Post date: Sep 30, 2017 2:01:37 PM
Caradorynee:
Kin #10
The adrenaline pumping through Star enabling her to flee on wobbly legs got her only a few hundred yards from where she’d been shackled. The sudden exertion stressing her dehydrated body had her collapsing to the ground to dry wretch. Her abdominal muscles clenched painfully as her head spun.
Sucking in air Star gagged and choked several times. Sharp, gravelly bits of debris bit into her hands and knees. Star tried desperately to control her breathing and her fear.
She was free. At the moment that was all that counted.
Water, a place to hide, and a weapon were soon added to her survival list.
How quickly would her escape be noticed? What beasts would they send out to track her? What resources did she have at hand?
The last query had Star looking around her. The ground beneath her hands was solid but not entirely hard packed. The debris a combination of irregular shapes of rock and what loosely resembled docarass. But unlike Caradorynee this similar formation was black in colour and when Star touched it the formation failed to crumble.
Brushing aside an assortment of broken twig-like pieces of vegetation she began digging her hands into clumps of moist gunk surrounding the black docarass-like substance.
A sigh of relief escaped Star lips when she unearthed the base of the structure. It was elongated and jaggedly formed. Not the perfect weapon but adequate to use as a defensive tool. Star quickly unearthed another then rose shakily to her feet.
Something sharp pierced her left foot and Star cried out. She lifted her foot to see a piece of rock embedded in the sole of her foot. A tiny trickle of blood oozed out around the puncture wound.
Star leaned over and brushed the rock from her foot. It was obvious that she would need to fashion some form of footwear and clothing quickly. She couldn’t run around a hostile planet nude and barefoot. Especially since she needed something to absorb the continuing sweat that was still pouring off her body only to chill in the planet’s breeze.
Too many basic needs crowded Star’s overtaxed mind. It was getting harder for her to concentrate with her dehydration levels increasing.
Water! Water! Water!
Procuring a drink of water on the Artemis was as easy as activating a moisture unit. On Caradorynee she had scavenged for porous plants in the wilds and stolen containers of liquid from the stalls in the Caradorynee markets.
Here, wherever here was, she may find the task harder. The vegetation surrounding her was lush and healthy so the likelihood that an abundance of water was close by was a good bet. The humidity in the air was heavy, almost to the point where taking a breath was like breathing in water, also suggested that moisture would gather on plant or rock surfaces. If she couldn’t find water immediately she’d have to find a way to harness the high levels of moisture in the air. Anyway to help her survive.
Star glanced around.
Leafy tentacles stretched downward from some of the tall plant life around her. She reached out and grabbed a plate-sized leaf.
It was damp and malleable beneath her fingers. A good sign. Star crumpled the leaf in her hand and squeezed as if she was squeezing water from a washcloth. A few beads of moisture dribbled from beneath her pinky. Star tentatively licked them before they could drip off the end.
The drops had an odd taste. Not entirely repugnant but definitely not as pleasant as a cool drink of spring water.
Necessity forced Star to take what was at hand.
She put her mouth on the side of her hand as she squeezed the leaf harder in her grip. A small trickle spread across her lips. Star discarded the leaf and reached for another leaf and repeated the process over and over again.
A noise, far in the distance, had Star freezing. She held her breath. The noise came again, closer this time.
The hunt was on.
Lark woke to a sound that he couldn’t identify. It was faint, almost a whisper or perhaps coming from a far distance.
Newt appeared from under a crop of rocks. The tiny creature was wide-eyed and shivering badly. “Hunting.”
Lark immediately lurched to his feet. “Us or her?”
“Maybe both,” Newt said, then added. “A captive has escaped.”
Lark’s heart pounded. Star! Star must be alive.
“Where? Where are they hunting? Take me there!”
Newt’s shivering increased. “I can no take you. I die.”
Lark understood. Newt knew the dangers of this planet far better than he, but if Star was out there he’d do what it took to get her back.
“What direction?”
“You mad. Wait till they capture.”
“She may be dead by then.”
“No. Hunt no for food.”
Lark paused. “Not for food? Then what?”
Newt did not hesitate. “Power. The captive holds much power.”
Lark scooped up Newt and activated his Dueanian half. His body immediately began to shimmer and within seconds he was airborne and travelling at record speed toward the distant sounds.
©Human in Inhuman Worlds by Janet Merritt