CHAPTER 7

ARTEMIS

A nother night had passed without a hitch. The other girls were beginning to trust that no one would try something while they slept, so they became a little more relaxed with taking turns on night watch duty. I, however, remained awake for as long as possible.

It had been two days since that first rain-drenched night, and though the forest was still damp it only served to make for a spongier bed when it came time to rest. Now the leaves were drying up again alongside the top layer of soil, it was starting to become a bother to the more heavily pregnant women.

The two pairs further along in their pregnancies had started to complain about back pain and cramps, and I was worried they were going into labour. We still hadn’t found a safe place to settle down yet, and I was becoming increasingly concerned that they would give birth out in the open and give away our location to those hunting us down.

Which was why Libby and I had gone ahead last night while the others were sleeping to try and find a place to at least hunker down safely until the babies were born and their mothers could travel again.

We had been searching for many turns without any luck, but I had a feeling we were going to find something soon. The terrain was changing the further we trudged, the trees giving way to more clearings and rocky outcrops. Through the thinning canopy I could just make out the rise of mountains and realised we were in a valley between two. That meant there would be a cave system we could turn into our home, even if only temporarily.

Hopefully, we could find an empty one to avoid having to fight whatever animal was already using it.

‘Hey, over here! Check this out,’ Libby called from somewhere just barely beyond my sightline, raising my blood pressure. The trees covered many dips and hills in the ground, which we discovered after almost falling down a few. The terrain was certainly uneven, and it was getting more difficult to navigate the closer we came to the base of the mountains. If it hadn’t been so flat thus far I would have believed we were trekking down the side of one.

I was still clueless as to which planet we were on since the flora and fauna could have been imported from other planets and systems, but from the consistency of the types of plants and animals, the extreme weather and rough terrain, I was leaning towards either Tornulis or Fernilum. My guess right now would have been Tornulis because despite the trees being tall and large, they weren’t nearly as high for the Drakferns to build their cities.

That didn’t discount it as a viable option, however.

Honestly, neither one was appealing. Both planets were brimming with deadly creatures and poisonous plants. The thought of being stuck in the wilds of either planet was not reassuring in the slightest, and I knew I was going to have to be extra vigilant with the health and safety of all the expectant mothers.

Somehow they had all begun to look towards me for guidance. Perhaps it was because I was the first one to step up and provide for them all, or perhaps it was because I was more knowledgeable about how to survive in the wilds. It didn’t really matter what their reasoning was. I had managed to find myself responsible for all these women, their unborn babies, and their stolen children.

I still had no clue how I was going to get them back yet, either.

I picked my way through the undergrowth, careful not to let the tangling vines wrap around my ankles. I hadn’t figured out if they were just seriously tangled or if they were moving on their own like a sentient species, but they had a habit of tripping us up at every turn.

When I reached Libby, I found her staring straight up the side of a mountain I hadn’t even realised was there. The canopy may have been thinning in places, but it was still thick enough to prevent us from seeing much, so I tried not to kick myself too hard about missing it. She was pointing up high, and I followed her finger to see a ledge jutting out from the side beneath what looked like an opening to a cave. It was well hidden, only our enhanced eyesight giving us the ability to see it.

‘Please don’t stray so far from me again,’ I scolded her, and she sent me a look filled with apology and understanding.

I gave her a side-hug as we stared up at the potential of a home, hope filling us both if the way she squeezed me back was any indication.

‘Good job, Libs. You stay here, I’m gonna go check it out.’

‘Not a chance, A. You know damn well I’m coming with you,’ she protested firmly.

I turned to face her fully, pursing my lips at her bullheadedness. It didn’t matter how stubborn she was, I wasn’t going to budge. ‘Liberty, you are pregnant. We don’t know if we can even climb up there safely, let alone what we’ll find inside. I’m not risking you or the baby just because you want to stick to me like fucking glue.’

She huffed at me, her breath puffing against my face and blowing the thin strands of hair that were already growing back at an advanced rate away from my forehead. I could see it in her eyes how much she wanted to argue. She was afraid for me, too, but she had more than one life to consider here, and I would be fine.

‘I can take care of myself, Libs. Just wait down here and I’ll check it out as quick as I can, then I’ll be right back down here with you and we can grab the others.’ I gripped her arms just below her shoulders, willing her to agree without another argument. We’d been bickering a lot since we’d escaped, both of us wanting to protect the other over ourselves. I always won by using the not pregnant card, and she was getting tired of it.

Still, it was working because it was true. I was the only one of the entire group that wasn’t creating another life, so I was the most expendable. There was no refuting that.

‘I fucking hate you,’ she grumbled, reluctantly giving in.

I shot her a tired, knowing, closed-lipped smile. ‘No you don’t. Stay put and call out for me if anything tries to attack you.’

She waved me off. ‘Yeah, yeah. I know the drill. Just hurry up and see if we have a place to live or not.’

I gave her a patronising pat on the head which she swatted away, then began the climb up the mountainside feeling lighter and more hopeful than I had in a long time.

The rocks were easy enough to grab onto and use to haul myself up, but I realised belatedly that we would need to create some sort of elevator system to pull up the women with bigger bellies. My own flat abdomen was scraping against the boulders as I climbed higher. I also wasn’t sure how strong the other women were, or if they would be able to pull themselves up like this. I doubted they would have much issue with it, since we had come from the same facility they were likely to have endured the same procedures.

Regardless, we would need to make it more accessible.

I slowed when I reached the ledge, keeping myself pressed against its underside while I listened for any signs of life or danger. When a few clicks passed without any indication of a threat I carefully pulled myself up and over the ledge. I stayed low to the ground and threw all of my focus into enhancing my hearing and my sight. It was still dark, though the sun was beginning to peak over the top of the horizon in the distance. It was brighter than beneath the forest’s canopy, the leaves no longer blocking the sky, but I knew I would need all the help I could get while checking out the entrance of what was definitely a cave.

I could barely see further than the entrance, even with my enhanced sight. I made the decision to focus more of my energy on my eyes to create that blue glow in order to produce a little more illumination for me to see by.

I was glad I did when the first thing I saw was a selection of scattered bones lining the sides of the cave. I rose from my position on the ground, getting my feet steady beneath me in case I needed to fight. Or run. Then I took a tentative step forward, straining for any sign of whatever had left the mess.

The bones had been picked clean and were covered in a layer of dust that seemed to prove the lack of any immediate danger. I didn’t let my guard down, however. I knew from past experiences that just because something seemed safe, it didn’t make it so.

The further I dared travel inside the cave, the more bones I found, and the less evidence of anything occupying this particular cave I found. There was so much dust that I struggled to breathe through it all. Every slight movement I made seemed to disturb it and cause it to swirl in a cloud around me, even when I barely moved.

The deeper I went, the wider it became. The ceiling rose higher, the walls expanded, and eventually the remains of past meals petered out. I realised why soon enough.

In the midst of stalagmites and stalactites was the mummified remains of the most enormous creature I had ever encountered. Its skin was dehydrated, clinging to bone and refusing to rot. Its many eyes were closed, the eyelids wrinkled and concaved, its eyeballs clearly long since disintegrated. Spikes that reminded me of the ones I’d seen on those of Tornu descent lined it’s spine, though these were pressed down as flat as could be against its back. A long tail ran from the base of its spine, covered in those same spikes and curved around its body as if it had gotten comfortable for its own demise. Its head rested on top of giant paws as if it had died in its sleep. Claws poked out from its digits, long and sharp, though a few were chipped as if they were unable to maintain the same level of preservation as the rest of its body.

What concerned me the most, however, was that its teeth were poking from its mouth, too large to be contained with deadly points and painful-looking barbs lining the sides. And they were the most stunning, vibrant shade of red I had ever seen.

Whatever it was, it was venomous, it was deadly, and even in its mummified state I was sure it would still cause fatal damage. I would need to remove it to keep the women and their children safe, because if any of them so much as touched those fangs, there was no saying what would happen.

I stepped closer, still wary. Despite knowing it was dead, there were creatures and other things that existed that maintained their deadliness even after death. Some remained poisonous to the touch, others had post-mortem reflexes that could cause pretty severe damage or straight up kill. Not knowing what this thing was, I needed to proceed with extreme caution.

It towered over me, it’s prone form staggering in its size. It must have been more than five of me stacked on top of each other even lying down.

Ignoring the little voice in the back of my head that told me touching it was a bad idea, especially with Libby waiting for me down below, I reached out a hand and gently placed my fingertips against its dry, wrinkly skin and waited for a reaction.

And waited.

And waited some more.

Nothing. No reaction. No movement. Zilch.

I pressed against it a little harder to test for any post-mortem reflexes, then when that received no results I hit it as hard as I dared. This thing was deader than dead.

It was also way too large to move by myself, but I wasn’t going to be asking the girls for help. It was still too risky with those fangs and claws getting in the way. In fact… I wondered if perhaps it was those very things that had kept other creatures from calling this cave home. It had clearly been dead for a long, long time, so it would have made sense for something else to occupy such an ideal shelter.

I decided to test it out at a later date, because I was running out of time. Even from here I could see the sunlight peering in through the entrance, feebly attempting to illuminate the darkness. It managed to highlight even more shadowed areas that my senses were able to discern were offshoots of the cave, probably and entire underground system within the mountain. I didn’t know what else we would find in those tunnels, but at least here we would be safe for the time being.

Satisfied with my discovery, I ran from the cave and climbed back down the mountainside as quickly as I could, reaching Libby in record time with a broad smile on my face. She seemed relieved and also taken aback by my good mood. It had been way too long since I’d last felt comfortable enough to let my emotions shine through so brilliantly, but her wide-eyed wonder brought into perspective how little I had allowed myself to externally express my feelings. That would need to change now. It could change now.

Things were looking up.

‘We need to gather some materials to create a barrier. There’s a very large, very dead and very deadly creature in there, but I think it might be warding off other wildlife from entering the cave. If we block off access to it I think we can stay in there safely.’

Her brows rose high on her forehead, hiding behind her scruffy hair. We would need to create some combs or something. Grooming was going to be a necessity to ward off illnesses, especially when we weren’t sure how much the nanites protected them after being reprogrammed to accept the pregnancies.

‘We have a place to stay?’ she asked, tentative hope making her voice small.

I beamed even bigger at her, showing off all my teeth. She took a step back as if wary of me, unused to seeing such an expression on me. I didn’t take offense, but I decided to start grinning at her more often. Exposure therapy.

‘We have a place to stay.’

The sun was brighter here, and it shone down through the leaves in streams of light. ‘I think you should gather what you need to block off whatever’s up there while I go back for the others. Save time. I think those two might have gone into active labour sometime in the night.’

I didn’t like the idea of separating, but I grudgingly agreed. The sound of their groans of pain echoed inside my head like a persistent reminder that we were running out of time.

‘You go straight there and come straight back, you hear me? Be safe. I’ll get things set up as quick as I can. We’ll need a pulley system to get them up there, I think.’

‘I’ll keep my senses open and mark the trees the way you showed me. I promise I’ll be safe,’ she said, then gave me a lingering hug before picking her way back through the underbrush.

‘Hey, Libs?’

‘Yeah?’ she asked, turning back to face me.

‘If anything happens, just make sure you get back to me, okay?’

Her answering smile was entirely placating. ‘I promise. I’ll shout if I need you.’

‘Love you.’

‘Love you too, you goob.’

I snorted a laugh at her teasing, but my mirth quickly died down as I watched the forest encompass her retreating form.

Well, better hop to it.

I started gathering wood and vines, piling them beneath the ledge for easier access. I would start with the pulley system to make it easier to carry things up, including the women when they arrived. I could continue building a fence to block off the creature whenever I had the time, but the women took priority for now.

As I whacked away branches while I searched for materials, I found myself moving deeper into the underbrush until I reached another clearing. I froze, my jaw hitting the floor when I saw just what had created the clearing in the first place. It wasn’t really a clearing, but the aftermath of a crash.

Right there, primed for the taking, was a downed space craft.

A grin slowly spread across my cheeks, and I just knew that anyone looking at me would be terrified of the manic expression as a plan solidified in my mind.

I knew exactly how I was getting those kids back.