Page 4 of Myra's Monster

MONSTER

The intruders spoke crudely, forming sounds to carry meaning rather thanthinkingto each other. The noises were meaningless to me, of course, but I was not so limited. Spreading my frills, I listened to the patterns of their minds rather than the words they spoke.

The two males radiated anger, suspicion,hunger.Not hunger for food, water, or oxygen. Those I would have understood and sympathized with. Their hungers were never-ending pits they would shovel resources into, no matter the cost to anyone else.

They didn’t even trust each other. Whatever alliance bound them was nothing like the connection I had shared with Home and the rest of my kin. Suspicion went both ways, and eventually they’d end up hunting each other. Even in this den of plenty, I caught each of them wondering whether they’d profit more if the other died here.

The female was different. Her strongest feelings were wonder and fear and guilt. As I watched, she plucked a fruit with great care. Doing her best not to damage anything else, she tucked it into a pouch for safekeeping. Awe filled her mindsong, drowningout all other emotions and leaving her defenseless while the other two watched for danger with paranoid intensity.

There was something beautiful about the shape of her mind. Something quite unlike her companions, a warmth and openness which they lacked. These were not members of the same Hive, as difficult as that was for me to grasp, and the female didn’t fit with the males even slightly.

I couldn’t afford to wait until I understood. Home was suffering, and the damage got worse with every passing moment. The males carved pieces out of everything they passed, uncaring about the harm they did.

An attack without knowing more would be foolish, but I dared not wait. Learning about my foes would require me to take a risk.

I spread my frills fully, a dangerous move in the presence of strangers. It left me vulnerable to both psychic and physical attacks, the delicate frills thin and vulnerable.

But it let me peer deeper into the strange, closed-off minds of my prey.Feelingsresolved intothoughtsand I lost myself in the alien minds.

… rich, I’m going to be so fucking rich… do I need to share?

… this is so beautiful… what were the people who built it like?

… kill the bitch, take her ship, Volkov can fly it… keep all this for ourselves…

The female didn’t think about the males at all, lost in wonder at the garden’s beauty. But the males thought about her, and it wasn’t pleasant. Unexpected anger blossomed in me as they considered killing her. It made no sense. They were all intruders. Why would I care if they murdered each other?

Home’s quiet, fading mindsong gave me no answers, but neither did she condemn my feelings. I had to make my decision here, and the smaller male prompted me. He drew somethingfrom his belt, a tool I didn’t recognize. I didn’t need to. His thoughts betrayed him—it was a weapon, and he raised it toward the female with a smug rush of superiority, as though murdering one of his companions was a moment of pride for him.

7

MYRA

The creature came out of nowhere. One second, we were alone in the creepy garden of wonders. The next, a monster rushed down the trunk of the tree, four long limbs gripping the bark and two more reaching out with razor-sharp claws extended to tear and slice.

I squeaked in alarm and leaped backward, tripping over a tangled vine and falling on my ass. A bolt of light shot overhead, scorching into a black tree as Hess tracked his laser pistol towards the sapphire-blue carapace of the attacker.

That’s a fast draw,I thought, a facade of calm over the raging torrent of panic that filled my mind. The creature tore past me, moving faster than anything that size had a right to, dodging to the side as Hess tried to bring the laser to bear.

With reflexes as impressive as its speed, the Tyradyn creature ducked under the blinding laser beam and crashed into Hess. The mobster screamed as he bounced off a tree and landed in an ungainly tumble, dropping his pistol. The creature followed close behind him, claws out, and I thought that was the end of Hess.

I hadn’t taken Volkov into account, though. The giant smashed into the Tyradyn’s side with enough force to drive itaway from Hess, and the two of them slammed into a tree with bone-cracking force.

Volkov rebounded, just avoiding a slashing claw that would have opened his stomach. Ducking under a second claw, he drove a punch into the creature’s belly. With his augmented strength and speed, I wondered if he had a chance.

Not the time to take bets,I told myself, scrambling to my feet and looking for a way out. Volkov and Hess were welcome to fight this monster, but I wanted to put a door between me and it. Preferably a door and several light years.

Hess’s shot had carved a smoldering line through the plants ahead of me, and seeing it made me wince. If I hadn’t fallen, the beam would have sliced through my head.

No wonder he’d been so quick on the draw. He’d already been aiming at me, which meant I needed a door between us, too. I scrambled through the undergrowth, trying to circle toward the rope while the mobsters and the monster fought it out.

A line of red light burned past me, slicing through the colorful flowers ahead and making me swear as I ducked behind a tree. Hess had recovered his pistol and yep, he was shooting at me rather than the Tyradyn monster.

It wasn’tcomforting news, but at least now I knew.

“Where d’you think you’re going?” His shout carried a mix of panic and anger. “Going to abandon us to thisthing?I’ll kill you first.”

“We’ve got to get out of here,” I said. Reasoning with Hess wasn’t much of a plan, but I didn’t have a better idea. “Come on, we’ve got plenty of samples. Let’s go.”

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