He ignored his boss. The rifle had been returned to the Marines, lessening his load. He walked over stiffly to the discarded coil and bent down to pick it up. He picked it up and checked it over, looking for obvious signs of damage. A half twist later he found it, a crack that showed scorch marks as the supercharged gas inside had blown free of it. He frowned, studying it a moment longer, then tossed it back on the trampled grass.
“Problem?”
Jeremy jumped, he hadn’t heard Dr. Rice approach. “No, just curious. We seem to be having a lot of problems with our equipment.”
“Was there something wrong with that too?” Rice asked him.
He shrugged. “I mean yeah, obviously. It’s blown, but it looks like it had a weak spot on the coil.”
“That’s a pretty standard part,” She observed.
Jeremy nodded. “I know, but statistically it happens.”
She grunted. “Don’t wander off like that. I need an assistant and a replacement is years away. The compound’s not secure yet.”
He jerked his head around to look at her. “We’re surrounded by Marines and other people! Doctor, there’s no chance of anything happening!”
She opened her mouth but was interrupted by a distant screech that echoed from the jungle beyond the swamp. After the last traces of the primal scream faded she lowered her voice and said, “I don’t think there’s anywhere that’s safe on this planet, Mr. Sinclair.”
Chapter 6
“Hey.”
Jeremy looked up from the lab supplies he was sorting and storing. Dr. Rice was leaning against a pre- fabricated shelving unit he’d already put together. He wiped the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand and leaned back. “Something wrong, Doctor Rice?”
“Let’s take a break,” she ran her fingers through her hair to emphasize the need for a break.
He glanced back at the various supplies he’d been storing. They could wait. He grabbed his nearby bottle of water and took a drink from it then turned back to her. “You talked me into it.”
Her lips curled into a thin smile that didn’t reach her eyes. Jeremy noticed and felt himself tense up. This was more than just taking a break, she had an agenda. His stomach fluttered as he realized she was probably done waiting for him to explain the inconsistencies in his past. Almost a week since they’d landed. Deciding to take the initiative and, hopefully, control the damage, he asked, “So what’s up?”
“I’m not good with electronics but everybody’s picked up on what you’d noticed on day one,” she said. “Things tend to break here. A lot. I’ve been through three personal assistants already and most of our gear in here hasn’t even been fired up but the diagnostics when we bring them online show problems.”
He nodded. It seemed Vitalis, the name that the buoy in space had been transmitting, wasn’t friendly to technology. The buoy had marked it as a salvage claim for someone named Klous Hildebrand, captain of a small transport ship named the Black Hole. The ruins of what they all assumed was the Black Hole were several miles away. It had landed or crashed on a secluded beach. Inland their orbital images had shown a deep jungle but both the jungle and the beach were surrounded completely by mountains.
“Have the Marines found any survivors?”
Jeremy narrowed his eyes slightly at the question. “How would I know?” He said defensively. “You’re on the need to know list, not me.”
“I just wondered if you’d heard anything from that Marine. Kate, wasn’t it? The corporal.”
“Lance Corporal Kate,” he corrected. He felt a flash of irritation at Dr. Rice’s ignorance. “Fiona is her first name, not Kate.”
Dr. Rice’s eyes widened for a moment. She recovered quickly. “Mr. Sinclair…Jeremy. This is silly. We’re going to be working together for a long time. Maybe longer if they can’t get the second shuttle fixed. When it’s just us let’s drop the formalities, okay?”
He nodded. “That’s fine, but Synnamon is quite a mouthful.”
She smiled. “I’m sure we’ll manage. Tell me about yourself. We need to get to know each other if we’re going to be relying on each other. Obviously our dossiers don’t have a full picture.”
Jeremy’s shoulders tensed and his stomach cramped. She was good, she’d distracted him then brought it right back around to him. “I think they did a pretty good job.”
She smirked. “No mention of a Navy past for you. Or is that just another cover story? Are you an agent for some Coalition government agency? Or maybe a private business slipped you in? Is the story about your daughter true, or just something crafted up to win me over based on some psych profile?”
Jeremy took a step back, shocked by her sudden intensity. He’d been prepared for it but even the best of plans could go up in smoke and he knew it. He’d lived it, in fact. “Doc- Synnamon, no! It’s nothing like that. Jasmine is real. I’m real — this is who I am. I did a lot of stupid shit when I was younger, it’s behind me and I don’t like people thinking poorly of me because of it. That’s all.”
“Well whatever it was there’s no record of it,” Synnamon went on. “So either you covered your tracks well or it wasn’t as bad as you think it was.”
He shrugged. The more talking she did the less he had to. The fewer lies he had to tell the easier it would be to get out of it.
“You promised me an explanation though.”
Jeremy groaned. He had promised her. He hadn’t killed anybody, and it had been over a decade ago. Military crimes had no statute of limitations though, even if his hadn’t been treasonous. He opened and closed his mouth, then let out a sigh. “I-“
A banging on the door of the lab interrupted him. It was Private Palenko. “Jer, Doc, there’s a situation in the yard!”
The private was gone just as quickly. Jeremy looked to his boss and saw her frown. “To be continued,” she said, then walked after the Marine.
Jeremy followed, stretching his legs to match her brisk pace. They’d traded in the uncomfortable suits for jumpsuits and regular clothing days ago, something he was grateful for. “What’s going on?” He wondered aloud.
They cleared the outer seal on the lab and were immediately hit by the wet heat of Vitalis. It pressed against them like a wet blanket, nearly making them stop. A primal roar slammed into them, making them take the step back the climate had been unable to provoke.
“What the hell is that?” Jeremy wondered aloud.
“ Look!” Synnamon shouted, pointing over the makeshift barrier that now surrounded the science colony.
Jeremy followed her finger and saw something straight out of an entertainment vid. It was massive, nearly as big as the quadruped monsters they’d encountered on their first day in. This one walked on two legs, but it had arms as well. Heavily muscled arms that dipped below the edge of the barrier. It was still some distance away but it was looking at the settlement as it approached.
Chapter 7
Two pulse laser turrets whirred to life. Both rotated to bring their cannons on line with the approaching creature, but the one closer to the east facing gate shuddered and ground to a halt with a metal on metal screech. Smoke rose up from the motor housing, giving probably cause to the failure.
The third and fourth turrets had no line of site, being on the southern and western walls. Jeremy watched as Marines were running to the barricades and falling into position, their rifles at the ready. Some still held their laser rifles but the heavy gunners in the fire teams had either plasma rifles or, in the case of Sergeant Whiskers, the
