Chapter 8

Sabine

Iwas in trouble. There was no denying it or pretending it was something other than what it was. I was attracted to the big Mitran, and no—I wasn't pleased about that. He was pushy and presumptuous and absurdly attached to old traditions that didn't serve his best interests. Who rejected modern medical treatments that saved lives and minimized pain? No wonder the women of his Thrail put their collective feet down and demanded a doctor. Herbs and powders were all well and good, but no match for a bioscanner and multi-treatment tool.

"This way." Dakkan tromped through the thick foliage like it was nothing.

I waded through it with a little more difficulty. He'd smashed some of it down by just walking, which made the waist-high shrubbery less difficult to get through. I followed him as we went deeper into the jungle. The smell hit me first, then the remains of the creature that had almost killed me came into view. It lay on the ground, lifeless.

"It appears to be a creature," Dakkan said, staring grimly at the beast.

I slid past him, accidentally brushing my chest against his arm. His muscles twitched. He drew in a sharp breath. I ignored both. "Let me take a closer look." I held out a hand. "Do you have a knife?"

He pulled one from the harness on his back. It was short and sharp, and he turned it over holding the handle end toward me.

"Thanks." I was more grateful that he hadn't decided to question whether I was competent to use a knife. I leaned over the huge carcass and slid the knife into the side of it, then sliced a flap and opened it up to see what was underneath. "Oh, shit," I muttered.

He leaned in, suddenly, putting us shoulder to shoulder. "What in the name of Skrah is that?"

"It's a metal structure. A framework," I said, pulling back more of the skin. The "beast" was a complex and blindingly brilliant piece of machinery. Metal bones and joints had been crafted with a power cell and network of condition tubes snaking throughout. My hand didn't shake as I scooped a small amount of yellow "blood" into the container I'd brought, but my head was spinning. "There's no denying what's in front of us. We're dealing with machines, not creatures."

"Abomination." He rose and looked around, eyes flashing and hard. "What else out here is like this?"

I stood up and capped the tube. "Possibly everything."

He ripped a leaf from the low bough of tree and held it up. The star that gave the planet light—Skrah—was fading, but there was enough to see the living segments in the blue leaf. "This is real."

"That is real," I corrected him, pointing at the thing lying there before us. "It's just not made of flesh and bone."

He tossed the leaf away with force. "This is why my people distrust much of the technology that the other Thrails embrace. It is deceptive. It is dangerous."

"You can't seriously be equating the medical techniques I use to this…thing," I said. "They aren't remotely the same."

"Aren't they?" For a moment, his gaze softened. There was a flash of worry, hesitation, and a deep wariness. "This is the end result of all that technology. Someone has created a forest of lethal machines."

I couldn't argue with that. Someone had created this. There was no evidence that this mechanical creature had been born. The points where parts had been connected and welded were clear to see. "Okay, but why?" I spread my arms. "What is the point of this place?"

He sighed. "Let's return to the shuttle. Night is coming." He turned his gaze to the darkening sky. It was turning red, bathing everything in a bloody glow. "At least we are still on Mitra."

"You're sure?"

He pointed to a large planetary body rising in the night sky. It was barely visible through the trees. "That is Brinat, our closest planet. It turns Mitra red. We haven't been transported off the planet, thankfully."

"Well, that's something."

"A big something." He started back the way we'd come. "We just need to find a way out of this unnatural place."

"No arguments there."

He glanced back. "There is a first for everything."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not that bad."

"You are not bad," he said. "Just difficult."

"I'm not—"

He stopped in his tracks and turned to me, fast and close. "We will not survive this way. Arguing. I think we are both used to getting our way. That is the problem."

My shoulders dropped. Weariness hit me like a rock from the sky. "I think you're right about that. I've had to fight so hard to get where I am in my career. In my life." My throat felt tight. "And yes, I've reached a point where I'm not questioned. I'm usually right, you know."

"I'm sure," he rumbled.

"But now there's you."

"I'm not that bad," he said, tossing my words back at me.

"You're…a lot." I rubbed my eyes. "And I don't mean that in a bad way."

His brows went up. "I don't know what you mean, but that is fine. I understand little about females, regardless of the species."

That took me back. "There are no female Mitrans in your Thrail?"

He shrugged and we resumed our walk back to the shuttle. "There are some, but no young ones that I could learn to interact with, as I must with you. The males in my Thrail who have found human mates seem to have an easier time with it."

"Perhaps that is because they are not the warlord?"

He looked back. "Yes. The females are terrified of me."

I snorted. "I doubt that."

"Explain."

"They might find you intimidating, or distant, or whatever, but if they were truly ‘terrified' of you, they wouldn't have stayed in your Thrail."

"Hmm. Then why do they speak to me with fear in their voices, and then, only when they have to? I can see it in their eyes and hear it in their voices." He shrugged. "It matters not, as long as they are happy and well, but I wouldn't wish to make them uneasy."

That wasn't the worst attitude to have about it, but I couldn't miss the note of disappointment in his voice. Maybe he wanted to meet some of the women in his Thrail. Maybe he wanted a mate, but nobody would talk to him long enough to make a connection.

Huh. I wasn't sure why I felt a sudden uncomfortable twist in my belly at the thought that Dakkan was pining for someone. I wasn't one hundred percent comfortable with that and there was no reason to feel that way. I had just met him, and I didn't even like him. So what if there was some crazy connection and chemistry zinging between us? It didn't mean anything. It was just attraction. I could explain it all away from a biological point of view.

We arrived back at the transport vessel, which was beginning to feel like home in a weird, twisted way. I never thought I'd feel such relief upon seeing a shuttle ship.

"I'm going to get some wood and start a fire," he said. "Try to find a container of some sort that we can boil the water in."

I nodded and went inside. The first thing I did was put the sample from the carcass into the analyzer, although I was pretty sure what I'd find.

Then I went through the compartments to find something that could hold water. A small metal bin that could probably hold several gallons looked like it would work. It was holding some equipment, so I emptied it out and brought it to Dakkan. He had already gotten a fire started. I handed him the rectangular bin. "Will this work?"

He looked up at me and flashed a smile. "Yes. Thank you."

"Sure," I said, sitting beside him. "I'm thirsty."

"It will take time to cool." He had gathered a pile of wood and was methodically feeding the fire with increasingly larger pieces. The warmth of the flames shouldn't have felt so good in this hot, humid jungle, but I moved towards it, holding out my hands. "You don't think the smoke will draw any unwanted attention, do you?"

"Normally, in the wild, smoke is a deterrent to forest creatures. Here?" He shrugged. "I have no idea. We'll find out."

I got up and went back into the shuttle. The sample was done being tested and the results were in, but that had drained the charge on the device's power cell. There would be no more analyzing. I compressed my lips as I read the scanner's analysis. All synthetic. That smelly yellow liquid was a gel lubricant, presumably for keeping all of the robot's metal joints moving smoothly.

It was time to tell Dakkan the news. I took two rations from the dwindling supply and brought them outside. "Here." I handed him one of the foil-wrapped packets and sat down beside the fire. "The yellow substance from our mechanized friend is synthetic," I said. "No surprise. Good thing you washed it off your skin because one of the elements is a caustic substance."

"What does that mean?" he asked.

"It means, if it had stayed on your skin much longer, it would've begun to itch and burn, eventually resulting in chemical burns."

He grunted. "Something in this jungle is going to cause us to itch and burn before our ordeal is over."

I let out a chuckle. "You're probably right about that." I peeled open my ration packet and cleared my throat. "Also, something about this place drains the power from my devices at an accelerated rate, but only when they're powered on."

"Unsurprising," he said. "That is what happened to my rover and your shuttle."

"So, any thoughts on our next steps?"

He raised one dark eyebrow. "You mean, you don't already have a plan set out for us?"

"No. Believe it or not, I'm open to suggestions."

His lips twitched, then curved into a grin. "It is hard to believe, but miracles happen."

I sighed. "It figures I'd get stuck in the woods with a smart-ass."

He laughed. "As it happens, I do have a plan. Or rather, two." He opened his packet and took a bite, chewing thoughtfully. "We have two courses we could take. We could head for the border. I can find the way back to my rover easily enough. Beyond that, it's just a matter of following the trail left by my vehicle to where the jungle turns back to the desert beyond. We would be on foot, but we could find the edge of this habitat."

"And what then?" I asked. "I imagine it's a very long way back to your Thrail."

"It is," he replied. "Very long." He cocked his head. "Is there anything in your pile of equipment that could be used as a communication device?"

"It's medical equipment," I responded. "It doesn't include a portable com system."

"Can you reconfigure anything? What about using the parts to rewire something so that we could send a signal?"

I stared at him blankly for a moment. "I'm a doctor, not an engineer." I smiled suddenly. "I've always wanted to say something like that."

"Like what?"

"Never mind. The answer is no. I can't turn my equipment into transmitters. Not one of my skills," I said. "Is it possible anybody would be out there patrolling and looking for us?"

"I gave specific orders not to be followed. I left my first guard in charge with orders that a new warlord be found to replace me if I don't return in a certain amount of time. But I don't think they are even beginning to worry about me. Journeys like this can take quite some time, and the Raak region is notorious for disappearances."

"I find it interesting that you would come alone to find a lost woman."

He crossed his arms. "Why? Human females are vital for the survival of my species. "

"How am I vital? I'm not here to make babies," I said with an edge to my voice.

He smiled unexpectedly. "You're here to bring them into the world and help them thrive. That is vital work." I didn't have time to reply to that very true statement when he went on. "Also, your planet's government would be very displeased if we lost you. As for the coming alone part, for some reason, warlords of Thrails are believed to have an extra level of skills and survival abilities that the average warrior doesn't. I told Corik I would return with you, and I'm sure he believes that."

"So, what you're saying is, there's no one out there looking for us right now."

"Correct."

Great. "What's your second plan?"

He sighed. "You won't like it any more than the first one. The second plan is to move deeper into this environment and find out what lies in the center. If the creatures in it are mechanical, someone made them. Someone maintains them. It would stand to reason that somewhere in this jungle is the source of it all. We might be able to just shut it down."

He was right. I didn't like this one more, but it had more merit than the first, which was likely an awful death. "If we could get our vehicles back online and powered up, we could get out of here."

"Yes, assuming we're successful." He took one of the skins of water and poured it into the metal bin, which he placed on the fire's edge where a bed of coals glowed. "We don't know what lies at the center of this place. It could be life-forms more advanced than either of our species."

I thought about this as I finished up my ration, which did not fill my belly. "To recap, we could try to find the edge of this environment but we don't know if there's a force field around this place that would keep us in. It could be a one-way street."

He nodded. "It could be. Very easily."

"And if we are lucky enough to get out, we'll have an impossible walk over a desert with no shelter."

"We wouldn't survive that walk," he said. "It is too far, even for me."

"So, the second plan is the only feasible one." I met his heavy gaze. "And we may not survive that either."

"We may not."

Skrah had fallen off the side of the horizon, leaving the sky dark red as the giant Brinat made a prominent appearance in the sky. The temperature had dropped. Despite the protective dome—I assumed that's what it was—keeping a certain amount of heat in, I wrapped my arms around my knees and edged closer to the fire.

"I have blankets in my pack," he said. "We cannot sleep out here, but we can stay warm in the shuttle."

I nodded. Steam was beginning to come off the water in the pan, meaning that it was on its way to boiling. A quiet settled over us, but it had an awkward edge to it. "Okay," I said, to try and fill the space. "Tell me about yourself."

"What do you want to know?" His brows lowered just a fraction, suspiciously. "There is little to say. You know the history of my people."

"True." I tilted my head. "But I don't know the history of you."

"You wish to hear my story?"

"Yeah. I do." And I did.

"Why?"

"Because you're interesting to me," I replied honestly.

"And you are interesting to me," he said. "More interesting than I'd like you to be."

My body grew warm and it had nothing to do with the fire. "Then tell me who you are, Dakkan. I want to know."