2

Niu stood with the others of her tribe, listening to the warriors, and the Chief, argue about what they had seen that morning. The sky above had been on fire, and thunder had rattled the jungle. Her people were frightened. The Gods were angry. Furious that the Chief’s daughter Mya had shrugged her duties to mate with their future Chief, Karul. Instead, she had secretly run off and mated with the star man — the outsider she had brought into the village months ago.

Mya had taught Brody their ways. How to hunt, and survive, and speak just like them. The Chief had granted the poor stranded man sanctuary in their village, and he had repaid their kindness by stealing his daughter. Niu thought it was degusting the way they carried on. Mya had betrayed all that was sacred to the Saricou people to mate with an alien. Brody was nice enough and attractive, she supposed, but he was still an outsider, and if what he said was true, if the fire in the sky was more just like him, then he had brought them to Anavrin, and the Gods only knew what would happen next.

It was getting dark, and Mya and Brody had been gone all day. He had insisted on speaking with his people in the hopes of making peace between them. He had insisted on going alone, and Mya had followed, but now she had returned alone.

Niu watched as Mya fought her way through to her father. She looked as if she had run all the way back; her weapons were missing. “They took Brody,” she said, interrupting them. She was breathless as she stood before them with tears in her eyes. “There are hundreds of them, and they are killing the valley.”

A sudden uproar moved through the people. “We must do something.” Yanuko, one of her tribe’s best warriors, said.

“We should fight,” her brother Delko added. Niu’s brother was like any of the other warriors. Tall and lean. His white hair was shorter than the others, donned feathers and was branded with leather laces.

“They have weapons like nothing we have never seen. Brody was right,” Mya said. “We cannot match their weapons.”

“Then we will not fight them head-on,” Karul said. “We will take them by surprise.”

Mya took a bow from one of the men. “I will fight with you,” she said, staring down at the disapproving looks of her parents. Her gaze met Karul’s. The decision was part his to make as the future of their tribe. It was clear that Mya was not going to take no as an answer, not when her mate was in peril.

“Absolutely not,” her father declared.

“We should let her fight,” Karul said, surprising them all. “Mya is an accomplished huntress, and she is the only one who has experience dealing with the star people. She can help us track them,” Mya smiled. No one had expected him to defend her, not after she had gone behind his back to mate another.

“My daughter will not….” Mya’s mother placed her hand on her mate’s arm and shared a silent look. She was a wise and powerful shaman, and her influence was felt throughout the tribe. The Chief looked down for a moment and then back up at his daughter. “Be careful, Mya,” Niu could not believe he had allowed her to go.

Niu grabbed Delko by the arm as he began to follow the other warriors out into the trees. “Be careful, brother. Their judgment is clouded by emotion,” she warned him. After their father had died in the hunt two years ago, Delko was all she had. Their mother had died bringing Niu into this world, and if she lost Delko too, she would be alone. She herself was a good huntress, but she was not foolish enough to go after the star people if they were as bad as Mya said. She only prayed for her brother’s safe return.

***

Darius returned to his quarters and washed up, then changed into his dark fatigues. He was going out into the jungle and needed to blend into the night. He painted his face dark and joined the others in the armoury. They loaded themselves down with standard-issue weapons. Hunting knife, ballistic knife, hand pistol, semi-automatic, fully automatic machine rifle, and extra rounds.

Loaded up and ready to fight, the squad stood at attention as Commander Wicker, who intended to lead the party himself, addressed them. “Today, we were attacked. The natives have committed an act of war, and as of this moment, they are the enemy. We have orders to neutralize any and all hostiles. Tonight we go after the savage that raided our camp, and she will die because we are the best. We are skilled, we are stronger, and we are better armed. Technology always wins the fight. We will find the savage’s village, and we will deal them a blow they will not forget. They will surrender to us for processing, or they will be destroyed. This is a small planet, and there is not enough room for all of us. So it’s them, or it’s us,” he said, looking over the troops, “and it sure as hell is not going to be us. Move out.”

“Hua!” They all cried out, excited and worked up. The unit left the camp and headed out into the valley. They were on their toes, ready for anything. There had been reports from some of the others of strange and dangerous plants, carnivorous plants that had so far killed three people.

Darius had to admit that this place was quite the wonder, beauty and danger everywhere. A real challenge for a good soldier and a welcomed challenge too. They kept it tight, two by two, and moved swiftly. They had been walking for thirty minutes when they came to a problem. A natural barrier. Darius’ eyes followed up the side of a hundred-foot rock cliff. Not the types to be put off by a problem, the unit shot up their grappling hooks and secured a sturdy line. They scaled the rock face and entered the jungle above.

The trees were huge, hundreds perhaps thousands of feet tall, and so wide they could build a road right through them. The raised roots were huge and resulted in slowing them down as they climbed over them. Darius could not help but feel small and insignificant at the foot of these mighty trees. The jungle floor was covered with thick foliage: bushes and colourful plants. The dirt beneath his boots was so dark, and the canopy above blocked out most of the light from the twin moons. It was so shadowy Darius and the others struggled to see.

They walked through the jungle for some time with no clue where they were going. They tried to track the woman but found no footprints or disturbed plant life. It was as if she had just vanished. For all they knew, they were walking around in circles. They paused briefly, whispering to one another, trying to decide which way to go.

Darius looked to his side, watching the leaves of the bushes around him.

“What’s wrong?” Whispered Sgt. John Kooper. Darius and John had been serving together since boot camp, and John was a good soldier and a good friend. He was a man that the ladies loved with his blonde hair and blue eyes.

“I thought I heard something. Over there.”

John watched the bushes and listened. “I don’t hear it,” he whispered.

Suddenly the leaves rustled, and Darius lifted his gun in response. “There is something there,” he said, drawing everyone’s attention. He had not even finished his thought when a monster burst out from the bushes. A huge fifteen-foot reptile with a huge armoured hood and bone spikes down its back and tail. Its eight legs allowed the beast to nimbly move in any direction. It had foot-long fangs dripping with a white substance. Poison, if Darius had to guess.

The beast attacked, taking out four men before the rest even realized what had happened. Suddenly there was screaming, and everyone that was still standing open fired. Loud, repetitive booming and muzzle flashes filled the air, lighting up the dark as the men fought for their lives. They fought back with all they had, wounding the beast but not slowing it down as it killed five other men. It bared its teeth and bit another man well, spinning around and striking Darius with its tail.

The force sent Darius flying into the bushes ten feet away. The branches snagged his clothes and tore his sleeve, the thorns cutting his arm. Darius suddenly felt dizzy. He pulled himself out of the bushes and staggered a step or two. His head felt foggy. He lifted his gun to fire but had trouble focusing. More died before the beast was killed, and only a handful of the unit remained.

John was breathing heavily, and he looked at Darius. “Fisher, are you ok?” John asked, his voice sounding distant and faint as Darius’ vision blurred, and he felt himself fall before everything went black.