Page 43 of Stolen Slave

Already the vegetation in the belt was starting to wilt.

Landing in a practiced crouch with my fingertips to the veg-covered terra, I waited for the telltale signs that a Wernius had sensed surface movement. A slight tremor ran under me.

With my utility stick in one hand, I held onto the cable behind me and lifted myself off the terra. Half a halo-flash later, the pile of mineral waste shook, the pieces clattering as they tumbled against each other.

The Wernius erupted out of the black, crystalized terra beneath. Smelling the mineral waste through its gills, its cylindrical mouth vacuumed up the pieces in a frenzy. The mineral waste, foreign to this planet, provided nutrients typically unavailable to the Wernius. They would forego the native fauna, their natural source of nourishment, in favor of the waste. Which made little sense due to their deadly reaction to it.

I stayed close, watching the Wernius’s center swell with the large amounts of waste it was consuming. Its movements slowed. Yet, it continued to go after every last crumb.

The heat climbed, prexels passed, and the creature’s thick black membrane began to ooze fluid in an attempt to stay cool. Inside of the life suit, I felt no physical discomfort. However, I was very aware of the slowly approaching blazing light burning plants to ash at the other edge of the twilight band.

With the easy part almost complete, I dropped to the ground and braced myself.

The Wernius’s tubular body shivered in response. Though it knew I was here, it didn’t stop pushing aside the now unwanted vegetation in search of the remaining pieces of mineral waste.

“Come, my friend. Let us entertain one another,” I said, retreating another step.

In order to harvest the cleansed terra, the Wernius needed to die on the surface where I could access it. I was simply giving the terra-former a reason to stay and enough time for it to convert the waste into the cleansed terra I needed.

After it consumed the last piece, the front half of its body whipped toward me. I jumped upward and caught the lip of the bin still dangling above the surface. Blow me, the creature’s movement slowed, and it emitted a low, echoing rumble.

A call to more of its kind.

I quickly dropped to the ground, light on my feet, and poked the beast with the utility stick. It thrashed in my direction, and I tumbled out of the way, coming up to agitate it again.

We danced, the beast and I, with dangerous dexterity. Though it weighed twenty times what I did, it moved just as quickly. I panted with exertion but remained alert and focused, which is why I leapt with all my might when I felt a slight tremble under me.

The terra below my feet erupted upward, and the razor-sharp teeth of a second Wernius scraped against my life suit near the ankle. I felt the material part as the sting of my mistake ran along my skin before my hand locked onto the crate’s edge. I jerked my legs up and out of its mouth less than a halo-flash later and cursed as my suit repaired itself around the wound.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

KHORAHN

The second Wernius fell to the ground with a resounding thud. It emitted the same echoing rumble the first one had, calling to more of its kind. I needed to end this quickly.

Thumbing the switch on the utility stick so the end reshaped into a lethal blade, I dropped down onto the second Wernius. The blade sank deep into its gelatinous body once it pierced the thick, outer membrane. However, that wasn’t enough to kill one of these creatures. I leaned into the top of the utility stick, pushing it forward and forcing the lower blade to slice the beast internally. It writhed, doing its best to shake me free.

Something hit my side, almost knocking me off the second Wernius. Only my grip on the embedded utility stick saved me. Using the momentum, I swung up and pulled the utility stick free just as the thing rolled.

I stabbed and dodged and ran, jumping over the oozing spots of the second Wernius until its body stilled. The first creature let out another echoing bellow as sweat trickled down my back within my suit.

My gaze darted to the band of burning veg, much closer now to where I stood panting on top of the dead Wernius.

“Sorry, my friend. Our time together is at an end.”

I jumped at it just as it swung toward me, its mouth open. The ill-timed move cost me. One of its razor teeth sliced through the side of my thigh as I tucked and twisted midair. The suit immediately repaired itself, but my leg struggled to support my weight upon landing. Ignoring the pain, I set upon the creature with vicious efficiency.

It breathed its last breath a halo-flash later as I hacked my way through its membrane to its engorged third stomach. A quick slit to the top created the opening I needed to get to the cleansed terra.

At my command, the crate lowered, and I switched the end of the utility stick to the wide flat option, which allowed me to move material quickly.

The heat climbed. I fought to work faster even as my head began to pound. The hiss and pop sounds of burning veg filled my ears, but I didn’t stop. I was determined to gather every micron of cleansed terra.

And I managed it. Barely. The second body was already half ash when I toppled onto the terra-filled crate.

The cables retracted swiftly at my command, rocketing me and the crate through the boiling air until we fell under the ship’s protective shadow. Shaking, I lay back on the terra and let the ship lift me into the cargo bay.

The cooler air was an immediate relief.

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