There were plenty of bushes near the river and she ducked behind one and crouched down. It was too dark to see where she was going, and she would either hurt herself or make too much noise if she kept running.
Besides, Ethan was still out there, and she would never leave him behind.
The man she’d burned was swearing in a long, low, continuous monotone as he hunted for her, and she shivered.
She could not let him get his hands on her now. He would take delight in hurting her.
There was a shout which she couldn’t quite pinpoint. Away to the left, but she didn’t know if it came from across the river or closer to the camp.
The man hunting her stopped at the sound, hesitating, and then the shout came again and was cut off abruptly.
He began to swear again, but he was facing away from her, now, looking in the direction of the noise.
There was a sudden flare of light, and the unmistakable smell of a laz discharge.
“Velda?” Ethan’s voice was low.
She emerged from behind the bush and found him standing over the man who’d been hunting her, his laz loosely at his side.
He turned as she stepped out.
“There were two of them?” she asked.
He nodded. “What did you do to this one?”
“Threw the hot water at his face.” She reached him and looked down, saw the man’s skin was blistered and red.
“Did he hurt you?” Ethan turned fully toward her, studying her carefully.
“No. I worked out he was going to shoot, and threw the water at him and ran. He would have, though, if he’d found me.” She shivered again.
Ethan held out a hand, and she took it, let him lead her away from the man back toward the camp.
“I don’t know how long we have, but they are going to be awake in a few hours.” He stopped in front of the fire. “We need to strip them of their comms, take their identification, tie them up, and leave.”
“You think there’ll be more of them?” Velda asked.
“There are definitely more of them. Whether they planned to kill us or just stun us, how were they going to get our bodies or us out by themselves?” Ethan asked. “They have transport coming for them, and given the search and rescue going on, the eyes on this location, I’m guessing that transport looks the same as our people’s. Might evenbeone of our people.”
She didn’t like it, but she had to admit it was the only logical conclusion to draw. So they had to truss their attackers up and go as quickly as possible. “Damn.”
He grinned at that, a quick flash of humor, and then he picked up the pot she’d thrown. “Next time I go looking for the origin of a strange noise, you hide first,” he said.
“Or I go with you,” she said.
“Or that,” he agreed. He pulled her close, his kiss quick and hard.
She stood, slightly stunned, when he drew back.
“Problem?” His voice deepened.
“No. No problem.” She reached out, pulled him closer, and kissed him back.
“Well, that’s fine then.” He sounded a little . . . bemused, and she smiled.
They packed quickly, and when they were done, Ethan returned to the two downed attackers and took their IDs and comms, and secured them with their own restraints.
As they walked away, she saw Ethan looking up at the sky, and did so herself. It was brilliant with stars, and with the near constant streak and sparkle of space debris burning up as it hit the atmosphere.
