowly drifted to sleep on a bed of fluffy orange, red and purple clouds. Harper grinned, stuffed with roasted meat and vegetables. He watched the women of the crew howl with laughter and splash each other with water. They dashed in and out of the mellow waves, their wet skin painted with the last rays of the setting sun.
He smiled. Dylan was right. This was a great shore leave after all. He jumped up and ran into the sea, joining the women in their water fight.
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finis
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