“That is a dumb plan,” he says with a smile.
I see movement only a few meters away, and a groan comes from beneath some giant leaves. “I’m here.”
“Coming.” I hurry over, knowing it’s Wraight, not Ava. I try not to let the bubble of disappointment swell and burst. I drop to his side and scan his face, then body. There’s a lot of blood on his uniform. “Where did it get you?”
“I don’t know.” He grabs my wrist with a bloodied hand. “There’s someone else out there. Someone drove them into our camp.”
A nervous laugh escapes. “That’s impossible.”
But I glance at Eskar. Would his friends do that? If it wasn’t his people, then who else is out there? Eskar scowls into the darkness like he’s expecting another attack, even though the forest is dark and noisy. His hand rests on the black handle of his knife.
“I heard talking. I saw lights.” Wraight groans and lowers his head. “Ava chased them. Is she back? How are the others?”
“Ava isn’t back.” Typical Ava, wanting to find out what’s going on. “I’m sure she’s close.” But my words are hollow. I smile at Wraight even though I’m not sure he can see me. “I’ll fix you up.”
It only takes me a few minutes to find the cause of all the blood. Several deep claw marks on his arm and his chest. His stomach is fortunately untouched. I open his flight suit and check the depth of the cuts before sprinkling on the antibacterial coagulant. “You’ll need a few stitches, but I’d rather wait until daylight.” I need to check the wound more thoroughly. If I close it now, I might miss something small that needs stitching.
“I’m going to live that long?”
“Yeah.” I’m not going to let him die. “We’re going to take you into the ship, and I’ll give you a pain shot. And in the morning, I’ll get you cleaned up and sewn up and then you can loll around while we fetch and carry water and food to you.”
He manages a weak laugh. “Where’s Harding?”
“He’s fine. He’s helping me with Calloor.” I don’t have the heart to tell Wraight that Calloor is dead. I glance over my shoulder. Harding is standing armed and ready only a few meters away. Like Eskar, he’s on guard and waiting for trouble.
“We need to find Ava.”
I give his hand a squeeze. “We will.”
Even I know that bashing around the forest at night is a recipe for disaster. So while Ava might have wanted to learn more about our attackers, I don’t know why she chased after them. Ava is smart. She’ll stop and wait for daylight to get her bearings, and she’ll be back in time for breakfast.
And if she’s not?
What if she’s lying in the dark bleeding out, too scared to speak?
I could go searching and end up lost too. If we split up, we might never return. I bite my lip, knowing there’s nothing I can do for her.
But I can help Wraight. “I’ll give you a shot now, it might sting a bit.”
He gives half a laugh before it turns into a grunt of pain. “Do what you need to, doc.”
I’m not a doctor. We both know that, but I’m the closest Wraight has. He’s probably already run his survival odds and knows it’s grim now he’s wounded. I’m determined that he’ll live. But my hope of rescue has faded to almost nothing.
Wraight winces when I give him the pain shot, but then relaxes as the numbness spreads. He squeezes my hand. “Be careful. I grew up around animals. My parents worked on one of those rich people vacation planets. I got to watch them have all the fun while we did all the work. Something drove those beasts toward us.”
Driven by who? Or what? And Ava is out there alone. But she’s smart and tough and if anyone of us is going to make it back during the night, it will be her.
I place bandages over the worst cuts, aware that I don’t have any to waste. “Okay, Eskar will move you now. It’ll probably hurt.”
I look up at Eskar to confirm that he’s okay with that—not that I really care. He knew it was an attack the moment before it happened. I think he knows more than what he’s letting on. I glance at the trees again but see nothing, however this time I’m sure we’re being watched.
Chapter 10
I slowly stand.“We need to move Wraight.”
Harding moves closer to me and Eskar. “There’s something or someone out there.”
“Someone,” Eskar growls. “They have discovered I intervened.”
