Earth 2.1.2
Chapter 11
A/N: This chapter owes a fairly significant debt to the Earth 2 fanfic "Winter" by CotS. Check it out—it's pretty fun. I know, Chapter 10 was painful. I'm putting these characters, and you, through hell, and I really appreciate your sticking with it. This one's rough in a little different way, but there's light at the end of the tunnel. Two more chapters after this, both of which I plan to post tonight. And I swore I wouldn't do it, but I can't help it: review, plz?
"I still don't like this," Sergei said for the third time since they started.
"Really?" Valerie said dryly. "You seemed so enthusiastic when we started."
"Come on," Sergei persisted, "what are the Terriers are going to do, just walk up and say, 'Hey, here's your girl'?"
"Would you rather we wander all over hell and gone looking for her ourselves?" Danziger said.
There was a loud roar somewhere off to the west, and it echoed through the forested hills.
"What the hell was that?" Sergei said, his eyes wide.
"Okay, I vote for not wandering all over hell and gone," Valerie said. "Let's find the Terriers, get them to do it for us, and go home before tall, dark and ugly comes for dinner."
Danziger glanced back at Valerie, and she knew exactly what he was thinking. I sure as hell hope none of our people run into whatever made that sound.
Danziger slapped at his gear. "Hey, everybody, we just heard something," he said, but there wasn't the usual hum of an open channel, just static. "Anybody? Adair? Solace? Do you read?"
No response.
Danziger switched to an individual channel and tried to raise Bess. "C'mon, Bess, talk to me," he said. For an instant he thought he heard her, but then she was swallowed up in static again.
"What is it?" Sergei said.
Danziger frowned. "We've lost signal again. Head for high ground," he said, pointing up the ridge to the west. "We need to warn everybody about that roar."
Yeah, Valerie thought nervously. Whatever it was, it sounded big. And Julia and Devon are over there.
"What do you think?" Devon said, standing at the top of a ravine, the mag-pro slung over her shoulder. "It doesn't look like we can go much farther."
They'd been climbing up into the foothills directly south of the camp for the better part of four hours. Devon had been hoping for a chance to talk to Julia, but the only time she'd said anything was when Rick had suggested they turn back about a kilometer earlier. Julia had insisted they continue, and Devon was fairly certain that she'd have gone on by herself if they'd tried to turn back. Between that and the wounded look Julia had given her when she hesitated, Devon finally agreed to go on.
Devon knew it was stupid to let her guilt over Melanie drive her like this, but she had come to rely on Julia's solid support over the previous weeks, and the hurt silence between them was almost as painful as Melanie's absence.
But now it looked like they were going to have to turn back after all. The open area along the edge of the ravine had been steadily narrowing, the forest getting thicker the higher they climbed. They'd finally reached a point where Rick had been uncomfortable about trying to turn the rail around if they went much farther.
"We could continue on foot," Julia said, but it was clear she expected Devon to veto the idea, and she was looking for an argument.
Devon hesitated, looking up at the sun. It was well past midday, and though they'd make better time heading back, she was still nervous about going any farther.
"It can't be that much farther to the top of this ridge," Julia persisted, gesturing to the south. "We could get an idea of what's on the other side, which would give us some idea of what we should do tomorrow."
"Julia, it could be several kilometers," Rick said. "It's too—"
"We'll go on another two k," Devon said.
Rick looked at her uneasily for a moment, then gave in. "Let me grab my gear out of the rail," he said, resigned.
Julia grabbed her med kit out of the back seat. She pulled out the hand scanner, then slung the pack on her back and headed back to Devon.
"Hey, what do you think?" Rick called from the rail, rooting around in the box behind the back seat. "Should I bring the biocord, too?"
Julia knelt at the side of the ravine to scan some vegetation while she waited for Rick. Still nothing, she thought, frustrated, studying the scans. There has to be something edible in these hills!
"No, don't bother," Devon called to Rick. "Why don't you park the rail in that patch of sun? Less chance we'll run out of charge on the way back that way."
Rick nodded, got into the rail and started a careful series of three-point turns to turn the rail.
Julia stood up, tucking the scanner into her jacket, then hugged her arms to herself. It was really getting cold, even in the sun. She knew it was risky going forward on foot, and she also knew exactly why Devon had agreed to it so easily.
"Julia?" Devon said hesitantly from behind her, and Julia turned, trying to decide if she was ready to listen.
And then she suddenly became aware of movement behind Devon.
"Jesus!" Rick shouted from the rail. "Devon! Look ou—"
Devon started to turn, but even before she got around, the enormous creature that had somehow snuck up behind her had swung at her with a massive paw. She went flying headfirst into Julia.
Devon tumbled limply over Julia and then right over the edge, but Julia almost managed to stop herself. She skidded on her back, flailing her arms to try to grab something. But Rick watched in horror as the bit of grassy vegetation she managed to latch onto as she fell over the edge pulled right out of the ground, and she disappeared after Devon.
Rick hesitated, looking back over his shoulder at the creature as it turned towards him. He pulled out his handgun and fired at it, and the creature reared back, roaring. On its hind legs, it was easily four meters tall.
Rick didn't have time to pull the mag-pro from the back seat, and the handgun was useless. He turned forward and floored the rail. The only chance Devon and Julia have is if I lead it away from them, then lose it, get down to where I can get into the ravine and work my back up to them. And if I can't manage that... He slapped at his gear. "Bess! Take a reading on my coordinates!"
"Rick?...you?" Bess said over a hail of static. "What's—?" Her voice disappeared in the static and Rick groaned inwardly. There's no way I'm going to get through to her up here, he thought. I have to get back to the ridge where we talked to her last. But that was at least three kilometers away. He glanced back and immediately wished he hadn't. The creature was galloping after him. And it was gaining.
"Say again, Rick?" Bess said. "Rick?"
"What is it?" Toshiko said, coming into the dome from the med tent.
"I can't keep contact with anybody!" Bess said, flinging her gear down onto the mess table. "I just got something from Rick for a second, but he broke up again."
"Did he say why he was calling in?"
"I have no idea!" Bess said, her frustration boiling over. "I'm not Melanie! I don't know enough about the gear to do anything to fix it. For all I know, they're all being attacked by Terriers right now!"
"Calm down," Toshiko said gently. "I'm sure they're fine. Just keep trying to get through to them. I'll see if they can get anything from on top of the dome."
"But what if they really are in trouble?" Bess said. "Rick sounded weird—like he was breathing hard or something."
Toshiko put her hand on Bess's shoulder. "He's fine, they're all okay. They're just supposed to check in regularly, right? Maybe he's trying to climb to higher ground so he can get through."
Bess nodded, still looking distressed, then started trying to contact Rick again.
Toshiko headed for the door of the dome, hoping that her words to Bess had been more than just wishful thinking. The last thing we need is to lose anybody else, she thought, and then felt awful for thinking of Melanie as lost.
Alonzo sighed as they crested another hill, only to find another series of hills rolling off in front of them to the south.
"What do you think?" Nick said, looking back up at him from the ATV driver's seat.
Alonzo glanced up at the sky where the sun was starting to dip towards the west. He shook his head. "We'd better head back," he said reluctantly. "By the time we get back out of these hills, the sun'll be almost down, and we can't risk running out of juice."
Nick nodded reluctantly and started to turn the ATV around. "Maybe tomorrow we should try heading east a little more before we go south," he said.
"Maybe," Alonzo said. He winced as they hit a rock. His leg was aching again, probably because he wasn't used to standing this long. He wished Devon had agreed to let him drive part of the time, but she'd insisted that nobody who'd had methohex was driving at all. She's probably right, he thought. At least this way I can focus on trying to contact the Terriers instead of worrying about dodging all these damned trees.
He sent out another mental call for help, but he had no idea if it was working. For all he knew, the Terriers could only pick up their emotions at close range. Or maybe they're not going to talk to us, he thought, but he pushed that thought aside. They'll talk to us. We just have to find them.
He felt a surprising jolt of amusement, and whipped his head around to find a Terrier looking down at him from a hilltop to the east.
"Hold up, Nick!" he shouted, reaching through the roll cage to swat his shoulder.
"What is it?" Nick said, hitting the brake.
"We've got a live one!" Alonzo said, waving wildly at the Terrier as it galloped down the hill towards them and disappeared into the trees.
"Where?" Nick said, looking toward where Alonzo was waving.
Alonzo ignored him, hopping down from the ATV and trotting towards the line of trees along the side of the ridge they were on. The Terrier appeared, galloping toward him and coming to a halt a few meters away. It bowed on its forelegs.
"Man, am I glad to see you, Jupiter!" Alonzo said, grinning. He couldn't have said why he knew it was Jupiter—they still all looked vaguely the same to him, but the feel of this Terrier's mind was familiar. And there was no mistaking the feeling of warm recognition it gave him. "You look good. How's the shoulder?"
The Terrier rotated its arm to demonstrate its functionality. Alonzo got a strong sense of gratitude.
"Hey, it was the least we could do," Alonzo said. "We owed you. And now I think we're going to owe you another, at least if you're willing to help us out."
It sent him a questioning sensation.
"One of our people was taken by another group of…of your people," Alonzo said, trying to keep the image of a yappy dog out of his mind. Apparently it didn't work, because he got a sense of amused indignation from the Terrier. "Sorry, pal," he said sheepishly. "Long story. Look, can you help us find her?" He pictured Melanie's grinning face in his mind, and couldn't help the pang of loss that colored it.
The Terrier stepped forward and patted his shoulder in a remarkably human gesture. There was another questioning sensation, and Alonzo was starting to get the hang of this form of communication. "About three days ago," he said, pointing at the sun and holding up three fingers. "We think they headed south," he added, pointing.
At that, the Terrier seemed uneasy, glancing off to the south.
"What is it?" Nick said, noticing Alonzo's worried expression.
"I don't know," Alonzo said, sending a questioning thought towards the Terrier.
The Terrier look back at him, and he felt a wave of reassurance, coupled with regret. But there was another sensation underneath it—anger mixed with embarrassment.
"Hey, we know it wasn't you," Alonzo said, holding up his hands placatingly. "We just want to find her. Can you help?"
That brought a strong affirmation, and Alonzo let out a sigh of relief.
"I take it he's gonna help," Nick said, smiling.
"Yeah," Alonzo said, taking the Terrier's hand and shaking it enthusiastically. It looked surprised, but it shook his hand back, holding his hand very gently.
All at once, Alonzo felt an overwhelming wave of fear, followed by a bizarre falling sensation. He swayed, then felt the Terrier grab his shoulders.
"Alonzo?" Nick said, putting his hand on Alonzo's back to steady him. "What is it?"
"I—I don't know," Alonzo said, but even as he said it, he realized what it was. He was getting a relay from the Terrier. And he knew exactly who it was from. He swallowed hard, fighting back his own fear. He looked questioningly at the Terrier, who had turned to the west. It turned back to him, and he felt its uncertainty before it bowed to him, then turned and galloped off down the hill to the west.
"Come on," he said grimly, turning quickly to climb back into the ATV driver's seat. "Julia's in trouble again."
Tumbling down the side of the ravine in a terrifying whirl, Julia had the wild thought, Melanie would be so angry with me. Here I am falling off another cliff. She felt a sharp pain in her left shin, and she must have yelped, because she heard it echo down the ravine. Then she hit something surprisingly soft, though she hit it hard enough for the wind to be knocked out of her.
She turned her head, taking whooping gasps as she lay on her side, and looked back up at the top of the ravine. The giant creature was pacing back and forth at the edge, looking down at her. It let out a deafening roar, and she braced herself for death, afraid it would just launch itself after her, but it turned and galloped off to the north.
"D-Devon?" she said after a few more heaving breaths, turning to check on the woman who had broken her fall. "Can you hear me?"
There was a faint moan. Julia ripped her gloves off, pulled the med kit off her back, grabbed her diaglove and ran it over her. Three bruised ribs, one cracked—probably from breaking my fall—and…oh, god, multiple lacerations to the back. She very carefully lifted her to look at her back. There was blood in the snow, but the cold seemed to have slowed the blood loss, and as awful as the gashes were, they weren't life-threatening on their own.
She looked back up at the top of the ravine. There was no way in hell she'd be able to drag Devon up there. She'd be lucky if she could move her at all. "Devon," she said, "please, you have to wake up. I need your help."
There was no response. She tapped her gear. "Rick?" she said. "Can you hear me?" Nothing. Oh, no, she thought, closing her eyes and praying silently that he'd simply lost his gear somehow. But if that isn't it, there's nothing you can do to help him. You have to focus on Devon now. "Bess? Danziger? Anybody?"
All she got was the static they'd been getting off and on ever since they'd started up the ravine. "I wouldn't go too far," Bess had said the first time it happened. "If something goes wrong, there's no telling whether your signal will get through." We should have taken your advice, Julia thought with another wave of guilt.
There was another roar, and Julia whirled to look back up at the edge above her. The creature was back, pacing back and forth, looking like it was considering coming down. Julia pulled her handgun from pocket, but hesitated, wondering what good it would do. But then it turned and galloped up the ridge to the south.
Julia let out the breath she'd been holding and turned back to Devon. "Devon?" she said one more time, but she was down for the count. "Hell," she breathed. First priority, get her away from here. That monster could find its way down into the ravine, and we can't be here when it does.
She ripped open the main compartment of the med kit, pulled out the emergency blanket and unfolded it, and carefully maneuvered Devon onto it. She closed the med kit, got it back on her back, and pulled on her gloves. She immediately felt better, the warmth from the gloves thawing her freezing fingers, but she was still shivering.
It's too cold, she thought, knowing the longer they were out there without shelter, the more rapidly their chances of survival would drop, especially for Devon. I have to find shelter soon, and someplace that…thing can't get to us. She leaned over, lifted Devon from under her arms and started to drag her back toward the camp.
She'd barely made it three steps when she stepped on something that rolled under her foot. She nearly dropped Devon, staggering, but managed to stay upright. She set Devon down carefully, turned, and nearly cried in relief. It was Devon's mag-pro.
Julia picked it up, laid it gently across Devon's lap, picked her up, and set off again. At least that much went right, she thought, but it was hard not to wonder whether even the mag-pro would really be much use against a creature that size.
Rick came to with a searing pain in his left side. He blinked back tears, looking around to try to figure out what had happened. The rail was lying on its side in the middle of a dense stand of trees. He felt gingerly at his side, and his fingers were covered in blood when he looked at them. He tried to lift himself to ease the pain somehow, but as he did, he felt something stabbing into his side shift and nearly passed out again.
Wonderful, he thought. But at least I'm still alive. He looked around, wondering where the creature that had attacked them had gone, but he couldn't hear or see anything. He reached up to tap his gear, but it wasn't there, just a bloody cut on the side of his head where it must have gouged him when he'd hit something. He scanned the area around him, but there was no sign of it. But there was no sign of the creature, either. It must have knocked the rail into the trees and then been unable to get to him in the confined space. Well, I guess alive and without communication is better than dead with it.
He tried to shift his legs so he could get up, and fell back, gasping at the pain. Come on, he told himself. You can do it. He tried again, and managed to raise himself enough to get his knees underneath him. He swallowed hard, leaning against the driver's seat of the rail, trying desperately not to throw up, then braced his hand against the rail's steering wheel, and staggered to his feet.
It was a miracle he was still alive. The rail must have crashed through a half a dozen trees before it finally came to a stop on its side in between two large ones. And it must have been that resting point that really saved his life. The back tires of the rail were nearly shredded, and Rick could imagine the creature clawing at them, trying to reach him.
Rick took a shaky breath, wincing, and looked down at his side. There was a large splinter of wood sticking out of him. He thought briefly about trying to pull it out, but realized he might make matters worse. Not to mention how much it would hurt, he thought, fighting back a wave of nausea at the thought.
He studied the rail, trying to figure out of there was a way to get it out. There was clearly no way he was going to be able to shove it out of the cleft between the two trees. But maybe I can cut the downhill tree, he thought. Most of the weight of the rail seemed to be on that one, so the rail might tip itself upright if he got rid of that tree. He rummaged in his pocket and found the laser knife.
He turned on the knife and started cutting at the base of the tree as fast as he could, smoke billowing up around him, praying that Devon and Julia were still alive, and then forced himself to stay positive. They're both still alive, he told himself. And the only way they'll stay that way is if I make it back to camp and get help.
"Hey, Bess!" Danziger said over the gear for the third time in the last forty-five minutes. "Do you read?"
"Danziger!" Bess said. "Thank god! Are you on your way back?"
"Yeah, about an hour away," Danziger said, frowning. "What's wrong?"
"Rick called in for a second over an hour ago," Bess said, "and he sounded weird. I couldn't hear much of what he said, and now his gear is dead, and I can't get a fix on any of them because the signal's bouncing everywhere and I don't know what to do!"
"Slow down," Danziger said, exchanging a glance with Sergei. "Do you know where they were the last time you had a fix?"
"Hang on," Bess said. "Um, about ten k due west of you."
Danziger swore softly. There was nothing but more sharp ridges to the west, which was why they'd chosen the routes they had. He'd have to go almost all the way back to the camp before he could swing back south again. "What about the other teams?"
"They're both on their way back, but they aren't as close as you are," Bess said. "Alonzo said he talked to a Terrier, and then he got some sort of echo of Julia through the Terrier. He said she was scared, and she might have been falling."
Danziger groaned inwardly. Leave it to Julia to find something to fall off. "And you can't get a fix on Devon or Julia?"
"No," Bess said plaintively. "I've tried everything I can think of, and Morgan's tried some stuff, too, but none of it's working."
"Okay," Danziger said. "We'll head for their route as fast as we can. Keep trying to raise them. It may be that they're just in a bad signal area like we were."
"What if they aren't?" Bess said.
"We'll find them, Bess," Danziger said. "Just keep trying." He closed the channel. "Floor it, Sergei."
"You got it, boss," he said.
This is never going to work, Julia thought. Her back was protesting against the abuse, her leg was throbbing, and she'd lost track of how long she'd been pulling Devon. The sun was almost to the treeline above her, which meant they couldn't have much more than another hour of daylight left. And there was no sign of any kind of cover at all, let alone something that would offer protection from that enormous predator.
At least she didn't seem to be leaving a blood trail with the blanket underneath Devon. But she had no idea how sensitive the creature's olfactory organ might be. For all she knew, it could be as effective as an Old Earth shark's sense for blood.
Don't borrow trouble, she told herself. It could just as easily have bad allergies, too. Just keep moving.
She shifted her grip on Devon, ignoring her back, and took another careful step backwards, grateful that the frozen river made it easy to slide Devon. She wasn't sure she could have managed to get her this far if she'd had to drag her through the snow.
"Ow," Devon said faintly.
"Devon?" Julia said, kneeling and resting Devon's back carefully against her legs. She leaned over her, brushing snow off her face. "Can you hear me?"
"Julia?" she said, and she opened her eyes slightly.
"Yes," Julia said, her voice full of relief.
"It's really cold," she said thickly.
"I know. Look, can you—?"
"Why does my back hurt?" she said, her voice tight.
"Hang on," she said, pulling the med kit off her back. She pulled off her gloves, grabbed the hypospray and dosed her with painblock. "Better?"
Devon sighed. "Yeah. What hit me?" she said, frowning.
Julia shrugged. "Something huge. All I really saw was big paws, with bigger claws, judging from what it did to your back."
"Wait—what about Rick?"
Julia shook her head, looking worried. "I tried to raise him on gear, but he didn't answer, and I can't raise the camp either."
"And where'd that thing go?"
"It had a little trouble following us down the side of the ravine, otherwise…" She trailed off meaningfully. "I think down here we're safe, at least for now."
Devon frowned, looking up at the side of the ravine. "We came down that?"
Julia nodded, feeling just as amazed they'd survived as Devon sounded. "We got off lucky. I seem to have a gift for jumping off cliffs."
Devon chuckled, and winced. "I assume you must be okay if you're dragging me down the mountain."
"More or less," Julia said. Definitely less, she thought, but kept that thought to herself. Despite her effort to ignore the pain in her leg, whatever she'd done to it was hurting a lot. It's not life-threatening, and you can put weight on it, she told herself. You can deal with it when you're someplace safe.
But her greater worry was the temperature. It was dropping fast, and she was already exhausted from the strain of the last few days. Just thinking about the cold set off a hard round of shivering. There was no telling how long Devon could last out here in the open with injuries like she had.
"Help me up," Devon said.
"Are you sure?" Julia said, concerned. "Your back—"
"Is fine," Devon insisted, though her voice told a different story. "But my rear end is freezing to this river, and we need to move, right? And I can tell your more or less is more less than more." She blinked, confused. "Was that right?"
Julia smiled faintly. "Actually, yes."
"That's what I thought," Devon said, looking up at her sharply. "How bad is it?"
"I didn't mean about me," Julia protested. "I just meant your grammar. I'm fine."
"Mmm-hmm," Devon said dubiously. "Help me up."
Julia supported her as she sat up, trying not to touch the gashes. Devon swayed a little as she got to her knees, and Julia took her arm to steady her. She staggered to her feet, using the mag-pro to help push herself up, and smiled tightly at Julia. "See?" she said. "Just fine."
Julia shook her head at Devon, giving her a doubtful look. She studied her for a moment to be sure she wasn't going to keel over, then packed up the emergency blanket with the rest of the med kit, threw the pack on her back and shoved her gloves back on.
She turned back to Devon. "I was following the river back toward the camp," she said. "I figure the closer we are, the sooner help will find us." She started to reach to help Devon, and froze when she heard a roar from somewhere behind them. It echoed along the ravine.
"Oh, hell," Devon breathed. "Come on!" She set off at what she'd intended to be a run, but ended up being an unsteady stagger.
Julia grabbed Devon's right arm, threw it over her shoulder, ignoring Devon's yelp at the sudden movement. She reached around the taller woman with her left arm, and helped her downstream.
"Damn," Danziger said, glancing up at the fading sun as they finally got close to the route that Devon had planned to take.
"Yeah," Sergei said. "How far up do you think they got?"
"How far did we get?" Valerie said. "Add another hour to it at least."
"Bess?" Danziger said, opening a channel. "Anything else from Rick or Devon?"
"N…yet, b…heard…Helen and…most back…"
"Hell," Danziger breathed. "Looks like the signal's getting bad again," he said aloud. "Listen, we'll try to check in every fifteen minutes. Hopefully, you'll at least get a blip in the static from us so you'll know we're okay."
"Okay…careful…right?"
"Always, sweetheart," Danziger said. He closed the channel and turned to look at Sergei. "Okay, buddy, let's ride to the res—"
"Hold up!" Valerie said. Danziger turned to look at her. She was turned halfway around in the back seat, looking up the ravine to the south.
And there was the other rail, barreling down the side of the ravine at a breakneck pace. Danziger held his breath as Rick nearly sent the rail over the edge as he dodged around a tree.
He swatted his gear. "Rick, slow down! We're right in front of you!"
But Rick didn't let up speed until he nearly skidded into them, and the minute he stopped, Danziger could see that he didn't have his gear.
"God, am I glad to see you!" Rick said. He was leaning over the rail's steering wheel, one hand wrapped around his side, and there was blood all over his hand.
"What the hell happened?" Sergei said as Valerie jumped out of the rail and ran over to Rick.
"A big animal hit us," Rick said, and he looked dangerously pale. "Hit Devon, knocked her into Julia, and they both went over the edge." He took a ragged breath, wincing. "It came after me…" he said and gestured back at the rear wheels of the rail.
"Jesus," Sergei said, climbing out of their rail and walking around to look at the tattered remnants of the tires. "What the hell hit you, a buzz saw?"
"Yeah, buzz saw…with teeth…" Rick said faintly, and he started to sag to one side. Valerie caught him and held him up.
"Danziger, grab the med kit," Valerie said.
Danziger brought it over and knelt so he could look into Rick's eyes. "Where are they?" he asked.
Rick blinked vaguely at him, then took a ragged breath. "I don't know for sure," he said. "A few klicks up at least. But John, they…" He trailed off, wincing. "It was a long way down," he breathed. "And the way that thing hit Devon…"
Sergei glanced back at the shredded tires and went almost as white as Rick.
"Valerie, you get Rick back to the camp," Danziger said, but before he could continue, Rick had grabbed his arm.
"No," he said. "It's too big. One mag-pro isn't going to cut it."
Danziger hesitated. By the time they got back to the camp, it'd be nearly dark. There was no way they'd make it back this far on the charge they had. They'd have to go on foot, in the dark, in freezing temperatures.
"Danziger," Valerie said, looking dismayed, "I want to go after them, too. But I don't know if Rick's rail is gonna make it back as it is. The charge is almost gone. Running on those wheels must have drained it. And we have to get him back. He needs more help than I can give him out here."
Danziger swore, then took a deep breath and nodded. "Okay…we go back," he said, every word tearing a hole in his gut.
He looked back up the ravine as Valerie and Sergei helped move Rick into the passenger seat. You'd better be okay, Adair, he thought.
"This isn't going to work," Devon said, breathing hard.
That's an understatement, Julia thought. She'd been supporting more and more of Devon's weight as they ran, and their pace had gotten proportionally slower. She glanced back over her shoulder, half-expecting the creature to be running toward them. It wasn't, but she knew it was coming. She could almost feel it.
"You need to leave me," Devon said, breathing raggedly.
"No," Julia said, breathing almost as hard.
"Julia, I mean it," she said. "That thing—"
"Is not going to kill either one of us if I have anything to say about it," Julia said. "So shut up. This is my call."
Devon bit back the sharp reply she started to make. "Then we need to look for cover," she said out loud.
"What do you think I've been doing?" Julia said, frustrated.
"Over there," Devon said, gesturing vaguely toward the far side of the ravine with the mag-pro in her left hand. "Those rocks."
"It's not enough," Julia said. "We need something more sheltered. It's not just that thing we have to worry about. The cold—" But Devon was moving again, and she helped her along.
"I'm more worried about that thing right—ha!" Devon said as they came around the side of one large boulder. "Who's the best navigator on the planet?" There was a cleft in the side of the ravine, and as they got closer, it turned out to be a cave.
Another roar came from behind them, much closer, and Julia forced herself not to look back, to keep her eyes on where they were headed so she didn't trip and fall. They made it to the cave, which had a sort of dogleg at the front, reassuringly narrow. Julia squeezed Devon past it, barely able to make it through side-by-side. Once they were out of sight of the ravine, Julia leaned Devon against the cave wall. She grabbed the flashlight out of the med kit and flipped it on.
Devon raised the mag-pro as Julia scanned the flashlight around the interior of the cave. It'd be just our luck to find a hexadent in here, Devon thought, struggling to keep the barrel of the mag-pro elevated, but the cave was empty. It had definitely been used as a den for something, though—Devon wrinkled her nose at the pungent smell, and there was what looked like a nest of piled twigs and leaves off to one side.
Julia switched off the flashlight and listened for the creature. She held her breath, and after a long moment there was a crashing sound somewhere outside, followed by a snuffling noise. The entrance has to be too small for that thing to get in here, Julia thought nervously, and was rewarded with another roar, painfully loud in the confines of the cave. There was a scratching noise, and then the terrifying sight of a shadowy paw reaching into the cave, but then the paw disappeared. The creature roared in frustration.
Go away, Julia thought, enormously relieved. You can't eat us, so go find something else to eat, like a Council agent. After several very long minutes, there was another roar, followed by another, and it was clearly moving off.
Julia released the breath she'd been holding. She turned the flashlight on again and looked at their refuge. There wasn't much to it, just a small space, maybe three meters deep and only a couple of meters wide, with a jumble of loose rocks at the back. That's good, she thought. At least we won't have to worry about something sneaking up on us from behind. She panned the flashlight up, and saw that the cave was really just the bottom of a jagged fissure in the rock. She switched off the flashlight and could actually see a faint line of darkening blue sky far above her. And we have a natural chimney. So we can have a fire. Thank god.
She turned back to Devon, who had slid down the wall to a crouch.
Devon tapped her gear. "Bess, are you there?" Devon sounded as wrung out as Julia felt, and she knew she'd need to get a look at her injuries soon.
There was a sound of static over the gear, with faint hints of someone speaking, but not enough to get any idea of what they were saying.
"Say again?" Devon said, but there was no improvement. "Oh, that's just great. If this were a VR, I'd be yelling at the scriptwriter right now for being too predictable."
"I'm going to try it closer to the entrance," Julia said.
"Be careful," Devon said tiredly.
She nodded, and flipped off the flashlight again. She tapped her gear as she got closer to where the dogleg turned to open out onto the ravine, but all she got was more static. She headed back to Devon. "No go," she said, flipping on the flashlight so she could see her. "I think we're on our own."
"Prob'ly just as well," Devon said, and her words were starting to slur. "I'd hate to give that thing more appetizers."
Julia nodded, kneeling down and taking off the med kit. First priority, heat, then treat her injuries, she thought. She pulled out the emergency blanket and spread it out on the cave floor. "Here," she said. "Lie face down on this. Can you get your jacket off?"
Devon groaned at the thought. "Do I have to?"
Julia nodded reluctantly. "If you don't, I'll have to cut through it to get to your injuries, and I think you're going to want it at least close to intact once it really starts to get cold."
Devon shook her head tiredly. "And here I thought it was…already starting to get cold. Okay, give me a hand."
Between them they were able to get the jacket off, though it had clearly been painful. Devon's face was covered with a sheen of sweat by the time they were done. Julia laid the jacket down on the emergency blanket. "Lie down," she said, and draped the coat back over her for the moment.
Julia turned to the nest of twigs and leaves and scooped it into a deep pile, then used the laser scalpel from her diaglove to start it on fire. It flamed up gratifyingly, but she could tell it wouldn't last long. But at least it was warming the cave a little bit.
She pulled out the diaglove and scanned Devon again. She hadn't lost enough blood for it to be really dangerous, but it was enough to make circulation a concern. The cuts were jagged, and they'd take some effort to close, but it was doable even with the limited supplies she had.
It took almost half an hour to get the cuts dressed to her satisfaction, and by then, the little fire had burned down to embers, and the brief heat it had provided was already giving way to icy cold again. Julia could feel the cold was starting to make her sluggish. Devon had stopped talking minutes earlier, and Julia suddenly noticed she'd stopped shivering.
"Devon, I need you to sit up," Julia said. She didn't respond. "Devon!" Julia leaned down to look at her. Her eyes had closed. "Damn it, Devon, you have to wake up!" Julia's heart started to pound. She lifted Devon, shifting her so her back was against the rock wall.
For a moment, Devon's eyes fluttered, but then they slid shut again. "No!" Julia shouted, lifting Devon's head with one hand to look at her eyes. "Devon! Wake up! I am not going to lose you, too! Wake up!"
Devon forced her eyes open, struggling to focus on Julia. "'m up," she said. "Sorry."
Julia sighed in relief. "It's okay. But you can't go to sleep, all right? I need you to stay awake."
"Got it," Devon said, and she seemed a little more focused. "Wait—what did you say a minute ago?"
"I said wake up a lot," Julia said, hoping she'd let it go. Thank god there aren't any Terriers nearby. I'm probably broadcasting emotions like crazy. She grabbed Devon's coat and started to help her into it.
"Yeah, that's what I thought," Devon said almost inaudibly, trying to put her arms into the sleeves, but Julia shook her head.
"Don't. Better to keep your core warm. And I don't want to risk damaging the repairs I made to your back." She zipped the lower portion of the jacket up as far as she could with Devon's arms held tight against her body.
"I miss her, too, you know," Devon said quietly.
At that moment, Julia wished she could hold onto her anger. For a long time, it had burned like fire, but now she felt it draining away, and she just felt infinitely tired. "I know," she said. She could tell Devon wanted to say more, but she held her hand up. "Not now, Devon, please. When we're safe. I promise."
Devon sighed, wincing at the pain in her ribs, then nodded.
Julia picked up the emergency blanket, draped it over Devon's shoulders and used the self-connectors to hold it in place, then helped Devon lean carefully back against the rock wall.
Devon frowned, looking down at the emergency blanket. "Wha'bout you? Is there another blanket?"
"I'm good," Julia said, cursing inwardly as another round of shivers took hold. "I need to get you warm, and that means a fire."
"It's not so bad here," Devon said, her eyes drifting shut again.
"No!" Julia snapped. "Devon! Damn it, you promised!"
Her eyes shot open. "Sorry," she slurred, blinking. "Guess it's colder than I thought."
"I have to go find some firewood," Julia said. "Devon, listen to me. I need you to stay awake while I'm gone."
Devon frowned, and looked at her with something approaching alertness. "You can't go out there."
"I have to," she said. "It's the only way either of us will get through the night."
"But that thing is still out there," Devon protested.
"And it might kill me," Julia admitted, "but the cold definitely will if we don't get a fire going. I'll take my chances with the monster."
She pulled out the handful of chemical heat packs they had in the med kit and opened them. She tucked them into Devon's jacket, making sure they weren't directly against her skin. It isn't much, but it might keep her going, she thought. "I'll try to contact the camp to warn them about that thing. I won't be long," she promised, trying not to let her shivering show. "N-no sleeping, got it?"
Devon nodded vaguely.
"Devon, look at me!" Julia said, and Devon focused on her. "You have to stay awake. Uly needs you. We all do. Understand?"
"No sleeping," she said. "Got it. You be careful, Julia."
Julia looked hard at her, then grabbed a vial out of the med kit and dosed her.
"Wow!" Devon said, blinking in surprise. "What's in that?"
"A stimulant," Julia said. "It's the b-best I can do right now." And it's a risk, she thought, but it was the only way she could think of to keep Devon going till she could get some heat. She started dumping everything else out of the med kit to so she could use it to carry firewood with her hands free.
"Next best thing to coffee," Devon said, smiling weakly. "I'll be fine. Don't you go too far, okay? Mel would never let me hear the end of it if I let something happen to you."
"Don't worry," Julia said, trying to sound confident, but the thought of Melanie made her voice waver. "I'll be fine." She reached into her jacket and pulled out the handgun. "You take this, and I'll take the mag-pro with me. I'll be back in fifteen minutes, one way or the other."
She got up, grabbed the mag-pro and headed for the entrance. She decided to leave the flashlight with Devon, figuring she'd be back before it got too dark to see, and there'd be less chance of attracting the creature without it anyway.
The moons were already on the rise, even as the daylight was fading, and once her eyes adjusted to the dimness, she could see just fine. She waited carefully at the entrance for several seconds, listening and watching for any sign of the creature, but it was utterly silent in the ravine.
Julia felt like every step she took broadcast her location as the snow squeaked under her boots, but there was nothing she could do about it. There wasn't much in the way of firewood near her, and the only way she'd be able to get through to the camp would be to get to higher ground. Hopefully, there will be plenty of wood up there.
She held the mag-pro ready and started climbing up past the jumble of rocks outside the cave. The ravine wasn't as steep on this side, and she was able to manage it without having to sling the mag-pro, which was a relief. She wasn't sure how good her aim would be with it, but it was reassuring just to have it in her hands.
She tapped her gear. "Bess?" she whispered. Still just static, though there was a weird echo in the static this time. "Devon? Can you hear me?"
"Yes," Devon's voice came through fairly clearly, though there was a hiss of static around it.
"Okay, just checking to make sure you're still awake," Julia said. "Stay that way. Talk to me."
"No poetry this time," Devon said. "Not if I'm going to stay awake."
"Okay," Julia said, smiling a little at the memory. "You pick the topic."
"It's not your fault, you know," Devon said.
"What isn't? Poetry being boring?" Julia said, trying to keep her voice light. She looked up to see if there was someplace that looked promising to get a signal through. There was a rock outcropping above her that looked like it might be high enough.
"What happened to Melanie," Devon said.
"Devon, I told you, not n—" Julia began, but Devon cut her off.
"You said I could pick the topic, and I'm not taking the chance—" She stopped, but Julia knew what she was thinking. "Look, you want me talking, this is what we're talking about."
"Fine," Julia said tersely. She started climbing towards the rocks, slipping and scrambling as the side of the ravine got steeper, wincing every time she put weight on her left leg. But at least this side isn't too steep to climb, she thought. "I know it's not my fault."
"I don't believe you," Devon said. "Or maybe you do know it, but you're still blaming yourself, and not just for what happened to Melanie. You have to stop punishing yourself."
"I'm—" Julia began, then broke off as she hit a loose patch of dirt. Her foot slid, and she almost lost her balance.
"Julia?" Devon said. "Are you still there?"
"Yes," Julia said. "Sorry, it's…getting steep."
"Tell me," Devon said, "why do you think they were after you?"
Julia hadn't expected that question. "Because I defied them," she said after a moment. "They want to make an example of me."
"My, aren't we egotistical?" Devon said.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Julia said sharply.
"I mean, do you really think the Council sent a boatload of Terriers all that way just to get back at you?" Devon said patiently. "They might be petty and vindictive, but they're also obsessed with the bottom line. Besides, who are you going to be an example for—a handful of Council agents?"
Julia frowned. "So what do you think they were after?"
"I've been thinking about that a lot," Devon said, and Julia could hear the weariness in her voice.
She's probably been sleeping about as much as I have, Julia thought, and felt the familiar pang of guilt.
"I think they need you for something," Devon continued. "So what do you have that they might need you for?"
Julia considered that as she scrambled up a steep section of the hillside. It can't be because I'm a doctor, she thought. They have to have their own, probably several. And if the gasparanium coverup was the thing they were concerned about, they'd just have killed Melanie outright, not captured her. But there's nothing else special about me...
"There's only one thing I can think of that would make you useful to them," Devon said finally. "Why did your mother work so hard to distance herself from you all those years?"
Julia froze. It made sense. "You think she's alive," Julia said.
"Yes," Devon said. "And I think she's in a position to do something to hurt the Council, so—"
"—so they want to use me against her," Julia finished, and she almost had to sit down. She forced herself to start climbing again. She didn't have time to stop and take all this in, no matter how overwhelming it was.
"The other good news is once they get Melanie, I don't think they're likely to hurt her," Devon continued. "They'll try to..." Devon's voice broke up in a hail of static.
"Devon?" Julia said.
"...still here," Devon said. "But you're br...up."
"I'm almost to the top," Julia said. "Just hang on. I'm going to try—"
Suddenly, she heard the creature roar again. It was somewhere upriver from them, but it was close. And if she could climb this side of the ravine, it could, too.
"How close...?" Devon said.
"Shh," Julia whispered, worried that it might find some way to squeeze into the cave. "Stay quiet."
It took her another five minutes to get to the rocks, by which time she really couldn't make out much of what Devon was saying, but a lot of it seemed to be her asking for updates on Julia's situation. I should have told her thirty minutes, not fifteen, she thought. Now she's going to worry. But there was nothing she could do about it now, and maybe the worry would help keep Devon awake.
"Bess?" she said after opening a channel. "Can you hear me?"
"…lia?" Bess's voice came intermittently over the gear. "…god! We've…you…right?"
"Bess, you're breaking up. Just listen. Devon and I are okay, but I don't know about Rick."
"…made…safe...ale's…him…are you?"
Julia sighed in relief. "Don't worry about us right now," she said. "We're in a cave, but the gear signal can't get through there. Don't try to send anyone tonight—it's too dangerous. It's too cold, and there's a really big creature out here."
As if on cue, there was a loud roar from below her. Julia knelt down, looking down into the ravine. The creature was almost directly below, really close to the cave entrance. It was looking up at her, and suddenly the fifty meters she had climbed didn't seem nearly far enough. It was even bigger than she'd thought looking up at it before, with gray-black fur that made it difficult to see in the twilight. Which is why we didn't see it coming, she thought.
"…the…was that?" Bess said, and even through the static, her fear came through.
"Big, big creature," Julia whispered, watching as it reared up on its hind legs, resting its forelegs on one of the boulders Julia and Devon had passed. A boulder which easily had to be two meters high. "Claws and teeth and really big. Be careful. We're safe. We're safe till tomorrow." I hope. "We'll be right here—these coordinates will get you close enough. Did you get that?"
"Got…coor…scary mon…come in…ning…guns," Bess said.
"I really hope you just said you're coming in the morning with guns," Julia said quietly.
"..es! Yes!…"
Thank god, Julia thought. "I have to go," she said. She closed the channel and tried to figure out how on earth she was going to keep up her end of the bargain she'd just made. Somehow I have to get back to the cave, and bring firewood when I do, without that thing turning me into dinner. How do I get myself into these situations?
"Scary monster?" Alonzo said, staring aghast at Bess. "What the hell does that mean?"
"I don't know, Alonzo," Bess said. "The signal was a mess. I heard this loud noise that sounded like something roaring, and Julia said 'big' something."
"But she's with Devon?" Danziger said.
"It sounded like it. She said 'we' several times, and something about being safe."
"With a scary monster roaring at her?" Alonzo said.
"I'm not sure, but I think they might have been in a cave. Or they found a cave and that's where they were going to be in the morning. I don't know!" Bess said as Alonzo looked like he was about to shake her.
"Leave her alone," Morgan said angrily. "She's doing the best she can."
The back door to the dome opened, and Yale came in.
"How's Rick?" Bess said.
"He will be fine," Yale said. "The injury to his side was deep, but it didn't damage any of his internal organs. He'll be in pain for several days, but he will heal quickly."
"Did he say anything more about what happened?" Danziger said.
Yale shook his head. "But judging from the size of the gashes, I believe we are dealing with something large."
Bess nodded. "That's what Julia—" she said.
"You heard from her?" Yale said. "Is Devon all right?"
Bess told her what she'd just told the others. "She was pretty emphatic that they were safe till morning. She seemed really worried that we'd run into whatever it was that attacked them. She said it was big, with claws and teeth."
"Yeah, we got that," Alonzo said sarcastically. "A lot of good it's doing us. We need to know where they are, if they're okay—"
"That's enough, 'Zo," Danziger said. "It's not her fault."
Alonzo took a deep breath. "Sorry, Bess," he said. "It's just—she does this just to drive me crazy, you know?"
"Of course she does," Danziger said dryly. "And I'm betting this is Adair's version of payback."
Bess smiled a watery smile at them. "Well, here's hoping you both get to give them hell for it soon. What about that Terrier you talked to? Maybe he can find them."
Alonzo looked dubiously toward the door of the dome. "I don't know," he said quietly. "The last I heard from him, he wasn't getting anything from Julia anymore."
Julia worked her way back from the edge and waited for several seconds, listening and hoping the creature would either give up or give her some clue as to which side of the rocks she should try to go down.
There was a faint sound somewhere off to the side she'd originally come up. I hope that means it picked up my scent and is coming up that way, she thought, turning to look at the other way down. If so, this way ought to be clear. I hope. She hesitated. Somehow it looked a lot steeper than the side she'd come up. How am I going to get down that carrying a load of wood?
Very carefully, she told herself resolutely. And at least once you get down there you have some cover. There had been more boulders on that side of the cave entrance, so she might be able to sneak fairly close to the entrance without being seen.
There was a fallen tree about five meters long off to her left, and she stopped to pick up several of the larger branches and stuff them into the med kit, then had a thought. She grabbed the top end of the fallen tree and it shifted, then rolled slightly.
She took off the med-kit bag, filled the remaining spaces full of smaller branches and kindling, then set it on the uphill side of the tree. She slung the mag-pro over her shoulder, then grabbed the top of the tree again and started dragging it towards the edge of the rock face. She stopped often to rest and to listen for the creature.
What should I call it? she thought to keep herself from dwelling on what Devon had told her as she pulled at the heavy tree. She shivered hard, even though the exertion of the climb should have been enough to raise her core temperature. It doesn't really look like a bear. The eyes are too big and the face is too flat. The face actually looked more like a furry bulldog than anything, but she couldn't call it a bulldog.
She got the top end of the tree onto the rocks themselves, then went back to drag the bottom end forward. Once it was in place, she started shoving it towards the edge. It was slow work, but after several minutes of concerted effort, she was able to tip the fat end over the edge, and the whole tree slid off. She leaned over the edge in time to hear it crash to the ground, a sound followed almost instantly by an outraged roar.
Julia shook her head in disappointment as she looked over the edge—she'd almost nailed the creature with the tree, which would have been a spectacular bonus. It was pawing at the remnants of the tree, then it bit at it, shaking it. Good boy, Julia thought. Break it up for me.
Julia wondered briefly if she should try to shoot it, but she didn't trust her aim, and she didn't want to risk running out of ammunition if it was still by the cave when she got down. She looked around to see if there was anything else she could hurl at it, and then had a better idea. There was a rock a little smaller than her head, and she grabbed it. She crawled close to the edge and peeked over again. It was still nosing at the tree. She cocked her arm back and threw the rock as hard as she could back upstream.
The rock arced out over the ravine, flying gratifyingly far. It hit on the far side, bouncing down and making a great deal of noise as it did. Even as Julia looked back to where the creature was standing, it had bunched its legs and launched itself up the river towards the sound. Good boy, she thought, go fetch. She scrambled to the far side of the rock face, grabbed the med kit bag and started picking her way down.
It took her far less than ten minutes to make it back down, mainly because she was slipping and sliding a lot of the time. The weight of the med kit full of wood was awkward to handle, and she was getting clumsy from the cold. She wasn't shivering anymore, and she knew she didn't have much time to get a fire going. Close to the bottom her left leg gave out as she stepped down. She lost her balance entirely and tumbled hard into a boulder at the bottom.
Julia winced, rubbing at the shoulder she'd slammed into the rock, and listened carefully. She didn't think she'd cried out when she fell, but she'd made a lot of noise going down anyway.
She struggled to her feet and peeked out around the boulder, holding the mag-pro ready. There was no sign of the creature, but she didn't want to take any chances with a creature that well-camouflaged.
She was relieved to see she had managed to drop the tree less than twenty meters from the entrance to the cave, and it had landed on a boulder. There were bits of it scattered everywhere, several of them relatively large pieces that would burn for some time. If I can get to them safely, Julia thought uneasily, surprised the creature hadn't returned yet.
Julia was about ready to start towards the cave when the creature came back around the boulder the tree had hit.
For an instant, she froze, and it froze. It was much closer to the cave than she was, and it had definitely seen her. She ducked back into the cluster of boulders, her heart pounding.
But even as she considered backing away, there was a part of her that flared up in anger, determined to finish off the creature so she could save Devon without any further interference. Come on, she thought, shifting to face the spot it would have to come around the boulder, her finger ready on the mag-pro trigger. Come on, let's get it over with, you stupid monster.
Before Julia could even finish the thought, it sidled around the boulder in front of her. It gave a low growl, and she stepped backwards involuntarily.
Which probably saved her life, because her left leg gave out again as she stepped back on it and she fell backwards right as the monster swung at where she'd been. Its claws made a teeth-jarring noise as they scraped across the boulder inches above her.
She blinked for a moment, then realized she still had the mag-pro in her hands. She raised it unsteadily and somehow managed to fire before it could swat at her again, catching it first in the rear leg, then, as she raised the mag-pro into position, in the chest, the throat, and then the chest again as it reared up, bellowing.
She fired again and again into the pale gray fur of its chest, blood spattering from round after round, and finally it made a bizarre gurgling noise and started to topple forward.
Oh, no, Julia had time to think, but even as she tried to scramble backwards out of the way, the creature fell on top of her, and the ravine fell silent.
"Can't we just go on foot?" Alonzo said, pacing back and forth in the dome. "We can't leave them out there all night. It's almost thirty below out there!"
"I know that," Bess said. "But Julia knows how dangerous the cold is. If she said we should wait till morning, she had to be sure they'd be able to survive."
"This is nuts!" Alonzo said. "We have coordinates, we have heaters, we have mag-pros! We should go after them! Come on, Danziger!"
Danziger shook his head reluctantly. "Bess is right, 'Lonz," he said. "Think about it—Julia might be willing to take that kind of risk on her own, but there's no way she'd do it with Devon. If you have any faith at all in Julia's smarts, you'll trust her on this."
"That's not fair," Alonzo said.
"Who said life is fair?" Danziger shot back.
Alonzo glared at him for a long moment, then turned on his heel and stormed out of the dome.
Danziger sighed.
"Thanks, Danziger," Bess said kindly. "I know that had to be hard for you."
Danziger looked up at her and shook his head. "It's gonna be a long night," he said.
Julia couldn't breathe. The weight of the creature was pressing down on her, the mag-pro digging painfully into her stomach. She managed to turn her head slightly and there was a tiny space in the hollow under the rock that gave her an even tinier amount of air.
The musky smell of the creature almost made her gag, and the little bit of air she did get was barely enough to keep her conscious. But the desperation for more air was bringing her dangerously close to panic. Her heart was pounding so hard she felt like it should be lifting the creature with every beat.
No, she told herself, fighting to control her racing heart. You can't panic. Devon will die. You have to get out from under this thing. You have too much left to do.
She tested each limb, trying to find something that could move, that could give her some leverage to get out. Her left leg had room to move, at least a little. She pulled it up towards her, then pushed hard against the creature, ignoring the stab of pain from her shin. Nothing moved. She shifted it back and tried pushing against the rock instead.
And miraculously, she slid a tiny bit. Unfortunately, it shifted the creature a little, too, and the little pocket of air she had disappeared. She dragged her left arm across her, one of the parts of the mag-pro cutting into her forearm as she did, but she was able to get it into the space under the rock and push up against the creature.
She gasped for air, her vision starting to go gray around the edges. She pulled her leg up again and shoved hard against the rock. She slid only another few centimeters, the med kit shifting slightly under her, but was rewarded by the mag-pro shifting so it wasn't digging directly into her diaphragm. She was able to get a little more air when she pushed up against the creature again, and the fear of blacking out faded slightly.
Keep moving, she told herself. She shoved again with her leg, and made it a few more centimeters, and the top of her head suddenly felt icy cold.
Come on, she said, shoving with both her leg and her arm now, you're so close. Her head got free of the creature, and she gasped, savoring every oxygen molecule that she was able to squeeze in. Another titanic push got her shoulders free, and she managed to pull her left arm out.
It took what seemed like forever, but she was finally able to pull herself free. She lay on half on her side, breathing hard, completely spent. It was bitterly cold, and she found herself longing for the warmth the creature had provided, but even as she thought it, the cold didn't seem quite so bad. It must be dawn. We made it, she thought vaguely, but looking up, she saw the sky was still dark.
Then she realized what was happening, and she somehow found the strength to roll onto her knees. Keep moving. If you stop, you'll die, and Devon won't have a chance. You have to keep moving.
Devon looked towards the entrance to the cave. Come on, Julia, she thought, worried. Where the hell are you? The roaring had startled her out of sleep, and the firing of the mag-pro had scared her enough to start her moving. But both had stopped a few minutes earlier, and there was still no sign of Julia.
Devon unzipped her jacket and carefully tried to slide one arm into the sleeve. It hurt like hell, but she managed to get it on, and the pain helped her stay awake. Breathing hard, she started crawling toward the opening of the cave. She felt too dizzy and tired to even try making it to her feet, but she managed to put one hand in front of the other, and her knees followed until she made it to the cleft.
"Julia?" she called, too tired to even realize the danger she might be in making that much noise. "Julia, answer me!"
She pulled herself a little farther, and finally could see the unmoving form of the creature, or at least the back end of it. The rest of it was hidden by a boulder.
Devon was about to call out again when Julia crawled clumsily over the furry mound. She seemed to be all right, but as Devon watched, she realized Julia was half-covered in blood. She rolled off the creature and came to a stop sitting with her back against the creature. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes.
"Julia!" Devon said. "Wake up!"
Her head shot up. "Devon?" she said slowly, and she sounded confused.
"Are you okay? What happened?"
"I'm…fine," she said, but the brief hesitation made Devon wonder. "Wait right there. Don't move." She turned, climbed unsteadily to her feet and went around the other side of a boulder, limping heavily. Devon held her breath, hoping she hadn't fallen over. She'd certainly looked like she might. But she reappeared several long seconds later, dragging a sizeable chunk of tree trunk behind her, barely putting any weight on her left leg.
She was halfway back to the cave when she wavered, then went down on her left knee.
"Julia!" Devon said, cursing under her breath. I'm damned near useless to her right now, she thought. "Talk to me! Please!"
Julia raised her hand, but her head was down, and she seemed to be breathing hard. "Just…gimme a minute," she said faintly. After what seemed like an eternity to Devon, she struggled back to her feet and started dragging the tree again. "Sorry," she said, finally reaching the cave. She leaned heavily on the wall of the cave.
"What is it? What's wrong?" Devon said.
"I killed it," she said, and she sounded proud.
"I saw," Devon said. "Very impressive. Make for a great story back at camp. Did it hurt you?"
Julia shook her head. "Well, not exactly," she added, frowning. "I shot it—a lot—and then...didn't get out of the way fast enough."
"It fell on you?!" Devon said, wondering how she'd survived. That thing has to weigh a ton!
"Sort of," Julia said. "I got lucky again. The boulder kept most of the weight off me. But it took a long time to get out from under..." She sighed, wrinkling her nose. "It was hard to breathe. And…it smelled bad." She shook her head and started to lean down to help Devon up. "We need to get you back inside."
"I can make it," Devon said, waving her off.
"You sure?" Julia said, and Devon knew she must be utterly exhausted, or she'd never have considered letting her try it on her own.
"I'll be fine," Devon said, and rolled onto her hands and knees and started crawling back inside. I'll be fine, she thought. Just put one hand in front of the other.
Julia struggled in after her, pulling the tree behind her, though she had a lot of trouble getting it past the dogleg at the opening. By the time she finally got it inside, she was listing ominously to one side.
Devon got back to the emergency blanket and leaned tiredly against the rock wall, the cuts on her back pulsing with pain. "Sit down, Julia, before you fall down," she said.
Julia shook her head. "Can't," she said. "Not yet." She pulled the med kit off her back and let it fall to the ground. She blinked several times. "Adrenaline's wearing off," she said, and the words were almost unintelligible. "...so tired."
"I'll bet," Devon said, wondering how long she'd be able to keep upright. At least I still have that stimulant running through me, she thought, and knew if she didn't, she wouldn't have been awake at all.
Julia knelt clumsily next to the med kit, opened it and unceremoniously dumped out a bunch of smaller pieces of wood. Then she stared at them vacantly, like she couldn't figure out what to do next.
What if she's really hurt? Devon thought. I don't have a clue what to do about it. "Here," she said, pulling the diaglove from the pile of medical supplies beside her. "Let me scan you."
Julia blinked at the diaglove for a moment, then reached for it.
"No," Devon said, starting to put it on her hand, "let me."
Julia shook her head emphatically. "I'm okay," she said. "Jus' give it to me." She grabbed it away from Devon, pulled off her left glove with her teeth and put it on. "Laser cut," she said, and pointed her finger at the little pile of wood. The laser shot out and the wood started to smoke. She added more small twigs to the pile, then used the laser to start them burning in several spots, adding larger pieces as the fire took hold.
"That's good enough, Julia," Devon said, already feeling a hint of warmth from the small pile. "It's going."
Julia didn't show any sign of having heard her. She turned, pulling ineffectually at the tree, trying to get it closer to the fire. It slid a few centimeters.
Devon leaned over, grabbed one of the burning bits of wood and tossed it into the cluster of branches closest to her. "There," she said, relieved to see it catch fire quickly. "One less thing to worry about. C'mere." She pulled the emergency blanket out from under herself and once Julia had half-crawled, half-fallen close enough, wrapped the end around her. Devon carefully slid one arm around the doctor and pulled her close.
"'m falling asleep," Julia mumbled into Devon's jacket.
"I know," Devon said. "It's okay. You did great. Just rest now."
"No, not okay," she said. "Too cold."
"Sure," Devon said, but the thought of sleeping again had set her own eyelids drooping.
"I mean it," Julia insisted, raising her head for a moment and trying to look at her. "If we sleep, you could die. I can't…can't let that happen."
"I know," Devon said, but there was no way she'd be able to stay awake. She reached over and pulled the diaglove off Julia's hand, then grabbed Julia's glove from where it had fallen and wriggled it onto her unresisting hand. "I'll set this so it'll wake us both up, okay?"
"I'm sorry," Julia murmured, leaning her head against Devon's shoulder. "I didn't...mean..."
"There's nothing to be sorry for," Devon said, but that last effort must have taken Julia's last reserves, because when Devon turned to look at her, she was asleep.
Devon ran the diaglove over her, just in case, and was relieved to see that there were no major injuries, only bruises. Only, she thought, studying the readout carefully to make sure she was reading it right. She has bruises on her bruises. We're both in bad shape. And there isn't a thing I can do about it.
The last thing Devon remembered was resting her head against Julia's, watching the rest of the tree start to burn, savoring the gratifying warmth it produced, and hoping it was enough to keep them alive till morning.
"Julia!"
Devon jolted awake. Julia was still sleeping, her gloved hand draped across Devon's knee. The fire was almost dead, and it was freezing in the cave. Oh, no, I slept through the alarm, Devon thought. And then she realized what had woken her.
"Devon!" Danziger's voice called from somewhere above them. He sounded frantic. "Where the hell are you?"
"Hmm?" Julia said faintly, but she didn't move.
I have to get up, Devon thought. Danziger's going to be mad if I don't. But she couldn't keep her eyes open. There were faint sounds of voices, and she faded out again.
"Julia! Devon! Answer me!"
That was Alonzo, and he was closer, not so far above them. Devon forced her eyes open. She tried to untangle herself from Julia and the emergency blanket but her back hurt with the slightest movement. "Here!" she called, and it came out almost as a croak. She swallowed hard. "In here!"
"Did you hear that?" she heard Helen say.
"Yeah!" Alonzo said. "Devon! Keep talking!"
"There's a cave," Devon called. "We're inside..." She tried to say something else, but she must have fallen asleep again, because the next thing she knew, Helen was kneeling over her, holding a flashlight in her mouth and studying the diaglove.
"Is she okay?" Alonzo said, and Devon looked over at him. He was hovering over Helen's right shoulder, leaning against the cave wall and looking worriedly down at Julia, who still hadn't moved.
"Barely," Helen said after handing him the flashlight. "Both of them are hypothermic. Do you have the heater?"
Alonzo pulled it out of his pack and flipped it on. The heat was nice, and Devon felt herself relaxing into sleep again. But then she felt Julia stir.
"Mel?" Julia murmured. "Devon's hurt."
"We know," Helen said. "Don't worry, Julia. We've got this."
"Did she get hurt killing that thing out there?" Alonzo said.
"I wish," Devon said, and she couldn't seem to make the words come out as more than a mumbled mess. "That was Julia the giant-killer."
"Attagirl," Helen said, grinning down at her. She pulled more of the chemical heat packs from the med kit she'd brought and tucked them into Julia's boots, then did the same for Devon.
"Frostbite?" Julia said faintly.
Helen shook her head. "Not yet, though you were probably close."
"How are they?" Danziger said, coming into the cave. He leaned over to look at Devon worriedly.
"They're okay," Helen said. "Give me a minute to check on Devon and get their core temps up a little, and we can move them out."
Danziger handed her another heater, and she set it on the other side of Devon. "Sergei and Bill are looking at that thing out there. There's enough meat on it to last us a while. And get this—Bill thinks he can figure out how to tan the hide. He wants to make a fur coat out of it."
"Bigfoot," Julia said.
"What?" Devon said, wondering what Julia was talking about.
"We're calling it Bigfoot," Julia said, raising her head and blinking sleepily. "I killed it. I get to name it."
Devon started to laugh.
Danziger looked stunned, then grinned. "Bigfoot it is. And I'd say you killing that thing gives you more than naming rights. You get the fur coat, too."
Julia woke up in her tent. She had no idea how long it had been since they'd been in the cave. She looked around and saw Devon sleeping face-down on a cot near Rob, and Yale was sitting at the lab table, studying something on a tablet.
"Yale?" she said quietly.
"Hey," Devon said, opening her eyes to look over at her. "How are you feeling?"
Julia sat up, wincing slightly. "Sore," she said, "but otherwise okay. You?"
"She is healing well," Yale said. "And she will continue to do so as long as she remains still." He gave her a severe look.
"He's even worse than you are," Devon said. "He actually threatened to tie me to the bunk."
"Do not make me carry out that threat," Yale said darkly. He turned to Julia. "And you are to remain in your bed as well, Doctor."
"But I'm—"
"You are not fine. You have a deep bone bruise on your left leg that needs rest and time to heal properly. There is nothing that needs your attention at present. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, sir," Julia said meekly.
"Good," Yale said. He handed her the tablet. "I wasn't sure if you had seen this or not, but I thought I should show it to you."
It was Melanie's tablet. Julia vaguely remembered having seen it in the mess the day of the attack, but she hadn't seen it since.
"It had fallen under Rob's bunk," Yale said. "There is a message for you on the home screen."
Julia saw it—a smiley face icon labelled "For Julia, just in case." The smiley face was sticking out its tongue. Only Melanie, Julia thought with a pang.
"I will leave you alone for a bit," Yale said gently and went into the dome.
Julia stared blindly at the tablet for a moment. She glanced up when she felt Devon's eyes on her.
"Sorry," Devon said quietly. "I'd offer to leave, but I think Yale really would tie me to the bunk."
"It's okay," Julia said. "I don't think I could look at it right now anyway." She looked at Devon for a long moment, then sighed. "I'm so sorry, Devon. This was all my fault. I never should have made us go that far. And I shouldn't have said those horrible—"
"Don't start," Devon cut her off. She shook her head, smiling. "You already apologized once. Besides, we both spend too much energy on feeling guilty. You saved my life, Julia. I'm just glad I get one more chance to try to make things right."
Julia sighed again, this time in relief. "You and me both." She looked back at the tablet, deciding that she wouldn't look at Melanie's message until there was no hope left at all. But before she could put it into sleep mode, she noticed a blinking icon at the top. She frowned.
"What is it?" Devon said.
Julia tapped the icon, and it opened up a log of recordings. Julia recognized the dates of the first several. These are the recordings of my VR meetings with Brendan, she thought sickly.
But there was a new recording blinking at the bottom of the list. From the day of the attack. The amount of data in the recording was massive, even more than her longest VR session, though the link had only been open a couple of seconds.
But that's impossible, Julia thought. There's no way a standard VR feed could carry that much data. Unless... "Oh, god," she breathed.
"Julia?" Devon said, sounding worried. "Are you all right? Should I call Yale?"
"No!" Julia said quickly. She looked up at Devon, and Devon recoiled at the look of sorrow on her face. "Devon...I think I know who the other spy is."