had killed Dr. Rice and nearly had him as an after-dinner mint. “Big as that thing was, I don’t think so. There were too many of them. Kira said the bugs, or whatever they are, were what killed the megasaur.”
“What, you don’t think they’re bugs? They looked liked four legged ants or cockroaches or something.” Fiona opined.
“I saw some up close, they were breathing and they expanded with each breath. I don’t think it’s a shell or an exoskeleton…”
“Lungs?” Wesley gasped. “So then what’s the hard shell on them, armored plates?”
“Why not, Terran dinosaurs had bony plates for defense.”
“So why a queen? Animals don’t need a queen.”
“It’s the Vitallian way.” The new voice surprised them all. Jeremy twisted at the waist, turning to see Kira walking up to them. Somehow she’d done a quick circuit around the group and was returning to it. “The females of any species are larger and stronger. They stay back tending the young while the males hunt for food. Some stay in a herd or hive, some gather in smaller groups or even remain almost solitary until they mate.”
“Reminds of what they used to say about Earth having a Mother Nature,” Wesley said.
“Except Mother Vitalis is a crotchety bitch that does not like her planet being messed with,” Kira said. “We’re leaving. I meant everything I said before. Marine, what’s your name?”
“Lance Corporal Fiona Kate.”
“Come with me, Kate, I want to talk with you.”
Jeremy saw the distrust in Fiona’s eyes when she sought out his gaze. He gave her a smile, holding back the sudden flip flops his stomach wanted to do. Was Kira trying to poison Fiona against him? Wes seemed to like him and he’d talked to the other Marines a few times as well, but it was always with Fiona or because of Fiona. In a pinch he knew they’d side with her. He swallowed down his nerves as Fiona and Kira walked off to stand behind another clump of bushes and converse too quietly to be overheard.
“What’s that all about?” Wesley asked.
“I have no idea.”
“Relax, if there’s a human population of almost nothing here, each one of us is too valuable to risk leaving behind.”
Jeremy found himself hoping that Wesley was right. Kira’s behavior and steely gaze made him believe otherwise though. Before his mind could wander too far Fiona came back through the grasses and winked at him. He felt his heart slow in his chest even as a headache was building in the back of his head.
“I thought she was hitting on me for a minute there!” Fiona said in a hushed voice. “She started out talking about how impressed she was that I stood up and how everyone was looking up to me to see what I did. It was kind of creepy!”
Wesley chuckled. “Are you kidding? She’s got the body of a goddess! A little scary maybe, but I like a good scare.”
“Trust me, she’s stronger than she looks. She whipped me around like I was a rag doll. Anybody else and I could have gotten out of that hold. Her body is like liquid steel!”
Jeremy watched Kira heading back towards the far side of the clearing. Even at a distance he could see the muscles rippling with each step she took. She’d made him hit the ground faster than gravity should allow, he had no doubt Fiona knew what she was talking about. “So what did she want?”
“She kind of apologized for roughing me up,” Fiona said with a shrug. “She said she needed to establish who was in charge though, and that meant putting me in my place. Now she wants me to take up the rear guard and make sure nobody follows us and that everybody keeps up. Everybody, even you.”
“Told you!” Wes said, grinning at the former lab assistant.
“Lucky me,” Jeremy said. He did feel lucky though. Anything to get him away from the doomed research settlement was lucky as far as he was concerned, even if it did require his neck to eventually be fused together.
“Let’s go!” Kira called out loud enough for everyone to hear. Jeremy turned his body to look at the ruined base, worried her voice might carry. He saw no sign of pursuit, but the waste high grasses would have hidden the passage of the smaller predators. He turned and took the first of many steps forward. The thought of waiting any longer sent a shiver down his spine.
Whatever came next he was sure he could handle it, as long as he never had to go back and face those bug- like carnivores again.
Chapter 16
With the help of Wes and AJ, Jeremy made it down a series of three steep chimneys in the rocks. At the base it opened into a small valley. Wes helped him over to a shaded spot on the ground, then stood back so Jeremy could catch his breath.
He was sweating from the exertion, but felt his body racked with chills. Everything was tightening up on him. It had started in his neck and shoulders but now even his fingers felt stiff and his hips and knees seemed sluggish. He lay back and stared up at the bright blue sky, marred only by the occasional passing of a birds too large to be classified as birds.
Kira’s face appeared in his vision. She stared down at him and scowled. “You going to die after all?”
He licked his parched lips and grunted. She frowned, then glanced around. “All right, go ahead and suck wind for 15.” She bent over him and stuck out her hand. “Come on, you’re slowing me down.”
“You gonna kill me?”
She scowled. “Tried once but it didn’t work. That must mean you got a purpose for being here.”
Jeremy felt his brows knit together in confusion. A purpose? Was she a religion nut or something? He took her hand and marveled at how easily she pulled him up. He tried to stagger after her but even that wasn’t good enough for her. She turned back and swept him up in her arms like a baby, then carried him the short distance to a depression in the ground near a rock wall. Jeremy protested but she ignored him.
“Here, drink this,” she said, setting him down abruptly.
Jeremy fell, his hand landing in a cool puddle of water and splashing it onto his side. He looked at it and licked his lips. He was thirsty, more thirsty than he could ever remember being. The water was little more than a large mud puddle, even though it looked clear and relatively free of debris or bugs. “Bacteria? Diseases?”
“The good kind, drink it and shut up.”
Still he balked. She let out a frustrated sigh and knelt down next to him. She cupped her hand in the water and brought some up to her face, then drank it. “There, see, it’s not going to kill you!”
He stared at her for a moment then rolled himself painfully over and repeated her gesture. Almost as soon as the cool water ran over his lips he felt the pain in the back of his head lessen. He drank it down then stuck his hand back in for more. He repeated the gesture time and again until he lost track of how many times he’d filled his palm. He rolled away from it at last and rubbed his full stomach, marveling at how much better he was already feeling.
“Come on,” Kira said, motioning to him even as she turned to walk away.
Jeremy scowled at her and considered telling her off. A glance up her toned legs changed his mind. He stood up and followed her, not realizing until he’d reached her that he was walking almost without any pain or stiffness. “What was that?” He gasped, coming to a stop.
Kira motioned him closer and this time he followed without hesitation. He tried twisting his neck but the strain persisted there. He let it go and saw that she’d stopped next to Fiona. “Okay, what’s going on?”
“The longer you put it off, the worse your body will feel. You’ve breathed the air and that’s pulled some of this place into you, but it’s only enough to start the changes. Once you take in the water and the food here you’ll start feeling better.”
“Dr. Rice said her blood samples had shown changes…”
“Yes, and it would have happened a lot faster if you hadn’t been drinking bottled water and packaged food.”
“We’d have had to soon, the supply shuttle from the Explorer didn’t show up yet this week. I heard something
