Lunging to my feet, I covered my head with an arm as if it would protect me from flying bullets and ran over to her. Hurting living things wasn’t in my nature, but I wasn’t about to let her get torn apart, so I aimed a solid kick at the middle of one of them, sending it tumbling away. I had to bite back the “I’m sorry” that came to my lips and instead focused on helping Dr. Walker get the other one away.
Once we’d pushed it aside it dropped as a bullet hit it. Nausea curled in my stomach and up my throat. I quickly turned my attention to the researcher and put pressure on her wound, worried they’d bitten deep enough to cause serious bleeding.
The silence was so sudden that with the sound of gunfire still bouncing around in my head it took me a moment to realize no one was shooting anymore. Like the sensation of moving even after stepping off a boat onto dry land.
“Here.” A soldier brought a med kit, and I helped him patch a pale Dr. Walker up.
“We’ll need to pump you full of antibiotics back on the ship.” The military officer helped her stand, and I got on her other sideas we slowly made our way toward the ship, which was nearly a quarter mile away. It would be a painful and slow trip for her.
When we got to the ramp, the captain, looking troubled, helped us get her inside and settled into a chair. The military officer inserted an IV while I stood next to her.
“What’s your pain level?” I asked. She hadn’t said anything since we’d bandaged on her.
“An eight out of ten. That thing had really long, needlelike teeth.” she gritted.
“Of course a vorpyr planet would have an animal like that.” the co-pilot said derisively from another chair, an IV already steadily dripping for her. She was much more bandaged than Dr. Walker, and I couldn’t fault her for being upset.
“If you’re ok, I need to check on the others.” I told my researcher. She nodded and closed her eyes.
A short jog later I was back at the shrines, wanting to get eyes on all of my people, to make sure no one else was hurt. Jaron and Tatiana first. I searched for them.
All over the burial ground the small creatures lay dead. I put a hand to my lips at the terrible sight, only then realizing that I was shaking.
“Are you ok?” I hadn’t noticed Jaron come up. His voice was soft as he put a hand on my shoulder. “You look sick.”
“This is awful.” I whispered. “We came into their territory. We shouldn’t have killed them all.” Surely there must be something on the ship that we could have used to repel them while we were here.
He squeezed my shoulder with a sympathetic look. “It’s done now. Let’s try to get back to work.” He looked over his shoulder at one of the military officers prodding a limp animal with the toe of his boot. He raised his voice. “I trust you all will take these poor creatures somewhere else.”
The man curled his lip and opened his mouth as if to argue, but Jaron continued as if he didn’t see him. “Researchers cannot work in conditions like this, and this is a Consortium sanctioned research mission.” His voice was firm and he held the gaze of the other man.
With a jerk of his head the officer called to his colleagues to gather up the carcasses.
Jaron sent me a smile, though his eyes were tense. “Let’s go, there’s still lots to explore.”
Yes, what was done was done and later I would have a conversation with the captain about making sure no other animals were killed. In the meantime, I had a job to do.
After checking on everyone and making sure there wasn’t anyone else injured, I spoke with the captain. I forced myself to thank him for the protection and for the men removing the animals from the area. Where they put them, I didn’t want to know. Then I broached the topic of a non-lethal predator repellent. His lips turned down. Whether he was disgusted with me or the situation, I wasn’t sure.
“I don’t know that we have anything like that to keep animals at bay.” At my tight-lipped expression his scowl deepened. “But I’ll look.”
I continued my work though I’d told the others they should rest in the ship. I gazed around the large area. Four military men in pairs of two stomped past the wide part of the canyon the shrines occupied and scouted for other animals in the area that we should be aware of.
“Jacqueline?”
I turned to Tatiana. Her face was drawn as she watched the men disappear into the foliage. ”Yes?”
“Is Dr. Walker ok?”
“She received medical care and is resting.” I assured her.
“Ok.” She nibbled on her bottom lip.
“Are you sure you don’t want to return to the ship to rest? That was terrifying.”
Tatiana stubbornly shook her head. “We only have a limited amount of time on this planet and I intend to make the most of it.”
Chapter 5
